The 1911 Revolution ended two millennia of imperial rule and established the Republic of China, but dissatisfaction with the early republic fuelled further revolutionary movements, each intended to be more thoroughgoing than the last. This book examines the internal dynamics of political and socio-economic change in China, and reveals how reforms in education, army organization, and constitutional rule created new social forces and political movements that undermined dynastic legitimacy within China and on its frontiers. Through detailed analyses, using new archival, memoir, diary, and newspaper sources, the authors cast new light on the sudden collapse of an empire.

Joseph W. Esherick is Emeritus professor of History, University of California, San Diego, USA.

C. X. George Wei is Professor and Head of the Department of History at the University of Macau.

Introduction Part I: The Challenges of Reform 1. The Reform Predicament 2. Late Qing Governors and Provincial Assemblies 3. Conflict and Competition: A New Perspective on Late Qing Politics Part II: The Sichuan Railway Crisis: Prelude to Revolution 4. Zaifeng and Qing Railway Policy Part III: Hubei Reforms and the Wuchang Uprising 5. The Policies in Hubei 6. Tang Hualong in the 1911 Revolution Part IV: Qing Officials and the Revolution 7. Provincial Officials in 1911 8. On the Mentality of Manchu and Mongol Elites During the 1911 Revolution Part V: Yuan Shikai 9. Zaifeng's Dismissal of Yuan Shikai and Sino-US-Japanese Diplomacy 10. The Qing's Three Armies after the Wuchang Uprising 11. Yuan Shikai and the February 1912 'Beijing Mutiny' Part VI: The Revolution and the Frontier 12. The 'Political Game' and 'State-Building:' Outer Mongolia during the 1911 Revolution