The
National Protection War , also known as the
anti-Monarchy War, was a
civil warA civil war is a war between organized groups within a single nation state, or, less commonly, between two nations created from a formerly-united nation state. The aim of one side may be to take control of the nation or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies...
that took place in
ChinaChina is a cultural region, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
between 1915 and 1916. The cause of this war was
Yuan ShikaiYuan Shikai was an important Chinese general and politician famous for his influence during the late Qing Dynasty, his role in the events leading up to the abdication of the last Qing Emperor of China, his autocratic rule as the...
's proclamation of himself as Emperor. Only three years earlier, the last Chinese dynasty, the
Qing DynastyThe Qing Dynasty , also known as the Manchu Dynasty, was the last ruling dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912...
, had been overthrown and a
Republic of ChinaThe Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan, is a state in East Asia that has evolved from a single-party state with full global recognition and jurisdiction over China into a democratic state with limited international recognition and jurisdiction only over Taiwan and minor islands, though it...
established in its place. As a result of this declaration, military leaders including
Tang JiyaoTang Jiyao was a Chinese general and warlord of Yunnan during the Warlord Era of Republican China.Tang was born in Huize county in 1883 in nowadays Qujing, Yunnan province...
,
Cai ECai E or Tsai Ao was a Chinese revolutionary leader and warlord. He was born Cai Genyin in Shaoyang, Hunan and his courtesy name was Songpo ....
, and
Li LiejunLi Liejun, 李烈钧, was a Chinese revolutionary leader and general.Li was born in Wuning, Jiangxi, China. He went on to get a higher education and was sent to the Imperial Japanese Army Academy where he joined the Chinese Revolutionary Alliance...
declared their independence in
YunnanYunnan is a province of the People's Republic of China, located in the far southwest of the country spanning approximately 394,000 square kilometers . The capital of the province is Kunming...
Province and launched expeditions against Yuan.
The
National Protection War , also known as the
anti-Monarchy War, was a
civil warA civil war is a war between organized groups within a single nation state, or, less commonly, between two nations created from a formerly-united nation state. The aim of one side may be to take control of the nation or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies...
that took place in
ChinaChina is a cultural region, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
between 1915 and 1916. The cause of this war was
Yuan ShikaiYuan Shikai was an important Chinese general and politician famous for his influence during the late Qing Dynasty, his role in the events leading up to the abdication of the last Qing Emperor of China, his autocratic rule as the...
's proclamation of himself as Emperor. Only three years earlier, the last Chinese dynasty, the
Qing DynastyThe Qing Dynasty , also known as the Manchu Dynasty, was the last ruling dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912...
, had been overthrown and a
Republic of ChinaThe Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan, is a state in East Asia that has evolved from a single-party state with full global recognition and jurisdiction over China into a democratic state with limited international recognition and jurisdiction only over Taiwan and minor islands, though it...
established in its place. As a result of this declaration, military leaders including
Tang JiyaoTang Jiyao was a Chinese general and warlord of Yunnan during the Warlord Era of Republican China.Tang was born in Huize county in 1883 in nowadays Qujing, Yunnan province...
,
Cai ECai E or Tsai Ao was a Chinese revolutionary leader and warlord. He was born Cai Genyin in Shaoyang, Hunan and his courtesy name was Songpo ....
, and
Li LiejunLi Liejun, 李烈钧, was a Chinese revolutionary leader and general.Li was born in Wuning, Jiangxi, China. He went on to get a higher education and was sent to the Imperial Japanese Army Academy where he joined the Chinese Revolutionary Alliance...
declared their independence in
YunnanYunnan is a province of the People's Republic of China, located in the far southwest of the country spanning approximately 394,000 square kilometers . The capital of the province is Kunming...
Province and launched expeditions against Yuan. Yuan's army faced several defeats which led other provinces in the south to declare independence as well. With immense pressure from the entire nation, Yuan Shikai was forced to abdicate and died a few months later.
Origin
After Yuan Shikai plotted the assassination in 1913 of
Song JiaorenSong Jiaoren was a Chinese republican revolutionary, political leader and a founder of the Kuomintang .-Biography:...
, a prominent leader of the
KuomintangThe Kuomintang of China , translated as the Chinese Nationalist Party, is a political party of the Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan since the 1970s. It is the founding and the ruling political party of the ROC...
,
Sun Yat-senSun Yat-sen was a Chinese revolutionary and political leader. As the foremost pioneer of Republican China, Sun is frequently referred to as the Father of the Nation. Sun played an instrumental role in overthrowing the Qing Dynasty in October 1911, the last imperial dynasty of China...
launched the
Second Revolution against Yuan. It was unsuccessful and Sun was forced to flee to
Japanis an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
while the Kuomintang was dissolved. Between August and December 1915, supporters of Yuan began to clamour for the restoration of a Chinese monarchy. On December 12, Yuan officially crowned himself as the emperor of the
Chinese EmpireThe Empire of China was a short-lived attempt by statesman and general Yuan Shikai from late 1915 to early 1916 to reinstate monarchy in China...
.
Process
Shortly after Yuan proclaimed himself Emperor, military leaders
Cai ECai E or Tsai Ao was a Chinese revolutionary leader and warlord. He was born Cai Genyin in Shaoyang, Hunan and his courtesy name was Songpo ....
and
Tang JiyaoTang Jiyao was a Chinese general and warlord of Yunnan during the Warlord Era of Republican China.Tang was born in Huize county in 1883 in nowadays Qujing, Yunnan province...
of
YunnanYunnan is a province of the People's Republic of China, located in the far southwest of the country spanning approximately 394,000 square kilometers . The capital of the province is Kunming...
Province declared independence on December 25 in the provincial capital,
KunmingKunming is a prefecture-level city and capital of Yunnan province, in southwestern China. Because of its year-round temperate climate, Kunming is often called the "Spring City" or "City of Eternal Spring" ....
. They organized the
National Protection Army and began an expedition against Yuan. Yuan Shikai sent 80,000 men in an attempt to attack Yunnan, but his troops suffered a major defeat in
Sichuan' is a province in Southwestern China with its capital in Chengdu. The current name of the province, 四川 , is an abbreviation of 四川路 , or "Four circuits of rivers", which is itself abbreviated from 川峡四路 , or "Four circuits of rivers and gorges", named after the division of the...
Province. Before this defeat,
Guizhou' is a province of the People's Republic of China located in the southwestern part of the country. Its provincial capital city is Guiyang.- History :...
and
GuangxiThis article is about a region of China. For the sociological concept, see Guānxi.Guangxi is a Zhuang autonomous region of the People's Republic of China....
Provinces declared their independence between February and March 1916.
GuangdongGuangdong is a province on the southern coast of People's Republic of China. The province was previously often written with the alternative English name Kwangtung Province...
,
ShandongFor the people of Shandong, see Shandong people' is a coastal province of eastern People's Republic of China. Its abbreviation is Lǔ, after the state of Lu that existed here during the Spring and Autumn Period....
,
Hunan' is a province of China, located to the south of the middle reaches of the Yangtze River and south of Lake Dongting...
,
Shanxi' is a province in the northern part of the People's Republic of China. Its one-character abbreviation is Jin , after the state of Jin that existed here during the Spring and Autumn Period....
,
Jiangxi' is a southern province of the People's Republic of China, spanning from the banks of the Yangtze River in the north into hillier areas in the south....
,
Jiangsu' is a province of the People's Republic of China, located along the east coast of the country. The name comes from jiang, short for the city of Jiangning , and su, for the city of Suzhou...
all followed suit and declared their independence shortly thereafter, and discord began to surface even inside the government in the national capital of
BeijingBeijing is a metropolis in northern China and the capital of the People's Republic of China...
. Faced with surmounting pressure, Yuan Shikai was forced to abdicate on March 22 and died soon after on June 6. The National Protection War was proclaimed a success, with the provinces rescinding their declarations of independence.
Influence
The National Protection War symbolized the beginning of the separation between the North and the South after the establishment of the Republic of China. Yuan Shikai was a legitimate president of the Republic, but his attempt to become Emperor was thwarted by the military opposition of the southern provinces. Even after the end of Yuan's short-lived monarchy, the
Beiyang governmentThe Beiyang government or warlord government collectively refers to a series of military regimes that ruled from Beijing from 1912 to 1928 at Zhongnanhai. It was internationally recognized as the legitimate Government of the Republic of China...
in Beijing was no longer able to maintain control over the military leaders of the southern provinces. After the death of Yuan Shikai, the Beiyang government lost its leadership over warlords in the provinces and infighting among cliques within the Beiyang government began in earnest; meanwhile Sun Yat-sen of the
KuomintangThe Kuomintang of China , translated as the Chinese Nationalist Party, is a political party of the Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan since the 1970s. It is the founding and the ruling political party of the ROC...
created a military government in
GuangzhouGuangzhou , in English formerly known as Canton and also known as Kwangchow, is a sub-provincial city and the capital of Guangdong Province in the southern part of the People's Republic of China.It is a port on the Pearl River,...
in the far south, leading to the protection of the Constitution.
China's
Warlord EraThe warlord era is the period in the history of the Republic of China, from 1916 to 1928, when the country was divided among military cliques, a division that continued until the fall of the Nationalist government in the mainland China regions of Sichuan, Shanxi, Qinghai, Ningxia, Guangdong,...
would last for years until
Chiang Kai-shekChiang Kai-shek was a political and military leader of 20th century China. He was an influential member of the Kuomintang and Sun Yat-sen's close ally. He became the commandant of Kuomintang's Whampoa Military Academy and took Sun's place in the party when the latter died in 1925...
unified China through the Northern Expedition, the
Central Plains WarCentral Plains War was a civil war within the factionalised Kuomintang that broke out in 1930. It was fought between the forces of Chiang Kai-shek and the coalition of three military commanders who had previously allied with Chiang: Yan Xishan, Feng Yuxiang, and Li Zongren...
and many other civil wars before the onset of the
Second Sino-Japanese WarThe Second Sino-Japanese War was a military conflict fought between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. From 1937 to 1941, China fought Japan with some economic help from Germany and the Soviet Union...
.