Stirrings of the anti-monarchy movement in China began with the Tongmenghui, an underground “Chinese Revolutionary Alliance” that sought to establish a republic. The ruling Qing dynasty had opposition borne out of personal resentment and frustrations with China’s inability to modernize and compete with foreign powers. When the Xihai revolution overthrew the last of the Chinese dynasty, political parties for the first time formed. Leading the way was KMT.

On this day, August 25, in 1912, the Kuomintang party, China’s first and longest-lasting met at the Huguang Guild Hall in Beijing to challenge the country’s first ever national assembly elections.

The party faced internal strife from the outset: not wanting to give up his power, China’s first President Yuoan Shikai assassinated one of the most popular members of the KMT, and then dissolved the entire party in 1913. Its founder Sun Yat-sen and his military commander, Chiang Kai-Shek, escaped to Japan. But they reformed, and 10 years later regained power, thanks to Soviet advisers who tried to steer China close to the Russian model of government.