Yuan Shikai
袁世凯
The Beiyang strongman who took over the 1911 revolution and tried to make himself emperor
Recalled after the 1911 Wuchang Uprising, he pressed both the Qing court and the revolutionaries, winning the emperor's abdication and the provisional presidency in 1912. He proclaimed a monarchy in December 1915, abdicated in March 1916, and died that June.
A soldier-official who built the Beiyang New Army in the late Qing. When the 1911 revolution broke out he pressed both the court and the revolutionaries, securing the Qing emperor’s abdication and his own installation as provisional president of the Republic in 1912. He then hollowed out parliament, dissolved the Kuomintang and, in late 1915, proclaimed himself emperor; provincial revolts forced him to cancel the monarchy in 1916, and he died months later. His death fractured the Beiyang army and opened the warlord era.
Career timeline
- 1901–1907Viceroy of Zhili and Minister of Beiyang
- 1912–1916President of the Republic of China
- 1915.12–1916.03Self-proclaimed emperor of the “Empire of China”