On the 12th of February 1912 Puyi, China’s Last Emperor, abdicated.
China now commenced into uncharted political territory: it became a republic.
One day after Puyi’s abdication, Dr. Sun Yat-sen, provisional president of the Chinese
republic, abdicated in favour of general Yuan Shikai, given that he’d respect the Chinese
republic.
Yuan Shikai had other plans however, among which eventually reinstating the monarchy.
Not for nostalgic and sentimental reasons, though.
No… he himself would be the emperor of China.
-intro-
China’s New Republic
Once Yuan Shikai was inaugurated as president, one of his first acts was to acknowledge the
independence of Eastern Mongolia and Tibet.
Both had declared their independence once Puyi had abdicated.
As a result, Yuan’s regime earned international recognition.
Japan had come into contact with Yuan back in 1885 when he was China’s viceroy in Korea.
They were well aware of Yuan’s antics and were the most reluctant of international powers.
After some pressure they eventually caved in anyway.
The Republic of China under president Yuan Shikai was now internationally recognized.
One of the first problems that presented itself to the new republic were its state finances.
They were in disarray.
The Beijing treasury was depleted and provinces barely paid their taxes.
Against extremely unfavourable terms Yuan managed to receive a ‘reorganisation loan’
from the International Consortium, a group of international bankers that also issued
loans back when the Qing wanted to nationalize railways.
In short, the republic of China immediately became dependent upon foreign loans and capital.
Now, as for the governmental institutions of China, drastic reform was required.
A council was tasked with ensuring the establishment of a healthy Chinese democracy.
A provisional constitution was drafted in March of 1912 and procedures were designed
to ensure the formation of a legitimate government.
On April 5 it was voted to move the provisional government to Beijing (from Nanjing, which
had been the revolutionary capital).
China was now officially, for the first time, a real united republic.
It now began preparing for their first ever national elections, which would be held in
December that year.
Only about 40 million men were allowed to vote.
A mere 10 percent of the population!
Women, illiterates, those that were bankrupt and opium smokers were some of the groups
excluded from voting rights.
The Guomindang vs Yuan
Considering the establishment of democratic institutions, Dr. Sun Yat-sen figured his
revolutionary alliance, the Tongmenghui, was ripe to transform into a party that was able
to participate in a democracy.
In August the Tongmenghui transformed into the Guomindang.
Sun Yat-sen became its chairman and Song Jiaoren its prime minister, tasked with its organization.
Song, just 30 years old, was adamant about ensuring the protection of the rights of parliament
and the limiting of the president’s powers.
The situation had it that Yuan Shikai dominated the provisional cabinet, as he had merely
appointed loyalists and confidants.
As the December election came closer, it was clear the Guomindang enjoyed mass support
over their 3 main rivals: the Progressive Party (headed by Liang Qichao,famous for his
role during China’s 100 days reform), the Republican Party and the Unification party.
These parties were three of the main contestants.
In total, there were over 300 parties that had a chance to receive at least one seat
in parliament.
In his struggle to maintain his power, Yuan resorted to bribery, military force, assassinations,
coerced the parliament, revised the constitution and eventually he would even attempt to revive
the monarchy.
For now, as December rolled along China’s first ever democratic elections were held.
It was an incredible success for the Guomindang, winning 269 out of the 596 seats in the lower
house and 123 of the 274 Senate seats.
It meant the Guomindang now had a strong mandate to push for the election of the president
and a dominant role in establishing the cabinet.
The members of parliament that were elected now made their way to Beijing to start fulfilling
their posts.
Song Jiaoren, overjoyed with the success of his party, took the train to Beijing from
Shanghai.
About to board a train, waiting on the platform, a man walked up to Song and shot him twice.
It was the 20th of March.
Song would die 2 days later, 2 weeks before his 31st birthday and a few days before he
was expected to be elected as China’s Prime Minister.
It is widely believed Yuan Shikai was the chief orchestrator of the assassination.
But all those that were either implicated or investigating the assassination were themselves
murdered, or simply disappeared.
Yuan never faced justice for ordering the assassination - in fact, a traditionally anti-Qing
revolutionist weapon, Yuan Shikai now adopted assassination as a way to remain in power.
He had already ordered various assassinations on pro revolutionist generals.
He gave a signal to all of China: the power-holder is above the law.
After Song’s murder, the Guomindang delegates that did assemble in parliament quickly attempted
to curb Yuan’s influence by developing a permanent constitution and demanding a new,
open presidential election.
National finances were another issue: the unfavourable loan by the consortium was heavily
criticized.
It seemed he was mortgaging China’s revenues to foreigners.
Borrowing 21 million pound-sterling from the six-power consortium of Western powers, China
would have to repay with interest until 1960, amounting to over triple the amount borrowed.
Feeling the heat, Yuan Shikai used bribes to buy off Guomindang legislators in parliament.
Those that refused to rescind their seat were soon visited and harassed by the police and
military.
Guomindang military governors were dismissed in Southern provinces during May..
Southern provinces rose up against Yuan and declared their independence.
But they were no match for Yuan’s professional army and senior commanders.
The rebellion was swiftly crushed.
Within 2 months Nanjing was captured by the reactionary general Zhang Xun.
He would in later years attempt to put Puyi on the throne again.
On October 6th Yuan Shikai was elected president after strong arming the parliament into voting
for him.
It took three ballots to get a majority, but yeah, there wasn’t really anything parliament
could do to oppose him at this point.
Once elected, Yuan marked the Guomindang as a seditious organization and ordered it to
be dissolved.
Sun, Huang and other Kuomintang leaders fled to Japan.
Their dreams of a Chinese republic in shambles.
In January 1914, in true autocratic fashion, Yuan dissolved the parliament.
Within a month the provincial assemblies and local government organizations were dissolved
as well.
His cabinet resigned shortly after.
Yuan was now officially China’s dictator.
Yuan’s Monarchical Fiasco
Yuan now had to legitimize his dictatorial reign.
On May 1st 1914 a constitutional compact, drafted by 66 men from his cabinet, replaced
the constitution.
Yuan now had unlimited power over war, finance, foreign policy and citizens’ rights.
He relied on loans, as his annual income through taxes was only 2 million Yen, whereas the
Qing’s annual income was 260 million.He ran a deficit of 13 million every month.
Yuan attempted to push through several reforms nevertheless.
Using overpaid and underused foreign advisors, he hired a foreign policy expert, railway
specialist, military attaché and jurist.
He wanted to establish an independent Judiciary, ironic, considering he just subverted the
constitution.
Basically, in all these sectors Yuan had big ambitious plans… they were a bit unrealistic
as well, considering the circumstances.
Still, in 1914 the first world war broke out in Europe.
This bloody slaughter couldn’t have come at a better time for Yuan.
Without foreign interference, Yuan figured he’d be able to cement his position as China’s
autocrat.
European powers were preoccupied in Europe, but one nation was motivated as ever to get
involved in China.
The Japanese, formally allied with Britain since 1902, declared war on Germany in August
1914 and started to occupy the German concessions in China.
It was time to execute its design to expand influence in China.
The so-called 21 Demands were presented to Yuan.
Japan wanted even more economic rights, joint control of China’s iron and coal works and
China had to permit Japanese military and police in northern China.
Yuan was very well aware of China’s military inferiority and tried to modify some conditions
but yielded nonetheless.
It wasn’t worth the fight, his hands were tied.
Before the demands could be implemented, however, its content was leaked to the Chinese press.
Anti-Japanese and Anti-Yuan nationalism swept China.
Once again, provinces started declaring their independence, disgruntled with Yuan so willing
to capitulate to Japanese demands.
As opposition grew louder, so did Yuan’s crackdowns against the opposition.
Newspapers were censored and forced to run articles glorifying Yuan.
Perhaps in order to polish his prestige, rumours were spread many people actually wanted Yuan
to reinstate the monarchy.
After some appropriate “hesitation” on Yuan’s side, in December 1915 a representative
assembly voted, allegedly unanimously, in favour of Yuan to become emperor.
All 1993 of them.
It would not last for long.
Foreign observers and advisors figured the Chinese yearned for a central figure of power…
but it was a miscalculation.
The backlash was enormous.
Barely anyone was eager to welcome a new imperial dynasty.
Officers, allies, officials and his military protegés abandoned him en masse.
Once again, massive protests swept the country and provinces started declaring their independence.
Yuan declared he’d reverse the monarchy, but Western support he was hoping for was
not forthcoming and his prestige was in shambles.
He died on June 16th 1916 at the age of 56, a broken man.
Rumours that he was poisoned last to this day.
The 21 demands by Japan were not instated, nor did Yuan manage to establish his empire.
Li Yuanhong who reluctantly became the face of the Wuhan revolutionaries, now, once again
reluctantly, accepted the defamed position of president.
His future as president was not bright, however.
The Warlord Era
It didn’t take long for China to deteriorate into political chaos.
Regional military chieftains, known as warlords, led their respective provincial armies into
battle against each other.
Back in 1911 revolutionaries without an army but with a party did not manage to consolidate
their power.
During the Warlord era between 1916 and 1928, warlords with armies but no parties proved
equally ineffective.
It goes without saying that this period was pushing to the limits the amount of suffering
the Chinese population could take.
Within a year of Li Yuanhong becoming president, a military coup occurred.
Zhang Xun served as Field Marshal under Li, yet in June 1917 he seized Beijing and declared
the restoration of the Qing dynasty under Puyi, now an 11 year old boy.
Many civilians in Beijing, including Kang Youwei who resided there, hurried to the Forbidden
City to serve the new Emperor.
Within a month however, Beijing was sieged by rival warlords and Zhang Xun was defeated.
He fled to the Dutch legation, leaving Chinese politics for good.
Puyi remained in the Forbidden City until 1924.
Considering the coup was suppressed by other warlords, any credibility the central government
had evaporated and the next decade was tainted by feuding warlords.
Often from extremely varying backgrounds, they had several overlapping characteristics:
Primarily, most had a strong personality and a loyal subordinate force of soldiers and
officers.
That didn’t mean their characters didn’t vary widely: some were former bandits, others
were educated men attempting to instill a sense of morality on their troops.
Shanxi’s warlord, Yan Xishan stated he created the perfect ideology to run his province - which
was supported by the fact he was one of the longest sitting warlords.
Until 1949!
At any rate, often a large city was subjected to paying tax and ensuring these soldiers
were fed.
They were not the protectors of local civilians, but were an absolute terror.
Secondly, throughout the political chaos these warlords often sought support from Chinese
institutions.
This meant seeking appointments to official ranks, seats and documents signed by civil
officials.
They needed the support of civilian politicians and government.
The discrepancy and their power resulted from the modern technological and military capabilities
(such as steamboats, railways and certain guns) in combination with political institutions
that had not even existed for a decade.
Lastly, the nature of warlords and their politics was extremely confusing to nearly everyone.
Sudden shifts in alliance and treason was not uncommon.
All warlords attempted to increase their political power whilst acknowledging the existence of
the Chinese state.
There were 3 warlords that stood out.
Not indebted to Yuan Shikai for their early careers, two of them often teamed up on the
third, double crossing each-other multiple times.
The first was Chang Tso-lin, the “Warlord of Manchuria”.
A bandit earlier in life, he allied with Japan against Russia in 1905 and had been Mukden’s
military governor ever since.
The second was Wu Pei-fu, educated in the Confucian classics and by Japanese officers.
British and Chinese often publicly supported him, as they figured he was the best bet for
peace and stability in China.
The third was Feng Yuhsiang.
Originally a peasant, this large man was converted to Protestantism which earned him the nickname
“Christian General”.
His troops were extremely well disciplined and had the habit to bless his troops before
going into battle.
He fought under Wu Peifu’s command at first, only to betray the Beiyang warlords in 1924
by launching a coup that broke their power.
There were many more warlords.
To give you an idea between 1922 and 1926 there were 6 wars between provinces.
Official casualties have not been recorded but the systematic pillaging, taxation and
slaughter obviously caused incredible suffering upon the Chinese population.
End of World War I
Under Premier and Warlord Duan Qirui, China entered World War I on the Allied side under
the pretense that if Germany was defeated, the German concessions in Shandong would be
returned.
Imagine the surprise of China’s delegation (and country as a whole) when they were told
at the conference for the Versailles Treaty that German concessions were to be given to
Japan.
Several more disadvantageous treaties had been signed behind the back of most Chinese,
granting the Japanese more influence on the mainland.
During this warlord chaos Sun Yat-sen managed to return to China.
In 1917 he arrived in Canton and for the next years played a visible but inconclusive role
in Chinese politics.
Looking back at his political career, he too must have realized China seemed much weaker
and more divided than it would have been under the Qing.
It is testament to his tenacity and perseverance that he continued his struggle and followed
the dream he had envisioned for China.
The ‘betrayal’ of the Versailles Treaty sparked a new generation of nationalists and
anti-Western sentiment.
These would struggle for a better China the coming decades, often taking very different
political approaches.
I feel this is a good time to wrap up this documentary series about the fall of the Qing
dynasty, over 70 years of Chinese wars, rebellions, upheavals and reforms.
Epilogue to the entire documentary
We have come to an end of this documentary about the downfall of the Qing dynasty.
Reading about the last decades of the Qing dynasty has been captivating, interesting,
frustrating at times, but never has it been boring or a chore.
I could go on and extend this documentary to the power struggle within the Guomindang
after Sun’s death, the rise of China’s communist party and Mao Zedong, the ensuing
civil war, Japan occupying China in World War 2 or even the civil war after World War
2, once again between communists and nationalists.
All the way up to the Communist victory in 1949, and perhaps even further than that.
I could.
And perhaps I will.
For now, I have over 80 pages of script and over 130 pages of notes pertaining to this
documentary series.
If you have watched it up to this point, over 2 hours of footage in total, I hope you learned
a bit and found it interesting.
It has been an incredible joy to work on this.
Hundreds of hours were spent and I don’t think I could have spent them any better.
Thank you for watching.
I am humbled by the positive response this project has received and I am planning on
creating many more in-depth documentaries such as this one.
I am already working on one, and for the next two months uploading will remain, as usual,
at two videos per week.
If you have any suggestions for future topics, feel free to leave a comment.
Don’t forget to subscribe.
See you next time.