China’s 1911 Revolution

How was weak government a cause of the revolution?

• In November 1908, both Emperor Guangxu and Empress Cixi died

  • New emperor, Puyi was two years old

    • As a result, Prince Chun (his brother) stepped in but was inexperienced and a weak leader

How did the failure of political reforms lead to the 1911 revolution?

• Self strengthening reforms were too little and too late

• There was still Manchu domination in the National Consultative Council, which angered the Han Chinese

• There were significant limits on provincial assemblies

  • 0.4% of the population had the right to vote

  • any changes approved were delayed for 9 years.

• Government didn’t listen to calls for faster reforms

How did the consequences of military reforms lead to the 1911 revolution?

• Prince Chun increased taxes on tea, wine, salt and land in order to pay for reforms

  • this on top of taxes to pay reparations to foreign powers made the tax burden very high

• Chun sacked Yuan Shikai on the grounds that he had become too powerful

  • Yuan wanted revenge on the dynasty

How did the spread of revolutionary ideas lead to the 1911 revolution?

• Sun Yat Sen, having been educated in the US, returned to China and brought ideas of nationalism and republicanism with him

  • His ideas were especially popular among young Chinese men who travelled to Japan to complete their educations

    • Due to educational reforms

How did growing resentment over the control of China’s railways lead to the 1911 revolution?

• Nationalisation increased Manchu control in the provinces

  • past owners thought they deserved more compensation for giving up ownership

• Qing dynasty paid for expansion of the railways by taking loans from foreign powers

  • granted further concessions to foreign companies to build the new lines

  • looked as if they were in partnership with ‘foreign devils’

What was the double tenth?

• 10th October 1911

• A group of soldiers in Wuhan started a mutiny which spread to all but 3 Chinese provinces south of Beijing

  • Han soldiers revolted against Manchu soldiers and massacred the troops

  • Yuan Shikai returns to Beijing to form a Han government.