The overthrow of the Manchu dynasty was followed by a period of instability and disorder that witnessed a vast displacement of China’s traditional institutions and culture.
The Chinese revolution falls roughly into four overlapping stages.
- The pseudo-republic of Your Shih-Kai (1912-1916).
- The rule of warlords and the weakening of the Central government 1916-1928.
- The nationalist revolution 1923-1949.
- The Communist Revolution.
[The communist Revolution gained momentum in 1930 and, after a military triumph in 1949, brought fundamental external and internal changes to China.]
North
1) Yean Shin-Kai, a conservative burrow court who had organized the army in northern China, was ordered by the Manchu court to suppress the rebellion in the south.
2) Yean Shin Kai avoided decisive engagements with the insurgents.
3) The National Assembly at Peking, while demanding immediate constitutional reforms and amnesty for the rebels, simultaneously nonrated Yuan Shih Kai as Prime Minister.
South
There was more confusion in the South than in the north. The Nanking assembly elected Dr. Sun as Provident, who had recently arrived in China and declared a republic. Yuan, however, arranged with representatives of Nanking a Settlement that embodied a compromise between the northern and Southern groups.
As a concession to the southern (radical) factions, Chins were designated a Republic with Li Yuan-Hung as vice president and Nanking as the capital. To promote harmony, Dr. Sun supported Yuan ShiKai as provisional President of the republic. Although Manchu Emperor was required to abdicate, Yuan secured an extremely generous settlement for the royal family.
The regime that Succeeded Manchu was bound to be confronted with the staggering problems of administration.
1) Administrative Corruption.
2) Economic stagnation.
3) General demoralization.
4) The government’s freedom of action was limited by the pressure from the great powers entrenched in their “spheres of action Interest” and upon whom China depended on capital investment.
Yuan ShiKai, ignoring the republic principles, maneuvered himself into the position of a dictator. He refused to transfer the seat of government to the South, and when a parliament met at Peking in 1913 to draw up a constitution, he intimidated, tricked, and bribed the delegates. Dr. Sun’s Revolutionary Alliance had reorganized as the Kuomintang (“Chinese Nationalist Party).
Although Kuomintang dominated the parliament, Yuan was successful in corrupting the members of parliament, leading to his election as the President. Yuan then dissolved the assembly, Outlawed Kuomintang, and promulgated a “constitutional Compact” retaining himself as President. From 1914 until his death, two years later, Yuan Shin-Kai was ruled as a military dictator, backed by the northern army he had organized for the imperial service.
The Western powers favored Yuan and extended his loans through an international banking group. The powers were to do the billing to support a “strong man” in China – So long as China itself remained weak. When Yuan tried to ascend the Dragon throne as the dynasty’s founder, he was met with unexpected opposition.
The Great Powers, especially Japan, disapproved of his scheme, and forced rebellions broke out in the Southern provinces. The sudden death of Yuan in 1916 theoretically restored the republic under its permanent constitution. But a clique of at Peking carried on Yuani high loaded methods, while various provincial governors and military commanders were rendering themselves independent of any central authority. China fell prey to greedy and unprincipled warlords.