Today's history of warlords in the Republic of China, let's talk about Duan Qirui and his Anhui warlords .
has told me that it is "not suitable for promotion" for several issues. This time I won't talk about the northwest, so don't limit the flow.
Among the many factions of the warlords of the Republic of China , most of them are named after their sphere of influence, such as Fengtian, Jin, Sichuan, and Yunnan. However, the Anhui faction is quite special. Although it has always controlled Anhui, the reason why it is called "Anhui" is that the leader Duan Qirui and some core members are from Anhui.
So when talking about the Anhui community, you must first talk about Duan Qirui.
Duan Qirui was born in Lu'an, Anhui Province. Like the eldest brother Yuan Shikai , their ancestors belong to the Huai family of Li Hongzhang .
Duan Qirui's grandfather Duan Pei is a general of the Huai Army . Like Feng Yuxiang , his father is listening to Liu Mingchuan , but one is an official and the other is a soldier (low-level military officer).
Originally, his family background was pretty good, but his teenager did not live well.
First, because Duan Pei made enemies with others and led his troops outside, his enemies came to seek revenge and his parents could only lead him out to avoid disaster.
Later, my grandfather died of illness. A few years later, his father was killed by a robber, and his mother also passed away due to excessive sadness.
18-year-old Duan Qirui has no (direct) relatives, and is also wandering in a foreign land.
But he had been in the barracks with his grandfather and his clan uncle for many years, and he was from the Huai Department again. So when Li Hongzhang founded Tianjin Wubei Academy , Duan Qirui successfully passed the exam. He was exactly 20 years old that year (1885).
is very popular with Li Hongzhang because of his hard study. Later, there was an opportunity to study in the German military academy and Li Hongzhang also named him.
However, after returning to China, Duan Qirui did not immediately serve in the army because he studied artillery science and in addition to combat skills, he also knew metal processing very well. So at first he was assigned to Tianjin Machine Manufacturing Bureau , and later became an instructor of the army.
Duan Qirui's life turning point occurred when he was 30 years old.
1895 The Qing was defeated in the Sino-Japanese War of 1895, and then Yuan Shikai received the order to train a new army in Tianjin.
Because the new army wants to use new firearms, and the military system is still copied from , Germany, . So those like Duan Qirui who know firearms and have retained virtue will naturally be reused. Not to mention his background as a graduate of Huai Jun and Tianjin Martial Arts School, and his identity as he was attracted by Li Hongzhang.
1898, Duan Qirui was ordered to go to Japan to observe, and after returning to China, he personally wrote the training exercises.
The next year, Yuan Shikai went to Shandong as the governor of Shandong, and Duan Qirui also went with him. This means that Duan has become Yuan Shikai's loyal confidant. In order to continue to win over Duan Qirui, after his first wife passed away, Yuan Shikai also married his cousin (also equivalent to his adopted daughter) to Duan Qirui.
During the Republic of China, many bigwigs started their careers with military academies, and so were Duan Qirui.
In addition to having personal teaching experience in military academies and troops, Duan Qirui also participated in the creation of Beiyang Quick Martial Preparation School , the predecessor of Baoding Army Officers School. These experiences established his position in the Beiyang Sect, which is why he did not completely lose power after getting into evil with Yuan Shikai, and the Anhui Sect was able to take the lead in emerging power after the disintegration of the Beiyang Sect.
At the same time, Duan Qirui also attached great importance to the control of the troops. In addition to serving as the chief of one of the six towns in Beiyang , he was also sent to Fujian and Jiangsu and Zhejiang one after another. This is also one of the reasons why the Anhui faction was able to control this place later.
1911 Xinhai Revolution broke out.
This period is also the honeymoon period of Yuan and Duan.
After Yuan Shikai was restored, he began to command troops to suppress the rebellion. Originally, the ones who went south to attack Hubei were Feng Guozhang's , but Feng Guozhang was too fierce and quickly recovered Hankou and Hanyang . Yuan Shikai didn't really want to destroy the rebel army, he had his own mind. Because he was afraid that Feng Guozhang would continue to go on, he quickly asked Duan Qirui to change his position with him. This also shows Yuan Shikai's trust in Duan Qirui.
Later, the Beiyang Army officers jointly wrote a letter to force the emperor to abdicate, which was also the leader of Duan Qirui.
In return, after Yuan Shikai became president, he appointed Duan Qirui as the chief of the army and the prime minister of the State. It is not an exaggeration to say that it is below one person and above ten thousand people.
But Yuan Shikai was also afraid of Duan Qirui and wanted to find an opportunity to take his military power, and the two immediately turned against each other.
Duan Qirui resigned and forced him to force him to resign, and Yuan Shikai called himself emperor Duan also expressed his opposition.
It was not until Yuan Shikai abolished the imperial system and he was terminally ill that Duan Qirui returned to serve as Premier of the State and Chief of the Army.
After Yuan Shikai's death, according to the rules, Li Yuanhong , who was the vice president at the time, was to replace Yuan Shikai to perform the term that Yuan did not complete.
But at this time Duan Qirui had returned to the central government, which means that the person with the greatest power is not the president, and the president has no power.
Duan Qirui's status in the Beiyang system is afraid of Yuan Shikai when he is alive, let alone he is already dead.
But Li Yuanhong was not willing to give up, so the "office and court dispute" between the Presidential Office and the State Council broke out.
1917, at the end of World War I , Duan Qirui advocated declaring war on Germany on one of the allies, but Li Yuanhong disagreed. Later, Duan Qirui and several cabinet members threatened to resign, and the two sides were in a deadlock.
At this time, a newspaper disclosed Duan Qirui's scandal, saying that he once borrowed money from Japan with the railways, minerals and forests from Northeast and Shandong. Then the two sides secretly reached an agreement and sold out a lot of Shandong's rights and interests. The general content can be regarded as Yuan Shikai's " Twenty-One " castrated version.
It was precisely because of this agreement that Japan successfully robbed the Germans of Shandong at the later Paris Peace Conference.
Yuan Shikai's twenty-one articles Beiyang government can argue that he had never agreed or was forced to do so, but Duan Qirui "please agree".
Duan Qirui was also forced to step down due to this scandal. After
stepped down, Duan Qirui simply gave up and planned the independence of Anhui and other provinces to threaten Li Yuanhong. Li Yuanhong, who had no foundation, could only invite another big boss from the Beiyang faction. At that time, the garrison troops came to mediate at , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , html
But Zhang Xun also had his own thoughts. After leading troops to Beijing, he expelled Li Yuanhong, and then joined Kang Youwei to support Puyi and re-proclaimed emperor. This is " Zhang Xun restored ".
Zhang Xun's behavior not only made Li Yuanhong confused, but also Duan Qirui was confused.
There is a saying that everyone didn’t like Li Yuanhong at that time, so the reason why Zhang Xun was able to lead troops into Beijing was not for adjustment, but that the big bosses from all sides wanted him to take the opportunity to drive Li Yuanhong away. Behind this are Duan Qirui from the Anhui clan, Feng Guozhang from the direct clan, Cao Kun from the , and Zhang Zuolin from the Feng clan.
But Zhang Xun predicted everyone's predictions, and he was unrepublic and constitutional.
Duan Qirui saw this and simply led his troops to Beijing, and Zhang Xun failed to restore the rebellion.
Li Yuanhong could not be president under such a situation. Vice President Feng Guozhang took office and Duan Qirui resumed his post as Premier.
His longing proposal to declare war on Germany was also successfully passed. China joined the World War
, but Duan Qirui and Feng Guozhang could not pee in the same pot. At that time, Sun Yat-sen was dissatisfied with Duan Qirui's abolition of " Provisional Constitution" and abolished the Congress, and joined forces with the Yunnan warlords Tang Jiyao and Guangxi warlords Lu Rongting and other warlords to launch the first protection movement.
Feng Guozhang advocates a peaceful resolution, while Duan Qirui must resolutely "strike", after all, it is for him. The conflict between Zhi and Anhui intensified, and the second dispute between the government and the court broke out.
By the end of 1918, Feng Guozhang's presidency had arrived, and everyone pushed the Beiyang veteran Xu Shichang , who had no soldiers, to the stage.
, and Duan Qirui reached an agreement with direct leader Feng Guozhang to step down together.
Feng Guozhang was already at ease at this time and died the next year.
Duan Qirui has been deeply engaged in the Beiyang Group for many years and has been full of close friends. Although he has been out of the blue in name, he can still continue to control the situation through his close friends.
The second battle between the government and the court also ended with Duan Qirui's victory.
In fact, in addition to the power struggle between the two governments and courts, there is another key point, that is, the attitude towards Japan.
Although Duan Qirui advocates declaring war on Germany, it seems to want to regain Germany's rights and interests in Shandong.
However, after the war, Shandong was picked by the Japanese, and Duan Qirui also played a very important role in this.
You should know that Duan Qirui and Yuan Shikai turned against each other, and there were reasons for their attitude towards Japan. At that time, Duan Qirui advocated being tough on Japan, so why did it become pro-Japanese again?
This cannot only limit your vision to the Beiyang government.
After Yuan Shikai's death, there were many factions within Beiyang , and warlords outside the Beiyang also had a tendency to be separatist.
China was weak at that time, but it became weaker after another ranking.
In order to gain a foothold in troubled times, warlords of various countries must turn to the great powers.
Pro-Soviet, pro-English, pro-German, and pro-Japanese, always account for one.
It was World War I and European powers entered the market one after another. Both Britain and Germany were too busy to take care of themselves. Duan Qirui's own German background was useless.
But in Japanese background, although Duan Qirui himself does not have it, Duan Qirui's Anhui faction is very good.
Duan Qirui's "Four Kings" Xu Shuzheng , Wu Guangxin , Fu Liangzuo , Jin Yunpeng , except for Jin Yunpeng, the other three are all graduated from the Japanese Army Non-commissioned Officer School. What are the same in the core of the Anhui department such as Duan Zhigui (General Director of the Army), Qutongfeng (President of Baoding Lu School).
In addition, the "new transportation department" that depended on Duan Qirui at that time, such as Cao Rulin ( Central University ), Zhang Zongxiang ( Meiji University ), Lu Zongyu yú ( Waseda University ) and others also had their background in traveling to Japan.
Duan Qirui and Japan secretly signed a stolen agreement, which was Cao Rulin's hand. The May Fourth Movement burned Zhao Jialou and Cao Rulin's home.
From the perspective of Japan at that time, Sun Yat-sen, who was closer to them, was famous but not real, while Duan Qirui was a real power figure, so there was no need to think too much about who to cooperate with.
Just like when the Soviet Union knew that Chiang Kai-shek's theory would still support Chiang Kai-shek, one truth.
The news in Japan at that time said that the Anhui clan knew better about the interests of Japan than other warlords.
so both sides hit it off.
When Zhang Xun was restored, the cost of Duan Qirui's extermination of the rebels and the cost of bribing Zhang Xun's army was all given by the Japanese.
The arms, training and instructors of the Anhui army are also from Japan. Of course, the cost is naturally settled by the Japanese loan to Duan Qirui, which is considered as a left pocket and right pocket for them.
Not to mention that the difference between the central government's annual revenue and expenditure of 8 million taels was required to be compensated by Japanese loans.
All of this ultimately led to Duan Qirui's firm advocate of breaking off diplomatic relations with Germany and declaring war on Germany.
and then led to the fact that after World War I, Japan seized Germany's rights and interests in Shandong through its secret agreement with Duan Qirui.
Although Duan Qirui stepped down after this, his power was still controlled by the Anhui faction.
Even if the Anhui faction was defeated in the subsequent direct-Anhui war, the remaining Anhui faction still has the potential to be separatist, and will make a comeback in a few years, and Duan Qirui will also ascend to the throne of president for the first time.
With the outbreak of the Zhi-Anhui War, the Republic of China will also enter the period of the most frequent warlord melee.
This is also the period when the Anhui clique was rapidly annihilated.
and other things, let’s continue to talk about them next issue.
References:
"Review on Duan Qirui and Beiyang Anhui Group Research" Hu Xiao
"The diplomatic strategy of Anhui Warlords against Japan" Jia Dewei
