Yuan Shikai
Yuan Shikai was a Chinese general and statesman who served as the second provisional president and the first formal president of the Republic of China, head of the Beiyang government from 1912 to 1916 and Emperor of the Chinese Empire from 1915 to 1916. A major political figure during the late Qing regime, he spearheaded a number of major modernisation programs and reforms and played a decisive role in securing the abdication of Puyi in 1912, which marked the collapse of the Qing regime and the end of imperial rule in China.
Born to an affluent Han family in Xiangcheng county, Yuan began his career in the Huai Army. He was sent to Joseon to head a Qing garrison in Seoul and was appointed imperial resident and supreme adviser to the Korean government after thwarting the Gapsin Coup in 1885. He was recalled to China shortly before the outbreak of the First Sino-Japanese War, and received command of the first New Army, which paved the way for his rise to power. In 1898, Yuan formed an alliance with Empress Dowager Cixi and helped bring an end to the Guangxu Emperor's Hundred Days' Reform. Promoted to Viceroy of Zhili in 1902, Yuan quickly expanded the Beiyang Army into the best trained and most effective military force in China. He played an active role in the Late Qing reforms, which included the abolition of the imperial examination. Upon the death of Cixi in 1908 he fell from power and was forced into exile, but retained the loyalty of the Beiyang Army and as such remained an influential figure.
Following the outbreak of the Wuchang Uprising in October 1911, the Qing court, desperate to maintain control as revolutionary forces seized key provinces, recalled Yuan from retirement and appointed him Prime Minister of the Imperial Cabinet. Leveraging his position as commander of the Beiyang Army, Yuan engaged in brief fighting with Sun Yat-sen's revolutionaries before opening negotiations, brokering a deal that led to the abdication of the child emperor Puyi in early 1912, effectively ending over two thousand years of imperial rule. In return, Yuan was chosen as the first official president of the Republic of China after Sun voluntarily stepped aside in his favor.
Yuan's desire for dictatorial power brought him into conflict with the National Assembly and the Kuomintang, provoking a second revolution which was decisively crushed. He then outlawed the KMT and dissolved the National Assembly. In December 1915, in an attempt to further secure his rule, Yuan restored the monarchy and proclaimed himself as the Hongxian Emperor. The move was met with widespread opposition from the general populace, many of his closest supporters in the Beiyang Army, as well as foreign governments. Several military governors and provinces rose in open rebellion. In March 1916, Yuan formally abdicated and restored the Republic, having been emperor for only 83 days. He died of kidney failure in June at the age of 56, leaving behind a significantly weakened Beiyang government and a fragmented political landscape, which soon plunged China into a period of warlordism.
Early life
On 16 September 1859, Yuan Shikai was born in the village of Zhangying to the Yuan Clan which later moved 16 kilometres southeast of Xiangcheng to a hilly area that was easier to defend against bandits. There, the Yuan family had built the fortified village of Yuanzhaicun. He was the fourth of six sons, and in 1866 was adopted by his father's younger brother, until he died in 1873. From that point Yuan was raised by several other uncles, before returning to Xiangcheng in 1878. During those years he had lived in the province of Shandong, and then in Nanjing and Beijing. Yuan's family was affluent enough to provide Yuan with a traditional Confucian education. As a young man he enjoyed riding, hunting with dogs, boxing, and entertainment with friends. Though hoping to pursue a career in the civil service, he failed the imperial examinations twice, in 1876 and 1879, leading him to decide on an entry into politics through the Huai Army, where many of his relatives served. His career began with the purchase of a minor official title in 1880, which was a common method of official promotion in the late Qing.Between 1877 and 1878, Yuan accompanied one of his uncles who was sent to assist relief efforts after a drought in the province of Henan, and Yuan was praised by officials there for his role in helping manage the response, including in punishing those who embezzled relief funds. It was during that time that he began learning about leadership and politics, and made connections with senior government officials. After seeing the conditions in Henan as a result of the natural disaster there, Yuan wrote that he wanted to dedicate himself to "serving the country". Using his father's connections, Yuan traveled to Tengzhou, Shandong, and received a post on the military staff of the commander of the province's coastal defenses, Wu Changching, in 1881. Wu had owed a debt to Yuan's foster father, and also provided Yuan with tutors to help him study for another attempt at the imperial examination. Yuan planned to retake it, but this never happened because his deployment to Korea in 1882. Around this time he expressed his willingness to fight to defend China from foreign powers. Yuan's interest in military history and martials arts made him want to join the army, though he was disillusioned when he saw how poorly the soldiers were paid. Yuan's first marriage was in 1876 to a woman of the Yu family who bore him a first son, Keding, in 1878. Yuan Shikai married nine more concubines throughout the course of his life.
Years in Joseon Korea
In the early 1870s, Korea under the Joseon dynasty was in the midst of a struggle between isolationists under King Gojong's father Heungseon Daewongun, and progressives, led by Empress Myeongseong, who wanted to open trade. After the Meiji Restoration, Japan had adopted an aggressive foreign policy, contesting Chinese domination of the peninsula. Under the Treaty of Ganghwa, which the Koreans signed with reluctance in 1876, Japan was allowed to send diplomatic missions to Hanseong, and opened trading posts in Incheon and Wonsan. Amidst an internal power struggle in 1882 which resulted in the queen's exile, the Viceroy of Zhili, Li Hongzhang, sent 3,000 men of the Huai Army under Wu Changqing into Korea to restore stability, which became Yuan Shikai's first military deployment. Yuan distinguished himself during his service on Wu's staff in Korea, including both in battle and in his administrative ability, and was recommended for promotion to the rank of subprefect by Wu. Yuan also became known for enforcing strict discipline among the Chinese troops in Korea. In the spring of 1884, after Wu returned to China, Yuan became the commander of the Chinese forces in his place. The Korean king proposed that some of his troops be trained by the Chinese, and Yuan Shikai was put in charge of training the Korean royal guard, as the head of a new Capital Guard Command.China's reassertion of suzerainty over Korea aggravated the split between pro-Japanese Korean progressives and pro-Chinese conservatives. In December 1884 the progressives attempted to form a new government with Japanese backing during the Gapsin Coup, and the conservatives led by Queen Min turned to the Chinese garrison for help. Yuan led his troops to defeat the outnumbered Japanese and recover King Gojong. The 26-year-old Yuan established himself as a resourceful leader, and from that point Viceroy Li Hongzhang gave him a critical role in regaining Chinese control of Korea. In October 1885, Yuan was appointed Chinese imperial resident in Korea by Li, restoring a custom that dated back to the Mongol Yuan dynasty. Yuan Shikai spent the next nine years in that position and operated as if he were above the law. He ended any attempts at reform, changed the composition of the Korean government, and worked to minimize any other foreign influence, especially Japanese. Yuan was allied to the corrupt Min oligarchy, and historians have characterized his reign in Korea as a "dark age". His behavior and rule created a lot of antagonism against him and China among Koreans. However, during those years China was able to maintain its control over Korea and contain Japanese and Russian influence. He wanted to remove Gojong from the throne on several occasions, but was prevented from doing so by Li Hongzhang.
In the early 1890s, the Japanese protested that China was obstructing Japan's trade with Korea, but more importantly a rebel movement that threatened Chinese interests, the Donghak Society, emerged in the Korean countryside. It existed for many years and held sporadic protests against corruption and foreign influence, but in early 1894 it had spread rapidly in opposition to the government's taxation policy. The rebels agreed to a ceasefire on 1 June 1894 to remove any pretext for foreign intervention, and on 2 June the Japanese cabinet decided to deploy troops to Korea only if China did so. The Min faction, not being aware of the latter and feeling threatened by the rebels, requested China to send reinforcements on 3 June. They were also advised in this by Yuan Shikai. Japan started military preparations immediately. Within days, over 2,000 Japanese troops landed in Korea and marched to Seoul, and additional troops and warships arrived during the following weeks. They quickly outnumbered the Chinese force in Korea. Yuan requested Li Hongzhang for permission to leave Korea in late June, but this was not granted for twenty days, and he left Seoul on 19 July by disguising himself as a Chinese servant of the Russian military attaché on his way to Beijing. This ended his twelve years in Korea.
Yuan Shikai had three Korean concubines, one of whom was Korean Princess Li's relative, concubine Kim. 15 of Yuan's children came from these three Korean women.
Late Qing dynasty
After returning to China, Yuan was appointed to a post in Zhejiang, but he did not take it up. The First Sino-Japanese War officially began on 1 August 1894 with Japan declaring war on China, and he spent the conflict assisting with the provision of supplies to the Chinese forces in Korea and northeast China, at the request of Li Hongzhang. At this point Yuan also had a positive reputation outside of China, due to his actions in Korea. Japanese Prime Minister Itō Hirobumi had asked Li Hongzhang about Yuan during their negotiations at the end of the war, and remarked that he was talented. Shortly before the Treaty of Shimonoseki ended the Sino-Japanese war in April 1895, U.S. Secretary of State John W. Foster attempted to convince Yuan to lead a military coup against the Qing dynasty.After China's best force, the Huai Army, had been defeated in the war with Japan, the Qing imperial court was willing to create units that were organized entirely along the European model. There were increasing calls after the war to reorganize the Chinese armed forces. Around this time, Yuan had the confidence of senior Qing officials, including Ronglu, the Minister of War, and Yikuang, Prince Qing. Several high-ranking officials, including Yikuang, Weng Tonghe, and Wang Wenshao, signed memorials to the throne in the fall of 1895 asking the Guangxu Emperor to appoint Yuan to oversee military modernization. He was known for having organized Korean forces, defeating the Japanese during the 1880s, and displaying management skills as a logistics officer during the most recent war. After a private meeting with the emperor on 2 August 1895 he was made a member of the council for military issues. Within days, he presented the emperor with a lengthy document on his proposal for creating a Western-style army under centralized Qing control. On 8 December 1895 Yuan was appointed as the commander of the Newly Created Army, which was created on the basis of the Pacification Army that had been raised during the war at the Huai Army training camp in Xiaozhan, near Tianjin.
Yuan immediately set about organizing the brigade-sized Newly Created Army, and spent the next three years developing a force at Xiaozhan that was different from any previous Chinese military, being not only equipped but also organized along the lines of the German Army, and funded by the central government. Particular attention was given to the recruitment and training of the soldiers and officers. It was organized into combat arms and several technical branches, and a staff officer system was also set up with German assistance. The unit was equipped with German weapons and supplies. The Newly Created Army became the basis for his rise to power, and in addition to Yuan, the brigade's officer corps included many other future leaders, including several presidents of the Republic of China and provincial governors. Already in 1896, Yuan's troops received praise from Ronglu, and in July 1897 Yuan was made the provincial judge of Zhili. Between 1895 and 1898 the emperor, being impressed with his efforts at modernizing the military, had several meetings with Yuan, which was rare for an official of his level. Yuan was seen as a member of the reform movement and supported it, though he was focused on his military service and was not involved in their political machinations. At the same Yuan maintained good relations with the conservative Manchu princes, notably Ronglu.
The Qing Court at the time was divided between progressives under the leadership of the Guangxu Emperor and conservatives under Empress Dowager Cixi, who had withdrawn to her Summer Palace and allowed the emperor to lead the government. In June 1898 the Guangxu Emperor launched the Hundred Days' Reform and started issuing dozens of edicts to make changes to China's culture, economy, military, and education system, with the support of reform-minded officials like Kang Youwei. He encountered a lot of resistance from the conservative nobles, who wanted Cixi to return, and his supporters, having no military power of their own, decided to ask Yuan Shikai for help. Yuan's role in these events continues to be debated by historians. The most widely held interpretation has been that the reform advocate Tan Sitong met with Yuan Shikai on 18 September 1898 and asked Yuan to use his troops to kill the conservatives and to arrest Cixi. Yuan betrayed them by giving this information to Ronglu on the evening of 20 September, and based on this, the next morning the conservatives launched a coup d'état that ended the Hundred Days' Reform and placed the Guangxu Emperor into confinement. Yuan's conversation with Ronglu has been accepted as the cause of the coup. However, more recently available evidence has led some historians to conclude that the coup was already being planned by the time Yuan had his conversation with Ronglu, and he was not the reason why it occurred. Yuan most likely knew that his troops would be no match for the larger forces around Beijing and wanted to protect his own position. His report to Ronglu was later used by Cixi to purge many reformers from the government.
Yuan was appointed as acting Viceroy of Zhili and Beiyang Trade Minister for ten days after the coup, which may have been an effort by the conservative faction to keep him away from his troops at Xiaozhan. Ronglu saw Yuan Shikai as reliable subordinate and his support allowed Yuan to not be punished, unlike the other reformers. Later that year several military units in northern China were placed under Ronglu's command as the Wuwei Corps, which also called the Guards Army. Yuan's Newly Created Army became the Right Division of the Guard Army. It was seen as the best trained and equipped among the five divisions of the army, and his success opened the way for his rise to the top in both military and political sectors. During 1899 he wrote several proposals to the Qing court in military reform. In June 1899, he was made the junior vice president of the Ministry of Works by Empress Dowager Cixi. As tensions increased between the locals and foreigners in the province of Shandong, beginning the Boxer Rebellion, Yuan was sent there in December 1899 as the acting provincial governor. He was confirmed as governor in March 1900.
During his three-year tenure the Boxer Rebellion erupted; Yuan ensured the suppression of Boxers in the province, though his troops took no active part outside Shandong itself. Yuan took the side of the pro-foreign faction in the imperial court. He refused to side with the Boxers and attack the Eight-Nation Alliance forces, joining with other Chinese governors who commanded substantial modernized armies like Zhang Zhidong not participating in the Boxer Rebellion. He and Zhang ignored Cixi's declaration of war against the foreign powers and continued to suppress the Boxers. This clique was known as the Mutual Defence Pact of Southeast China. In addition to suppressing the Boxers in Shandong, Yuan and his army also helped the Eight-Nation Alliance suppress them in Zhili after captured Peking in August 1900. Yuan Shikai's forces massacred tens of thousands of people in their anti-Boxer campaign in Zhili. Yuan operated out of Baoding during the campaign, which ended in 1902. The Boxer Rebellion decimated the other divisions of the Guards Army, and after it was over the Qing court wanted rebuild the defenses of the Beijing area, appointing Yuan to oversee this task. In late 1901 he was made the acting Viceroy of Zhili and Beiyang Trade Minister after the death of Li Hongzhang, so he was also in charge of the foreign and military affairs of northern China. These appointments to powerful positions in the capital region showed the trust that the empress dowager had in Yuan Shikai. He was confirmed as viceroy in June 1902. Yuan was given several other offices around that time, including as director of the northern railways and director of telegraphs.
Having gained powerful allies that included Empress Dowager Cixi, and being appointed as the Viceroy of Zhili and Beiyang Trade Minister, Yuan was in a position that allowed him to expand his army and increase its funding. It was at this time that Yuan established the Beiyang Army, with the creation of the Left Division of the Beiyang Standing Army in October 1902. In December 1902 he was also ordered to train several thousand Manchu Bannermen, and these later became the 1st Division of the Beiyang Army, while the Left Division was renamed the 2nd Division. It was meant to become the core of a Chinese regular army, and although Yuan had a lot of influence over it, the central government had administrative control and provided the army's funding. In 1904 Yuan used the Russo-Japanese War to convince Cixi to authorize the creation of more divisions. Because of this the Beiyang Army reached a strength of 60,000 men. In mid-1902 he established a military staff to assist him in his role as Beiyang Army commander, and its two most prominent members were Feng Guozhang and Duan Qirui. The "Beiyang clique" became the origin of the majority of warlords in northern China during the warlord period in the 1910s and 1920s. As one historian wrote, "the Army was the most significant military development in China between the and Huai Armies which suppressed the Taiping and rebellions in the 1860's and the army that Chiang Kai-shek raised and employed in the northern expedition of 1926-27."
In 1905, acting on Yuan's advice, Dowager-Empress Cixi issued a decree ending the traditional Confucian examination system that was formalized in 1906. She ordered the Ministry of Education to implement a system of primary and secondary schools and universities with state-mandated curriculum, modelled after the educational system of Meiji-era Japan. On 27 August 1908, the Qing court promulgated "Principles for a Constitution", which Yuan helped to draft. This document called for a constitutional government with a strong monarchy, with a constitution to be issued by 1916 and an elected parliament by 1917.
Yuan Shikai's Han-dominated New Army was primarily responsible for the defence of Beijing, as most of the modernized Eight Banner divisions were destroyed in the Boxer Rebellion and the new modernized Banner forces were token in nature.
The Empress Dowager and the Guangxu Emperor died within a day of each other in November 1908. Sources indicate that the will of the emperor ordered Yuan's execution. Nonetheless, he avoided death. In January 1909, he was relieved of all his posts by the regent, Prince Chun. The public reason for Yuan's resignation was that he was returning to his home in the village of Huanshang, the prefecture-level city of Anyang, due to a foot disease.
During his three years of effective exile, Yuan kept contact with his close allies, including Duan Qirui, who reported to him regularly about army proceedings. Yuan had arranged for the marriage of his niece to Duan as a means to consolidate power. The loyalty of the Beiyang Army was still undoubtedly behind him. Having this strategic military support, Yuan held the balance of power between various revolutionaries and the Qing court. Both wanted Yuan on their side.