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Yuan Shikai (1859-1916) was a military leader and politician in late Imperial China, and the first President of the [[Republic of China]]. He came to prominence after meritorious military service in [[Korea]] (at that time a vassal state of China) in the 1880s, and was appointed to command the modern Beiyang Army created after the humiliations of the [[Sino-Japanese War]] of 1894-95. During the [[Boxer Rebellion]] of 1899-1900 he was Governor of [[Shandong]], and adopted firm measures to drive the Boxers out of his province.  

'''Yuan Shikai''' (1859-1916) was a military leader and politician in late Imperial China, and the first President of the [[Republic of China]]. He came to prominence after meritorious military service in [[Korea]] (at that time a vassal state of China) in the 1880s, and was appointed to command the modern Beiyang Army created after the humiliations of the [[Sino-Japanese War]] of 1894-95. During the [[Boxer Rebellion]] of 1899-1900 he was Governor of [[Shandong]], and adopted firm measures to drive the Boxers out of his province.  

== Yuan and the first Chinese Revolution ==

== Yuan and the first Chinese Revolution ==

==The 21 Demands==

==The 21 Demands==

However, in 1915 Japan, taking advantage of the preoccupation of the western powers with the war in Europe, was able to force Yuan to accede to its 21 Demands, a humiliating list of concessions which, had they been fully implemented, would have reduced China to little more than the status of a Japanese protectorate. Yuan's weakness in the face of these demands reduced his prestige even among his military cohorts, and when, in late 1915, he announced that he was preparing to restore the Imperial throne with himself as the new emperor, they forced him into a further humiliating climb-down. He died shortly afterwards.

However, in 1915 [[Japan]], taking advantage of the preoccupation of the western powers with the [[World War I|war in Europe]], was able to force Yuan to accede to its 21 Demands, a humiliating list of concessions which, had they been fully implemented, would have reduced China to little more than the status of a Japanese protectorate. Yuan's weakness in the face of these demands reduced his prestige even among his military cohorts, and when, in late 1915, he announced that he was preparing to restore the Imperial throne with himself as the new emperor, they forced him into a further humiliating climb-down. He died shortly afterwards.

==Yuan's legacy==

==Yuan's legacy==

Yuan's concentration of power into the hands of a military elite made, in the short term, for effective, if reactionary, government. However, he left no obvious heir, and although a junta of military leaders ruled China subsequently, within a very few years this began to collapse into faction and civil war. The so-called Warlord Era in Chinese history is generally reckoned as lasting from 1916 to 1928, but warlordism was a major factor in Chinese politics right up to the Communist victory in 1949, and even after that the Communist rulers were very sensitive to any manifestations of regionalism and warlordism within their own ranks.

Yuan's concentration of power into the hands of a military elite made, in the short term, for effective, if reactionary, government. However, he left no obvious heir, and although a junta of military leaders ruled China subsequently, within a very few years this began to collapse into faction and civil war. The so-called Warlord Era in Chinese history is generally reckoned as lasting from 1916 to 1928, but warlordism was a major factor in Chinese politics right up to the Communist victory in 1949, and even after that the Communist rulers were very sensitive to any manifestations of regionalism and warlordism within their own ranks.

[[Category:China]]

[[Category:China]]