Events: Fall of Qing and Rise of Modern China
"We, the Emperor, hand over the sovereignty to the people. We decide the form of government to be a constitutional republic."-Proclamation of the abdication of Pu Yi, 1912
In 1911, the Qing Empire finally fell. Pu Yi. the last emperor, abdicated after the Shinhai Revolution, signifying the establishment of a republic in place of a dynastic empire. The long 2000 years-long dynastic cycle finally came to an end.
William Kirby, professor from Harvard University, on the spread of constitutional republicanism
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The Whole Country is tending towards a republican form of government. It is the Will of Heaven, and it is certain that we could not reject the people's desire for the sake of one family's honor and glory. We, the Emperor, hand over the sovereignty to the people. We decide the form of government to be a constitutional republic. In this time of transition, in order to unite the South and the North, We appoint Yuan Shi-kai to organize a provisional government, consulting the people's army regarding the union of the five peoples, Manchus, Chinese, Mongolians, Mohammedans, and Tibetans. These peoples jointly constitute the great State of Chung Hwa Ming-Kus [a republic of China]."We retire to a peaceful life and will enjoy the respectful treatment of the nation."-Proclamation of the abdication of Pu Yi, 1912 |
Evidently, this "great transition" would not be so easy. The Qing Empire had politically decentralized and the actual power lay in hands of Yuan Shi -kai and provincial military warlords under Yuan's command. After Yuan Shi-kai's failed attempt for revival of Chinese Empire and his death, China divided into multitudes of factions led by the provincial war lords.
"Along with his death, Yuan Shikai, the one who had risen to the status of the first president of the Chinese Republic and the emperor of China, left formidable Beiyang military forces which he had been growing and modernizing throughout his life. Now, his provisional warlords would emerge as autonomous political leaders and divide China into multitudes of political factions."-The Age of Wars and Revolutions, by Insoo Park, (translated into English by Keonwoo Oh) |
But eventually, Chinese revolutionaries would emerge as major political leaders. By the 1930s, China united under the two major political factions: Nationalist Party and Chinese Communist Party.
After decades of fighting, the Chinese Communist Party finally united China in 1949 and began to construct a new nation.
"It is because we have defeated the reactionary Kuomintang government backed by U.S. imperialism that this great unity of the whole people has been achieved...Fellow Delegates, we are all convinced that our work will go down in the history of mankind, demonstrating that the Chinese people, comprising one quarter of humanity, have now stood up...Our revolutionary work is not completed, the People's War of Liberation and the people's revolutionary movement are still forging ahead and we must keep up our efforts."-Opening adress given by Mao Ze-dong at the First Plenary Session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, September 21, 1949 |