Background of the Chinese Revolution
The modern period of China opened with the first defeat of the West in the First Opium War in 1842. Since then the Qing palace ruled by ethnic Manchus has struggled to withstand foreign interference to China.
However, efforts to adjust and reform traditional methods of governance are limited by a very conservative court culture that does not want to give too much authority to reform.
After the defeat of the Second Opium War in 1860, Qing tried to modernize by adopting certain Western technologies through the Self-Strengthening Movement from 1861. In the war against Taiping (1851-64), Nian (1851-68), Yunnan Muslims (1856-68) ) and the West Sea (1862-1777), traditional imperial forces proved to be incompetent and showed a weak imperial government.
In 1895, China suffered another defeat during the period of the First Sino-Japanese War. This defeat shows that traditional Chinese feudal society also needs to be modernized if it wants to achieve technological and commercial progress.
The combination of increasing imperialist demands (from Japan and the West), frustration with the Qing court and a desire to see a unified China led to the emergence of nationalist movements that carried revolutionary ideas.
These revolutionary ideas were echoed by the Chinese living abroad, especially in Southeast Asia and America. Those who were mostly Western-educated academics began to press for either direct reform or revolution.
Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao emerged as their leaders who proposed the establishment of a constitutional monarchy.
While Sun Yat-sen led a mixed group which together formed the Revolutionary Alliance or Tongmenghui. The Revolutionary Alliance has a mission to replace the Qing government with a republican government, Sun himself is a nationalist with some socialist tendencies.
Both revolutionary leaders and overseas Chinese who are financing their efforts are rooted in southern China. The Revolutionary Alliance had carried out a number of rebellion attempts against the Qing in the years leading up to the revolution, but all were successfully stopped by the Qing army.
The outbreak of the revolution
On October 10, 1911, the rebellion in Wuchang became the starting point for a national scale uprising. When his losses increased, the Qing court responded positively to a series of demands intended to turn the imperial authoritarian rule into a constitutional monarchy. They appointed Yuan Shikai as the new prime minister of China, but before he was able to reclaim the captured territories from the revolutionaries, the provinces began to declare their allegiance to the Revolutionary Alliance led by Sun Yat Sen.
Dr. Sun himself was in the United States on a fundraising tour at the time the uprising began. He rushed first to London and Paris to ensure that the two countries would not provide financial or military support to the Qing government in its struggle.
By the time he returned to China, the revolutionaries had taken over Nanjing, the former capital under the Ming Dynasty, and representatives from the provinces had begun to arrive for the first national meeting. Together, they chose Dr. Sun is the temporary president of the newly established Republic of China.
Premature Revolution
Sun Yat-Sen's dream of forming the Republic of China has been achieved, but the process of consolidating the new government is far more difficult than predicted by revolutionaries.
The overthrow of the Qing Dynasty did not bring an era of peace and prosperity, but a period of chaos, social unrest, disappointment, and prolonged war. In collective memory, the Republican era is not related to the rebirth of China, but to warlords, corruption, economic weakness, civil strife and foreign aggression.
Sun Yat-sen's position as Provisional President himself did not have much influence on the stability of the new nation.
Although the Republic was proclaimed in January 1912, the Qing Dynasty did not simply renounce its title and did not recognize the republic's government as a legitimate government. Because there was no official resignation, de facto China had two governments, the Republic and the Empire. Sun Yat-sen's duty was to lead the Republic of China until the QIng Dynasty resigned and the condition of the country was stable.
During the revolution Yuan Shikai emerged as the most powerful politician in the imperial court. His personal ambitions led him to adopt a pragmatic attitude towards the Qing and revolutionaries, so he chose to play the role of mediator between the Republic and the Qing Dynasty.
However, Yuan Shikai realized that his political career would not last long if he sacrificed himself for the Qing Dynasty. Therefore, he then changed his strategy. He tried to solve the crisis by ensuring a smooth transition from the Empire to the Republic. Yuan presented himself as a peacemaker and loyal servant of the new country.
The Imperial Family was divided between those who preferred resignation and those who wanted to suppress the revolution. Yuan Shikai explained to the imperial family that if they wanted to fight the revolutionaries, they had to prepare 12 million taels to finance the war. But the imperial treasury was empty and no Manchu prince was prepared to sacrifice his personal wealth to pay for the army
On January 26, 1912, the imperial cabinet met at Yuan Shikai's residence. Forty high-ranking Yuan officers sent telegrams urging the Manchu to abdicate. That night, Liangpi, the army chief of staff, was killed by a fanatical revolutionary on his way home. After this murder, fear of security swept through the imperial family.
On January 27, Empress Longyu Empress Longyu, the wife of the late Emperor Guangxu and the adopted mother of the last Emperor of China, Puyi, frantically begged Yuan Shikai's deputy to convey to the general the message that the emperor and his own life were in his hands, so he had to save them
Three days later, Longyu made the decision to end the 2,000-year-old Empire. He agreed to end the reign of the Qing Dynasty. The revolutionaries, who wanted to avoid further conflict, gave the emperor's special privilege: the emperor would defend his title and be treated by the Republican government with respect. Among other things he will receive an annuity, be allowed to live in the imperial court, and perform traditional religious rituals
On February 12, 1912 (the 25th day of the 12th month of the 3rd year of Emperor Xuantong's reign), the Queen issued a Abdication Decree containing the transfer of power to the Republican Government. Based on the decree, Yuan Shikai obtained the authority to reorganize China.
Immediately after the news of the resignation, Sun Yat-sen expressed his willingness to immediately resign, thus fulfilling his oath as Provisional President. This selfless action earned Sun great respect among the Chinese, but in the long run it proved to be unwise.
Sun urged Yuan Shikai to release the power given to him by the Manchu, because the Emperor had no right to give such power; only the people have this right. However, Sun was too naive to accept Yuan Shikai's promise that he would serve and defend the Republic. So Sun Yat-sen suggested the National Assembly in Nanjing to elect Yuan Shikai as President.
In the elections held in January 1913 - the first democratic elections in Chinese history - the newly founded Sun Yat-sen party, Guomindang, won. Despite the fact that voters only consist of men above 21 taxpayers and have received primary school education, which means that only around 40 million people, or 2% of the population, have the right to vote
Elections are a milestone in Chinese history and Guomindang has emerged as the most progressive political force in the country. The party won 269 seats out of 596 in the House of Representatives, and 123 seats out of 274 in the Senate, so Guomindang was in the best position to govern the government. Meanwhile, Yuan Shikai is expected to resign so that a democratically elected parliament can appoint a new president.
But Sun Yat-sen and the revolutionaries who had placed their trust in Yuan Shikai had made a mistake. Instead of relinquishing the presidency as he had promised, Yuan ordered the killing of Song Jiaoren, one of the most prominent leaders in Guomindang.
Furthermore, Yuan banned 438 Guomindang members in parliament and then dissolved the parliament itself. In 1916 he abolished the Republic and declared himself Emperor.
But public anger is too great to ignore. Fearing civil unrest, he restored the Republic, but remained in dictatorial rule until his death in June 1916. After the end of Yuan's rule, the Republic of China collapsed. Warlords seized power, creating a private kingdom in which they ruled like kings, apart from a central government that was left with only a name.
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