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80 Years Ago in China and Japan

Sun Yat-sen Railroads, in the time period being looked at, were a vital part of creating a viable industralized economy. Therefore, whoever controlled the railroads could control a large part of the economy. China, because of the conservative policies of the Manchu government, was slow in building railways, but after 1900, railroad construction speeded up and who controled them was a vital matter. The Manchu government had two options. The first was to have railroads under provincial control, and thus paid for by the local merchants and nobles. The other option was central control with the railways built and paid for by the imperial treasury, which depended on foreign loans (principally British), and this meant that even more of the Chinese economy would fall under foreign control.

The Manchu took the second option, sparking a revolt in Szechuan province. Manchu repression here then leads to an army revolt in Hankow in 1911. The Manchu could only rely on loyal elements in the so-called Peiyang or northern army, reformed in 1901. But the units of this army were really only loyal to the various commanding generals, not to the Manchu emperor. These generals, from the local provincial nobility, have been called "landlords with machine guns". The revolt was based in the south, showing the traditional differences between north and south China.

Sun Yat-sen (1866-1925) led a republican, democratic movement called the United League (later known as the Kuomintang or KMT), but it was militarily weak. The main opponent of Sun was General Yuan Shih-k'ai and the Peiyang army, based in Beijing. In a deal with the republicans, one Sun would later regret, General Yuan agreed to betray the Manchus in exchange for being made president of a new Chinese republic. On January 1, 1912, the Chinese republic was declared with Yuan as president. The child emperor P'u-i, the last of the Manchu line, was forced to abdicate on February 12. Yuan ruled as a virtual king himself, and in a brief civil war crushed the KMT. The Americans put their support behind the military government of Yuan, instead of the democratic Sun Yat-sen.

Although both China and Japan were considered allies of Britain in the First World War, Japan used the war as an excuse to increase its holdings in China. In 1915, General Yuan was forced to sign a treaty giving Japan control of the Chinese economy as well as giving up territory in Korea and Manchuria. In 1916, a revolt against Yuan breaks but when the general dies that year, complete anarchy overtakes China. By 1917, General Tuan Ch'i-jui, a Japanese ally, controls Beijing, but a renewed KMT movement was based in Canton in the south. In 1918, Sun was forced out as leader of the KMT which came under local military control.

For much of the next ten years, China suffers general civil war during what is called the "time of the warlords". The main struggle was between Tuan and the pro-Japanese Anfu league, and the Chihli faction led by General Feng Kuo-chang (who was president from 1918 and supported by Britain and the USA). As well, there were a number of powerful provincial landlords who ruled what amounted to small independent states. These included General Yen Hsi-shan in Shansi province, General Chang Tso-lin in the northeast and General Wu P'ei-fu in Hunan.

Tibet declares independence in 1911 following the overthrow of the Manchu dynasty. The Chinese invade Tibet during the First World War, but are repulsed in 1918. In 1920, Tibet and China make peace.

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