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, 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 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 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 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 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.
Provisional Government (1912)
Founding of the republic
The Qing dynasty in the late 19th and early 20th centuries was challenged by civil unrest and foreign invasions ever since they lost 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 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 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 (), 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 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, 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 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, 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 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 was allowed to continue living in the Forbidden City, however. The Republic of China officially succeeded the Qing Dynasty.
Beiyang era (1912–1928)
Early republic 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 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 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 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.
Journalism
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.Stephen MacKinnon, “Toward a History of the Chinese Press in the Republican Period,” Modern China 23#1 (1997) pp. 3-32 All 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, 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.Timothy B. Weston, "China, professional journalism, and liberal internationalism in the era of the First World War." Pacific Affairs 83.2 (2010): 327-347.
Second Revolution
Song was assassinated in March 1913. Some people believe that Yuan Shikai 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 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 (), which was composed of constitutional monarchists and supported Yuan, accused 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 (). 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 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 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.