Firstly, this is a big revolution to cover, for a number of reasons. One, I could look at the first revolution, but both the communist and Xinhai revolutions are quite connected, two, because the factors for revolution can date back to 270 years prior to the actual revolution and three, because the factors are huge areas of study in themselves. I must consider how on earth i'm actually going to present three revolutions, and discuss their factors IN TEN MINUTES! (Pattern of current thought: wiuvcbwhibaiuycbwiyfbic2biwqfbiyv4cbiy!!!!!!). Anyway, i've done a large amount of research on this one revolution and must admit that it has been particularly interesting. My information has come from three major sources Alpha History's page on the 1911 Xinhai revolution, H.R Cowie's chapter on 'European Imperialism in China and the first chinese revolution' in his book I have mentioned in previous blogs, and a little embellishment from the film 1911 Revolution, which proved to be a decently accurate depiction of the revolution (and a brilliant movie might I say, I do recommend!).
Alpha History - The 1911 Xinhai revolution
This page was used majorly to give me a general idea as to what exactly occurred with the 1911 revolution, what it was about and who overthrew who etc etc. Similar to many other revolutions, the Xinhai revolution was the overthrow of the chinese monarchy that had been in place for centuries prior. This was the Qing (Ching) dynasty, which was said to be gravely weakened through the humiliation China suffered throughout the 1800's and early 1900's.
As an outline to what happened, the boxer rebellion prior to 1911 (which was a movement that seeked to destroy western and christian influence by targeting western 'messiahs' and chinese christian converts - it resulted in brutal slaughter of both these christian people from the chinese rebels and also slaughter then of these rebels from the european powers seeking revenge) had led to the Boxer protocol, which meant that the Qing now owed large reparations to the alliance of european powers as they were all annoyed that their people had died. This sum of money was so large that it would not have been paid off until 1940, should the Qing government had remained in power. The Qing was now greatly in debt and unable to produce what it needed for its country and then people got angry and decided to remove this totalitarian monarchial power that they'd had and believed in for thousands of years.
This article goes on to address the failing monarchy as a reason or factor for revolution, claiming it occurred as a result of the dispute regarding the ownership of a railway, which isn't at all false. But what it failed to address, is that unlike any previous rebellion, the Qing were not overthrown and replaced with another family who ruled with the same system of government, but for the first time in all of China's history, there was an overthrow and a quest for a Chinese republic. The question that needs to be asked in this case is 'why?'.
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| Art depicting the struggle between republican and Qing forces in 1911 |
Apart from this, the article does a very good job at examining the trigger for this revolution (I do detest the point that the 'cause' was a railway dispute, this was another trigger, the 'cause' occurred many years before). The following is what the article claims to be the 'catalyst' for revolution: "The catalyst for revolution was a Qing decision to nationalise two privately-owned railways in central China, to help fund the government’s Boxer Protocol reparations. When this nationalisation was announced in May 1911 it created a firestorm of protest, particularly in Sichuan province, where a large number of businessmen had invested their own money in the railway. Facing considerable losses, these investors created the Railway Protection Movement, which organised strikes and protests in Chengdu, the Sichuan capital." The Qing government fearing the loss of power, then went and formed counter revolutionary groups, but these were filled with soldiers and officers who had secretly joined literature groups and met regularly to discuss political literature, they had connected and been conversing with these radical revolutionaries. The Wuchang regiment eventually mutinied, declaring Hubei (the province in which they were situated) a republican province. This then sparked a revolutionary 'fever' in many other provinces, and they too began to rebel.
Historian Michael Dillon, who was quoted in this article, makes an important point by stating “The Qing government was overthrown, not by a single rebellion but by a decentralised movement that devolved power to the provinces. However it proved extremely difficult to replace it with a government that was acceptable to all the provinces and regional economic and political interests that had been involved in the struggle to bring down the Manchus. Support for a constitutional monarchy had ebbed away and there was broad agreement among political activists that China needed a republican government – but there was no common understanding of what that would involve in practice, how it should be implemented and, of more immediate importance, who should be in power.”
This suggests that one of the largest and most important key factors of this revolution was the inadequacy of the Qing government. Secondly, it provides a reason as to why this revolution can be considered almost unsuccessful - whilst the republicans claimed power, China, previously a unified power for many years, found itself split once again, until the communist revolution in 1949.
These five points at the end of the article provide a good summary of the revolution:
- The 1911 Revolution was a spontaneous nationwide rebellion that erupted across China in the last weeks of 1911.
- The catalyst for this revolution was the Railway Protection Movement that emerged in Sichuan in mid-1911.
- New Army units were mobilised in Hubei but more than 2,000 soldiers were republican and potentially revolutionary.
- Incidents in October led to a mutiny in Wuchang, where these soldiers took the city and formed a rebel government.
- Dissatisfaction with the Qing and the success of the Wuchang uprising inspired rebellions in a multitude of cities and regions around China. By the end of 1911 the nation was in chaos and republicans had formed a nationalist government in Nanjing, led by Sun Yixian – however the Qing remained.
I must admit I am writing this prior to looking at all three sources, and I must simply add here to the end, that an abdication of Puyi (the two year old emperor at the time), was eventually forced and President Yuan took over, in hope of reuniting china - The exact opposite was a result.
Historical Film - 1911 Revolution
I obviously can't take a great deal of information from this source, but I cannot deny that it aided so much my understanding of the chinese revolution, and I must admit, that it was in particular the end of this film that triggered some thought regarding the nature of revolution.
"Today you ask me, what does revolution mean? Perhaps people will ask the same question, centuries later. Qiu Jin, our Tongmenghui member, who was killed in Shaoxing said, Revolution will provide all children a peaceful and gentle world. Lin Juemin, one of the martyrs of Huanghuanang, wrote to his wife: Revolution seeks eternal happiness for everyone in the world. I believe the revolution enables a republican system to reach the people. People will understand we'll fight whoever dares support the monarchy. Revolution enables factories, banks, railroads, mines owned by Chinese to benefit the people. Revolution enables our Chinese race to become strong, no longer bullied by others. We will no longer be slaves. Revolution can take place anywhere, anytime, in any heart, forever, forever, no longer afraid of foreign powers, ridding the country of feudalism and royalty. No one will be impoverished, and the Chinese people can stand tall in the east. This is the meaning of revolution."
Now, what needs to be considered here, is that this was a film created to commemorate the revolution in 1911 (it was made in 2011, as part of the centenary celebration), and so therefore, it doesn't exactly explore its failings beyond the rise of the President Yuan and the abdication of Puyi, the Qing emperor. However the end explores a number of points regarding the purpose of this particular revolution, and at the very least, what the revolution was 'meant to' achieve.
It also highlights one of the factors touched on in the Alpha History article, and explored thoroughly in Cowie's book. This was the need for revolution and the effect the European imperialist powers had on China, furthermore, its push to industrialise with the external influence of Europe and the Americas bringing forth to China, ideas of democracy and republicanism, where ideas of feudalism and monarchy were accepted within government.
I have posted below the video of the trailer for the movie. The entire movie is also on youtube, but lacking english subtitles.
European Imperialism in China and the First Chinese Revolution - H.R. Cowie
I must admit that this was the most helpful in looking at the factors of revolution. In fact the first half of the chapter explicitly explains the cause of this revolution which can be dated back to the rise of the Qing dynasty, almost 270 years prior to the revolution. It cannot be denied that the catalyst for this revolution was indeed European Imperialism (yes, Europe are at it again...). Of course it wasn't imperialism in itself that caused a revolution as it was not the imperialist powers the revolutionaries sought to overthrow, but it was the driving force that weakened the Qing dynasty through two things:
- Western Political Ideas
- Western Military and Trade Influence
Now, as Cowie states, the Manchu (Qing) dynasty were from the north, or Manchuria. And henceforth, already, they were seen as foreigners, imposing a foreign rule. Here already, we find that the foundations in which this dynasty came to power was significantly weak. The Manchu had to find means to promote their rule as righteous and legitimate, they even renamed the dynasty 'Qing' which means pure or clear, to further impose this legitimacy. Cowie states "When Chinese civilisation was forced, through its military weaknesses, to yield so many humiliating concessions to the West, doubts grew about the authority of the Qing", and so therefore, whilst the power was already somewhat weak through its foundation, natural rebellion and overthrow of this dynasty would simply lead to another dynasty in its place, as what had occurred many times in Chinese history. However, from this, it can be argued that European influence, European Imperialism of China, was what led this country to so strongly believe, that not only did it need an overthrow of power, but it needed a revolution, and a different form of government - A republic.
Western Military and Trade influence
I will begin with this component of imperialism as it was probably a big instigator of political ideas as well as the revolution. Overall, this military influence proved the idea that the Qing dynasty was weak and unable to rule China, and essentially led to its collapse. I also think this map in Cowie's book is very relevant in determining why the Chinese had such a distaste for the European powers.
I mean, EXCUSE you Britain!? How would you like it if I took a big CHUNK out of you like that? And France, just take the entire bottom of China why don't you!? I think the worst part here is that none of these 'claims' were never officially 'claimed'. In the sense that colonies were never established, only trading ports, and Europe took control of these areas in ways where they could gain all the advantages of trade but were not responsible for the welfare of the Chinese people. I think that was rather RUDE of them. Apologies, I digress and will now proceed to comment on a number of factors and events which led to this particular issue, and I will attempt to be as brief as possible.
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| Political Cartoon - From left to right you have Britain, Germany, Russia, France and Japan. Then you have what appears to be China in the background doing the whole 'WHAT THE HELL!?' pose (I would be like that too China...), simply, it does a good job at summarising European imperialism in China. (I love political cartoons!) |
- Primarily due to an Inferior military: Untouched for thousands of years, whilst an advanced race in ancient times, had since failed to advance and industrialise with the rest of Europe, as Cowie states "In a series of bitter experiences, the Chinese discovered that they lacked the technology to resist the demands of European powers... the Chinese people, acting on the conviction that their ruling dynasty could no longer resist the foreign intrusions, staged a revolution and proclaimed a republic ... carried hopes ... Chinese people could be independent of foreign domination and free to devise their own system of government"
- The Opium Wars (1839-42 and 1856-60): The port of Guangzhou was the first concession of permitted trade with the Europeans, which inevitably led to disaster. The Chinese here believed they had the power to control the 'foreign devils' and trading was good for the first few years where Europe mainly purchased from China (goods such as silk and tea), yet China, hoping to prevent European influence did not purchase from the Europeans - until they began to offer opium. Opium was not legally permitted to be imported, but however was still bought and spread across China. This led to Chinese authorities asking Britian to remove their supplies, which resulted in a scramble, which resulted in a death, which resulted in two British frigates, without warning, blowing up two chinese boats (what the hell Britain!?), which then finally, resulted in the opium wars. Because of China's weak naval power, Britain carried this battle all the way up into ports along the Yangzi river. In short countries kept attacking China and they kept losing military power. Cowie states "The chinese were grossly humiliated by these European and American intrusions. Exposed by their relative military weakness in contrast with the industrially powerful European nations, the Chinese had been forced to agree to treaties that stressed their inferiority."
- Japanese War with China (1894-95): Here the Japanese destroyed all of what was left of the Chinese navy and China was forced to sign the Treaty of Shimonoseki, which meant China had to pay a huge indemnity to Japan (they had to borrow from European powers to do this), they had to recognise independence of Korea, concede Taiwan and the Pescadores Islands to Japan and grant Japan access to trading ports. Cowie states "The total powerlessness of the Manchu regime was now revealed".
- The Boxer Rebellion: As the intrusions of european powers in China grew, so did the resentment towards them, and particular anger was directed towards Christian missionaries. The boxer rebellion was essentially an uprising against European missionaries and the Chinese Christian converts, Cixi (the Dowager Empress at the time), was found to be secretly encouraging this movement as she believed it would repel the European 'intruders'. However it did not work and China ended up with the 'Boxer Protocol' (and a bunch of slaughtered rebels as a form of revenge from the European powers), which were more heavy financial reparations imposed on the Chinese. Cowie concludes that "The officials of the Qing dynasty, propped up by western powers survived until 1912, but they carried the shame of persistent humiliation. Through their refusal to implement systematic reforms of Chinese society they kept China weak in the face of Western challenge, allowed the Middle Kingdom to become a pawn to European imperialism, and virtually ensured their own eventual overthrow through revolution"
Western Political ideas
Whilst the influence of the European imperialist powers inflicted damage militarily, and reduced the amount of power the Qing dynasty had over Europe, it also did something else. Whilst the above paragraphs are more concerned with the fact that the factor of imperialism weakened the government in place, this paragraph in terms of 'political ideas' suggests that not only did this imperialism bring superior military, which was able to oppress the Chinese, but it also brought with it ideas regarding different political system, and ideas of democracy and republicanism, that the Chinese had not heard of before. It could be said that this was a driving factor behind the revolution being a revolution and not a rebellion.
A number of instances had occurred in Chinese history where there has been a rebellion and a replacement of one dynasty with another, but there were no changes made to the methodologies of ruling. These new ideas that imperialism had brought to China were crucial to the outcome of the Xinhai revolution.
Sun Yatsen, who becomes the first president of China is a prime example of the implementation of these ideas. He had not lived in China since he was 12 and through living overseas, he became educated in the western ways and experienced western principles of liberalism and democracy. And henceforth, he brought to China these ideas of republicanism. Not only did he bring these ideas to China, but also many other Chinese men who had received western education.
The Taiping rebellion was an example where the western influence could be seen in Chinese rebellion, this was for the fact that it showed reliance on Western influences in that it was vaguely based on Protestant Christian teachings. Interestingly, it is said that "Leaders of modern-day Communist China acknowledge the Taiping rebellion as a prelude to their regime, not for its christian associations, but because of its anti-western policy and its programmes for land reform and the redistribution of wealth to ensure the elimination of inequality". And so here we find that imperialism, and the western powers have influenced ways of thinking amongst the Chinese, once again, crucial to the revolution.
There were still a number of points that Cowie made in regard to the revolution. Like the Russian revolution, there was a monarchy that existed that was unwilling to concede its power to the people, and unwilling to change to suit the kind of government that China did need at this time. So here we can probably conclude that it was a combination of poor leadership of the Qing dynasty, Chinese discontent for the negative effects imperialism suffered from the European powers, and the new and refreshing ideas of liberalism and democracy brought from the west that instigated, and led to the Xinghai revolution of 1911.
Wow I spent a lot of time on that post! Good thing is, that all my research for china is now completed, obviously i'll still be looking at historians who will look at this particular Chinese revolution and evaluate it as a revolution, and the factors for revolution etc. Now just for three other revolutions.
~ 革命万岁 ~
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