Why did the Qing Dynasty
collapse in 1911?
L/O – To identify the long-term and short-term
causes of the 1911 Revolution
Introduction
• On 12th February 1912, the 6-Year-Old
Xuantung Emperor, Puyi, peacefully
abdicated.
• It was the end of not only the Qing
Dynasty which had ruled since 1644 but
of Imperial China itself. China was now a
Republic.
• Many people believed the Qing had lost
the Mandate of Heaven and deserved to
be deposed. But why did this happen?
What were the causes of the 1911
Revolution?
Long-Term Cause 1
Impact of the West
Impact of the West
• The humiliations heaped on China by
European powers and Japan is often seen
as the primary cause of the decline of the
Qing Dynasty.
• Britain first appealed for trading rights and
representation in China (an embassy in
Beijing) in 1793 when Lord Macartney met
the Qianlong Emperor – all demands were
refused!
• Chinese officials had no sense of equality
between nations. There was the Son of
Heaven in Beijing and all else were
tributary states or barbarians.
As your Ambassador can
see for himself, we
possess all things. I set
no value in objects
strange or ingenious, and
have no use for your
country’s manufacture.
Qianlong Emperor
Impact of the West
• The British tried again in 1816 but
its representative was not even
received! Trade remained limited to
13 licensed merchants in Canton
(Guangzhou) – the Cohong.
• The British were anxious to extend
their trade and force China into a
more modern and open
relationship. By the 1830s, the
British Foreign Secretary, Lord
Palmerston, was prepared for tough
action – drugs gave him the excuse!
The First Opium War 1839-42
• During the 1820s and 1830s, illegal
imports of British Opium into China
was growing rapidly causing social
problems and a drain of silver.
• In 1838, the Emperor decided to
ban this trade. He sent the official
Lin Zexu to implement it.
• 3 million pounds of raw opium were
seized in 1839 and destroyed. Some
British merchants were imprisoned.
The First Opium War 1839-42
• The merchants lobbied the
The English barbarians are
government in London and an
expedition was sent: 16
an insignificant race, trusting
warships, 4 newly armed
entirely to their strong ships
steamers and 4000 troops were
and large guns: but the
sent to Canton.
immense distance they have
• The war exposed the
technological backwardness of
China. Their war junks were no
match for armed steamers. The
Chinese even tried using
monkeys armed with primitive
bombs!
travelled will render the
arrival of supplies impossible
and their soldiers after a
single defeat… will become
dispirited and lost.
Report to the Emperor
before the conflict
The First Opium War 1839-42
• By June 1842, the British had
captured Shanghai and had
pushed up the Grand Canal to
Nanjing.
• The result of the war was the
humiliating Treaty of Nanjing.
Hong Kong Island was given to
Britain and 5 other ports were
opened to trade.
• China also had to pay
compensation and grant Britain
equal diplomatic status.
The Second Opium War 1858-60
• Problems continued to grow.
Piracy and crime still affected
British trade and the original
demand for a permanent
ambassador in Beijing had not
been met.
• In 1856, a British ship, The
Arrow, was seized by Chinese
authorities in Canton. This gave
the British a new pretext to
launch another attack on the
Chinese.
The Second Opium War 1858-60
• The British struck near Beijing
but the Emperor refused to sign
a new treaty. The British and
French marched on Beijing and
burnt down the Summer Palace.
• The Emperor then signed the
Treaty of Tianjin which allowed
the establishment of embassies
in Beijing, greater trade rights in
China and allowed Christian
missionaries to travel freely
across China.
By this war we have
practically opened out the
trade of the Yangtze River…
We have inflicted a severe
blow upon the pride of the
Emperor that the whole face
of Chinese politics and our
relations with that country
must change, before he will
dare insult our flag or
obstruct our commerce.
Lt Col G J Wolseley
Foreign Influence Increases
• By the 1860s, contact between
foreigners and Chinese elites
and merchants began to
increase.
• There was a need to learn
foreign languages so language
schools opened in many ports.
• In Beijing a western-style college
opened in 1867 however many
opposed this.
Establishment of Missionaries
• The greatest resentment of
some Chinese was directed
against religious missionaries.
Many were persecuted and
killed, usually by Confucian
gentry who hated reforms.
• However missionaries did open
schools and hospitals where
Chinese students became
imbued with western ideas and
the need to promote reform in
China.
Loss of the Tributary States
• Vietnam and Korea traditionally occupied
a tributary status with regard to Imperial
China. The rulers of both recognised the
lordship of the Emperor in Beijing, often
giving tribute to him.
• In Vietnam, the French severed this link by
destroying a Chinese fleet in 1884 at
Fuzhou during the Sino-French War.
• In 1894, a Civil War in Korea resulted in
Japan invading Korea, Lushun in
Manchuria AND the Shandong Peninsula
during the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-95.
Loss of the Tributary States
• The Treaty of Shimonoseki in 1895 was
even more humiliating to China than
the Treaty of Nanjing in 1842.
• China had to abandon any claim on
Korea and gave many ports to Japan.
• This caused riots in Beijing. Confucian
scholars, gathered for the Jinshi
examination, demonstrated against the
treaty and demanded reform – the
Qing Dynasty was beginning to totter.
Continued Loss of Sovereignty
• In 1898 and 1899, China was on the
point of partition between the
imperialist powers.
• Russia forced the Japanese out of
Manchuria and renamed Lushan
‘Port Arthur’.
• Germany occupied ports in the
Shandong Peninsula and the British
took Weihaiwei. They also gained a
99-year lease on the Kowloon
Peninsula.
The Boxer Rebellion
• In this situation, it seemed as if the
Qing Dynasty was unable to defend
Chinese sovereignty. Popular feeling in
north-east China erupted into the
Boxer Rising.
• In Spring 1900, anti-Western outrage
spilled out, fuelled by magical beliefs
and Han pride.
• Railways lines were destroyed,
foreigners murdered and even Chinese
in possession of foreign objects like
clocks were killed.
The Boxer Rebellion
• Mobs from the countryside spread to
Tianjin and Beijing. The German
ambassador was shot and Europeans
retreated to the British embassy.
• The Empress Dowager Cixi, in control of
the Qing Court, threw her support
behind the Boxers, basically declaring
war on the west.
• In August 1900, an international force
advanced on Beijing. The Qing court
fled to Xi’an and a peace was
negotiated.
The Boxer Rebellion
• Massive damages were
extracted, which
amounted to nearly
twice the annual
revenue of the state.
• It was compared to the
punishing Treaty of
Versailles and provoked
a similar reaction of
outraged bitterness and
nationalism in China.
Nationalist Reaction
• In the early 1900s, a genuine
nationalist movement amongst the
education elite began to form.
• This new nationalism didn’t hate ALL
things Western like some of the
educated Confucian gentry did. They
also looked to Japan as an example.
• In 1867-68, the new Meiji Emperor in
Japan had reformed the country. The
only way to compete with the west
was to embrace western technology,
government and society.
Nationalist Reaction
• Many young members of the Chinese scholar
class drew the conclusion that China should
follow Japan’s path of reform.
• Zou Rong studied in Japan and believed that
China could only be saved with the
destruction of the Qing Dynasty. His book,
The Revolutionary Army (1903), appealed to
Han resentment of the ruling Manchus and
hatred of western ‘foreign devils’.
• Sun Yat-Sen built on Zou’s work and spent
many years in exile reflecting on Qing China.
Long-Term Cause 2
Internal Problems
Internal Crisis in China
• China also faced growing internal problems
and pressures, mainly due to the population
explosion of the 18th century.
• Economic crisis – growing addiction to opium
damaged society but also caused millions of
tons of silver to flow out of the economy (to
foreigners to pay for Opium).
• Corruption – bribery was normal for officials
and central government failed to extract
taxes. Left government with little money to
resist the challenges of foreigners.
Rebellions of the
th
19
Century
• Population pressures, government
financial weakness and corruption came
together to spark a series of massive
rebellions against Qing authority.
• This had traditionally been a sign of
dynasties losing the Mandate of Heaven.
• The Taiping Rebellion of 1851-64 was one
of the biggest in world history. 20 million
people are estimated to have been killed.
More than the First World War.
The Taiping Rebellion 1851-64
• Its leader, Hong Xiuquan, had failed the
scholar examinations. He had hallucinations
of ascending into heaven and being told by
the Christian God to exterminate demons.
• He believed he was the younger son of
Jesus. He thought the demons were the
leaders of the Manchu regime in Beijing.
• He offered a mixture religious mysticism
and political and social reform that spread
across Southern China and the Yangtze
valley.
The Taiping Rebellion 1851-64
• The city of Nanjing was captured and
renamed ‘Heavenly Capital’. Power was
divided amongst many commanders, each
taking the title of King.
• The Eastern King, Yang Xiuqing, called
himself the ‘Holy Ghost’. When fighting
broke out amongst the kings, Hong the
Heavenly King allied with the Northern King
to kill Yang in 1856.
• The younger brother of Jesus had thus killed
the Holy Ghost.
The Taiping Rebellion 1851-64
• A combination of various forces finally
defeated the rising in 1864 but the
rebellion proved that the Qing Dynasty
was hugely unpopular.
• It had to rely on foreign, local and
regional armies in order to defeat the
rebels. The national banner armies
were strangely inept.
• The Nian Rebellion in the Yellow River
region of 1852-68 was another similar
protest movement.
Reformers and their Opponents
• By the end of the 19th century, many
educated scholars and Manchu leaders
were beginning to realise that change
was necessary.
• The first such movement for change
was known as the ‘self strengthening
movement’. It focused on promoting
education and modernisation.
• Study societies and newspaper also
grew in the 19th century, all promoting
change.
‘The Hundred Days Reform’
• In 1898, the Guangxu emperor listened to
reforms and between June-September,
hundreds of reform laws poured out from
Beijing.
• However the Empress Dowager Cixi rallied
the conservative forces in Beijing and
launched a palace coup on 21st September.
• The Emperor was put under house arrest
and kept as a prisoner for the rest of his life.
This slowed down the process of reform but
not the demand for it.
The Tongmenghui 1905
• After the Hundred Days Reforms, many
looked to people like Sun Yat-sen who
founded the Tongmenghui (Revolutionary
Alliance) in Tokyo, July 1905.
• It published a revolutionary paper which
was smuggled into China. Underground
cells sprung up in major cities, plotting the
downfall of the Qing.
• 7 abortive uprisings took place between
1906-08 and membership of the
Tongmenghui had grown to 10,000 by 1911.
Late Qing Reforms
• The Qing government responded by
introducing reforms. A more modern army
was accepted in 1905 and organised on
Western lines.
• The degree system was swept away ending
a 1000 year tradition. The first western style
universities were introduced.
• Provincial assemblies were introduced in
1909, a national consultative council in
1910. But this was all too little, too late.
9/13 places went to palace nobles. In 1908,
the Empress Dowager Cixi died.
Short-Term Causes
of the 1911
Revolution
The Revolution of 1911-12
• After the death of Cixi in 1908, the child
Emperor who could not govern symbolised
the impotence of the dynasty.
• A massive budget deficit was developing to
pay for reforms and reparations dating back
to the Boxer Rising. New armies were
expensive and many new officers were
radical nationalists.
• Increased taxes were necessary which
further angered people, along with flooding
in 1910-11 in the Yangtze River.
The Revolution of 1911-12
• Protests began when the government tried
to nationalise (take-over) locally-owned
railway companies. By September 1911, the
whole of Sichaun province was in chaos.
• On 9th October, in the city of Hankou, an
unfinished bomb being prepared by
revolutionaries exploded, triggering the
Wuchang Uprising.
• Han troops mutinied and took control of
Wuhan. Revolution spread to other
provinces.
The Revolution of 1911-12
• In desperation, the court turned to the
creator of the new armies, Yuan Shikai,
and he was appointed chief minister in
November.
• Sun Yat-sen arrived in Shanghai from the
USA on 25th December. He was elected
President of the Chinese Republic in
Nanjing, but Yuan Shikai had real power.
• Sun Yat-sen wrote to Yuan, explaining that
he should be president. Yuan then
persuaded Puyi to abdicate. Yuan Shikai
was the new ruler of China.
Summary Questions
1. In what ways does the growth of nationalism explain the
downfall of Imperial China in 1911-12?
2. ‘It was China’s humiliation at the hands of the west and
Japan that destroyed the Qing regime.’ How far do you
agree with this statement?
3. Why did attempts at reform fail to preserve the Imperial
regime?
4. ‘A chapter of unfortunate accidents account for the
revolution of 1911-12.’ How far do you agree with this
statement?
5. Create a diagram illustrating the short-term and long-term
causes of the 1911 Revolution.