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Yuan Shikai




Yuan Shikai, spelled YŸan Shih-k'ai in Wade-Giles, was a Chinese military official and
politician during late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China. He was
infamous for taking advantages of both the Qing and the Republic for his
authoritarian control by military superiority.

Born in 1859 in Xiangcheng County of Henan Province, he rose to fame
by participating the first Sino-Japanese War as the commander of the Chinese
stationary forces in Korea. He fortunately avoided the humiliation of
Chinese armies in the war when he was recalled to Beijing several days
before the Chinese forces were attacked.

By showing loyalty to Empress Dowager Cixi, he was appointed the commander
of the first new army in 1895. Qing's court relied heavily on his army due
to the proximity of its garrision to the capital and its effectiveness.
Taking full advantage of this trust, Yuan became increasingly disrespecful
to the court and switched sides between different parties only to his
benefit. Especially after the coup d'etat ending the Hundred Days' Reform,
he became the mortal enemy of Guangxu Emperor.

He was granted the position of Minister of Beiyang (??: the modern regions
of Liaoning, Hebei, and Shandong provinces) on June 25 1902. Gaining the
regard of foreigners when he helped to crush the Boxer Rebellion, he
successfully obtained numerous loans to expand his "Beiyang armies" into the
most powerful army in China. Right after the death of Cixi and Guangxu, he
was relieved of all posts by the regent Pu-Feng, probably under a secret
will of Guangxu; however he still maintained enormous influence in his
"Beiyang Armies" after returning to Henan.

In 1912, Yuan played a critical role in the establishment of the Republic of
China. At the time, the southern provinces had declared independence from
the Qing, but neither the northern provinces nor Yuan's Beiyang Army had any
stance for or against the rebellion. Both the Qing court and Yuan fully knew
that the Beiyang army was the only modern militia powerful enough to quell
the revolutionaries. Hence on one hand Yuan was demanding the highest
political status from the Qing's court; on the other hand his forces
captured Hankou and Hanyang in November 1911 in preparation of attacking
Wuchang, thus forcing the revolutionaries to negotiatiate.

Yuan became the Prime Minister under Emperor Puyi and was granted full
authority to deal with the uprisings. The revolutionaries had elected Sun
Yat-Sen, who were nevertheless in a militarily weak position, and
reluctantly compromised with Yuan. Yuan fulfilled his promise to the
revolutionaries and arranged for the abdication of the child emperor Puyi in
return for being named the President of the Republic. Cao Kun, one of his
entrusted subordinate "Beiyang" military commanders, fabricated a coup
d'etat in Beijing and Tianjin, apparently under Yuan's orders, to provide an
excuse for Yuan to not leave his sphere of influence in Chi-li (today Hebei
province). The revolutionaries compromised again, and the capital of the new
republic was established in Beijing.

In February 1913, elections were held for the National Assembly in which the
Chinese Nationalist Party or the Kuomintang (KMT) did very well. Sung
Chiao-jen, deputy in the KMT to Sun Yat-sen, zealously supported a cabinet
system and was widely regarded as a candidate for Prime Minister. Yuan
viewed Sung as a threat to his authoirty and, after Sung's assassination on
March 20 1913, there was speculation in the media that Yuan was responsible.

Tensions between the Kuomintang and Yuan continued to intensify, prompting
Yuan to take over the government with his military power and to subsequently
dissolve both the national and provincial assemblies. The Kuomintang
attempted unsuccessfully to wage a "Second Revolution" against Yuan, but
with the support of the army Yuan easily put down the revolt and caused the
leaders of the Kuomintang, including Sun Yat-Sen, to flee into exile in Japan.

Yuan then committed a major political blunder. He reinstated the monarchy,
proclaiming himself the Emperor of the Chinese Empire under the era
name of Hongxian, for a brief period from December 12, 1915 to March 22,
1916. This was opposed not only by the revolutionaries, but far more
importantly by Yuan's subordinate military commanders, who believed that
Yuan's assumption of the monarchy would allow him to rule without depending
on the support of the military. Faced with universal opposition, Yuan backed
down and died of kidney failure a few months later.

With Yuan's death, China was left without any generally recognized central
authority and the army quickly fragmented into forces of combatting warlords.

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