The Warlord Era was a historical period of the Republic of China that began from 1916 and lasted until the mid-1930s, during which the country was divided and ruled by various military cliques following the death of Yuan Shikai in 1916. Communist revolution broke out in the later part of the warlord period, beginning the Chinese Civil War. The era nominally ended in 1928 at the conclusion of the Northern Expedition with the Northeast Flag Replacement, beginning the "Nanjing decade". However, "residual warlords" continued to exist into the 1930s under de jure Kuomintang rule, and remained until the end of the Communist victory in 1949. The warlords and military cliques of the Warlord Era are generally divided into the Northern factions and the Southern factions. The following is a list of cliques within each faction, and the dominant warlords within that clique. Northern factions The cliques in the North emerged from the fragmentation of the Beiyang Government/Army. Most of them were generals under Yuan Shikai. After the death of Yuan, they separated and formed cliques in their own sphere of influence. Anhui clique The Anhui clique was so named because many of its most influential members were from Anhui, including founder Duan Qirui. It had a affiliated political party, the Anfu club, and a financial wing, the New Communications clique, under Deputy Foreign Minister Cao Rulin. The clique had close ties to Japan, granting heavy concessions in exchange for funding and military training, and advocated war against the German Empire as part of the First World War, as well as military suppression of the Kuomintang. The clique was removed from power after the Zhili–Anhui War and slowly faded from prominence. Zhili clique Zhili was the province surrounding Beijing, now the province of Hebei. The Zhili clique was formed by officers disgruntled with the Anhui clique and rallied around Feng Guozhang. It was aligned to Western powers. The clique took power after the Zhili–Anhui War but lost it after the Second Zhili–Fengtian War. It was largely wiped out during the Northern Expedition. Fengtian clique Fengtian is the former name of Liaoning province, and was the political center of Manchuria. The Fengtian clique controlled most of Manchuria up to Shanhai Pass and had a close relationship with Japan. Its civilian branch was the Communications Clique, under Premier Liang Shiyi. It took power in Beijing after the Second Zhili–Fengtian War but could not