The 1911 Revolution, also known as the Chinese Revolution or the Xinhai Revolution, ended China’s last imperial dynasty, the Qing dynasty. On January 1, 1912, this revolution established the Republic of China (the ROC). The revolution was named Xinhai (Hsin-hai) because it occurred in 1911, the year of the Xinhai (辛亥) stem-branch in the sexagenary cycle of the traditional Chinese calendar. The revolution marked the end of 2,000 years of imperial rule and the beginning of China’s early republican era.
The oppression of the Chinese people during the first half of the Century of Humiliation increased unrest in the country. More and more revolutionary groups formed and tried to destroy the ruling Qing dynasty. The Qing would finally fall by 1912, and because Sun Yat-sen had passed on his role as the new president of the Republic of China, Yuan Shikai took power.
Later however Sun Yat-sen’s Chinese National Party Kuomintang would try to overthrow Yuan’s Beiyang government and unify the country. The Kuomintang defeated the Beiyang government in 1928 under its new anti-Communist leader Chiang Kai-shek. Reuniting China would have to wait until after the Second World War had ended. It would be the Communist leader Mao Zedong who would, on October 1 1949, declare the People’s Republic of China. Learn all about the era that led to the founding of the People’s Republic of China in our second special on The Century of Humiliation.