Overview and History 19Strangely enough, this intensive intrusion by foreign
powers was balanced by ad hoc support from these same
nations for the ailing dynasty, such as the crushing of the
Boxer Rebellion by US troops in 1900. The foreign concession
holders realised that their cushy positions would only last as
long as the Qing itself did.
And last it did not. That end came at the beginning of
1912, with the abdication of the last Qing emperor (who was
actually only six years old at the time), and two millennia of
dynastic rule in China came to a close.
THE REPUBLIC OF CHINA (1912–1949)
In contrast to the falls of previous dynasties, at the close of
the Qing, the reigns of government were quickly taken up by
a group that had been agitating for revolution for many years.
The nominal head of this movement was a man named Sun
Yat-sen, the universally-regarded father of modern China.
Sun Yat-sen’s rise to president of the Republic of China
(ROC) began when he was actually living in exile in the
United States. A group of rebels in Wuhan staged a
rebellion on 10 October 1911, inspiring similar uprisings in
neighbouring provinces.
After seizing control of their areas from the Manchus, the
leaders of this newly independent section of China chose
Sun Yat-sen as their leader, establishing him as the head
of the new Republic of China’s government in Nanjing.
The negotiations with the Manchus that ensued resulted
in the formal abdication of the last emperor of China, and
the formal establishment of the ROC as the ‘dynasty’ of
the future.
Sun did not serve as president of the ROC for long—in
March 1912, he was forced to
resign according to the terms of
the settlement agreed with the
Manchus, and hand over the
reigns to his elected successor,
Yuan Shikai.
Despite pledges to the
contrary, after initial efforts to
Intent on restoring China to
Chinese rule for years prior to
the end of the Qing dynasty,
Sun Yat-sen espoused three
basic principles: nationalism (a
China free from foreign control),
democracy (the Manchus
replaced by a democratic political
system) and people’s livelihood.