1911 Revolution

1911 Revolution : 10th October 1911

Causes :

• Decay of the Qing government

- The Emperors of the Qing dynasty was weak and corrupt.
- Troop morale was low. Because of that, they have lost a series of defeats to foreign powers.
- People lost confidence in the Manchu rule

• Role of Cixi

- The Empress Dowager was deeply unpopular and opposed reforms like Self-Strengthening Movements and Hundred Days Reform.

• Political Decentralisation

- The Provinces of China was weakly controlled by Beijing

• Growth of Nationalist Movement

- Dr Sun Yatsen, a Methodist scholar who had studied abroad returned to China disgusted to see how little progress had been made to develop China.
- In 1894, he led the Revive China Movement, campaigning for modernisation and re-establishment of national power in China.
- In 1903, he released the Three People's Principles ; Nationalism, Democracy and People's Livelihood.
- Revolutionaries supported this giving Dr Sun the ability to form the Tongmenhui revolutionary political group in 1905.
- This group quickly gained popularity and seriously threatened the political stability of China.
- However it also became considered a dangerous revolutionary movement and paved the way for much local political violence and revolt.
- They supported the Anti-Qing revolution and later joined the Sichuan uprising in September 1911, which quickly led to revolution.

- Dr Sun organised 8 uprisings in 1911.

• The Railway problem

- Protests broke out when the government tried to nationalise (take over) regional railways in an attempt to gain revenue and control local authorities.

- This was strongly opposed by provincial authorities especially in Sichuan because the gentry, landowners, and merchants had all invested money in railways.
- Railway Protection Societies was formed which the government tried to suppress with force.
- This intensified anti-Qing feelings and led to a series of violent revolts across the country.

• Education

- Many Chinese students went abroad to places such as Britain, Japan and America to study. 

- They return with heavily influenced by outside knowledge, policies and ideas.

- Some of these scholars were angered by how China was underdeveloped compared to Western societies.

- These scholars pushed for modernisation in China.

• Foreign power and abuse (Opium wars)

- 1839 - 1860, Britain, France and China fought two opium wars, fuelled by Britain's desire to sell Indian Opium in China for huge profits.

- China was badly beaten and forced into unequal treaties, in which China was made to accept missionaries, allow foreign concessions and give ports to foreign powers. 

- In these concessions, foreigners had their own infrastructure, police and courts to keep power over the Chinese.

- Many employed Chinese workers, causing huge socioeconomic disruption in China as villagers moved into cities, leading to overcrowding, shortages and poor living conditions.

- These treaties gave foreign forces huge power from within China, opening trade routes and the ability to live without Chinese interference.

- These unfair terms of these treaties along with the humiliation of defeat and forced submission to foreign powers fuelled resentment in the Chinese people.

• Bomb explosion

- There was a bomb explosion in revolutionary headquarters in Hankou, 9th October. 

- The military governor fled and other cities began to join the revolt, in support of the revolutionaries and Dr. Sun Yatsen's modern, political ideas. 

- Within a month, 20 cities had collapsed and all of the Southern China fell to revolutionaries.

Events :

• An uprising in Wuchang was planned by revolutionaries for 16th October 1911.
• There was a bomb explosion in the revolutionary headquarters in Hankou on the 9th of October. This lead to police arriving at the scene which they found the list of the revolutionary membership.
• As a result, the uprising was brought forward to the 10th October 1911. 
• The uprising was unplanned and disorganised. By the morning of 11th October, the entire city of Wuchang had been captured.
• A "Military Government of Hubei of Republic of China" was created and led by Li Yuanhong, the assistant commander of the New Army.
• 15 other provinces quickly declared their independence from the Qing Dynasty.
• On the 1st of November, the Qing government appointed Yuan Shikai as the prime minister of the imperial cabinet.
• He was the leader of the Beiyang army and represented the Qing dynasty's last hope.
• On 25th December 1911, Dr. Sun returned to China and was elected President of the Chinese Republic.
• On 1st January 1912, Republic of China was declared.
• Yuan Shikai was offered the position of President of the New Republic of China. 
• In return, Yuan Shikai was to persuade the Emperor Puyi to abdicate, which he did on the 12th of February. 
• Yuan Shikai was inaugurated as the Second Provisional President of the Republic of China in Beijing on 10th March 1912. 

Effects :

• End of Dynastic System

- The revolution ended the Qing Dynasty and imperial rule which had existed for over 2000 years.

- The Republic was a new form of government and a milestone in Chinese history.

• The Failure of Democracy (The Presidency of Yuan Shikai 1912-1916)

- November 1912, Sun, Song and Huang set up the Guomindang (People's National Party)

- Elections of 1913 Feb, GMD won the majority of seats in the National Assembly. (43% of votes)

- December, GMD won 269 out of 569 seats in the House Of Representatives. 

- Yuan Shikai was not keen on sharing power with a parliament dominated by Dr. Sun's party.

- Real democracy could not be established. 

- Yuan Shikai ignored the constitution, became a dictator and even tried to restore the monarchy.

     - 12 out of 18 provinces were under his control. 

     - Military governors in these provinces were made sure that they stayed loyal to Yuan. 

     - Yuan orders bloody repression. 

     - Yuan negotiates foreign loans, supported European powers which wanted a strong government in China to protect their trading interests there.

• Lack of Social Improvement

- Little attention was paid to the economy or social reform so China still remained weak.

- In additon, Japan seized German territories in Shandong and economic privileges after the outbreak of World War One.

- Japan demanded control of many of China's factories, railways and ports.

- People were naturally outraged by the 21 Demands.

• Increased Foreign Aggression  

- Although the New Republic was recognised by most of the world.

- Many foreign powers like Japan still forced China to sign unequal treaties like the 21 Demands in January 1915. 

- China was still weak internationally.