<P> The Kuomintang ( Traditional Chinese : 中國 國民黨 ; Simplified Chinese : 中国 国民党 ; Hanyu Pinyin : Zhōngguó Guómíndǎng ; Initials : KMT or GMD ) is a Chinese political party that ruled China 1927 -- 48 and then moved to Taiwan . The name translates as `` China 's National People 's Party '' and was historically referred to as the Chinese Nationalists . The Party was initially founded on August 25 , 1912 , by Sun Yat - sen but dissolved in November 1913 . It reformed on October 10th 1919 , again led by Sun Yat - sen , and became the ruling party in China . After Sun 's death , the party was dominated from 1927 to 1975 by Chiang Kai - shek . Though the KMT lost the civil war with the Communist Party of China in 1949 , the party took control of Taiwan and remains a major political party of the Republic of China based in Taiwan . </P>
who emerged as the head of the nationalist party and ruler of china by the late 1920s
Chiang Kai - shek