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186-733: The Warlord Era was the period in the history of the Republic of China between 1916 and 1928, when control of the country was divided between former military cliques of the Beiyang Army and other regional factions. It began after the death of Yuan Shikai , the de facto dictator of China after the Xinhai Revolution had overthrown the Qing dynasty and established the Republic of China in 1912. Yuan's death on 6 June 1916 created

372-590: A power vacuum which was filled by military strongmen and widespread violence, chaos, and oppression. The Nationalist Kuomintang (KMT) government of Sun Yat-sen , based in Guangzhou , began to contest Yuan's Beiyang government based in Beijing for recognition as the legitimate government of China. The most powerful cliques were the Zhili clique led by Feng Guozhang , who controlled several northern provinces;

558-647: A republican and anti-Qing activist who became increasingly popular among overseas Chinese and Chinese students abroad, especially in Japan. In 1905 Sun founded the Tongmenghui in Tokyo with Huang Xing , a popular leader of the Chinese revolutionary movement in Japan, as his deputy. This movement, generously supported by overseas Chinese funds, also gained political support with regional military officers and some of

744-659: A violent purge of Communists in the Kuomintang, which marked the end of the First United Front . History of the Republic of China The history of the Republic of China began in 1912 with the end of the Qing dynasty , when the Xinhai Revolution and the formation of the Republic of China put an end to 2,000 years of imperial rule. The Republic experienced many trials and tribulations after its founding which included being dominated by elements as disparate as warlord generals and foreign powers. In 1928,

930-423: A "Citizen's Punitive Army" to rid China of all the warlords. Good iron does not make nails, good men do not make soldiers. —Chinese proverb Many of the common soldiers in warlord armies were also bandits who took up service for a campaign and then reverted to banditry when the campaign was over. One politician remarked that when the warlords went to war with each other, the bandits become soldiers and when

1116-748: A "bloc within." The policy of working with the Kuomintang and Chiang Kai-shek had been recommended by the Dutch Communist Henk Sneevliet , chosen in 1923 to be the Comintern representative in China due to his revolutionary experience in the Dutch Indies , where he had a major role in founding the Partai Komunis Indonesia (PKI), and who felt that the Chinese communist party was too small and weak to undertake

1302-589: A bandit gang, be hired by the Japanese to attack the Russians during the Russo-Japanese war of 1904–05 and become the warlord of Manchuria by 1916. He worked openly for the Japanese in ruling Manchuria. Zhang controlled only 3% of China's population but 90% of its heavy industry. The wealth of Manchuria, the support of the Japanese, and Zhang's hard-hitting, swift-moving cavalry made him the most powerful of

1488-706: A bid for international recognition, they also declared war against the Central Powers but failed to garner any recognition. In July 1918 southern militarists thought Sun was given too much power and forced him to join a governing committee. Continual interference forced Sun into self-imposed exile. While away, he recreated the Chinese Nationalist Party , or Kuomintang. With the help of KMT Gen. Chen Jiongming, committee members Gen. Cen Chunxuan , Adm. Lin Baoyi and Gen. Lu Rongting were expelled in

1674-472: A consistent revolutionary movement stemmed from the lack of cohesiveness among its members. To that end, Sun required that party members to be totally loyal to Sun and follow a series of rather harsh rules. Some of his earlier associates, including Huang Xing, balked at the idea of such authoritarian organization and refused to join Sun. However, they agreed that the republic must not revert to imperial rule. Besides

1860-693: A constitution and universal suffrage was established, and several levels of council were elected by popular vote. These experiments with partial democracy were not long-lasting. Few of the warlords had any sort of ideology. Yan Xishan , the "Model Governor" of Shanxi , professed a syncretic creed that merged elements of democracy , militarism , individualism , capitalism , socialism , communism , imperialism , universalism , anarchism , and Confucian paternalism into one. A friend described Yan as "a dark-skinned, mustached man of medium height who rarely laughed and maintained an attitude of great reserve; Yan never showed his inner feelings." He kept Shanxi on

2046-595: A deal with Russia that granted Russia special privileges in Outer Mongolia and restricted Chinese rights to station troops there. Kuomintang members of the Parliament accused Yuan of abusing his rights and called for his removal. On the other hand, the Progressive Party ( Chinese : 進步黨 ; pinyin : Jìnbùdǎng ), which was composed of constitutional monarchists and supported Yuan, accused

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2232-469: A different railroad gauge from the rest of China to make it difficult to invade his province, though that tactic also hindered the export of coal and iron, the main source of Shanxi's wealth. Feng Yuxiang , the "Christian General", promoted Methodism together with a vague sort of left-leaning Chinese nationalism , which led the Soviets to support him for a time. He banned alcohol, lived simply and wore

2418-425: A dynastic Chinese institution of community-based conscription, was slated to become the basis of a new conscript system for the Chinese military. He Yingqin proposed the implementation of the system in a 1928 report, in which he argued for the system's ability to produce large amounts of disciplined soldiers at a low cost. He also argued that the system would rekindle militarism in China and weaken banditry. He dismissed

2604-752: A few hundred by 1927 and the remaining Russian survivors fought in armored trains. During the Northern Expedition Chinese Nationalist forces captured an armoured train of Russian mercenaries serving Zhang Zongchang and brutalized the Russian prisoners by piercing their noses with rope and marching them in public through the streets in Shandong in 1928, described as "stout rope pierced through their noses". White Russian mercenaries defeated Muslim Uighurs in melee fighting when Uighurs tried to take Ürümqi on 21 February 1933 in

2790-605: A government in Guangzhou to resist the rule of the Beiyang warlords, and the Guangzhou government came to be known as part of the Constitutional Protection War . In September Sun was named generalissimo of the military government with the purpose of protecting the provisional constitution of 1912 . The southern warlords assisted his regime solely to legitimize their fiefdoms and challenge Beijing. In

2976-606: A half-million soldiers in China. By 1922 the numbers had tripled, then tripled again by 1924; more than the warlords could support. For example, Marshal Zhang, the ruler of industrialized Manchuria, took in $ 23 million in tax revenues in 1925 while spending some $ 51 million. Warlords in other provinces were even more hard-pressed. One way of raising funds were taxes called lijin that were often confiscatory and inflicted much economic harm. For example, in Sichuan province there were 27 different taxes on salt, and one shipload of paper that

3162-574: A major effort on its own. The CCP was still small at the time, having a membership of just 300 in 1921 and only 1,500 by 1925. By contrast, the Kuomintang in 1922 already had 150,000 members. Soviet advisers also helped the Kuomintang set up a political institute to train propagandists in mass mobilization techniques, and in 1923 sent Chiang Kai-shek , one of Sun's lieutenants from Tongmenghui days, for several months' military and political study in Moscow. After Chiang's return in late 1923, he participated in

3348-520: A marketplace in Mukden . After Feng betrayed his ally Wu to seize Beijing for himself, Wu complained that China was "a country without a system; anarchy and treason prevail everywhere. Betraying one's leader has become as natural as eating one's breakfast". "Alignment politics" prevented any one warlord from dominating the system. When one warlord started to become too powerful, the rest would ally to stop him, then turn on each other. The level of violence in

3534-675: A military body subordinate to the Military Affairs Commission which he headed thus Chiang based his power around the military and used it to force his agenda through government. These headquarters consisted of the Yu E Wan (Henan, Hubei and Anhui), Yu Shan Jin (Henan, Shaanxi and Shanxi) Beiping (Rehe, Chahar, Suiyuan and Hebei) the largest and most important of these was the Nanchang HQ which controlled areas of Jiangxi, Guangdong, Hunan, Fujian and Hubei. The Baojia system ,

3720-438: A neutral choice. In addition, instead of "President" Duan was now called the "Chief Executive", implying that the position was temporary and therefore politically weak. Duan called on Sun Yat-sen and the Kuomintang in the south to restart negotiations towards reunification. Sun demanded that the "unequal treaties" with foreign powers be repudiated and that a new national assembly be assembled. Bowing to public pressure, Duan promised

3906-497: A new national assembly in three months; however he could not unilaterally discard the "unequal treaties", since the foreign powers had made official recognition of Duan's regime contingent upon respecting these very treaties. Sun died on 12 March 1925 and the negotiations fell apart. With his clique's military power in a shambles, Duan's government was hopelessly dependent on Feng Yuxiang and Zhang Zuolin. Knowing that those two did not get along, he secretly tried to play one side against

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4092-416: A portrait of his hero George Washington in the background to reflect the supposed democratic militarism he was attempting to bring to China. Wu was famous for his capacity to absorb vast quantities of alcohol and still keep drinking. When he sent Feng a bottle of brandy, Feng replied by sending him a bottle of water, a message that Wu failed to take in. An intense Chinese nationalist, Wu Peifu refused to enter

4278-601: A result, the Guangzhou government was reorganized to elect a seven-member cabinet system, known as the Governing Committee. Sun was once again sidelined by his political opponents and military strongmen. He left for Shanghai following the reorganization. Duan Qirui's Beijing government did not fare much better than Sun's. Some generals in Duan's Anhui Clique and others in the Zhili clique did not want to use force to unify

4464-695: A rival government. War was averted due to the Japanese invasion of Manchuria but it did cause Chiang to release Hu and resign as president and premier. Chiang's influence was restored when he was made chairman of the Military Affairs Commission at the start of the Battle of Shanghai (1932) . Hu moved to Guangzhou and led an autonomous government in Liangguang . In November 1933, the Fujian Rebellion erupted by dissident KMT elements. The rebellion

4650-482: A sense of unity and pride among the people. Laws were passed and campaigns mounted to promote the rights of women. A generation of educated and professional new women emerged after the inclusion of girls in the state school system and after women students were admitted at the University of Beijing in 1920, and in the 1931 Civil Code, women were given equal inheritance rights, banned forced marriage and gave women

4836-497: A short distance of railways. Armoured trains , full of machine guns and artillery, offered fire support for troops going into battle. In 1925–1927, the largest detachment of armored trains, numbering 7 units, was in the service of Marshal Zhang Zongchang. The armored trains were built according to the World War I model by Russian designers who arrived from Harbin to Jinan, where they had railway workshops. The constant fighting around

5022-489: A silver reserve of 1.5 million Chinese dollars during the same year. The illiterate Marshal Zhang Zuolin , who engaged in reckless printing of Chinese dollars, did not understand it was him who was causing the inflation in Manchuria, and his remedy was simply to summon the leading merchants of Mukden, accuse them of greed because they were always raising their prices, had five of them selected at random publicly shot and told

5208-524: Is considered by some historians to have ended in 1927. After Yuan Shikai's death, Li Yuanhong became the President and Duan Qirui became the Premier. The Provisional Constitution was reinstated and the parliament convened. However, Li Yuanhong and Duan Qirui had many conflicts, the most glaring of which was over China's entry into World War I. Since the outbreak of the war, China had remained neutral until

5394-629: The Anhui clique led by Duan Qirui , based in several southeastern provinces; and the Fengtian clique led by Zhang Zuolin , based in Manchuria . The three cliques often engaged in conflict for territory and hegemony. In mid-1917, after Yuan's successor Li Yuanhong attempted to remove Duan as premier, the general Zhang Xun forced Li to resign and made a brief attempt to restore the Qing dynasty , which

5580-652: The Autumn Harvest Uprising , was staged by peasants in Hunan province. The insurrection was led by Mao Zedong , who would later become chairman of the CCP and head of state of the People's Republic of China. In mid-1927, however, the CCP's fortunes were at a low ebb. The Communists had been expelled from Wuhan by their left-wing Kuomintang allies, who in turn were toppled by a military regime. By 1928 all of China

5766-634: The Battle of Urga , the army of Gen. Xu Shuzheng , which had seized Outer Mongolia , was attacked by a Russian-Mongol army under the command of Gen. Baron Roman von Ungern-Sternberg . The Chinese might have stopped Ungern had they been capable of firing their machine guns properly, to adjust for the inevitable upward jerk caused by the firing; they did not, and this caused the bullets to overshoot their targets. The inability to use their machine guns properly proved costly: after taking Urga in February 1921, Ungern had his Cossacks and Mongol cavalry hunt down

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5952-568: The Battle of Ürümqi (1933) . Wu Aitchen mentioned that 600 Uyghurs were slaughtered in a battle by White Russian mercenaries in the service of the Xinjiang clique warlord Jin Shuren . Jin Shuren would take Russian women as hostages to force their husbands to serve as his mercenaries. Hui Muslims fought brutal battles against White Russians and Soviet Red Army Russians at the Battle of Tutung and Battle of Dawan Cheng inflicting heavy losses on

6138-654: The Beiyang government led to provinces around the country refusing to declare their allegiance. The debate between the President and the Premier on whether or not China should participate in the First World War was followed by political unrest in Beijing. Both Li and Duan asked Beiyang general Zhang Xun , stationed in Anhui, to militarily intervene in Beijing. As Zhang marched into Beijing on 1 July, he quickly dissolved

6324-716: The Kumul Rebellion , the Sino-Tibetan War and the Soviet invasion of Xinjiang . Although the central government was nominally in control of the entire country during this period, large areas of China remained under the semi-autonomous rule of local warlords, provincial military leaders or warlord coalitions. Nationalist rule was strongest in the eastern regions around the capital Nanjing, but regional militarists such as Feng Yuxiang and Yan Xishan retained considerable local authority. The Central Plains War in 1930,

6510-735: The Ma clique in Gansu , Ningxia , and Qinghai ; Liu Xiang and Liu Wenhui in Sichuan ; Long Yun in Yunnan ; Zhang Jingyao in Hunan ; Zhang Zongchang and Han Fuju in Shandong ; and Sheng Shicai in Xinjiang . During the New Culture Movement , Chen Duxiu introduced the term Junfa ( 軍閥 ), taken from the Japanese gunbatsu . It was not widely used until the 1920s, when it

6696-586: The National Protection Army ( Chinese : 護國軍 ; pinyin : Hùgúojūn ) and declared Yunnan independent. Thus began the National Protection War ( Chinese : 護國戰爭 ; pinyin : Hùgúo Zhànzhēng ). Yunnan's declaration of independence also encouraged other southern provinces to declare theirs. Yuan's Beiyang generals, who were already wary of his imperial coronation, did not put up an aggressive campaign against

6882-840: The National Revolutionary Army (NRA). In 1922, the KMT had formed the First United Front with the Communists to defeat the warlords and reunify China. In April 1927, however, Chiang split with the Communists and purged them from the Front against the wishes of the KMT leadership in Wuhan , setting up a rival KMT government in Nanjing. The split and the purge was detrimental to the KMT's Northern Expedition and allowed

7068-771: The Second Sino-Japanese War can be seen as an extension of these party power struggles. These civil wars extended Chiang's direct rule from four provinces to eleven just prior to the Marco Polo Bridge Incident . The Chinese Civil War which began with the purge of communists in 1927 would continue until the forming of the Second United Front in December 1936. During this period, the Nationalists tried destroying

7254-492: The Second Zhili–Fengtian War he was betrayed by his subordinate Feng Yuxiang , who joined with Zhang to stage a coup against Cao. They shared power and brought back Duan to serve as president before Zhang removed them both in 1926; Zhang then led the Beiyang government until 1928. The warlords of southern China, who had cooperated against Yuan's dictatorship and then Duan's attempt to extend Beiyang control to

7440-608: The Second Zhili–Fengtian War , Feng Yuxiang changed his support from Zhili to Fengtian and forced the Beijing Coup which resulted in Cao Kun being imprisoned. Feng soon broke off from the Zhili clique again and formed Guominjun and allied himself with Duan Qirui . In 1926, Wu Peifu from the Zhili clique launched the Anti-Fengtian War . Zhang Zuolin took advantage of the situation, and entered Shanhai Pass from

7626-835: The Shanghai massacre of 1927 . There now were three capitals in China: the internationally recognized warlord regime in Beijing; the Communist and left-wing Kuomintang regime at Wuhan; and the right-wing civilian-military regime at Nanjing, which would remain the Kuomintang capital for the next decade. The Comintern cause appeared bankrupt. A new policy was instituted calling on the CCP to foment armed insurrections in both urban and rural areas in preparation for an expected rising tide of revolution. Unsuccessful attempts were made by Communists to take cities such as Nanchang , Changsha , Shantou and Guangzhou, and an armed rural insurrection, known as

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7812-474: The Sino-Japanese War in 1895. Internal rebellions and their repression brought millions of deaths, conflicts with foreign Western European powers brought humiliating unequal treaties , exacted reparations that burdened the fiscal system, and compromised the country's territorial integrity. Popular sentiment among Han Chinese grew that political power should return to the majority Han Chinese from

7998-519: The Wuchang Uprising in October 1911, where soldiers began to mutiny and defect to a political opposition. These revolutionary forces established a provisional government in Nanjing the following year under Sun Yat-sen , who had returned from his long exile to lead the revolution. It became clear that the revolutionaries were not strong enough to defeat the Beiyang army and continued fighting would almost certainly lead to defeat. Instead, Sun negotiated with Beiyang commander Yuan Shikai to bring an end to

8184-451: The Young China Party and the " Third Party ". They would remain banned until the Second Sino-Japanese War when they were allowed into the Second United Front as part of the China Democratic League . Following the Central Plains war Chiang was unable to re-assert his full control over the country as Hu Hanmin prevented him from using the legislative Yuan and Wang Jingwei from using the Executive Yuan. Thus Chiang turned to Field Headquarters

8370-524: The Zhili - Fengtian coalition to launch a successful counterattack. The mostly leftist Wuhan faction soon purged the Communists as well and reunited with Chiang in Nanjing. The Northern Expedition restarted in February 1928 and successfully reunited China by the end of the year. At the end of the Expedition, the NRA consisted of four army groups: Chiang's Whampoa clique , Feng Yuxiang 's Guominjun , Yan Xishan 's Shanxi clique , and Li Zongren 's New Guangxi clique . Chiang did not have direct control of

8556-419: The average age was 14 and most walked barefoot. Stilwell wrote that this "scarecrow company" was worthless as a military unit. A British army visitor commented that, provided they had proper leadership, the men of northern China were "the finest Oriental raw material with a physique second to none, and an iron constitution". However, such units were the exception rather than the rule. In 1916 there were about

8742-583: The "Dogmeat General", ate his meals off a 40-piece Belgian dinner service, and an American journalist described dinner with him: "He gave a dinner for me where sinful quantities of costly foods were served in a starving country. There was French champagne and sound brandy". The warlords bought machine guns and artillery from abroad, but their uneducated and illiterate soldiers could not operate or service them. A British mercenary complained in 1923 that Wu Peifu had about 45 European artillery pieces that were inoperable because they had not been properly maintained. At

8928-422: The 18 March Massacre. The next month Feng Yuxiang again revolted, this time against the Fengtian clique, and deposed Duan, who was forced to flee to Zhang for protection. Zhang, tired of his double dealings, refused to restore him after re-capturing Beijing. Most of the Anhui clique had already sided with Zhang. Duan Qirui exiled himself to Tianjin and later moved to Shanghai where he died on 2 November 1936. During

9114-447: The 1920 Guangdong–Guangxi War . In May 1921 Sun was elected "extraordinary president" by a rump parliament despite protests by Chen and Tang Shaoyi , who complained of its unconstitutionality . Tang left while Chen plotted with the Zhili clique to overthrow Sun in June 1922 in return for recognition of his governorship over Guangdong. After Chen was driven out of Guangzhou, Sun returned again to assume leadership in March 1923. The party

9300-408: The 1920s went on, with the object being to damage the enemy and improve one's bargaining power within the "alignment politics". As the infrastructure in China was very poor, control of the railway lines and rolling stock were crucial in maintaining a sphere of influence . Railroads were the fastest and cheapest way of moving large number of troops, and most battles during this era were fought within

9486-426: The 1930s and 1940s, resulting in events such as the Central Plains War of 1929–1930, in which the former warlords Yan Xishan , Feng Yuxiang, and Li Zongren rebelled against Chiang. Continued regional control by former warlords was problematic for the Nanjing government during the Second Sino-Japanese War and Chinese Civil War , and contributed to the Communists' final victory in 1949. Other major warlords included

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9672-401: The 1990s actively asserted itself to be the continuing sole legitimate ruler of all of China, referring to the communist government or "regime" as illegitimate, a so-called " People's Republic of China " (PRC) declared in Beijing by Mao Zedong in 1949, as " mainland China " and " communist bandit ". The Republic of China was supported for many years – even decades – by many nations, especially

9858-430: The Baojia system). Initially, Baojia units served as local militias, their main roles being akin to the emergency/civil services of other countries. These roles included anti-bandit action, irrigation work, flood control, road building, construction of military positions, etc. The Baojia system also registered millions of Chinese men and their families, allowing for statistics to be recorded comprehensively. By spring 1933,

10044-416: The Beijing government. Despite the fact that various warlords gained control of the government in Beijing during the warlord era, this did not constitute a new era of control or governance, because other warlords did not acknowledge the transitory governments in this period and were a law unto themselves. These military-dominated governments were collectively known as the Beiyang Government . The warlord era

10230-478: The Beiyang government flooded into Nanjing to receive jobs. Chiang was elected President of the National Government by the KMT central executive committee in October 1928. In the absence of a National Assembly , the KMT's party congress functioned in its place. Since party membership was a requirement for civil service positions, the KMT was full of careerists and opportunists. The KMT was heavily factionalized into pro- and anti-Chiang groups. The largest faction in

10416-405: The Chinese delegates were among the most Westernized and self-consciously professional journalists from the developing world. By the late 1920s, however, there was a much greater emphasis on advertising and expanding circulation, and much less interest in the sort of advocacy journalism that had inspired the revolutionaries. Song was assassinated in March 1913. Some people believe that Yuan Shikai

10602-473: The Communists by using Encirclement Campaigns . The failure of early Communist strategy of urban warfare led to the rise of Mao Zedong who advocated guerrilla warfare . The Communists were much weaker in the urban areas due to secret police repression led by Dai Li . Many Communists and suspected or actual Communist sympathizers were imprisoned, including the wife and four year old daughter of Marshal Nie . Other parties that were heavily persecuted were

10788-505: The Communists in the Second United Front to combat the Japanese occupation. In addition, the Ma clique and the Xinjiang clique , both KMT affiliates, were contesting each other in the western fringes from 1931 until 1937 in the Xinjiang Wars when the Soviet Union 's support helped the Xinjiang group to triumph. Xinjiang then became a Soviet protectorate and safe haven for Communists. The Ma clique also fought Sun Dianying in 1934. Wang Jingwei's collaborationist government during

10974-426: The Forbidden City, in what was possibly the first aerial bombardment in East Asia. On July 12 Zhang's forces disintegrated and Duan returned to Beijing. The Manchu restoration ended almost as soon as it began. During this period of confusion, Vice President Feng Guozhang, also a Beiyang general, assumed the post of Acting President of the republic and took his oath of office in Nanjing. Duan Qirui resumed his post as

11160-504: The Governorship. The office was primarily tasked with the suppression of communist revolutionaries and partisans and thus it controlled all the provincial militias. This office was built on the backs of earlier efforts during the Northern Expedition to organise anti-communist militias to control the growth of CCP power in rural areas. These early forms of militas were organised at village, township and town levels with no coordination and with strong local ties which hindered militia efficiency

11346-440: The Iron Gate Society or the Flower Basket Society. The former would dress entirely in white (the color of death in China) and waved fans that they believed would deflect gunfire, while the latter fought with a sword and a magical basket to catch their opponents' bullets. Disappointed with the Republic of China and despairing due to the warlords deprivations, many peasant secret societies adopted millenarian beliefs, and advocated

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11532-471: The Japanese aggression in 1931 and the Red Army's Long March in 1934 led to more power for the central government, but there continued to be foot-dragging and even outright defiance, as in the Fujian Rebellion of 1933–34. Nanjing decade Nanjing was of symbolic and strategic importance. The Ming dynasty had made Nanjing a capital, the republic had been established there in 1912, and Sun Yat-sen 's provisional government had been there. Sun's body

11718-672: The Japanese insistence on keeping the Shandong territory already in its possession. Beijing also recognized Tokyo's authority over southern Manchuria and eastern Inner Mongolia . Yuan's acceptance of the demands was extremely unpopular, but he continued his monarchist agenda nevertheless. On 12 December 1915 Yuan, supported by his son Yuan Keding , declared himself emperor of a new Empire of China. This sent shock waves throughout China, causing widespread rebellion in numerous provinces. On 25 December former Yunnan governor Cai E , former Jiangxi governor Li Liejun ( Chinese : 李烈鈞 ; pinyin : Lǐ Lièjūn ) and Yunnan Gen. Tang Jiyao formed

11904-442: The KMT one-party state was derived from Sun's "Three Stages of Revolution" and his policy of Dang Guo . The first stage was military unification , which was carried out with the Northern Expedition. The second was "political tutelage" which was a provisional government led by the KMT to educate people about their political and civil rights, and the third stage was constitutional government. The KMT considered themselves to be at

12090-442: The Kuomintang of fomenting an insurrection. Yuan then decided to use military action against the Kuomintang. In July 1913 seven southern provinces rebelled against Yuan, beginning the Second Revolution ( Chinese : 二次革命 ; pinyin : Èrcì Gémìng ). There were several underlying reasons for the Second Revolution besides Yuan's abuse of power. First was that most Revolutionary Armies from different provinces were disbanded after

12276-431: The May Fourth Movement developed was known as the New Culture Movement and occupied the period 1917–1923. The student demonstrations of 4 May 1919, were the high point of the New Culture Movement, and the terms are often used synonymously. Chinese representatives refused to sign the Treaty of Versailles due to intense pressure from both the student protesters and public opinion. The May Fourth Movement helped to rekindle

12462-417: The Muslim Ma clique and Tibetan militia. These bandits were associated with the Gelaohui . In November Yuan Shikai, legally president, ordered the Kuomintang dissolved and forcefully removed its members from parliament. Because the majority of the parliament members belonged to the Kuomintang, the parliament did not meet quorum and was subsequently unable to convene. In January 1914 Yuan formally suspended

12648-399: The NRA ( National Revolutionary Army ) Chiang Kai-Shek began a purge of leftists and communists in what is known as the Shanghai massacre . As a result of the massacre the Wuhan government chose to split from Chiang which resulted in him forming a new nationalist government in Nanjing . Chiang Kai-shek emerged as the protégé of Sun Yat-sen following the Zhongshan Warship Incident . In

12834-434: The NRA. In 1926, he launched the Northern Expedition , which destroyed the troops of the Zhili and Anhui cliques. Fengtian clique leader Zhang Xueliang retreated from Beijing, and on 29 December 1928 accepted the leadership of Chiang's Nationalist government, thus reunifying China and beginning the Nanjing decade . Despite the official end of the era in 1928, several warlords continued to maintain their influence throughout

13020-461: The National Protection Army. On 22 March 1916 Yuan formally repudiated monarchy and stepped down as the first and last emperor of his dynasty. He died on 6 June of that year. Vice President Li Yuanhong assumed the presidency and appointed Beiyang Gen. Duan Qirui as his Premier. Yuan Shikai's imperial ambitions finally ended with the return of republican government. After Yuan Shikai's death, shifting alliances of regional warlords fought for control of

13206-554: The Nationalist Government in order to use them for anti-communist policies and to intensify central government power in local areas. In 1928, the provincial level position of Superintendent of Rural pacification (Qingxiang duban) was founded with Rural Pacification Commanders (Qingxiang Siling) controlling them later renamed to Peace preservation commanders (bao'an siling). The Governor of a province held this post ex officio but with most military and executive actions emanating under this office it quickly became an office equivalent in power to

13392-474: The Nationalist movement he had helped to initiate was gaining momentum. During the summer of 1925 Chiang, as commander-in-chief of the National Revolutionary Army , set out on the long-delayed Northern Expedition against the northern warlords. Within nine months half of China had been conquered. By 1926, however, the Kuomintang had divided into left- and right-wing factions, and the Communist bloc within it

13578-717: The Northeast and captured Beijing. The Fengtian clique remained in control of the capital until the Northern Expedition led by Chiang Kai-shek 's National Revolutionary Army forced Zhang out of power in June 1928. The southern provinces of China were notably against the Beiyang government in the north, having resisted the restoration of monarchy by Yuan Shikai and the subsequent government in Peking after his death. Sun Yat-sen along with other southern leaders had formed

13764-722: The Northern Expedition, which was finally launched by Chiang from Guangzhou in July 1926. In early 1927 the Kuomintang-CCP rivalry led to a split in the revolutionary ranks. The CCP and the left wing of the Kuomintang decided to move the seat of the Nationalist government from Guangzhou to Wuhan . Chiang, whose Northern Expedition was proving successful, set his forces to destroying the Shanghai CCP apparatus and established an anti-Communist government at Nanjing in

13950-576: The Premier. The Zhili clique of Feng Guozhang and the Anhui clique of Duan Qirui emerged as the most powerful cliques following the restoration affair. Duan Qirui's triumphant return to Beijing essentially made him the most powerful leader in China. Duan dissolved the parliament upon his return and declared war on Germany and Austria-Hungary on 14 August 1917. German and Austro-Hungarian nationals were detained and their assets seized. Around 175,000 Chinese workers volunteered for labor battalions after being enticed with money, some even years before war

14136-571: The President to ten years, with no term limit. Essentially, Yuan was preparing for his ascendancy as the emperor. On the other hand, since the failure of the Second Revolution, Sun Yat-sen and his allies were trying to rebuild the revolutionary movement. In July 1914 Sun established the Chinese Revolutionary Party ( Chinese : 中華革命黨 ; pinyin : Zhōnghúa Gémìngdǎng ). He felt that his failures at building

14322-548: The Qing Court thought these reforms went too far and distrustful critics felt they did not go far enough. Reformers were either imprisoned or executed outright. The failures of the Imperial Court to enact such political liberalization and modernization caused the reformists to take the road of revolution. There were many revolutionary groups, but the most organized one was founded by Sun Yat-sen (Chinese: 孫逸仙 ),

14508-603: The Qing Imperial Court in 1912 found the idea of supporting another Imperial Court utterly ridiculous. Yuan also alienated his Beiyang generals by centralizing tax collection from local authorities. In addition, public opinion was overwhelmingly anti-Yuan. When World War I broke out in 1914, Japan fought on the Allied side and seized German holdings in Shandong Province. In 1915 the Japanese set before

14694-519: The Qing and reunify China. In return, Sun would hand over his presidency and recommend Yuan to be the president of the new republic. Yuan refused to move to Nanjing and insisted on maintaining the capital in Beijing , where his power base was secure. Reacting to Yuan's growing authoritarianism , the southern provinces rebelled in 1913 but were effectively crushed by Beiyang forces. Civil governors were replaced by military ones . In December 1915, Yuan stated his intention to become emperor of China at

14880-640: The Qing dynasty was forced to allow provincial governors to raise their own armies, the Yong Ying , to fight against the Taiping rebels; many of these provincial forces were not disbanded after the Taiping rebellion was over, like Li Hongzhang 's Huai Army . Strong bonds, family ties, and respectful treatment of troops were emphasized. The officers were never rotated, and the soldiers were hand-picked by their commanders, and commanders by their generals, so personal bonds of loyalty formed between local officers and

15066-593: The Republic was nominally unified under the Kuomintang (KMT; also called "Chinese Nationalist Party") after the Northern Expedition , and was in the early stages of industrialization and modernization when it was caught in the conflicts involving the Kuomintang government, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), local warlords , and the Empire of Japan . Most nation-building efforts were stopped during

15252-702: The Russian forces. Chinese forces killed many White Russian soldiers and Soviet soldiers in 1944–1946 when the White Russians of Ili and Soviet Red Army served in the Second East Turkestan Republic Ili national army during the Ili Rebellion . To defend themselves from the attacks of the warlord factions and armies, peasants organized themselves into militant secret societies and village associations which served as self-defense militias as well as vigilante groups. As

15438-639: The Soviet leadership initiated a dual policy of support for both Sun and the newly established Chinese Communist Party (CCP). In 1922 the Kuomintang-warlord alliance in Guangzhou was ruptured, and Sun fled to Shanghai. By then he saw the need to seek Soviet support for his cause. In 1923 a joint statement by Sun and a Soviet representative in Shanghai pledged Soviet assistance for China's national unification. Soviet advisers—the most prominent of whom

15624-845: The United States urged all neutral countries to join the Allies , as a condemnation of Germany's use of unrestricted submarine warfare . Premier Duan Qirui was particularly interested in joining the Allies as an opportunity to secure loans from Japan to build up his Anhui clique army. The two factions in the parliament engaged in ugly debates regarding the entry of China and, in May 1917, Li Yuanhong dismissed Duan Qirui from his government. This led provincial military governors loyal to Duan to declare independence and to call for Li Yuanhong to step down as president. Li Yuanhong summoned Zhang Xun to mediate

15810-716: The United States who established a 1954 Mutual Defense treaty. After political liberalization began in the late 1960s, the PRC was able – after a constant yearly campaign in the United Nations – to finally get approval in 1971 to take the seat for "China" in the General Assembly , and more importantly, be seated as one of the five permanent members of the Security Council . After recovering from this shock of rejection by its former allies and liberalization in

15996-411: The United States, where he had been raising funds among Chinese and American sympathizers. On 1 January 1912, delegates from the independent provinces elected Sun Yat-sen as the first Provisional President of the Republic of China. Yuan Shikai agreed to accept the Republic and forced the last emperor of China, Puyi , to abdicate on 12 February. Empress Dowager Longyu signed the abdication papers. Puyi

16182-687: The Western press as " Generalissimo "). Six southern provinces became part of Sun's Guangzhou military government and repelled Duan's attempt to destroy the Constitutional Protection Army. The Constitutional Protection War continued through 1918. Many in Sun Yat-sen's Guangzhou government felt his position as the Generalissimo was too exclusionary and promoted a cabinet system to challenge Sun's ultimate authority. As

16368-599: The Yunnan warlord Tang Jiyao helped Sun regain power in 1923. To resolve the problem of being dependent on warlords, Sun accepted Soviet assistance in building a party and military infrastructure of his own, creating the Whampoa Military Academy and the National Revolutionary Army (NRA). After Sun died in 1925, the head of the Whampoa Academy, Chiang Kai-shek , emerged as the military leader of

16554-487: The army of their captors before being captured yet again. Warlords usually incorporated their prisoners into their armies; at least 200,000 men who were serving in the army of Gen. Wu were prisoners he had incorporated into his own army. A survey of one warlord garrison in 1924 revealed that 90% of the soldiers were illiterate . In 1926 U.S. Army officer Joseph Stilwell inspected a warlord unit and observed that 20% were less than 4 feet 6 inches (1.37 m) tall,

16740-518: The city of Changchun. When importing weapons became impractical, warlord armies either used locally-made copies of Western firearms (including ones in uncommon use such as the Franz Stock Pistol ) or indigenous designs. Because their soldiers were not able to use or take proper care of modern weapons, the warlords often hired foreign mercenaries , who were effective but always open to other offers. Russian émigrés who fled to China after

16926-590: The common uniform of an infantryman to show his concern for his men. Wu Peifu , the "Philosopher General", was a mandarin who passed the Imperial Civil Service exam , billing himself as the protector of Confucian values , usually appearing in photographs with the scholar's brush in his hand (the scholar's brush is a symbol of Confucian culture). Doubters noted, however, that the quality of Wu's calligraphy markedly declined when his secretary died. Wu liked to appear in photos taken in his office with

17112-424: The constitutional government that existed prior to Zhang Xun's coup. Cao bought the presidency in 1923 despite opposition by the KMT, Fengtian, Anhui remnants, some of his lieutenants and the public. In the autumn of 1924 the Zhili appeared to be on the verge of complete victory in the Second Zhili–Fengtian War until Feng Yuxiang betrayed the clique, seized Beijing and imprisoned Cao. Zhili forces were routed from

17298-653: The country rose in support of the Wuchang revolutionary forces. On 12 October, the Revolutionaries succeeded in capturing Hankou and Hanyang . However, the euphoria engendered by this victory was short-lived. On 27 October, Yuan Shikai was reappointed by the Qing Court to lead the New Army, and loyalist forces under Feng Guozhang and Duan Qirui moved south to retake Wuhan . After heavy fighting in November,

17484-468: The countryside, gunning down everyone they met and taking everything moveable. The rampage was stopped only when the peasants pulled up the train tracks, which led Nechaev to sack the nearest town. Nechaev suffered a huge defeat at the hands of Chinese, when he and one armoured train under his command were trapped near Suichzhou in 1925. Their Chinese adversaries had pulled up the rail, and took this opportunity to massacre almost all Russian mercenaries on board

17670-523: The critical Zhili–Anhui War in July 1920. After the death of Feng Guozhang in 1919, the Zhili clique was led by Cao Kun . The alliance with the Fengtian was only one of convenience and war broke out in 1922 (the First Zhili–Fengtian War ), with Zhili driving Fengtian forces back to Manchuria . Next, they wanted to bolster their legitimacy and reunify the country by returning Li Yuanhong to

17856-541: The crossing of the Russian-Chinese border in November 1922 and the disarmament, the Chinese authorities of Marshal Zhang Zuolin bought or received for free almost all the weapons of the Russian White Army, which left Vladivostok. In the border city of Kirin, the Chinese received a large number of the rifles, the machine guns, the cartridges and the grenades, the artillery pieces were sent immediately to

18042-583: The deposed parliament members to establish a new government in Guangzhou and the Constitutional Protection Army ( Chinese : 護法軍 ; pinyin : Hùfǎjūn ) to counter Duan's abuse of power. Ironically, Sun Yat-sen's new government was not based on the Provisional Constitution; rather, it was a military government and Sun was its "Grand Commander of the Armed Forces" ( Chinese : 大元帥 ; pinyin : Dàyúanshuài , translated in

18228-413: The entire Warlord Era. Yuan Shikai cut back on many government institutions in the beginning of 1914 by suspending parliament, followed by the provincial assemblies. His cabinet soon resigned, effectively making Yuan dictator of China. After Yuan Shikai curtailed many basic freedoms, the country quickly spiraled into chaos and entered a period of warlordism. "Warlordism did not substitute military force for

18414-461: The establishment of the Whampoa Military Academy outside Guangzhou, which was the seat of government under the Kuomintang-CCP alliance. In 1924 Chiang became head of the academy and began the rise to prominence that would make him Sun's successor as head of the Kuomintang and the unifier of all China under the right-wing Nationalist Government . Sun Yat-sen died of cancer in Beijing in March 1925, as

18600-517: The establishment of the Republic of China, and many officers and soldiers felt that they were not compensated for toppling the Qing Dynasty. These factors gave rise to much discontent against the new government among the military. Secondly, many revolutionaries felt that Yuan Shikai and Li Yuanhong were undeserving of the posts of presidency and vice presidency, because they acquired the posts through political maneuvering rather than participation in

18786-661: The first National Assembly back in 1916. These three factions competed with each other for Chiang's favor. Opposition to Chiang came from both the left and the right . The leftist opposition was led by Wang Jingwei and known as the Reorganizationists. The rightist opposition was led by Hu Hanmin . Hu never created or joined a faction but he was viewed as the spiritual leader by the Western Hills Group , led by Lin Sen . There were also individuals within

18972-593: The first years was restrained, as no leader wanted to engage in too much serious fighting. War brought the risk of damage to one's own forces. For example, when Wu Peifu defeated the army of Zhang Zuolin, he provided two trains to take his defeated enemies home, knowing that if in the future Zhang were to defeat him, he could count on the same courtesy. Furthermore, warlords did not have the economic or logistical capabilities required to achieve decisive victories, and were generally concerned instead with taking over smaller pieces of territory. The violence increased in intense as

19158-667: The foreign concessions in China, a stance that was to cost him his life when he refused to go to the International Settlement or the French Concession in Shanghai for medical treatment. More typical was Marshal Zhang Zuolin , a "graduate of the University of the Green Forest" (i.e., a bandit), an illiterate who had a forceful, ambitious personality that allowed him to rise up from the leader of

19344-477: The formation of a provincial office was intended to remedy this and to also prevent the local gentry and "bullies" from using the militia for their own personal gain. The reforms instituted by Hunan were applied in a similar fashion across the Lower Yangtze region as well as Hubei and Jiangxi. The institution and proliferation of the militia (peace preservation and Baojia) saw banditry almost eliminated in

19530-856: The full-scale Second Sino-Japanese War against Japan from 1937 to 1945, and later the widening gap between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party made a coalition government impossible, causing the resumption of the Chinese Civil War , in 1946, shortly after the Japanese surrender to the Allied Powers in September 1945. A series of political, economic and military missteps led to the KMT's defeat and its retreat to Taiwan (formerly "Formosa") in 1949, where it established an authoritarian one-party state under Generalissimo/President Chiang Kai-shek . This state considers and until

19716-1243: The general population. In 1921, the North China Daily News reported that in Shaanxi , robbery and violent crimes were prevalent and frightened the farmers. Wu Peifu of the Zhili clique was known for suppressing strikes by railroad workers by terrorizing them with execution. A British diplomat in Sichuan witnessed two mutineers being publicly hacked to death with their hearts and livers hung out; another two being publicly burned to death; while others had slits cut into their bodies into which were inserted burning candles before they were hacked to pieces. Warlords placed great stress on personal loyalty, yet subordinate officers often betrayed their commanders in exchange for bribes known as "silver bullets", and warlords often betrayed allies. Promotion had little to do with competence, and instead warlords attempted to create an interlocking network of familial, institutional, regional, and master-pupil relationships together with membership in sworn brotherhoods and secret societies. Subordinates who betrayed their commanders could suffer harshly. In November 1925, Guo Songling ,

19902-441: The government in Beijing the so-called Twenty-One Demands , aimed at securing Japanese economic controls in railway and mining operations in Shandong, Manchuria and Fujian. The Japanese also pressed to have Yuan Shikai appoint Japanese advisors to key positions in the Chinese government. The Twenty-One Demands would have made China effectively a Japanese protectorate. The Beijing government rejected some of these demands but yielded to

20088-461: The government instituted the fiat currency ( fapi ) reform, immediately stabilizing prices and also raising revenues for the government. Great strides also were made in education and, in an effort to help unify Chinese society, in a program to popularize Modern Standard Chinese and overcome other varieties of Chinese . Newspapers, magazines and book publishing flourished, and the widespread establishment of communications facilities further encouraged

20274-457: The government regained the right to set its tariff , which before then had been set by the foreign powers. The Nationalist Government also acted energetically to modernize the legal and penal systems, stabilize prices, amortize debts, reform the banking and currency systems, build railroads and highways, improve public health facilities, legislate against traffic in narcotics and augment industrial and agricultural production. On 3 November 1935,

20460-898: The government. The Nationalists were never able to fully pacify the Chinese Communist Party , and struggled to address the widespread unrest and protests over their failure to check Japanese aggression . Imperial China Republic of China (before 1949) People's Republic of China (Mainland) Hong Kong (pro-Beijing) Macau (pro-Beijing) Republic of China (Taiwan, pan-Blue) Hong Kong (pro-Beijing) Hong Kong (centrist) Hong Kong (pro-ROC) Macau (pro-Beijing) Republic of China (Taiwan, pan-Blue) Republic of China (Taiwan, pro-Beijing) Republic of China (Taiwan, other) Hong Kong (pro-Beijing) Hong Kong (pro-ROC) Republic of China (Taiwan, pan-Blue) Republic of China (Taiwan, other) People's Republic of China (Mainland) Hong Kong Republic of China (Taiwan) Overseas Former The organization and function of

20646-427: The head of a new dynasty . The southern provinces rebelled again in the National Protection War ; but this time the situation was far more serious because most Beiyang commanders refused to recognize the monarchy. Yuan renounced his plans for restoring the monarchy to woo back his lieutenants; however, by the time of his death in June 1916, China had fractured politically. The North-South split would persist throughout

20832-597: The high goals of the Baojia system had been met in over 80 counties in Anhui by spring 1933, with similar progress in Hubei and Henan. By 1936, the Baojia system was linked to the army system, with 50,000 conscripts in 12 divisions called up via the Baojia into the regular army. By early 1937, this rose to 20 Baojia divisions, with 40 more to be raised as per the 60 division plan . The Militia of modern China an invention of Zeng Guofan and his proteges were to become co-opted by

21018-484: The hope of recovering its lost province, then under Japanese control. On 4 May 1919, there were massive student demonstrations against the Beijing government and Japan. The political fervor, student activism and iconoclastic and reformist intellectual currents set in motion by the patriotic student protest developed into a national awakening known as the May Fourth Movement. The intellectual milieu in which

21204-472: The implementation of the Baojia system, with all officials (down to the county level) told to organize the training of Baojia troops. Local and regional leaders were given the highest priority and were punished for failure. Chiang ordered the program to be completed in 1934, with 3,000,000 peasants to be enrolled in 3 months in Henan alone. Yang Yongtai led the Yu E Wan Field Headquarters (the primary organizer of

21390-455: The late 1970s from the Nationalist authoritarian government and following the death of Chiang Kai-shek, the Republic of China has transformed itself into a multiparty, representative democracy on Taiwan and given more representation to those native Taiwanese , whose ancestors predate the 1949 mainland evacuation. The Qing dynasty in the late 19th and early 20th centuries was challenged by civil unrest and foreign invasions ever since they lost

21576-568: The late Qing's lack of a unified military force, exacerbated by the rise of provincialism during the revolution, was also a strong factor behind the proliferation of warlords. Apart from administrative and financial obstacles, the late Qing government seemed to have relied on this divided military structure to maintain political control. The rising necessity of military professionalism, with scholars becoming heavily militarized, led to many officers from non-scholarly backgrounds rising to high command and even high office in civil bureaucracy. At this time,

21762-423: The leading general loyal to Marshal Zhang Zuolin —the "Old Marshal" of Manchuria—made a deal with Feng Yuxiang to revolt, which nearly toppled the "Old Marshal", who had to promise his rebel soldiers a pay increase; that, together with signs that the Japanese still supported Zhang, caused them to go back on their loyalty to him. Guo and his wife were both publicly shot and their bodies left to hang for three days in

21948-420: The legislature, the revolutionists lacked an army, and soon Yuan Shikai's power began to outstrip that of parliament. Yuan revised the constitution on his own and became dictatorial. In August 1912 the Kuomintang (Nationalist Party) was founded by Song Jiaoren , one of Sun's associates. It was an amalgamation of small political groups, including Sun's Tongmenghui. In the national elections held in February 1913 for

22134-572: The major cities launched such efforts. Special attention was paid to China's role in the World War, to the disappointing Paris Peace Conference of 1919, and to the aggressive demands and actions of Japan against Chinese interests. Journalists created professional organizations, and aspired to separate news from commentary. At the Press Congress of the World conference in Honolulu in 1921,

22320-514: The military upstaged the civil service . The influence of German and Japanese ideas of military predominance over the nation, coupled with the absence of national unity amongst the various cliques in the officer class, led to the fragmentation of power. The most powerful regional army was the northern-based Beiyang Army under Yuan Shikai , which received the best in training and modern weaponry. The Xinhai Revolution in 1911 brought widespread mutiny across southern China. The revolution began with

22506-566: The minority Manchus . Following the Boxer Rebellion and the invasion of the imperialist powers to put it down, the Qing Imperial Court launched fundamental institutional and political reforms , such as abolishing the Imperial examination system in 1905, drafting a constitution in 1906, the establishment of provincial legislatures in 1909, and the preparations for electing a national parliament in 1910. However, Manchu conservatives in

22692-537: The new bicameral parliament, Song campaigned against the Yuan administration, whose representation at the time was largely by the Republican Party , led by Liang Qichao . Song was an able campaigner and the Kuomintang won a majority of seats. The overthrow of the old imperial regime in 1911 produced a surge in Chinese nationalism, an end to censorship, and a demand for professional, nation-wide journalism. All

22878-578: The new government of the People's Republic after 1949. Nationalist foreign service officers negotiated diplomatic recognition from Western governments and began to unravel the unequal treaties . Entrepreneurs, educators, lawyers, doctors, and other professionals were more free to create modern institutions than at any earlier time. However, the Nationalist government also suppressed dissent, corruption and nepotism were rampant and revolts broke out in several provinces; internal conflicts also perpetuated within

23064-403: The north but kept the center. Feng Yuxiang's defection resulted in the defeat of Wu Peifu and the Zhili clique and forced them to withdraw to the south. The victorious Zhang Zuolin unpredictably named Duan Qirui as the new Chief Executive of the nation on 24 November 1924. Duan's new government was grudgingly accepted by the Zhili clique because, without an army of his own, Duan was now considered

23250-537: The northern and southern provinces convened in Shanghai to discuss postwar situations. However, the meeting broke down over Duan's taking out Japanese loans to fund the Anhui Clique army, and further attempts at negotiation were hampered by the May Fourth Movement . The Constitutional Protection War essentially left China divided along the north–south border. In 1917 China declared war on Germany in

23436-476: The numbers. Other notable information on some of the above-mentioned major warlords: The great ideological flexibility of warlords and politicians during this era can be well exemplified in the activities of Bai Lang , an important bandit leader. Even though he initially fought in support of the Qing dynasty with ultraconservative monarchists as well as warlords, Bai Lang later formed an alliance with republicans, declared himself loyal to Sun Yat-sen and formed

23622-606: The opposition. In May 1930, the Central Plains War erupted, pitting Chiang against the Beiping faction of Yan Xishan , Feng Yuxiang, Li Zongren, and Wang Jingwei. Though victorious, the conflict left Chiang's government bankrupt. In 1931, Hu Hanmin attempted to block Chiang's provisional constitution and was put under house arrest. This caused another uprising by Chen Jitang , Li Zongren, Sun Fo and other anti-Chiang factions who converged on Guangzhou to set up

23808-503: The other elements of government; it merely balanced them differently. This shift in balance came partly from the disintegration of the sanctions and values of China's traditional civil government." During this period, there was a general shift from a state-dominated civil bureaucracy held by a central authority to a military-dominated culture held by many groups, with power shifting from warlord to warlord. A theme identified by C. Martin Wilbur

23994-455: The other three so he considered them to be threats. In February 1929, Li Zongren fired the pro-Chiang governor of Hunan but Chiang objected and the two clashed in March, leading to Li's defeat and (temporary) expulsion from the KMT by the third party congress. Feng Yuxiang rebelled on May 19 but was humiliated when half of his army defected through bribery. From October to February, fighting resumed with Wang Jingwei and Lin Sen joining

24180-454: The other. On 18 March 1926, a protest march was held against continued foreign infringement on Chinese sovereignty and a recent incident in Tianjin involving a Japanese warship. Duan dispatched military police to disperse the protesters, and in the resulting melee 47 protesters were killed and over 200 injured, including Li Dazhao, co-founder of the Communist Party. The event came to be known as

24366-465: The out-manned and out-gunned Revolutionary Army was driven out of Hankou and Hanyang, and retreated to Wuchang south of the Yangtze. During the 41-day Battle of Yangxia , however, 15 of the 24 provinces had declared their independence from the Qing empire. Yuan Shikai halted his army's advance on Wuchang and began to negotiate with the revolutionaries. A month later, Sun Yat-sen returned to China from

24552-431: The parliament and proclaimed a Manchu Restoration . The new government quickly fell to Duan after he returned to Beijing with reinforcements from Tianjin. As another government formed in Beijing, Duan's fundamental disagreements over national issues with the new President Feng Guozhang led to Duan's resignation in 1918. The Zhili clique forged an alliance with the Fengtian clique , led by Zhang Zuolin , and defeated Duan in

24738-400: The parliament. In February he called into session a meeting to revise the Provisional Constitution of the Republic of China, which was announced in May of that year. The revision greatly expanded Yuan's powers, allowing him to declare war, sign treaties and appoint officials without seeking approval from the legislature first. In December 1914 he further revised the law and lengthened the term of

24924-644: The party following reunification was the pro-Chiang Whampoa clique (a.k.a. the National Revolutionary Army First Army Group/Central Army), which made up slightly over half of the party membership. A Whampoa sub-faction was the infamous Blue Shirts Society . Next was the CC Clique , a pro-Chiang civilian group. A third group, the technocratic Political Study Clique, was more liberal than the other two pro-Chiang factions. They were formed by KMT members of

25110-405: The party who were not part of any faction, like Sun Fo . These anti-Chiang figures were outnumbered in the party but held great power by their seniority, unlike many pro-Chiang cadres that joined only during or after the Northern Expedition. Chiang cleverly played these factions off against one another. The party itself was reduced to a mere propaganda machine, while real power lay with Chiang and

25296-563: The peasants ranged from rather simple ones, such as swallowing charms, to much more elaborate practices. For example, elements of the Red Spear Society performed secret ceremonies to confer invulnerability from bullets to channel the power of Qi and went into battle naked with supposedly bulletproof red clay smeared over their bodies. The Mourning Clothes Society would perform three kowtows and weep loudly before each battle. There were also all-female self-defense groups, such as

25482-462: The peasants usually had neither money for guns nor military training, these secret societies relied on martial arts, self-made weapons such as swords and spears, as well as the staunch belief in protective magic. The latter was especially important, as the conviction of invulnerability was "a powerful weapon for bolstering the resolve of people who possessed few alternative resources with which to defend their meager holdings". Magical rituals practiced by

25668-807: The poverty and lack of education in Guangxi, Yunnan, and Guizhou, where the Baojia system was prevalent. The Baojia system (and universal conscription in general) was rejected due to its infeasibility given China's limited finances and vast population. Instead, troops were to be organized into 6 categories (similar to Japan's sytem), with an active class serving for 2 years, 2 classes of trained reserves serving for 5 and 10 years respectively, and 2 classes of supplementary troops in territorial formations. All surplus men were to be given ad-hoc training when possible, and 50 divisions were to be raised via this method. The KMT was, thereafter, committed to this system of conscription and training. By 1932, however, Chiang had ordered

25854-483: The presidency and restoring the National Assembly . They proposed that Xu Shichang and Sun Yat-sen resign their rival presidencies simultaneously in favour of Li. When Sun issued strict stipulations that the Zhili could not stomach, they caused the defection of KMT Gen. Chen Jiongming by recognizing him as governor of Guangdong . With Sun driven out of Guangzhou , the Zhili clique superficially restored

26040-465: The railroads caused much economic harm. In 1925, at least 50% of the locomotives being used on the line connecting Nanjing and Shanghai had been destroyed, with the soldiers of one warlord using 300 freight cars as sleeping quarters, all inconveniently parked directly on the rail line. To hinder pursuit, defeated troops tore up the railroads as they retreated; in 1924, damages amounted to 100 million Mexican silver dollars (the main currency used in China at

26226-448: The rebellion was suppressed, Sun and other instigators fled to Japan. In October 1913 an intimidated parliament formally elected Yuan Shikai President of the Republic of China , and the major powers extended recognition to his government. Duan Qirui and other trusted Beiyang generals were given prominent positions in the cabinet. To achieve international recognition, Yuan Shikai had to agree to autonomy for Outer Mongolia and Tibet . China

26412-618: The reformers who had fled China after the Hundred Days' Reform . Sun's political philosophy was conceptualized in 1897, first enunciated in Tokyo in 1905 and modified through the early 1920s. It centered on the Three Principles of the People : "nationalism, democracy, and people's livelihood". The principle of nationalism called for overthrowing the Manchus and ending foreign hegemony over China. The second principle, democracy,

26598-631: The remnants of Xu's troops as they attempted to flee south on the road back to China. Chinese forces slaughtered most of a 350 strong White Russian forces in June 1921 under Colonel Kazagrandi in the Gobi desert, with only two batches of 42 men and 35 men surrendering separately as Chinese were wiping out White Russian remnants following the Soviet Red army defeat of Ungern Sternberg, and other Buryat and White Russian remnants of Ungern-Sternberg's army were massacred by Soviet Red Army and Mongol forces. During

26784-449: The rest to behave better. Despite their constant need for money, the warlords lived in luxury. Marshal Zhang owned the world's biggest pearl, while Gen. Wu owned the world's biggest diamond. Marshal Zhang, the "Old Marshal", lived in a lavish palace in Mukden with his five wives, old Confucian texts and a cellar full of fine French wines , and needed 70 cooks in his kitchen to make enough food for him, his wives and his guests. Gen. Zhang,

26970-473: The restoration of the monarchy, led by the old Ming dynasty . The past was widely romanticized, and many believed that a Ming emperor would bring a "reign of happiness and justice for all". The death of Yuan Shikai split the Beiyang Army into two main factions. The Zhili and Fengtian clique were in alliance with one another, while the Anhui clique formed their own faction. International recognition

27156-433: The revolutionary groups associated with Sun, there were also several other groups aimed at toppling Yuan Shikai. One was the Progressive Party, the original constitutional-monarchist party that opposed the Kuomintang during the Second Revolution. The Progressive Party switched their position largely because of Yuan's sabotage of the national parliament. Secondly, many provincial governors who had declared their independence from

27342-414: The revolutionary movement. Lastly, Yuan's use of violence (such as Song's assassination) dashed the Kuomintang's hope of achieving reforms and political goals through electoral means. However, the Second Revolution did not fare well for the Kuomintang. The leading Kuomintang military force of Jiangxi was defeated by Yuan's forces on 1 August and Nanchang was taken. On 1 September, Nanjing was taken. When

27528-421: The right to control their own money and initiate divorce. No nationally unified women's movement could organize until China was unified under the Kuomintang Government in Nanjing in 1928; women's suffrage was finally included in the new Constitution of 1936, although the constitution was not implemented until 1947. The ease and speed of communication also allowed a focus on social problems, including those of

27714-447: The second stage in 1928. The KMT set up its five-branch government (based on the Three Principles of the People ) using an organic law including Executive Yuan, Legislative Yuan, Judicial Yuan, Control Yuan and Examination Yuan. This government disavowed continuity with the defunct Beiyang government that enjoyed international recognition; however the state was still the same – the Republic of China. Nevertheless, many bureaucrats from

27900-421: The second, which would be under Kuomintang direction. The "Nanjing Decade" of 1928-37 was one of consolidation and accomplishment under the leadership of the Nationalists, with a mixed but generally positive record in the economy, social progress, development of democracy and cultural creativity. Some of the harsh aspects of foreign concessions and privileges in China were moderated through diplomacy. In May 1930

28086-590: The situation. Zhang Xun had been a general serving the Qing Court and was by this time the military governor of Anhui province. He had his mind on restoring Puyi (Xuantong Emperor) to the imperial throne. Zhang was supplied with funds and weapons through the German legation, which was eager to keep China neutral. On 1 July 1917, Zhang officially proclaimed the restoration of Qing dynasty and requested that Li Yuanhong give up his presidency, which Li promptly rejected. Duan Qirui led his army and defeated Zhang Xun's restoration forces in Beijing. One of Duan's airplanes bombed

28272-429: The size of his penis , which became part of his legend. He was widely believed to be the most well endowed man in China, nicknamed "General Eighty-Six" as his penis when erect was said to measure up to a pile of 86 Mexican silver dollars (25.8 cm or 10.16 in). His harem consisted of Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Russian and two French women. He gave them numbers, as he could not remember their names, and then usually forgot

28458-490: The south , were divided between the Yunnan , Guangxi , Guizhou , and Sichuan cliques. Sun Yat-sen created an alternative government based in Guangzhou to oppose the Beiyang warlords, but Lu Rongting 's Guangxi clique rivaled him for control, leading Sun to abandon it in 1918. In 1920, the warlord Chen Jiongming invaded Guangdong and ended Lu's control in the Guangdong–Guangxi War , after which Sun returned. Chen soon turned on Sun over disagreements on strategy, after which

28644-438: The southern government. He spent his remaining years trying to consolidate his regime and achieve unity with the north. His efforts to obtain aid from the Western democracies were fruitless, however, and in 1920 he turned to the Soviet Union , which had recently achieved its own revolution. The Soviets sought to befriend the Chinese revolutionists by offering scathing attacks on Western imperialism. For political expediency, though,

28830-417: The southern provinces. They felt negotiation was the solution to unify China and forced Duan to resign in October. In addition, many were distressed by Duan's borrowing of huge sums of Japanese money to fund his army to fight internal enemies. President Feng Guozhang, with his term expiring, was then succeeded by Xu Shichang , who wanted to negotiate with the southern provinces. In February 1919 delegates from

29016-413: The summer of 1926, Chiang and the National Revolutionary Army (NRA) began the Northern Expedition with the hopes to reunify China. Wu Peifu and Sun Chuanfang of the Zhili clique were subsequently defeated in central and eastern China. In response to the situation, the Guominjun and Yan Xishan of Shanxi formed an alliance with Chiang to attack the Fengtian clique together. In 1927, Chiang initiated

29202-527: The support of the Japanese army, Marshal Zhang had to raise land taxes by 12% between 1922 and 1928 to pay for his wars. The warlords demanded loans from the banks. The other major revenue source besides taxes, loans and looting was the selling of opium , with the warlords selling the rights to grow and sell opium within their provinces to consortia of gangsters. Despite his ostensible anti-opium stance, Gen. Feng Yuxiang , "the Christian General", took in some $ 20 million per annum from opium sales. Inflation

29388-466: The temperament of a tiger". Writer Lin Yutang called Zhang "the most colorful, legendary, medieval, and unashamed ruler of modern China". Former Emperor Puyi remembered Zhang as "a universally detested monster" whose ugly, bloated face was "tinged with the livid hue induced by heavy opium smoking". A brutal man, Zhang was notorious for his hobby of smashing in the heads of prisoners with his sword, which he called "smashing melons". He loved to boast about

29574-431: The then-fading cause of republican revolution. In 1917 Sun Yat-sen had become commander-in-chief of a rival military government in Canton in collaboration with southern warlords. In October 1919 he re-established the Kuomintang (KMT) to counter the government in Beijing. The latter, under a succession of warlords, still maintained its facade of legitimacy and its relations with the West. By 1921 Sun had become president of

29760-468: The time). Between 1925 and 1927, fighting in eastern and southern China caused non-military railroad traffic to decline by 25%, raising the prices of goods and causing inventory to build up at warehouses. China's disunity during this period resulted in varied political experiments in different regions. Some regions experimented with aspects of democracy, including different mechanisms for election of city and provincial council elections. In Hunan, for example,

29946-451: The time. To prevent civil war and possible foreign intervention from undermining the infant republic, Sun agreed to Yuan's demand for China to be united under a Beijing government headed by him. On 10 March, in Beijing, Yuan Shikai was sworn in as the second Provisional President of the Republic of China. The republic which Sun Yat-sen and his associates envisaged evolved slowly. Although there were many political parties vying for supremacy in

30132-424: The train. Nechaev managed to survive this incident, but lost a part of his leg during the bitter fighting. In October 1926, Nechaev had 6 good armored trains, representing a significant military force. In 1926 Chinese warlord Sun Chuanfang inflicted bloody death tolls upon the White Russian mercenaries under Nechaev's brigade in the 65th division serving Zhang Zongchang, reducing the Russian numbers from 3,000 to only

30318-399: The troops, unlike Green Standard and Banner forces . The late Qing reforms did not establish a national army; instead, they mobilized regional armies and militias that had neither standardization nor consistency. Officers were loyal to their immediate superiors and formed cliques based upon their place of origins and background. Units were composed of men from the same province. This policy

30504-479: The victory of the Bolsheviks were widely employed. One of the Russian mercenaries claimed that they went through Chinese troops like a knife through butter during one battle. The most highly paid of the Russian units was led by Gen. Konstantin Nechaev , who fought for Zhang Zongchang , the "Dogmeat General" who ruled Shandong province. Zhang Zongchang had Russian women as concubines. Nechaev and his men were much feared. In 1926 they drove three armoured trains through

30690-430: The villages. The Rural Reconstruction Movement was one of many which took advantage of the new freedom to raise social consciousness. On the other hand, political freedom was considerably curtailed because of the Kuomintang's one-party domination through "political tutelage" and often violent means in shutting down anti-government protests. During this time, a series of massive wars took place in western China, including

30876-513: The war ended, the soldiers became bandits. Warlord armies commonly raped or took many women into sexual slavery . The system of looting was institutionalized, as many warlords lacked the money to pay their troops. Some took to kidnapping, and might send a hostage's severed fingers along with the ransom demand as a way of encouraging prompt payment. Besides bandits, the rank-and-file of the warlord armies tended to be village conscripts . They might take service in one army, get captured, then join

31062-404: The warlords. His Japanese patrons insisted that he ensure a stable economic climate to facilitate Japanese investment, making him one of the few warlords who sought to pursue economic growth instead of just plundering. Zhang Zongchang , known as the "Dogmeat General" because of his love for the gambling game of that name, was described as having "the physique of an elephant, the brain of a pig and

31248-542: Was "that a great majority of regional militarists were 'static', that is to say that their principal aim was to secure and maintain control of a particular tract of territory." Warlords, in the words of American political scientist Lucian Pye , were "instinctively suspicious, quick to suspect that their interests might be threatened, hard-headed, devoted to the short run and impervious to idealistic abstractions". Warlords usually came from strict military background, and were brutal in their treatment toward both their soldiers and

31434-439: Was allowed to continue living in the Forbidden City, however. The Republic of China officially succeeded the Qing Dynasty. On 1 January 1912, Sun officially declared the establishment of the Republic of China and was inaugurated in Nanjing as the first Provisional President . However, power in Beijing already had passed to Yuan Shikai , who had effective control of the Beiyang Army , the most powerful military force in China at

31620-418: Was also growing. In March 1926, after thwarting a kidnapping attempt against him ( Zhongshan Warship Incident ), Chiang abruptly dismissed his Soviet advisers, imposed restrictions on CCP members' participation in the top leadership and emerged as the pre-eminent Kuomintang leader. The Soviet Union, still hoping to prevent a split between Chiang and the CCP, ordered Communist underground activities to facilitate

31806-413: Was an agent of the Comintern , Mikhail Borodin —began to arrive in China in 1923 to aid in the reorganization and consolidation of the Kuomintang along the lines of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and establish the First United Front . The CCP was under Comintern instructions to cooperate with the Kuomintang, and its members were encouraged to join while maintaining their party identities to form

31992-408: Was another means of paying for their soldiers. Some warlords simply ran the money printing presses, and some resorted to duplicating machines to issue new Chinese dollars. The warlord who ruled Hunan province printed 22 million Chinese dollars on a silver reserve worth only one million Chinese dollars in the course of a single year, while Zhang in Shandong province printed 55 million Chinese dollars on

32178-411: Was at least nominally under Chiang's control, and the Nanjing government received prompt international recognition as the sole legitimate government of China. The Kuomintang government announced that in conformity with Sun Yat-sen's formula for the three stages of revolution—military unification, political tutelage and constitutional democracy—China had reached the end of the first phase and would embark on

32364-434: Was based on the presence in Beijing, and every Beiyang clique tried to assert their dominance over the capital to claim legitimacy. While Li Yuanhong replaced Yuan Shikai as the President after his death, the political power was in the hands of Premier Duan Qirui . The government worked closely with the Zhili clique, led by Vice President Feng Guozhang, to maintain stability in the capital. Continuing military influence over

32550-440: Was brought and placed in a grand mausoleum to cement Chiang's legitimacy . Chiang was born in nearby Zhejiang and the general area had strong popular support for him. The Nanjing decade was marked by both progress and frustration. The period was far more stable than the preceding Warlord Era . There was enough stability to allow economic growth and the start of ambitious government projects, some of which were taken up again by

32736-445: Was crushed in January. During Chiang's second premiership, Hu Hanmin died on 12 May 1936 and left a power vacuum in the south. Chiang wanted to fill it with a loyalist that would end the south's autonomy. Chen Jitang and Li Zongren conspired to overthrow Chiang but were politically outmaneuvered by bribes and defections. Chen resigned and the plot fizzled. In December, Chiang was kidnapped by Zhang Xueliang and forced to ally with

32922-435: Was declared. They were sent to the Western Front , German East Africa and Mesopotamia and served on supply ships. Some 10,000 died, including over 500 on ships sunk by U-boats . No soldiers were sent overseas, though they did participate with the Allies in the Siberian Intervention under Japanese General Kikuzo Otani . In September Duan's complete disregard for the constitution caused Sun Yat-sen, Cen Chunxuan and

33108-431: Was meant to reduce dialectal miscommunication, but had the side effect of encouraging regionalist tendencies. Although the post–Taiping Rebellion governors are generally not recognized as the direct predecessors of the warlords, their combined military-civil authority and somewhat greater powers as compared to earlier governors provided a model for Republic-era provincial leaders. The fragmentation of military power due to

33294-451: Was quashed by Duan's troops. Feng became the acting president, but was forced to step down by Duan in late 1918 and was replaced by Xu Shichang . In mid-1920, the new Zhili clique leaders, Cao Kun and Wu Peifu , defeated Duan in the Zhili–Anhui War in an alliance with Zhang. A power struggle broke out between Cao and Zhang, which ended with Cao's victory in the First Zhili–Fengtian War in 1922. Cao became president until 1924, when during

33480-435: Was reorganized along Leninist democratic centralism , and the alliance with the Chinese Communist Party came to be known as First United Front . The Guangzhou government focused on training new officers through the newly created Whampoa Military Academy . In 1924, the Zhilii clique fell out of power, and Sun travelled to Beiping to negotiate terms of reunification with leaders from Guominjun , Fengtian and Anhui clique. He

33666-444: Was responsible, and although it has never been proven, he had already arranged the assassination of several pro-revolutionist generals. Animosity towards Yuan grew. In April he secured a reorganization loan of 25 million pounds sterling from a coalition of banks from Great Britain, France, Russia, Germany and Japan , without consulting the parliament first. The loan was used to finance Yuan's Beiyang Army. On 20 May , Yuan concluded

33852-404: Was sent down the Yangtze River to Shanghai was taxed 11 different times by various warlords to the sum total of 160% of its value. One warlord imposed a tax of 100% on railroad freight, including food, even though there was a famine in his province. Taxes owed to the central government in Beijing on stamp and salt were usually taken by regional authorities. Despite all of the wealth of Manchuria and

34038-423: Was still to be suzerain , but it would have to allow Russia a free hand in Outer Mongolia and Tanna Tuva and Britain continuation of its influence in Tibet. Bandit leaders with popular movements instigated revolts, with the support of Sun Yat-sen's revolutionaries from Canton. The bandit-led Bai Lang Rebellion ransacked and destroyed much of central China before it was crushed by the Beiyang Army of Yuan Shikai,

34224-426: Was taken up by left-wing groups to excoriate local militarists. Previously, these militarist leaders were known as a Tuchun ( 督軍 ), or provincial military governor, owing to the system Yuan Shikai introduced after his centralization of power. The origins of the armies and leaders which dominated politics after 1912 lay in the military reforms of the late Qing dynasty . During the Taiping Rebellion (1850–1864),

34410-428: Was unable to secure the terms as he died in March 1925 from illness. Power struggles within the KMT ensued after the death of Sun. The Yunnan–Guangxi War broke out as Tang Jiyao tried to claim party leadership. In the north, there were struggles led by Guominjun against Fengtian-Zhili alliance from November 1925 to April 1926. The defeat of Guominjun ended their reign in Beiping. In April 1927, Commander-in-Chief of

34596-608: Was used to describe Sun's goal of a popularly elected republican form of government and changes such as land reform. The Republican Era of China began with the outbreak of revolution on 10 October 1911, in Wuchang , the capital of Hubei Province, among discontented modernized army units whose anti-Qing plot had been uncovered. This would be known as the Wuchang Uprising , which is celebrated as Double Tenth Day in Taiwan. It had been preceded by numerous abortive uprisings and organized protests inside China. The revolt quickly spread to neighboring cities, and Tongmenghui members throughout

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