| Second Revolution | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the aftermath of theFirst Revolution | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 10,000 | Unknown | ||||||
TheSecond Revolution (Chinese:二次革命;pinyin:Èrcì Gémìng) was a failed 1913 revolt by the governors of several southern Chinese provinces and supporters ofSun Yat-sen'sKuomintang (KMT) against theBeiyang government of theRepublic of China, led byYuan Shikai. It was quickly defeated by Yuan's armies and led to the continued consolidation of Yuan's powers asPresident of the Republic of China.
In the1912 election, the KMT won a majority of seats to theNational Assembly, and its leaderSong Jiaoren was to be the premier. Song was assassinated on 22 March 1913, likely on Yuan's orders, after which Sun urged an immediate military expedition. The military campaign was postponed as Yuan began to dismiss republican governors from their offices. On 12 July,Li Liejun declared the independence ofJiangxi, and five other provinces and Shanghai followed suit.Huang Xing arrived in Nanjing and organized an anti-Yuan force, but his poorly organized troops were quickly crushed by soldiers of theBeiyang Army. Nanjing was captured on 1 September 1913, and all six provinces soon surrendered. Sun and Huang fled to Japan, and the Second Revolution concluded in failure.
The failed revolution is namedGuichou because it occurred in 1913, the stem-branch year ofguǐ-chǒu (癸丑) in thesexagenary cycle of the traditionalChinese calendar, just as theXinhai Revolution occurred in 1911, the year ofxīn-hài (辛亥).
Kuomintang leaderSong Jiaoren was assassinated in March 1913. Some people believe that Yuan Shikai was responsible, and although it has never been proven, he had already arranged the assassination of several pro-revolutionist generals. Animosity towards Yuan grew. In April he secured a Reorganization Loan of 25 millionpounds sterling fromGreat Britain,France,Russia,Germany andJapan, without consulting theparliament first. The loan was used to finance Yuan'sBeiyang Army.[1]
On May 20, 1913, Yuan concludeda deal with Russia that granted Russia special privileges inOuter Mongolia and restricted Chinese right to station troops there.[2] Kuomintang members of the Parliament accused Yuan of abusing his rights and called for his removal. On the other hand, theProgressive Party (Chinese:進步黨;pinyin:Jìnbùdǎng), which was composed of constitutional monarchists and supported Yuan, accused the Kuomintang of fomenting an insurrection. Yuan then decided to use military action against the Kuomintang.[3]
There were several underlying reasons for the Second Revolution besides Yuan's abuse of power. First was that mostRevolutionary Armies from different provinces were disbanded after the establishment of the Republic of China, and many officers and soldiers felt that they were not compensated for toppling the Qing Dynasty. These factors gave rise to much discontent against the new government among the military. Secondly, many revolutionaries felt that Yuan Shikai andLi Yuanhong were undeserving of the posts of presidency and vice presidency, because they acquired the posts through political maneuvering rather than participation in the revolutionary movement. Lastly, Yuan's use of violence (such as Song's assassination) dashed the Kuomintang's hope of achieving reforms and political goals through electoral means.
In the beginning of May,Li Chun led the 8th Division fromBaoding toWuhan and brought hiscrack troops to reinforceShanghai.[4]: 122 On June 9, President Yuan removed KMT supporterLi Liejun asGovernor of Jiangxi, and replaced him with Vice PresidentLi Yuanhong.[4]: 122 Some modern scholars have rehabilitated Li Liejun in this light.[5]
On June 13, Military Governor of GuangdongHu Hanmin (Kuomintang) was appointed to a position inTibet, and was replaced byChen Jiongming.[4]: 122 On June 30, Anhui GovernorBai Wenwei (KMT) was also dismissed. On the same day,Li Yuanhong made mass arrests of underground party leaders inWuhan.[4]: 122 At the behest ofJiujiang garrison commander Chen Tingxun, Yuan sent theBeiyang Army 6th Division under command ofLi Chun intoJiangxi on July 3rd.[6]
On July 12Li Liejun returned to Jiangxi, and atHukou, proclaimed the independence ofJiangxi.[7]
On July 15,Huang Xing arrived atNanjing, organized an anti-Yuan force, and forced Jiangsu GovernorCheng Dequan [zh] to declare independence. Cheng acceded, and then fled to Shanghai under a pretext of medical issues.
On July 17,Anhui governorBo Wenwei [zh], declared his province's independence. On the 18,Chen Qimei announced Shanghai's independence. On July 18,Chen Jiongming declared Guangdong's independence.[8] On July 19,Sun Daoren [zh] andXu Chongzhi [zh] announcedFujian's independence over telegram.
On July 22, anti-Yuan forces were defeated aroundXuzhou by theBeiyang Army 2nd Division led byFeng Guozhang andZhang Xun and retreated to Nanjing. From the 22nd to 28th, anti-Yuan forces attempted to capture theJiangnan Arsenal, but theBeiyang Army was able to resist the attack with assistance from theBeiyang Navy.[9] After this battle, Zhenjiang and Suezhou rescinded their declarations of independence.
On July 26,Long Jiguang's forces headed towardsZhaoqing where Li Yaohan of the Zhaoqing Army joined him on the 30th.[10] On August 3, his army enteredSanshui District.[11]
On July 31, Ni Sichong's Beiyang force surroundedFengtai and captured the surroundingHuaiyuan County. On August 2,Fengtai fell to the Beiyang forces.[12]
On August 4 inChongqing,Xiong Kewu declaredSichuan independent. Yuan Shikai orderedYunnan's military governor and warlordTang Jiyao and his army into Sichuan to suppress the rebellion. However,Long Jiguang, governor of Guangzhou, would succeed in defeating Xiong Kewu's forces ahead of Tang's.
On August 5, Beiyang forces capturedShou County. On August 7, Hu Wantai revolted against Anhui governor Bei in support of Yuan, and 4 days later took control of the provincial capital ofAnqing.
On the 8th,He Haiming [zh] declared Nanjing's independence for a second time, however that evening the declaration was cancelled. The next day, Sun Daoren rescinded Fujian's independence via telegram message.
On August 11, He Haiming again declared independence in Nanjing, and led 2000 soldiers in a bloody revolt against theBeiyang Army. Two days later, the pro-YuanJi Army led byLong Jiguang capturedGuangzhou. That same day,Tan Yankai took to telegram to rescind Hunan's declaration of independence, theBeiyang Navy tookWusong, and anti-Yuan forces inJiading were dispersed.
On August 18, a Beiyang Army under command of Li Chun captured Nanchang. The next day,Ni Sichong's Beiyang forces enteredHefei. He then reached Anqing on the 25th, tookWuhu on the 28th, and sent a detachment of troops led by Hu Wantai to captureHuizhou, which they did on the 29th.[13] On September 1,Zhang Xun'sWuwei Corps capturedNanjing.
On September 11, Xiong Kewu abandoned Chongqing, dispersed his forces, assumed an alias, and fled. The next day,Tang Jiyao and his Ji Army entered Chongqing and the Second Revolution was defeated in its entirety.[14]
The KMT's "Second Revolution" ended in failure as Yuan's troops achieved complete victory over revolutionary uprisings. Provincial governors with KMT loyalties who remained willingly submitted to Yuan. Because those commanders not loyal to Yuan were effectively removed from power, the Second Revolution cemented Yuan's power.[15]
Just after the end of the revolt,Sun Yat-sen fled to Japan for a second time, and re-established theRevive China Society.
In January 1914,China's Parliament was formally dissolved. To give his government a semblance of legitimacy, Yuan convened a body of 66 men from his cabinet who, on 1 May 1914, produced a "constitutional compact" that effectively replaced China's provisional constitution. The new legal status quo gave Yuan, as president, practically unlimited powers over China's military, finances, foreign policy, and the rights of China's citizens. Yuan justified these reforms by stating that representative democracy had been proven inefficient by political infighting.[16]
After his victory, Yuan reorganized the provincial governments. Each province was supported by a military governor (都督) as well as a civil authority, giving each governor control of their own army. This helped lay the foundations for thewarlordism that crippled China over the next two decades.
During Yuan's presidency, a silver "dollar" (yuan in Chinese) carrying his portrait was introduced. This coin type was the first "dollar" coin of the central authorities of the Republic of China to be minted in significant quantities. It became a staple silver coin type during the first half of the 20th century and was struck for the last time as late as the 1950s. They were also extensively forged.[17]
When the other Guomindang delegates had assembled in Parliament, they pressed to gain control over Yuan, to develop a permanent constitution, and to hold a full and open presidential election. The Guomindang members, in particular, were intensely critical of Yuan's handling of national finances: instead of addressing tax-collection problems directly, he had taken out another huge loan—a so-called "reorganization loan"—of over £25 million (approximately $100 million) from a consortium of foreign banks. Yuan interpreted these bitter protests as personal attacks and resolved to strike back. In early May 1913, he dismissed the leading pro-Guomindang military governors. In heavy fighting that summer, troops loyal to the Guomindang were routed by Yuan's forces, and in September, Nanjing was taken for Yuan by the reactionary general Zhang Xun, whose troops still wore their Manchu queues. In October, Yuan forced the members of Parliament to elect him president for a five-year term. (It took three ballots before he won a majority, however.) Finally, calling the Guomindang a seditious organization, he ordered the dissolution of the party and the eviction of its remaining members from Parliament. At the end of November, Sun Yat-sen left China for Japan, driven once more into exile from his own country, his republican dreams in ruins.
