Podcasts about Boxer Rebellion

On this episode of Code Red Talk, Pastor Zach Terry sits down with Dr. Clayton Cloer, President of the Baptist University of Florida  — and trust us, you're going to want to hear this story! Dr. Cloer shares how he walked away from a thriving career in the family business to follow the unmistakable call of God into full-time ministry. Hear how the legendary Dr. Grey Allison mentored and shaped his life and leadership. PLUS — exciting news about the powerful move of God happening right now at the Baptist University of Florida!  If you've ever wondered what it looks like to step out in bold faith — or you want to be inspired by what God is doing in the next generation of leaders — this conversation is for you.  Baptist University of Florida https://buf.edu The Boxer Rebellion https://alphahistory.com/chineserevolution/chinese-christian-boxer-rebellion-1900/ Dr. Gray Allison https://www.mabts.edu/2021/01/19/tribute-to-dr-b-gray-allison-now-he-belongs-to-the-ages/ The Shantung Revival https://www.gospeltruth.net/shantung.htm Code Red is Produced by Maximum Life Studios DONATE- https://www.convergepay.com/hosted-payments/?ssl_txn_auth_token=EKHq4QO6SZGVA7Zxk5ER6QAAAXff8OZu#!/payment-method Facebook https://www.facebook.com/maximumlifewithzachterry Instagram https://www.instagram.com/zachterry Website http://www.zachterry.org Twitter https://twitter.com/zachterry

On this episode of Code Red Talk, Pastor Zach Terry sits down with Dr. Clayton Cloer, President of the Baptist University of Florida  — and trust us, you're going to want to hear this story! Dr. Cloer shares how he walked away from a thriving career in the family business to follow the unmistakable call of God into full-time ministry. Hear how the legendary Dr. Grey Allison mentored and shaped his life and leadership. PLUS — exciting news about the powerful move of God happening right now at the Baptist University of Florida!  If you've ever wondered what it looks like to step out in bold faith — or you want to be inspired by what God is doing in the next generation of leaders — this conversation is for you.  Baptist University of Florida https://buf.edu The Boxer Rebellion https://alphahistory.com/chineserevolution/chinese-christian-boxer-rebellion-1900/ Dr. Gray Allison https://www.mabts.edu/2021/01/19/tribute-to-dr-b-gray-allison-now-he-belongs-to-the-ages/ The Shantung Revival https://www.gospeltruth.net/shantung.htm Code Red is Produced by Maximum Life Studios DONATE- https://www.convergepay.com/hosted-payments/?ssl_txn_auth_token=EKHq4QO6SZGVA7Zxk5ER6QAAAXff8OZu#!/payment-method Facebook https://www.facebook.com/maximumlifewithzachterry Instagram https://www.instagram.com/zachterry Website http://www.zachterry.org Twitter https://twitter.com/zachterry

Hocus Focus Mix met Joost, The Boxer Rebellion, Claude, Adam Lambert, Cypress Hill, Oscar & The Wolf & Muse 

fWotD Episode 2923: William D. Leahy Welcome to Featured Wiki of the Day, your daily dose of knowledge from Wikipedia's finest articles.The featured article for Tuesday, 6 May 2025, is William D. Leahy.William Daniel Leahy (; 6 May 1875 – 20 July 1959) was an American naval officer. The most senior United States military officer on active duty during World War II, he held several titles and exercised considerable influence over foreign and military policy. As a fleet admiral, he was the first flag officer ever to hold a five-star rank in the U. S. Armed Forces.An 1897 graduate of Annapolis, Leahy saw active service in the Spanish–American War, the Philippine Insurrection, the Boxer Rebellion in China, the Banana Wars in Central America, and World War I. He was the first member of his cadet class to reach flag rank, as the Chief of the Bureau of Ordnance from 1927 to 1931. He subsequently served as Chief of the Bureau of Navigation from 1933 to 1936, and commanded the Battle Fleet from 1936 to 1937. As Chief of Naval Operations from 1937 to 1939, he was the senior officer in the United States Navy, overseeing the expansion of the fleet and preparations for war.After retiring from the Navy, Leahy was appointed the governor of Puerto Rico in 1939 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. In his most controversial role, he served as the Ambassador to France from 1940 to 1942. American policy was aimed at keeping the government of Vichy France free of German control, but Leahy had limited success. He came to believe that the United States should back Free France instead of Vichy France, and asked to be recalled after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor brought the United States into the war. Leahy was subsequently recalled to active duty as the Chief of Staff to the President in 1942 and served in that position for the rest of the Second World War. As the de facto first Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, he oversaw all of the American armed forces and was a major decision-maker during the war. He also presided over the American delegation to the Combined Chiefs of Staff. In December 1944, Leahy was promoted to five-star rank of fleet admiral.In the aftermath of World War II, Leahy served Roosevelt's successor Harry S. Truman, helping shape postwar foreign policy until he retired in 1949. Although he did not oppose the use of the nuclear weapons during the war, in the post-war period he rejected war plans that placed too much emphasis on the first use of nuclear weapons.This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 00:30 UTC on Tuesday, 6 May 2025.For the full current version of the article, see William D. Leahy on Wikipedia.This podcast uses content from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.Visit our archives at wikioftheday.com and subscribe to stay updated on new episodes.Follow us on Mastodon at @wikioftheday@masto.ai.Also check out Curmudgeon's Corner, a current events podcast.Until next time, I'm neural Kimberly.

Hocus Focus Mix met Joost, The Boxer Rebellion, Claude, Adam Lambert, Cypress Hill, Oscar & The Wolf & Muse

James Allcott is joined by Woody (@woodythedrum) and Piers (@piershewitt) from Away Days to discuss how you write the next big football anthem. Woody is a drummer from Bastille, and Piers plays drums for The Boxer Rebellion. Together, the trio explore and dive into the relationship between football and music. You can listen to the Away Days podcast on Spotify Host: James Allcott Guests: Chris “Woody” Wood and Piers Hewitt Producer: Cai Jones Editor: Finn McSkimming Additional Production: Patris Gordon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

十九世紀中葉 shí jiǔ shì jì zhōng yè - mid-19th century西方列強 xī fāng liè qiáng - Western powers侵略 qīn lüè - invasion, aggression地理大發現 dì lǐ dà fā xiàn - Age of Discovery (Great Geographical Discoveries)船隻 chuán zhī - ships, vessels接觸 jiē chù - contact, interaction工業革命 gōng yè gé mìng - Industrial Revolution迅速 xùn sù - rapid, fast武器 wǔ qì - weapons先進 xiān jìn - advanced, sophisticated淪為 lún wéi - to become (a worse state), to be reduced to半殖民半封建 bàn zhí mín bàn fēng jiàn - semi-colonial and semi-feudal屈辱 qū rǔ - humiliation, disgrace鴉片貿易 yā piàn mào yì - opium trade清朝 qīng cháo - Qing Dynasty (1644–1911)戰敗 zhàn bài - to be defeated in war簽訂 qiān dìng - to sign (a treaty, contract)南京條約 nán jīng tiáo yuē - Treaty of Nanjing開放通商口岸 kāi fàng tōng shāng kǒu àn - opening trade ports割讓香港 gē ràng xiāng gǎng - ceding Hong Kong主權 zhǔ quán - sovereignty喪失 sàng shī - to lose (rights, sovereignty, etc.)實力 shí lì - strength, capability大幅下降 dà fú xià jiàng - to decline sharply八國聯軍 bā guó lián jūn - Eight-Nation Alliance (1900 invasion of China)侵華 qīn huá - invasion of China入侵 rù qīn - to invade以...為由 yǐ ... wéi yóu - using ... as an excuse鎮壓 zhèn yā - to suppress, to crack down義和團 yì hé tuán - Boxer Rebellion (anti-foreign movement in 1899-1901)攻進 gōng jìn - to attack and enter佔領 zhàn lǐng - to occupy紫禁城 zǐ jìn chéng - Forbidden City洗劫 xǐ jié - to loot, to plunder頤和園 yí hé yuán - Summer Palace辛丑條約 xīn chǒu tiáo yuē - Boxer Protocol (1901 treaty)賠款 péi kuǎn - reparations, indemnity白銀 bái yín - silver (currency in historical China)消弱 xiāo ruò - to weaken, to diminish處境 chǔ jìng - situation, plight艱難 jiān nán - difficult, tough偽滿洲國 wèi mǎn zhōu guó - Manchukuo (puppet state in Northeast China, 1932-1945)殖民統治 zhí mín tǒng zhì - colonial rule南京大屠殺 nán jīng dà tú shā - Nanjing Massacre (1937)殺害 shā hài - to kill, to murder不甘心 bù gān xīn - unwilling to accept, resentful打壓 dǎ yā - suppression, crackdown自尊心 zì zūn xīn - self-esteem, sense of dignity損害 sǔn hài - to damage, to harm致力於 zhì lì yú - to commit to, to devote efforts to話語權 huà yǔ quán - discourse power, right to speak in international affairsIf your goal in 2025 is to improve your Chinese, meet more Taiwanese friends, and discuss a variety of topics like politics, culture, war, news, economics, and more! I invite you to book a one-on-one trial lesson with me

Learn how the wife of America's ambassador to China drew on her deep faith to overcome attacks from Chinese combatants during the Boxer Rebellion.

PREVIEW: TAIWAN: Colleague Anne Stevenson-Yang, reporting from Taipei, comments on the low probability of a PRC/PLA attack on Taiwan. More details tonight. 1900 Boxer Rebellion

Hocus Focus Mix met Ellie Goulding, The Kid Laroi, Justin Bieber, The Boxer Rebellion, Lorde, Creeds, Editors & Harry Styles

When a militant anti-imperial movement spreads China, an allied army of eight nations moved quickly to suppress the rebels, leading to a reactionary swing from the Qing Dynasty's government.Support the show My latest novel, "Califia's Crusade," is now available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books, Bookshop.org, and many other online platforms!

Join us this month as Krystal and David discuss the Boxer Rebellion, a Chinese uprising movement from 1899-1901.And don't forget kids, colonialism is bad!

U.S. interventions at the turn of the 20th century were numerous and widespread, including bloody operations in Cuba against the Spanish and then against the Cubans themselves, in northern China against the Boxer Rebellion, and most notably, the Balangiga massacre on the island of Samar in the Philippines. General Smedley Butler, a decorated U.S. marine, was stationed on all these fronts and was subsequently involved in invasions of Mexico, Nicaragua, and Haiti in 1915. Jonathan M. Katz, author of Gangsters of Capitalism, recounts the story of Butler and how he ultimately turned against the American war machine, describing himself as "a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism," who had propped up the pillaging of Latin America by monopolists and bankers such as J.P. Morgan. 

PREVIEW: CHINA: Ottawa-based analyst Charles Burton examines a new phenomenon alarming Beijing - thousands of university students participating in nocturnal bike rides culminating in dawn dumpling meals. More tonight. 1900 Boxer Rebellion

WHO IS THE ENEMY WITHIN? Twenty years ago, Michael Savage warned about the ENEMY WITHIN in his prophetic book "The Enemy Within: Saving America from the Liberal Assault on Our Schools, Faith, and Military." Today, Trump is working to expose and defeat the forces that are destroying our Republic. Savage then sounds the alarm over the current political climate in America and the potential dangers of a Kamala Harris presidency. He accuses Harris and the current administration of causing wars and deaths in Ukraine and Russia, as well as the unconstitutional use of the military against US citizens. He criticizes Harris for her past roles as San Francisco DA and California Attorney General. She decriminalized street defecation and failed to address the drug cartels. He warns listeners not to vote for Harris, believing she would lead to fascism. He compares the current situation to historical events such as the Opium Wars and the Boxer Rebellion, and urges Americans to wake up to the alleged brainwashing and lies of the politicians. He concludes by reading from his book "Stop Mass Hysteria" to explain the hatred against Donald Trump. He dismisses claims that Trump is anti-semitic. He points out the hatred that the Left has spread and warns that we cannot survive another four to eight years of the Democrats. He then warns that the Left has been working to destroy the nation from within by weaponizing the DOJ and breaking down our borders at the DHS.

In this gripping episode of English Plus Podcast, Danny takes you on a captivating journey through five defining moments in history that demonstrate the consequences of ambition, arrogance, and mismanagement. Discover how the mighty Roman Empire slowly crumbled under its own weight, how the Suez Crisis exposed the cracks in imperial ambitions, and how the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki reshaped the world forever. You'll also learn about the Spanish Armada's failed attempt to conquer England and how the Boxer Rebellion, driven by nationalism, spiraled into chaos. Each of these stories serves as a powerful reminder that history is not just about triumphs, but also about the dangers of hubris and shortsighted decisions. Tune in and reflect on the lessons these events offer for today's world. To unlock the full episode and gain access to our extensive back catalogue, consider becoming a premium subscriber on Apple Podcasts or Patreon. And don't forget to visit englishpluspodcast.com for even more content, including articles, in-depth studies, and our brand-new audio series now available in our English Plus Podcast's shop!

From 1899 to 1900, China underwent a widespread and violent uprising. The revolt, a reaction against China's exploitation by foreign powers, was decades in the making. In response to the revolt, a group of eight nations joined together to put down the rebellion and ultimately subjected China to yet another humiliating treaty. The rebellion wasn't successful, but it laid the groundwork for the seismic changes that would shape the country during the 20th century.  Learn more about the Boxer Rebellion and how it influenced China on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Sponsors Plan your next trip to Spain at Spain.info! Sign up at butcherbox.com/daily and use code daily to get chicken breast, salmon or ground beef FREE in every order for a year plus $20 off your first order! Subscribe to the podcast!  https://link.chtbl.com/EverythingEverywhere?sid=ShowNotes -------------------------------- Executive Producer: Charles Daniel Associate Producers: Ben Long & Cameron Kieffer   Become a supporter on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/everythingeverywhere Update your podcast app at newpodcastapps.com Discord Server: https://discord.gg/UkRUJFh Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/everythingeverywhere/ Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/everythingeverywheredaily Twitter: https://twitter.com/everywheretrip Website: https://everything-everywhere.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mike considered this episode one of his favorites, which was really saying something since he routinely never listened to the show after recording. This was apparently a rare exception. Songs:- "Ecstasy," Rusted Root- "HOPE," Tenacious D- "The Living Daylights (Acoustic)," a-Ha- "Big Ideas," The Boxer Rebellion

Last time we spoke about the return of Chiang Kai-Shek and reunification of the KMT. After Wang Jingwei left for France, the KMT elected on bringing back Chiang Kai-Shek, believing he was the only one capable of unifying the NRA. During his exile, Chiang married Soong Meiling, ensuring financial support from bankers and industrialists. Chiang had been working behind the scenes to ensure support and restructured the party upon his return. He centralized power, promoted military academies, and prepared for the resumption of the Northern Expedition. In early 1928, the KMT launched a campaign to capture northern China. However as the NPA fled north towards Jinan, the Japanese began reinforcing the city under the guise it was to defend their citizens. A large incident known as the Jinan incident occurred, nearly bringing Japan and China to war in 1928. Henceforth Chiang Kai-Shek would consider Japan the greatest enemy to China…perhaps after communism.   #117 The Northern Expedition Part 8: The reunification of China Welcome to the Fall and Rise of China Podcast, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about the history of Asia? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on history of asia and much more  so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel where I cover the history of China and Japan from the 19th century until the end of the Pacific War. In early May of 1928, the NRA began advancing north out of its bridgehead over the Yellow River. They had been deprived of the use of the Tianjin-Pukou railway, thus forced to march 60 miles. General Chen Tiaoyuan of the first collective army captured Tehzhou on May 13th. At this point the NRA had cleared out most of northern Shandong. The first collective army then combined with Feng Yuxiang's 2nd along the North China plain to march upon Beijing over 200 miles away. Meanwhile Yan Xishans 3rd collective army was in position to take the left wing of the wrong, arched around the Yellow River all the way to the Great wall near Beijing. Yan Xishans 3rd collective army had been fighting the NPA ever since early April, when Zhang Zuolin attempted an invasion of Shanxi, just before the NRA arrived in the north. In mid april Yan Xishan had heavily fortified the mountain range that oversaw the railroad to Taiyuan while Zhang Zuolins offensive had been blocked. In north Shanxi, Zhang Zuolin had pressed deeply inside the ancient part of the Great Wall of China, first taking Dadung and then Shuozhou. On May 8th Yan Xishan had assembled enough forces to mount a counteroffensive. He recaptured Shuozhou and pushed the NPA over the northern border. By the 25th, the eastern point of Yan Xishans counteroffensive was advancing along the railway connecting Taiyuan with the North China plain pushing the NPA out of the Shanxi highlands. As Yan Xishans forces descended into the North China plain, alongside other NRA forces, there were now nearly 1 million troops assembled for battle. Over the plain Feng Yuxiangs 2nd collective army followed the Beijing-Hankou railway while Yan Xishan followed parallel north through the highlands bordering Shanxi. Both collective armies converged upon Baoting, erecting a siege. Yan Xishan unleashed his attack threatening the side gate of Beijing, forcing Zhang Zuolin to divide the NPA. The NPA forces fought fiercely to defend Baoting over in the south while at Chang-chia-k'ou, also known as Kalgan, the strategic ancient gateway for caravans and armies of Beijing to cross, fell to Yan Xishan on May 25th. The next day Yan Xishan captured Nankou, the last mountain pass defending Beijing. It seemed likely Yan Xishan would be the first to enter Beijing.  The joint operation by the 3 collective NRA armies had faced a lot of hardship through the North China Plain. In early April when the NPA invaded Shanxi they had also advanced south against Feng Yuxiangs bridgehead along the Yellow River. Had their double offensive succeeded, the Northern Expedition probably would have ground to a halt, right smack dab during the Jinan incident, holding back the 1st collective army. At that point the three large NPA forces who numbered around 1.5 million troops and enjoyed shorter supply lines over shortened rail would have devestated the NRA. Yet by mid april, Feng Yuxians 2nd collective army halted the NPA's southern thrust and tossed them back on their ass. South of the Yellow River, elements of Feng Yuxiangs men aided Chiang Kai-Sheks against Jinan to take the Hantan station, part of the Beijing-Hankou railway line on April 17th. The NPA as per usual enjoyed an advantge in heavy artillery and along the North China Plain it was placed atop railway cars causing havoc against the advancing NRA. Yet as powerful as their armored trains and railway artillery was, the NPA had become too dependent on it for victory. The NRA simply hooked around to threaten the NPA's railway line arteries in the rear, forcing commanders to retreat once taken.  Thus when Yan Xishans 3rd collective army broke out of Shanxi and confronted the NPA down in the plain at the railway intersections such as at Shihchiachuang, Zhang Zuolin began to withdraw north taking a defensive posture. Following the NPA retreat, Feng Yuxiang linked up with Yan Xishan to besiege Shihchiachuang from the south. Being assaulted from two sides, the vital railway crossroad fell on May 9th. The final drive to Beijing saw enormous masses of troops converging upon a deminishing field. While from the southeast it was still another 200 miles, Yan Xishans forward outposts in the northwest could look down on Beijing. The southern sector was divided into 3 routes; Yan Xishan advanced through the Shanxi border highlands; Feng Yuxiang over the Beijing-Hankou railway and Chiang Kai-Shek over the Tianjin-Pukou railway. While the bulk of Chiang Kai-Sheks 1st collective army had been forced to detour around Jinan, some units stayed behind to act as a guard force around the city. There remained an air of anxiety amongst the NRA commanders that the Japanese might intervene at Beijing. By mid May the end of the battle for Beijing still seemed distant. Zhang Zuolin had tossed 200,000 troops in a desperate counteroffensive from May 17th to the 25th. He concentrated his forces into a gap between the 1st and 2nd NRA collective armies. This saw the 1st crumble under the pressure and fall back south. The 1st then mounted a stand at Dunkuang, but were unable to regain the momentum of their offensive until end of May. Within the central sector, the NPA did not only smash Feng Yuxiangs siege of Baoting, they forced the 2nd collective NRA army south 40 miles along the Beijing-Hankou railway to Dingzhou. There the NPA unleashed their heavy artillery to keep Feng Yuxiangs forces locked down. It would not be until May 25th, when the NPA failed to hit Feng Yuxiangs flank, that the tide of battle turned.  The NPA counteroffensive had driven the NRA collective armies to cooperate. From Honan, Li Zongren rushed his 4th Collective Army under the leadership of Pai Chongxi north of the Beijing-Hankou railway to assist Feng Yuxiang's battered sector. Yan Xishan's capture of Nankou far in the north heavily helped the war effort by weakening  diverting the NPA's forces and resources from the southern push. Chiang Kai-Shek then launched his forces by rail to be at assembly points by May 25th so the momentum could resume. Feng Yuxiang launched cavalry units, spearheading north between the two north-south railway lines to threaten the NPA's lines of communications. Within the hills bordering the north China plain, Yan Xishans men fought their way down into the flatland and captured Mancheng by the 27th.  Meanwhile at Beijing, Zhang Zuolin oversaw 100,000 of his Manchurian troops holding the line alongside the other NPA units along the plain. They were under threat from growing pressure along the two railway lines, from the flanking attack coming out of Shanxi and from the rear as some of Yan Xishans forces were reaching the suburbs of Beijing. On May 30th, Zhang Zuolin, the leader of the NPA began to concentrate his own men towards himself. To shorten his lines of communication and concentrate more forces into a compact area, he tossed a counterattack against Mancheng. However the arrival of the 4th collective NRA army from central china simply made that flank untenable, his counterattack was cut in the bud. Zhang Zuolin pulled his troops back, even out of Baoting. Yet his desperate counter attack on Mancheng had inflicted heavy casualties upon Yan Xishans forces, claiming the lives of 4300 and wounded 15,000. Zhang Zuolin's troops suffered similar losses.  Over on the right wing along the Tianjing-Pukou railway, the 1st collective NRA army had been pushed back to Dungkuang, but by late May was rejoining the offensive. By the 28th, they were advancing forward alongside the other armies, covering within 30 miles of Zangzhou. The NRA advance sped up greatly as the NPA began a general retreat, shortening their defensive perimeter along the Ding River, the Wen'an swamp and across the Grand Canal at Mancheng. The leaders of the collective armies met on May 29th at the Lowei railway station where they agreed on a plan to perform a final assault to take the capital of China. Since Yan Xishan was already in place at Nankou, and the hills overlooking Beijing's plain, it was agreed that he would enter first. Thus the turtle warlord earned an incredible honor. See kids the turtle always beats the hare.  Once again Chiang Kai-Shek became anxious over the prospect a foreign power like Japan might intervene. When meeting with Feng Yuxiang and Yan Xishan, Chiang Kai-Shek informed them of the possible dangers after what had been seen at Jinan. All the foreign garrisons at Beijing seemed to be on high alert, over 4500 men of 4 different nations between Tianjin and Beijing along its railway. Chiang Kai-Shek gave strict orders not to molest any foreign troops, no need to start a new Boxer Rebellion. To fan Chiang Kai-Shek's fears, on May 18th a official Japanese memorandum addressed to him, but with copies sent to all the NRA leaders, warned both sides not to drag their civil war into Manchuria. It was stated if Zhang Zuolin's army was annihilated “Japan may take appropriate and effective steps for the maintenance of peace and order in Manchuria.” This memorandum was accompanied by Japanese reinforcements to Beijing, now reaching nearly 2000 men. They were forming a defensive perimeter around the legation quarter and the Japanese hospital. Over in Shandong the Kwantung army now had 15,000 troops who were refusing to depart Jinan. In fact the Kwantung army sent an ultimatum demanding the removal of all Chinese troops from Qingdao. While this may look like a saving grace for Zhang Zuolin, in many ways it was a death sentence to his career. Zhang Zuolin had struggled ever since becoming the Tiger of Manchuria to not be seen as a Japanese puppet, and Japan was doing a terrible job of hiding it. Yet again Zhang Zuolin took action to disassociate from the Japanese, by replying to the memorandum stating, that in light of the Washington Conference principles he could not recognize Japan's interests in Manchuria. Uh Oh. Very unwise words from the old Marshal. The KMT propaganda against him was working like a charm, demoralizing the NPA forces. By early June the 3 NPA armies holding on desperately to the defensive perimeter were wearing down. Baoting had fallen to the NRA and the KMT propaganda was breaking morale. The Kwantung army was demanding the NPA withdraw back into Manchuria where a better defensive line could be established. Yet the NPA for all their defeats and misgivings, were not broken, they were not defeated and still enjoyed greater firepower and shorter logistical lines. Now defending the line was Zhang Zuolins forces in the western sector; Sun Chuan fangs in the center and Zhang Zongchang in the east near Tianjin.   On June 3rd Zhang Zuolin departed with his general staff back to Manchuria by train, dramatically dropping morale for the NPA. The KMT pumped up the propaganda, stressing the NPA's position was hopeless and publicized that Zhang Zuolin had sent his family back to the safety of Mukden. Meanwhile a KMT agent named Nan Kueixiang had been working since early June to persuade Sun Chuanfang to abandon his allies. On June 4th he did just that, suddenly departing with his troops away from the center sector of the defensive line. Feng Yuxiangs men stormed the vacant central sector, cutting the railway line connecting Beijing to Tianjin by June 6th. Sun Chuanfang had managed to escape, fleeing first for Dairen, then Japan into exile. Over in the western sector, Yan Xishan's 7th division led by Sun Qu hooked quickly around the NPA flank and by the morning of the 6th, marched triumphantly through the gates of Beijing. The occupation of the capital was to be bloodless, as agreed upon by the collective army commanders. This was mostly the case, though incidents certainly occurred. The foreign powers demanded protection in Beijing and that the NPA regiment of Pao Yulin remain in the capital to maintain order and then be permitted safe passage to Manchuria. But a subordinate of Feng Yuxiang broke such agreements by grabbing some of the Manchurians captive causing quite a crisis. The crisis was soon averted when the captives were handed back over, but such an incident showcased how the NRA units were still not fully united. Over in the eastern sector, Zhang Zongchang put up a more determined resistance as he tried to extort over 2 millions dollars from Tianjin's merchant associations in return for a bloodless and orderly retreat from their city. The Dogmeat General to the bitter end. In a fit of frustration he laid down a giant barrage of heavy artillery against the approaching 1st collective NRA army trying to ford the Hai river approaching Tianjin. Because the foreign concessions at Tianjin sat on the south bank of the Hai River, the 1st collective army was forced to approach from the west to avoid them, especially the Japanese concession.  Chiang Kai-Shek gave strict orders for the units to “disarm all northerners who try to enter the foreign concessions … and … make no attempt to enter the foreign concessions…. We will do our best to handle the difficult situation in the most pacific manner.” KMT agents had been secretly contacting NPA officers since late 1927 and within Tianjin their efforts paid off. Lu Hosheng had been offering NPA officers various deals for their defection or surrender. By June of 1928, Lu Hosheng secured a deal with General Xu Yuanquan of the Fengtian 6th army who had been reinforcing Zhang Zongchangs sector around Tianjin. During a secret meeting on June 7th Lu Hoshen persuaded Xu Yuanquan to turn himself and his men over to the 1st collective NRA army on the 11th. This defection weakened Zhang Zongchangs line, ending any hopes of him retaining Tianjin. Xu Yuanquan got a position under Yan Xishan commanding the 11th corps. From June 11th to September 3rd, mop up operations were undertaken by Pai Chongxi east of Beijing. It was not until the 7th of September that Pai Chongxi's force consisting of various elements of the 4 collective NRA armies would see real action. On that day, Zhang Zongchang lined up his army behind a defensive system built around Tangshan. Zhang Zongchang was completely alone, but determined to not go down without a fight. He led his forces for two days fighting at Tangshan until they withdrew towards Shanhaiguan. His last stand was made along the Luan River from September 15-23rd. The NRA breached his lines, overwhelmed his men, killing and capturing countless.  Zhang Zuolin had become very uncooperative towards the Japanese upon the 23rd hour of the war. Even before the Beijing campaign, in 1927 when Tanaka Giichi became prime minister of Japan, he began demanding railway and mining rights, to set up new factories and to rent out land from Zhang Zuolin. This was met with large scale protests, 100,000 people demonstrated in Mukden calling for Tanaka's cabinet to fall. Zhang Zuolin rejected the demands and publicly said ‘I, Zhang Zuolin, am Chinese, and I am at odds with the Japanese. Japan is trying to invade Northeast China. I the King of the Northeast, will never allow it!”. Bold words of the old Marshal. From the Japanese point of view, or to be more specific, from the perspective of junior, youthful officers of the Kwantung army, many of whom were affiliated with the Kodoha faction and avid listeners for speeches made by Kanji Ishiwara. Zhang Zuolin had become a major problem. From their viewpoint, the NRA, whose ranks held some communists and support from the Soviet Union, were on the verge of invading what they considered their most significant sphere of influence, Manchuria. If Manchuria were to fall under the Nationalists or worse communists, this was deemed strategically unacceptable towards Japan's future goals. They had used the Tiger of Manchuria for a long time to act as a bulwark against such an occurrence, but he went renegade, trying to conquer China proper and in doing so, lost and dragged their enemy to the doorstep of Manchuria. The Kwantung army had helped build up the Fengtian army and had deep connections to it. They had gradually groomed a new puppet in the form of General Yang Yuting, to be a possible replacement for the Old Marshal, and it seemed that time had come.  Zhang Zuolin had departed Beijing for Mukden on the night of June 3rd of 1928. He got aboard a train along the Jingfeng railway, a route defended by his own Fengtian troops. However there was a single location along said railway that was not under his control, a bridge a few kilometers east of Huanggutun station. Here the railway crossed over the South Manchuria Railway via a bridge, which of course was owned by Japan. A junior officer, Colonel Daisaku Kōmoto, for those who listen to my personal podcast, the Pacific War Channel Podcast, he has become kind of a funny character. He will be responsible for an unbelievable amount of false flag operations, but this would be his first famous one. Komoto, alongside many of his junior officer colleagues, believed assassinating Zhang Zuolin and replacing him with General Yang Yuting would benefit the Empire of Japan. If they could install their hand picked puppet, perhaps he would be more malleable to their demands. Now again if you want a more thorough explanation for what is going on in the Japanese military, head on over to my personal channel, I recommend the 4 part series on Kanji Ishiwara, fascinating stuff. But to brutally summarize, there exists a term in Japanese Gekokujō. It means for a person in a lower position to overthrow someone in a higher position, specifically in terms of military or politics. It loosely means in english “the lower rules the higher”. This term actually goes all the way back to Sui dynasty China and came over to Japan during the Kamakura period. During the chaotic Sengoku period it was seen quite often. During the Showa Period it would become a very popular tool employed by junior officers, particularly those of the Kodoha faction. Now I keep saying that word, Kodoha Faction, many of you might be asking, what the hell is that, some other warlord group? In the years leading up to WW2, Japan's political and military landscape was characterized by intense internal rivalries and ideological divisions. Two of the most significant factions within the Japanese military were the Kōdōha or “Imperial Way Faction” and the Tōseiha or “Control Faction”. These factions, though both rooted in nationalism and the desire for Japan's expansion, differed markedly in their ideologies, goals, and methodology. The Kōdōha faction was a radical nationalist group within the Japanese Army. This faction was deeply influenced by the ideas of Shintoism and bushido, and it advocated for a return to traditional Japanese values and an emphasis on spiritual purity and moral integrity. The Kōdōha believed that Japan was destined to lead Asia and that this could only be achieved through the overthrow of the existing political system, which they saw as corrupt and overly influenced by Western ideas. Now to be more specific the Kōdōha envisioned a military dictatorship led directly by the Emperor, supported by the army. They were fervent supporters of direct imperial rule and sought to eliminate the influence of what they deemed to be corrupt politicians and bureaucrats. I simply cant go to far down the rabbit hole, but these Kodoha guys were young and many came from rural Japan, from poor families. They say the industrialists, specifically the Zaibatsu as this corrupt part of their nation, strangling her and the emperor. They blamed much of Japans problems on the industrialists and their corrupt colleagues, the politicians. The faction was also characterized by its anti-modernization stance, opposing Western-style industrialization and instead promoting agrarianism and self-sufficiency. Although its not pertinent to our story yet, the Tōseiha Faction by contrast, represented a more pragmatic and modernizing force within the Japanese military. This faction recognized the importance of industrialization and technological advancement in building a strong and competitive nation. The Tōseiha believed that Japan needed to modernize its military and economy to succeed in its imperial ambitions. The Tōseiha favored a more bureaucratic and technocratic approach to governance. They sought to work within the existing political framework, strengthening the influence of the military in government affairs through legal and political means rather than revolutionary violence. The faction aimed to create a centralized, efficient state apparatus capable of mobilizing the nation's resources for war. While both factions shared the ultimate goal of expanding Japan's power and influence, their methods and underlying philosophies were markedly different. The Kōdōha's radicalism and emphasis on traditional values and spiritual purity stood in stark contrast to the Tōseiha's pragmatism and modernization efforts. Quite the detour, can you tell I have explained these two factions multiple times before haha? The Japanese military during the Showa era is a fascinating and horrifying subject, again for you guys who want to know more check out some of recent work covering the Huanggutun incident, mukden incident, invasion of Manchuria series and the Kanji Ishiwara series. Currently working on a Japanese invasion of Mongolia and north china series with a new animator, exciting stuff.  Back to Komodo, he like many Kodoha youth saw gekokujō as this ultimate tool to use to make ends meet. During the 1920's they assassinated countless, politicians, businessmen, military commanders and such. The period literally became referred to as “government by assassination” it was that bad. And here with Zhang Zuolin gekokujō would reak its ugly head. Komodo came up with a plan, well another colleague, Lt General Sasaki Toichi would later claim he gave him the idea, but Komodo planned to lay a bomb over the railway track Zhang Zuolin was traveling to kill him. Komodo had his subordinate, Captain Kaneo Tomiya plan the operation. Captain Kaneo found the bridge point and enlisted other Kwantung officers, such as a Major who was in charge of guards in the area and a demolition expert installed the explosives. Komoto also hired 3 dissatisfied Manchurians to be close by the explosion site. If Zhang Zuolin survived the explosion, they were to rush to his car and kill him. The bomb was planted by Saper 1st Lt Sadatoshi Fujii. At 5:23am on June 4th the bomb exploded as Zhang Zuolin's train was passing over. Several of Zhang Zuolins officials, like the governor of Heilongjiang province, Wu Junsheng were killed instantly. Zhang Zuolin was sitting at a mah jong table when his car blew up, sending a steel fragment into his nose which would kill him hours later. After the incident, Komodo's gang stabbed 2 out of the 3 Manchurians trying to pin the blame on them, but the 3rd got away rushing straight to the headquarters of Zhang Zuolin's son, Zhang Xueiliang. Things did not go as planned for the Kwantung assassins. They knew Zhan Zuolin had chosen as heir his son Zhang Xueliang, but this did not trouble them. That was of course because Zhang Xueliang was a major drug addict and considered easily controlled. But they had not considered the fact someone got away and reported the young marshal who had killed his father.  Zhang Xueliang kept his father's death a secret for over two weeks while he secretly spoke with Chiang Kai-Shek striking a deal. Then Zhang Xueliang officially took his father's mantle as ruler of Manchuria on June 21, but knowing a public announcement of his fathers assassins would cause a violent reaction from Japan, chose to keep the peace. Oh and by keeping the peace he made sure to execute two of his father's pro-japanese subordinates, who may have even been implicated in the assassination.  The Kwantung Army leadership were caught completely off guard. Komoto's radical group had performed the assassination without approval of the Imperial General Headquarters nor from his own Kwantung Army leadership. The Kwantung army was unable to rally forces together to take advantage of the chaos…because there simply was no chaos, Zhang Xueliang made sure of that. Even with Zhang Xueliang as the new ruler, the Kwantung Army still probably hoped that he would prove to be more pliant than his father as he had a reputation as a playboy and was a rampant opium addict. But murdering his father proved to have backfired spectacularly, for he immediately switched allegiances from Japan to Chiang Kai-shek in December of 1928. He even got off opium with the help of his friend, journalist William Donald. Way to go Japan. Tanaka was outraged when he found out who was responsible and resolved to punish Komoto and his radical gang, but some of his fellow cabinet members sympathized with their cause and began to oppose holding the assassins responsible. Army Minister Shirakawa Yoshinori and Railway Minister Ogawa led a coalition against Tanaka, claiming his actions would harm the imperial house, worsen Sino-Japanese relations and undermine Japan's special interests in China. Oh and of course the cabinet did not want to be held accountable for basically allowing the radicals to do what they did.   Emperor Hirohito was likewise outraged, immediately calling for those responsible to be punished which forced an internal investigation of the matter. Tanaka gave a formal report of what occurred to Emperor Hirohito, stating he intended to court martial the assailants, purge the army and re-establish discipline. … Well Tanaka would be informed later that the Emperor refused to meet with him further, leaving Tanaka alone to face the entire army, basically meaning he was being dismissed. Tanaka resigned, and the cabinet covered up the incident, treating it as an internal administrative matter. Emperor Hirohito accepted the army's intention to lie to the public about the incident and give the culprits minor administrative punishments. Thus Hirohito saved his own face, but also allowed the Kwantung Army to defy the Tokyo government, something that would not bite him in the ass later. Colonel Komodo was forced to resign his post as senior staff officer and would be succeeded by Lt Colonel Ishiwara. Komodo and Ishiwara would work very closely before he left his station, making sure the next steps to solve the Manchurian problem were met.  Thus Zhang Xueliang negotiated with Chiang Kai-Shek from June until the end of 1928. During this period Zhang Xueliang consolidated his hold over Manchuria and he was given quite the challenge by his fathers former subordinates. On December 29th of 1928, the KMT flag flew over Mukden. China was unified. The next day the KMT government appointed Zhang Xueliang commander of the Northeast Border defense army with his own Manchurian troops. Chiang Kai-Shek had done the unimaginable in only two years. However, on June 11th as Yan Xishan entered Beijing, he whispered an ominous warning to Feng Yuxiang, that there were those going around “spreading rumors to stir up inner dissensions”. Not all was well in camelot.  I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me. At long last, Chiang Kai-Shek had finally done it, he reunified China. A new golden age, without any conflict would soon emerge, whereupon all the vast Chinese peoples would live harmoniously. The future looked bright, one could see a rising sun in the distance, oh wait that is the empire of Japan. 

Last time we spoke about the beginning of Chiang Kai-Sheks war against Sun Chuanfang. Chiang Kai-Shek had just conquered Hunan and Hubei, but this caused Sun Chuanfang to finally act. Chiang Kai-Shek's forces preemptively invaded Jiangxi to thwart Sun Chuanfangs two pronged offensive and any chance of him linking up with Wu Peifu. Sun Chuanfang was caught off guard, but managed to toss brutal counterattacks. However internal disunity amongst the 5 provinces led to a great weakening of Sun Chuanfangs campaign. In October, the NRA counterattacked, retaking territory and pushing Sun's forces back. Sun's position crumbled further due to rebellions in Zhejiang, where local leaders allied with the KMT. Despite setbacks, by November, the NRA's relentless pressure led to the capture of Jiangxi, significantly weakening Sun Chuanfang's hold and advancing the Northern Expedition. Meanwhile other NRA forces devastated Fujian's defenders and shockingly seized the province.    #112 The Northern Expedition Part 3: The Zhejiang Campaign Welcome to the Fall and Rise of China Podcast, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about the history of Asia? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on history of asia and much more  so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel where I cover the history of China and Japan from the 19th century until the end of the Pacific War. Beginning in November, until the end of 1926, both the NRA and their enemies took a sort of pause to regroup and figure out what was going on. Chiang Kai-Shek had carried out an offensive down the Yangtze and sought the blitzkrieg to carry on, but many within his ranks wanted to slow down and regroup. Meanwhile Sun Chuanfang received more peace offers and chances to join the KMT, but such a thing seemed too far beneath him. With Jiangxi and Fujian lost, Sun Chuanfang instead turned to an unlikely ally. In a very, the enemy of my enemy is my friend-like fashion he turned north to the Fengtian clique warlords. Now obviously, during the later half of the Anti-Fengtian War, Sun Chuanfang kind of held back. He had served the Fengtian a bloody nose and consolidated his 5 provinces, letting the northerners battle it out amongst themselves. Yet they just like he viewed the new southern menace as nothing more than a communist parasite swarming out of Guangdong. In a fit of desperation Sun Chuanfang took a train on November 8th in Nanking bound for Tianjin.  Once in Tianjin Sun Chuanfang met with some subordinates of Zhang Zuolin and Zhang Zongchang. They all reviewed the dire situation that befell Wu Peifu against the NRA in Hunan and Hubei. Sun Chuanfang fully disclosed what had happened to his forces in Jiangxi and Fujian. The northern warlords acknowledged the NRA was not like any other warlord force they had faced before. They were defeating armies much larger and much better armed, it confused them. Even those who had control over strategic railways seemed to be losing to the NRA. The Fengtian warlords had learnt some bitter lessons during their war with Sun Chuanfang and were not going to underestimate a potential enemy again. The Fengtian decided to form a new alliance to destroy the new red menace in the south. Despite the significant grievances between Sun Chuanfang and the Fengtian, particularly with Zhang Zongchang, he agreed to the alliance. Sun Chuanfang really had no choice after losing Jiangxi and Fujian with ill control over Zhejiang. As for Wu Peifu, he really was the unlucky warlord to be first in the crosshairs of the NRA. The commanders at the Tianjin meeting agreed to do what they could to reinforce him over in Honan so that he might be able to mount a counter offensive against Wuhan. They all also agreed, if Wu Peifu refused their alliance and aid, they would be forced to invade Honan to defend the north from the NRA. To reinforce Sun Chuanfang in the southeast, the Fengtian would fit the bill, but bill Sun Chuanfang they also would. In particular Zhang Zongchang was looking enviously at some of Sun Chuanfangs holdings as his province of Shandong was certainly impoverished, all because of his miss rule might I add. Zhang Zongchang had his eye on the gem of Shanghai and its robust black market, where many of his friends resided. Sun Chuanfang offered Zhang Zongchang a guarantee of 500,000$ in silver collected from the good taxpayers of Zhejiang and Anhui in return for reinforcements.  On November 24th, while Sun Chuanfangs forces in Fujian were being obliterated by the NRA, major agreements made at Tianjin were bearing results. Zhang Zongchang's Shandong troops were advancing south into Anhui aboard the Tianjing-Pukou railway bound for the Yangtze delta. They were 60,000 men strong, including some of Zhang Zongchang's elite White Russian units manning armorer trains with their specialized artillery. Within just a weeks time they were arriving to the battlefield under a brand new banner “the Ankuochün / National Pacification Army”. Zhang Zuolin came up with the name, the idea behind it was to make it seem like they were fighting a war to achieve peace against the evil red horde. Zhang Zuolin took the authority as commander in chief and appointed Sun Chuanfang and Zhang Zongchang as his deputy commanders with their HQ being in the Pukou-Nanking area. Zhang Zuolin proclaimed to the people of China he promised to save China from the red menace. The new National Pacification Army was a whopping 500,000 men strong.  Sun Chuanfangs portion of this grand army was of course the weakest link as he had just been battered by the NRA , but the Fengtian had not even had a chance to lift a thumb. Sun Chuanfang was still obsessed with retaining his 5 province empire and that desire would hinder his management of the war.  As Shandong troops arrived, they found not a grand welcoming from the local populations. They of course had terrible reputations and were the very people who had molested southeast China during the Zhejiang-Fengtian war. The CCP and NRA would exploit the southeast Chinese peoples hatred towards the northerners. Within Jiangsu and Shanghai, the Shandongers forced the locals to accept the Zhang Zongchang bank notes, literally worthless pieces of paper. The CCP and KMT began propaganda campaigns playing off this situation to tell the people the northerners were going to basically rip them all off. Sun Chuanfang could see exactly the sort of game the CCP and KMT were playing at and increased his persecution of them within his territories.  Now although Sun Chuanfang had certainly been weakened, Chiang Kai-Shek was not in good enough of a situation to follow up on his Jiangxi and Fujian victories. Chiang Kai-Shek had moved his HQ to Nanchang and was quite nervous about some looming issues within his ranks. He had already postponed the northern expedition back in July of 1926 when strikes broke out against Hong Kong. In November word spread that strikes were yet again occurring in Guangzhou, particularly at the Guangzhou-Hankou railway. The strikes at the railway were spreading up into Hunan. Over in Guangzhou the Cantonese workers at the Shihching and Mortar arsenals were striking as CCP members were agitating sailors and navy unions to join. The workers were demanding higher wages, clearly trying to take advantage of the fact the NRA were at the frontlines. Chiang Kai-Shek ordered the head of the NRA political department, Teng Yenta to travel from the front lines back over to Guangzhou to see if he could quell the madness. Throughout November a lull occurred, but it broke suddenly in December as strikers armed with pickets began closing up rice shops and banks. Reports came to Chiang Kai-Shek at the front, greatly worrying him about their war material situation. A lot of what they produced came out of Guangzhou and it seemed under threat. On December 8th, Chiang Kai-Shek made a speech, talking about how issues were coming about because of conflict within their First United Front. Following said speech, he appointed the garrison commander, Chien Tachuan to act as Guangzhou's police chief and pacify the city. Chiang met some KMT officials of the Central Political Council at Kuling, ordering them to help restrain labor violence and prohibit strikes in Guangzhou against strategic activities, such as communications, banks, and the supply of food and other “vital necessities. The Guangzhou strike situation then spread to Wuhan as workers began marching for higher wages and better working conditions. Because of this, by late 1926 Wuhan's lucrative arsenal industries outputs were declining. KMT leaders were freaking out over the situation as it looked to them all that another Guangzhou style workers uprising would occur. Word spread that a general strike in Wuhan was being planned on December 3rd, prompting Chiang Kai-Shek to intervene. The workers in general were protesting imperialist employers in the three cities; Hankou, Hanyang and Wuchang. They wanted higher pay and better working conditions, pretty standard stuff. Chiang Kai-Shek called together a meeting at Nanchang of various KMT leaders and Borodin. Chiang Kai-Shek proposed regulating the labor movement. Borodin recommended that the CCP corporate in restraining the union problems. Political department members of the KMT proposed disbanding 1000 armed pickets operating in Wuhan, the same way they did at Guangzhou. Hankou had seen some union violence and this deeply worried Chiang Kai-Shek who envisioned foreign marines storming shore from fleets of gunboats along the Yangtze to defend their nationals and property rights. It was eventually agreed some of the protestor leaders would be allowed to join the KMT to help its new government in Wuhan. It seems Chiang Kai-Shek had his hands quite full with internal problems.  Now back over the situation of Zhejiang. Despite the rather hilarious failure of Xia Chao's rebellion, if it could even be called such a thing. Sun Chuanfang's troops had taken a firm station in Zhejiang to maintain the peace. While the violence had cooled down, the sentiment of the people of Zhejiang had not. During late October, Sun Chuanfangs troops had swarmed Zhejiang trying to create a regime that would pacify and try to conciliate the provincial feelings. Zhou Fengqi had been transferred back to Zhejiang, mostly because Sun Chuanfang wanted to get him and his division out of the Jiangxi battlefield because he was doing a terrible job. Sun Chuanfang hoped his provincial Lt's would prove better defenders if defending their homeland. He also began a propaganda campaign, spreading word that the Cantonese forces were brutalizing the civilians everywhere they invaded. He said things like the Cantonese sought to break the traditional family system, that they were merely communists in disguise and such. Sun Chuanfang had also brought Chen Yi and his division back to Hangzhou and by October 31st, appointed Zhejiangs new civil governor after Xia Chao's head was cut off. Simultaneously, Sun Chuanfang kept his own personal retainer, Lu Xiangting, the military governor of Zhejiang. Now as Zhou Fengqi was heading back to Zhejiang, he came to Shanghai where he proclaimed to the pople that Sun Chuanfang had placed him in charge of defending the province against the Cantonese invaders. When he arrived to Hangzhou, Zhou Fengqi stated publically he had no sympathies for the KMT revolutionaries. Why he did this was because many rumors had spread that he had deserted in the Jiangxi fight to the KMT, which of course was 100% correct. On November 25th, Zhou Fengqi spoke publically about his dead mentor Xia Chao and stated “I would sacrafice anything for Zhejiang… neither the Northern Army nor the Southern Army were his friends and that any who invaded Chekiang automatically became his enemy ….” Now Sun Chuanfangs surprising move to ally himself to Zhang Zuolin had greatly shocked and scared the southeastern populations, the Fengtian northerners were of course the brutes who had hurt them. Thus Sun Chuanfang had become a double edged sword. He was saved by the Fengtian reinforcements, but his 5 provinces populations also deeply resented this. For those in Zhejiang who sought autonomy, it looked a lot like the KMT was a better option going forward. Chiang Kai-Shek was well aware of the situation and exploited it. The KMT began offering peace agreements not just to Sun Chuanfang, but to independent bodies in Zhejiang, such as the All-Zhejiand Association and even the All-Jiangsu association. KMT members in Zhejiang such as Tsai Yuanpei and C.T Wang. These two guys were responsible for writing the Zhejiang autonomous consitution of 1921. Within the safetey of the Shanghai international settlement they proposed a new federal system within which provinces would be able to handle their own affairs and be represented by a national assembly. In December of 1926 they began negotiating both with Sun Chuanfang over in Nanking and the KMT. Sun Chuanfang could see he was losing Zhejiang because of his alliance with Zhang Zuolin. Thus he made a tremendous gamble, he simply gave Zhejiang its independence. He did so hoping the province would continue to support him against the perceived red menace. He ordered Chen Yi to declare the province independent just before the KMT had planned to release some propaganda procliaming Zhejiang was under tryannical rule by northerners. Chiang Kai-Shek then tried to counter the situation by declaring the NRA would not enter Zhejiang if they roke ties with Sun Chuanfang and no northern troops were within their borders. Sun Chuanfang had already declared the northern reinforcements would defend Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Anhui and of course this would mean tax hikes to pay for their protection. Yet again the Zhejiang revolutionaries assembled in the Shanghai international settlement, planning to create an independent provincial regime. On December 8th, they elected a provincial government committee, notably in a form favored by the KMT. Amongst the nominees were some of those responsible for formented the Ningpo rebellion of 1924. That smaller rebellion had seen some local gentry attempt self rule against the nothern warlords ruling them at Hangzhou. There were a few KMT members such as the ex-Zhejiang governor, Chiang Tsung-Kuei. Chen Yi and Zhou Fengqi were elected to the 9 man committee and the Guangzhou agent Ha Xulun who was working behind the scenes to direct matters against Sun Chuanfang. On the 11th december at Shanghai, Zho Fengqi decalred his defection to the NRA in a true modern day politician like fashion. His declaration of course added fuel to those wishing to break with Sun Chuanfang. He soon set up a new HQ at Quzhou and was promoted to commandr of the 26th NRA army. The KMT then descended upon Chen Yi, trying to bring him into the fold. The provincial assembly chairman and head of the Hangzhou chamber of commerce both proposed forming their autonomous state as part of the KMT and pushed Chen Yi to jump aboard the wagon. Chen Yi traveled to Hangzhou and Nanking trying to see what kind of deal he could land, ever an opportunist. Sun Chuanfang refused to move his troops within Zhejiang at Chiahsing as Zhou Fengqi had just joined the enemy, and now he heard word the NRA vanguard had penetrated the province. On the 17th Chen Yi defected to the NRA making his division the 19th NRA army and received promises from Chiang Kai-Shek he would get a nice cushy position in Zhejiang once the war was over. In the 19th the Shanghai group announced the official independence of Zhejiang from Sun Chuanfangs 5 provincial empire. They were now a autonomous province and would: “1) implement self-government for Zhejiang with provincial personnel; 2) oppose militarists who might seek to carve out their own “autonomous” areas; 3) make public the provincial government affairs; 4) subordinate the Zhejiang military to the Provincial Government; 5) provide for the civil freedoms of assembly, press, organization, and speech; and 6) abolish all unconstitutional taxes.” These terms were delivered to both Sun Chuanfang and Chiang Kai-Shek. Now despite doing all of this, the Zhejiang movement was by no means unified. Many of the gentry and military classes were not onboard because the NRA did not have a strong presence in the province. There was also of course Sun Chuanfang collaborators, the type of men who had received good positions from him. Many also rightfully feared Sun Chuanfangs wrath. Zhou Fengqi turned tail immediately from defending Hangzhou and sought the safer refugee of Quzhou. The NRA at this point were still preoccupied with consolidating their gains in Fujian and Jiangxi thus all they really had for Zhejiang at the moment was a vanguard.  In response to the situation Sun Chuanfang assembled his four best divisions along the Zhejiang border. He then formed an agreement with his NPA allies and subordinates in Jiangsu and Anhui to guard his flank as he tossed the kitchen sink into Zhejiang. In a fashion very typical of Sun Chuanfangs military style, he performed a lighting advance. His field commander, Meng Chaoyueh brushed aside Zhejiang divisions from the valleys all the way to the Jiangsu border. The lightning offensive was maintained throughout January of 1927. It seemed to all Sun Chuanfang had succeeded in taking back Zhejiang by force in a quick masterstroke. Within mere days of the offensive, Chen Yi was captured and replaced. Meng Chaoyueh's forces advanced upland, but then ran into the 26th NRA army, reinforced with elements of the NRA vanguard force who had popped out of the Fujian border. Over at Quzhou the NRA dug in, providing something akin to a bridgehead from Fujian into Zhejiang.  Another force under Sun Chuanfang advanced against Chen Yi's 19th NRA army eastwards along Hangzhou Bay's southern shore. At the Tsao River Sun Chuanfangs men found the rebels short on ammunition and served them a crushing defeat around Chuchi. From there many scattered through the southwestern hill side until they found their way to Quzhou. Over there the NRA were holding out under intense attacks until mid January. Within Sun Chuanfangs sink were elements of the Fujian troops who had defeated Zhou Yingren. These units went past Quzhou and seized Lanchi and Chinhua on the 10th. General Ho Yingqin in Fujian now faced the daunting choice of jumping into Zhejiang before the bridgehead closed. But the NRA enjoyed greater mobility and this allowed the 1st NRA army to rush over the border hills to aid the besieged Quzhou before Sun Chuanfang had brought over his heavy artillery.  On January 20th General Pai Qungxi took command over various NRA units and allied forces in Zhejiang to reorganize a battle plan. By the 29th he launched a counterattack out of the highlands. Using local guides who knew the terrain, the NRA marched through tributary valleys leading into the open plain of Qietang where the provincal capital of Hangzhou was. Now with more equal numbers the NRA engaged the enemy at Lanchi and Chinua fighting a brutal 3 day battle. This action turned the campaign around. Sun Chuanfangs forces lost commanding officers of a brigade, regiment and 3 battalions, alongsides 2000 soldiers. The NRA captured large hauls of firearms, but much mor precious, some heavy artillery. The early northern expedition lacked heavy artillery and these pieces would be put to great use. After the 3 day battle Sun Chuanfangs forces would never regain the highlands. Pai Qungxi then divided his force into two prongs aimed at Hangzhou. When Meng Chaoyueh tried to face the NRA through the main valley, but was out flanked. By February 11th around Tunglu, Meng Chaoyueh's forces were routed down the valley, They fled over to Fuyang where they tried to fortify new defensive lines using artillery, alongside some reinforcements, but utterly failed. The defeated greatly demoralized the northerners to the point Zhou Yingren lost complete control over his Fujian units. The soldiers retreated in a panic, breaking ranks as civilians from Fuyang to Hangzhou packed all they had and fled for Shanghai. Their towns were plundered by the soldiers who sought to grab what they could before running home to north china. The battle of Tunglu saw Sun Chuanfang pull his remaining forces towards Hangzhou. There they could mount a defense and feel more secure that the railway line led back to Shanghai and the north. The NRA forces pincer attacked near Hangzhou catching 8000 retreating soldiers who had been waiting on a ferry to get across the Chientang river. Sun Chuanfang tossed more reinforcements into Zhejiang, but they were no longer cooperating with his field commander Meng Chaoyueh who was already having problems controlling the Fujian units. Thus Meng Chaoyueh chose rather than making a stand at Hangzhou, he took his 20,000 men and retreated into Jiangsu. Another province in Sun Chuanfangs infinity gauntlet was being lost. General Meng Chaoyueh and the civil governor of Zhejiang fled for Shanghai on February 17th of 1927. Even the withdrawal out of Zhejiang was an unmitigated disaster as Meng Chaoyueh could not maintain his men's discipline. After advancing 50 miles to Chiahsing many had mutinied, seeking to sack the city. The civilians begged Meng Chaoyueh to force his men to leave them alone and move on, but he dared not try to halt his unruly men. Yet again this proved to be a crucial factor leading to the NRA's success. Where warlords armies went, they looted and molested the common people, while the KMT had strict policies of paying the local populations for what they needed and not to lift a finger upon the common people. The northern chinese tore down civilian barricades, placed by scared shopowners, ransacked them and carried off anything they could. When the NRA made it to Chiahsing after them, they were met with flags and warm greetings. On February 23rd the NRA had effectively cleaned Zhejiang of Sun Chuanfangs forces and allies, most had pulled back to defensive lines west of Shanghai. Their new defensive line was built around the Hangzhou-Shanghai railway line at Sungchiang. Xia Chao was dead, Chen Yi was captured, leaving Zhou Fengqi the last man standing from the triumvirate. Now he was the MVP Zhejiang leader who Chiang Kai-Shek would play upon to consolidate the province. He was quickly appointed to chairman of Zhejiangs military committee and became an official member of her new governmental committee. General Ho Yingqing assembled his forces opposite the Jiangsu border near Chiahsing, preparing for an offensive aimed at Shanghai. Meanwhile KMT members Tsai Yuanpei and Zhou Fengqi began setting up the new Zhejiang government while the NRA organized their offensive. Chiang Kai-Shek was reluctant to attack Shanghai directly. The super city had an enormous population, including countless foreign communities. The great powers had their largest concessions and investments in Shanghai and none of them were taking a liking to the KMT's anti-foreign propaganda. By February of 1927, there had been a plethora of antiforeign incidents that were making foreigners antsy, even those living cushy lives in Shanghai. A month prior at Hankou and Kiukiang, angry chinese mobs spurred by agitators within the KMT, or as Chiang Kai-Shek would tell it, CCP members had attacked British concessions. The British were only able to thwart bloodshed by handing some authority over the concessions back to the Chinese. Foreign residents in the Yangtze valley were evacuating en masse to Shanghai for protection and this helped circulate horror stories in the foreign community there.  It seemed clear to all the foreigners were preparing to defend themselves at Shanghai. It is actually quite reminiscent of the Taiping Rebellion or Boxer Rebellion. As angry mobs of local Chinese approached Shanghai, her foreign residents were banding together to mount and effective defense of the city. All foreign powers with investments in the Yangtze region began pouring what troops they had on hand and recruited volunteers to patrol and defend the city. Command of Shanghai's defenses for the foreign quarters fell to the British commander Duncan who took the Richard Hotel as his HQ. He now coordinated an international force nearly 10,000 strong, consisting mainly of marines and sailors. Duncan had formed an agreement with Sun Chuanfang to help defend a perimeter that expanded outside the foreign concessions. Refers spread around the local population that the British were requesting their government, the US and Japan launch a war against the NRA. Sun Chuanfangs situation got even worse as he had stirred up the foreign community, stating he could not guarantee their safety against the red menace approaching Shanghai. Sun Chuanfang worked alongside the international administrative office to round up and execute any revolutionary agents they could find within Shanghai and her concessions. On the night of January 10th of 1927, inspectors consisting of foreign volunteers who patrolled the streets of the concessions. All suspected revolutionaries were round up and brought to police stations in Sun Chuanfangs areas of control in the Chinese parts of Shanghai. The foreigners also made sure to prohibit any demonstrations or political activities. By late february as the NRA was massing across the border, Sun Chuanfang announced that he, the British and Japanese authorities within Shanghai were cooperating to stop chinese labor unions and workers from performing any mischief. This was followed up by a large round up of suspected revolutionaries. As Chiang Kai-Shek approached Shanghai, he was risking major retaliation from the great powers, who seemed to be aligning with Sun Chuanfang and the NPA. Chiang Kai-Shek risked opening a new front with a great power, perhaps more northern warlords as well. There was no way he could face more opponents and Sun Chuanfang simultaneously. So rather than risk a military confrontation with the Shanghai concessions, Chiang Kai-Shek chose another action. Over at Sungchiang, lying directly in front of Shanghai, the NRA east route army looked like they were preparing a siege against the city. Yet further up the Yangtze the NRA were actually preparing an offensive against Nanking. If Nanking and here ferries linked to the Tianjing-Pukou railway to fall to the NRA, Sun Chuanfang would be isolated south of the Yangtze. To be cut off from his vital railway line that supplied him with men and materials from the north was game over. I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me. Chiang Kai-Shek's NRA just kept surprising the world winning enormous battles against the odds. With basically the rest of China's warlords banded together under the NPA, how could the NRA possibly continue the northern expedition? Would they not be crushed by overwhelming numbers, only time would tell. 

Questions, comments, feedback? Send us a message.#292> Corporate sponsor of the series: Gluck Plumbing.For all your service needs big or small in NJ with a full service division, from boiler change outs, main sewer line snake outs, camera-ing main lines, to a simple faucet leak, Gluck Plumbing Service Division has you covered. Give them a call -   732-523-1836 x 1.> We discussed the general history of the Boxer Rebellion in China, what is know of Rabbi Uziel Haga, R. Haga's report from China, the Jews of Kaifeng, TLT and China, and more.> To read R. Haga's report click here> To read more about the Boxer Rebellion click here> To join the SeforimChatter WhatsApp community click here.>  To support the podcast or to sponsor an episode follow this link or email seforimchatter@gmail.com (Zelle/QP this email address)> Subscribe to the SeforimChatter YouTube channel here.> Subscribe and read the SeforimChatter Substack here.

Eliza Scidmore (1856-1928) was a journalist, a world traveler, a writer, an amateur photographer, the first female board member of the National Geographic Society — and the one responsible for the idea to plant Japanese cherry trees in Washington DC. Her fascinating life is expertly told by Diana Parsell in Eliza Scidmore: The Trailblazing Journalist Behind Washington's Cherry Trees (Oxford UP, 2023). This is the first biography of Eliza Scidmore, and it draws not only on Scidmore's surviving letters and photographs but also her some 800 articles and 6 books. By piecing together the chronology of Scidmore's travels, Parsell has crafted a wonderfully intimate picture of Scidmore's life, one that documents her trips from the glaciers of Alaska (complete with seal-flipper soup) to the streets of Beijing on the eve of the Boxer Rebellion. Throughout, Scidmore's tenacity and her joy of discovery really shine through, as do the causes that she advocated for: cross-cultural understanding, environmental conservation, and the beautification of the Potomac. This book is sure to appeal to those interested in travel writing, the history of journalism, and early travelers to East Asia, as well as anyone looking to read a biography about a woman who lived a truly unique life. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Eliza Scidmore (1856-1928) was a journalist, a world traveler, a writer, an amateur photographer, the first female board member of the National Geographic Society — and the one responsible for the idea to plant Japanese cherry trees in Washington DC. Her fascinating life is expertly told by Diana Parsell in Eliza Scidmore: The Trailblazing Journalist Behind Washington's Cherry Trees (Oxford UP, 2023). This is the first biography of Eliza Scidmore, and it draws not only on Scidmore's surviving letters and photographs but also her some 800 articles and 6 books. By piecing together the chronology of Scidmore's travels, Parsell has crafted a wonderfully intimate picture of Scidmore's life, one that documents her trips from the glaciers of Alaska (complete with seal-flipper soup) to the streets of Beijing on the eve of the Boxer Rebellion. Throughout, Scidmore's tenacity and her joy of discovery really shine through, as do the causes that she advocated for: cross-cultural understanding, environmental conservation, and the beautification of the Potomac. This book is sure to appeal to those interested in travel writing, the history of journalism, and early travelers to East Asia, as well as anyone looking to read a biography about a woman who lived a truly unique life. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/history

Eliza Scidmore (1856-1928) was a journalist, a world traveler, a writer, an amateur photographer, the first female board member of the National Geographic Society — and the one responsible for the idea to plant Japanese cherry trees in Washington DC. Her fascinating life is expertly told by Diana Parsell in Eliza Scidmore: The Trailblazing Journalist Behind Washington's Cherry Trees (Oxford UP, 2023). This is the first biography of Eliza Scidmore, and it draws not only on Scidmore's surviving letters and photographs but also her some 800 articles and 6 books. By piecing together the chronology of Scidmore's travels, Parsell has crafted a wonderfully intimate picture of Scidmore's life, one that documents her trips from the glaciers of Alaska (complete with seal-flipper soup) to the streets of Beijing on the eve of the Boxer Rebellion. Throughout, Scidmore's tenacity and her joy of discovery really shine through, as do the causes that she advocated for: cross-cultural understanding, environmental conservation, and the beautification of the Potomac. This book is sure to appeal to those interested in travel writing, the history of journalism, and early travelers to East Asia, as well as anyone looking to read a biography about a woman who lived a truly unique life. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/east-asian-studies

Eliza Scidmore (1856-1928) was a journalist, a world traveler, a writer, an amateur photographer, the first female board member of the National Geographic Society — and the one responsible for the idea to plant Japanese cherry trees in Washington DC. Her fascinating life is expertly told by Diana Parsell in Eliza Scidmore: The Trailblazing Journalist Behind Washington's Cherry Trees (Oxford UP, 2023). This is the first biography of Eliza Scidmore, and it draws not only on Scidmore's surviving letters and photographs but also her some 800 articles and 6 books. By piecing together the chronology of Scidmore's travels, Parsell has crafted a wonderfully intimate picture of Scidmore's life, one that documents her trips from the glaciers of Alaska (complete with seal-flipper soup) to the streets of Beijing on the eve of the Boxer Rebellion. Throughout, Scidmore's tenacity and her joy of discovery really shine through, as do the causes that she advocated for: cross-cultural understanding, environmental conservation, and the beautification of the Potomac. This book is sure to appeal to those interested in travel writing, the history of journalism, and early travelers to East Asia, as well as anyone looking to read a biography about a woman who lived a truly unique life. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/biography

Eliza Scidmore (1856-1928) was a journalist, a world traveler, a writer, an amateur photographer, the first female board member of the National Geographic Society — and the one responsible for the idea to plant Japanese cherry trees in Washington DC. Her fascinating life is expertly told by Diana Parsell in Eliza Scidmore: The Trailblazing Journalist Behind Washington's Cherry Trees (Oxford UP, 2023). This is the first biography of Eliza Scidmore, and it draws not only on Scidmore's surviving letters and photographs but also her some 800 articles and 6 books. By piecing together the chronology of Scidmore's travels, Parsell has crafted a wonderfully intimate picture of Scidmore's life, one that documents her trips from the glaciers of Alaska (complete with seal-flipper soup) to the streets of Beijing on the eve of the Boxer Rebellion. Throughout, Scidmore's tenacity and her joy of discovery really shine through, as do the causes that she advocated for: cross-cultural understanding, environmental conservation, and the beautification of the Potomac. This book is sure to appeal to those interested in travel writing, the history of journalism, and early travelers to East Asia, as well as anyone looking to read a biography about a woman who lived a truly unique life. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/environmental-studies

Eliza Scidmore (1856-1928) was a journalist, a world traveler, a writer, an amateur photographer, the first female board member of the National Geographic Society — and the one responsible for the idea to plant Japanese cherry trees in Washington DC. Her fascinating life is expertly told by Diana Parsell in Eliza Scidmore: The Trailblazing Journalist Behind Washington's Cherry Trees (Oxford UP, 2023). This is the first biography of Eliza Scidmore, and it draws not only on Scidmore's surviving letters and photographs but also her some 800 articles and 6 books. By piecing together the chronology of Scidmore's travels, Parsell has crafted a wonderfully intimate picture of Scidmore's life, one that documents her trips from the glaciers of Alaska (complete with seal-flipper soup) to the streets of Beijing on the eve of the Boxer Rebellion. Throughout, Scidmore's tenacity and her joy of discovery really shine through, as do the causes that she advocated for: cross-cultural understanding, environmental conservation, and the beautification of the Potomac. This book is sure to appeal to those interested in travel writing, the history of journalism, and early travelers to East Asia, as well as anyone looking to read a biography about a woman who lived a truly unique life. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/american-studies

Eliza Scidmore (1856-1928) was a journalist, a world traveler, a writer, an amateur photographer, the first female board member of the National Geographic Society — and the one responsible for the idea to plant Japanese cherry trees in Washington DC. Her fascinating life is expertly told by Diana Parsell in Eliza Scidmore: The Trailblazing Journalist Behind Washington's Cherry Trees (Oxford UP, 2023). This is the first biography of Eliza Scidmore, and it draws not only on Scidmore's surviving letters and photographs but also her some 800 articles and 6 books. By piecing together the chronology of Scidmore's travels, Parsell has crafted a wonderfully intimate picture of Scidmore's life, one that documents her trips from the glaciers of Alaska (complete with seal-flipper soup) to the streets of Beijing on the eve of the Boxer Rebellion. Throughout, Scidmore's tenacity and her joy of discovery really shine through, as do the causes that she advocated for: cross-cultural understanding, environmental conservation, and the beautification of the Potomac. This book is sure to appeal to those interested in travel writing, the history of journalism, and early travelers to East Asia, as well as anyone looking to read a biography about a woman who lived a truly unique life. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Last time we spoke about the rise of Chiang Kai-Shek. Chiang Kai-Shek had gradually become a rising star in the KMT. Dr Sun Yat-Sen saw some promise in the young man and took him under his wing soon making him something akin to his number 2. Aligning with Sun Yat-Sen, Chiang Kai-Shek helped consolidate KMT power in Guangzhou and played a crucial role in military campaigns, including the suppression of the Canton Merchants Association militia in 1924. Following Sun Yat-Sen's death in 1925, Chiang Kai-Shek navigated the KMT power vacuum that unfolded. When the Guangzhou Coup occurred, Chiang Kai-Shek managed to keep his head and began systematically eliminating or neutralizing his rivals. In the end he solidified his authority and led to the temporary stabilization of KMT-CCP relations, setting the stage for the Northern Expedition aimed at unifying China under KMT leadership.   #108 The Anti-Fengtian War Part 1: The Zhejiang-Fengtian War Welcome to the Fall and Rise of China Podcast, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about the history of Asia? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on history of asia and much more  so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel where I cover the history of China and Japan from the 19th century until the end of the Pacific War. In this episode we are going to be talking about a new warlord, well new-ish. When I had been introducing the individual warlords and their factions, I had to set a few aside, because they come later on in the warlord Era, one of them being Sun Chuanfang. Sun Chuanfang was born April 17th, 1885 in Fanzhen, of Tai'an county in Shandong province. He lost his father at a early age, and because he grew up in old troublesome Shandong, he was destined to face hardship. One of those hardships was the Boxer Rebellion, which provided much unrest, poverty and famine. His family was forced to flee famine many times before they settled in Jinan. Sun Chuanfang had a little sister who went on to marry Wang Yingkai, a rising officer in the Beiyang Army and a protege under Yuan Shikai. By being the brother in law, Sun Chuanfang received some financial aid and was given a proper education. Sun Chuanfang was quickly deemed talented and strong, so it was recommended he join the Beiyang Army training camp in 1902. Sun Chuanfang graduated in 1904 and was sent to Japan to train at the Tokyo Shimbu Gakko military preparatory school. Reminiscent of Chiang Kai-Shek's experience, Sun Chuanfang joined the Tongmenghui while studying in Japan.He would graduate 6th in his class and served in the IJA before returning to China in 1908. In 1909 he took the Army Civil Service Examination and ha exellent results, obtaining the status of an infantry juren. After this Sun Chuanfang was assigned to the 2nd army regiment of Ma Longbiao. Eventually he was recruited by Wang Zhanyuan who would become something of a mentor to him. During the Wuchang uprising, Sun Chuanfang was assigned to forces who went south to supress the revolutionaries. After the founding of the new republic, Sun Chuanfang took a station in Hubei. Sun Chuanfang rose through the ranks and by 1917 he was appointed commander of the 21st mixed brigade. After this he received a promotion to commander of the 1st Division. During the Anhui-Zhili War Sun Chuanfang was fighting under Wang Zhanyuan as they captured Wu Guangxin. After this Sun Chuanfang was awarded commander in chief over the upper reaches of the Yangtze River. In 1921, the governor of Hunan, Zhao Hengti, attempted to expand his rule to Hubai launching a small war known loosely as the Hunan-Hubei War. Zhao Hengti failed to expand his rule, but forced something of a political struggle upon Wang Zhanyuan who ended up resigning from his post. Wu Peifu then recommended Sun Chuanfang to became the commander of the 2nd division, working under him. During the 1st Zhili-Fengtian War of 1922. Sun Chuanfang officially became a member of the Zhili Clique and began publicly demanding the resignation of Xu Shichang, the current Anhui clique president. In June that year, Xu Shichang resigned and Li Yuanhong took his place. In 1923, Sun Chuanfang was appointed the Military Inspector of Fujian. He led his troops to Fujian and quickly seized control over the province. There he established the Fujian Army. In September of 1924, the Jiangsu-Zhejiang War broke out, a precursor to the 2nd Zhili-Fengtian War. Sun Chuanfang initially held back, but stated he was supporting Qi Xieyuan the governor of Jiangsu against Lu Yongxiang the governor of Zhejiang. When the opportunity opened up Sun Chuanfang invaded Zhejiang to defeat Lu Yongxiang, however during the greater war, the Zhili clique was defeated by the Fengtian forces. Wu Peifu went into exile, many of the remaining Zhili Warlords were tossed into a uneasy situation. For Sun Chuanfang it was a pretty awkward situation as he had just won a smaller war and established a powerbase in southeast China. With Wu Peifu gone, Sun Chuanfang was now one of the biggest Zhili warlords. The new chief executive, Duan Qirui appointed Sun Chuanfang as governor over Zhejiang, casting Qi Xieyuan to the wind. Duan Qirui was struggling to keep the peace across the board, thus he was trying to appease the more troublesome warlords with decent appointments, hoping they would be complacent and not stir up anymore trouble. But this is China's warlord Era, and trouble will be stirred.  Now Two episodes back I mentioned how Feng Yuxiang established his Guominjun, but he lacked funds and arms. Thus he got into bed with the KMT, and by proxy was introduced to Mr. Borodin representing the Soviets. The Soviets agreed to arm and fund his Guominjun as long as he provided the same reciprocity as the KMT, ie; allowing communists to join his ranks. Feng Yuxiang held a sphere of influence in the northwest of China. The new triumvirate between him, Duan Qirui and Zhang Zuolin was honestly a charade. Zhang Zuolin controlled the wealthy provinces of northeast China while Feng Yuxiang controlled the much poorer northwest. Zhang Zuolin was backed by the Japanese, he was essentially more of a conservative. Feng Yuxiang was seen as a radical politically, perhaps even a revolutionary and his backer was the Soviet Union. Duan Qirui was not even in the same league as either, having no real army anymore. Thus Zhang Zuolin was essentially the one calling the shots, it was an arrangement destined to fail.   After winning the second Zhili-Fengtian War, Zhang Zuolin began moving pieces across the chess board to consolidate his power. He first ordered the commander of his 5th army, Kan Chaoxi to lead two Fengtian Mixed Brigades, with some local troops, over to Rehe province to set up shop as its military-governor. The commander of the 2nd Fengtian army, Li Jinglin who was a Zhili native was ordered to serve as a sort of Zhili military affairs director. The Dogmeat General, Zhang Zongchang was given his first big break, Zhang Zuolin made him the commander in chief of suppressing bandits in Jiangsu, Shandong and Anhui. Duan Qirui then ordered the removal of Qi Xieyuan of the Zhili clique from his post as the inspector general of Jiangsu, Anhui and Jiangxi. He was to be replaced by our old friend Lu Yongxiang who would be an envoy to Jiangsu and Anhui. Thus Zhang Zongchang and Lu Yongxiang together marched south along the Shanghai-Nanjing line.    To face the incoming threat Qi Xieyuan banded together with Sun Chuanfang and they likewise marched to Suzhou by January 14th. On the 17th both armies began fighting between Danyang and Wuxi. Yet by the 25th Qi Xieyuan was decisively defeated. Qi Xieyuan fled to Shanghai before getting on a boat to go into exile in Japan. His so-called partner in crime Sun Chuanfang had not ponied up the same amount of troops as he did, choosing to hold back a bit. When Qi Xieyuan fled for Japan, all of his troops were snatched up by Sun Chuanfang. On February 3rd, Sun Chuanfang approached Zhang Zongchang to negotiate, and they signed the second Jiangsu-Zhejiang peace treaty. Under the terms the Zhili army agreed to retreat to Songjiang, the Fengtian army would retreat to Kunshan, while Shanghai would not station troops.    After what was known as the second Jiangsu-Zhejiang war, the Fengtian forces began to dramatically expand their control into the Yangtze River Valley. Zhang Zuolin dispatched 11 divisions to occupy Hebei, Shandong, Jiangsu, the Beijing-Fengtian Railway and the Jinpu Railway. Zhang Zuolin strong armed the Beiyang government to make his generals Li Jinglin, Zhang Zongchang, Jiang Dengxuan and Yang Yuting military inspectors over Hubei, Shandong, Anhui and Jiangsu respectively. This basically made the Yangtze River Valley under Fentgian control and connected them via rail to Zhang Zuolin's northeast power base. The agreement made with Sun Chuanfang to not deploy any troops in Shanghai seemed under threat. When prompted, the Fengtian leaders would claim they would never deploy troops in Shanghai, but to all it seemed like classic trickery.    In fact the Fengtian commanders had become quite arrogant and careless. Some of the generals were running opium operations in Nanshi and Zhabei. A regular inspection at Shanghai-Nanjing station showcased one of their drug runs and led to Fengtian soldiers performing a shoot out. Because of the incident, Duan Qirui ordered Lu Yongxiang and Zheng Qian to go over and investigate the situation. At the same time, Zhang Zongchang had deployed some troops in Shanghai to make sure the opium drug running went more smoothly. Zhang Zongchang ordered Cheng Guorui to figure out a solution to the issues and he was accompanied by Li Kuiyuan the director of the Fengtian Army's HQ in shanghai and Yuan Zhihe the Fengtian supply department director. Cheng Guorui and Li Kuiyuan quickly got into an argument and began drawing their guns upon each other in a shoot out. As reported by an eye witness "Yuan was seriously injured, Li fell to his death, Cheng jumped out of the window and injured his waist. At that time, the guards of each person were outside, and they opened fire on each other when they heard the sound, and the order was very chaotic." Thus Zhang Zongchang's efforts to smooth over the drug trafficking had done the very opposite, it made it much much more visible to the public. However Zhang Zuolin was really arrogant himself by this point and believed their Fengtian empire could get away with just about anything at this point, so he simply dispatched a division of troops to Songhu to make sure things ran smoother. Unfortunately he sent these forces to occupy garrisons that belongs to Sun Chuanfang. At the same time Fengtian forces led by Ding Xichun entered Nanjing.   It really seemed Zhang Zuolin got far too over confident. Apparently he began proclaiming "If I don't beat anyone in the next three to five years, no one will dare to beat me." Likewise his subordinate Yang Yuting mirrored his bosses sentiment, mouthing off to local warlords in Jiangsu. Jiang Dengxuan in Anhui began boasting "that he only brought one battalion with him" and Yang Yuting declared publicly "I went to Jiangsu this time with only more than ten entourages and a company of guards."    Meanwhile Li Jinglin and Zhangzong began to crack down on labour movements in Hubei and Shandong. There was a lot of unrest with workers, especially in Qingdao. Zhang Zongchang brutally suppressed any who would try to demonstrate or strike. A strict anti-labor and anti-communist movement was seen across the board in areas Fengtian controlled. Zhang Zongchang also cracked down on the remaining Zhili clique influence in the Yangtze River Valley. When the Fengtian replaced Qi Xieyuan with Lu Yongxiang as governor over Jiangsu, that lasted about a minute until they replaced Lu Yongxiang, who remember was an Anhui clique guy, with one of their own, Yang Yuting. His appointment was specifically to expand into neighbouring Zhejiang and Fujian provinces. These areas of course were being controlled by the last significant Zhili warlord, Sun Chuanfang. Sun Chuanfang had this to say about the situation "Zhang now dominates the Central Plains, controls the government, and covers the northeast and southeast. He is also planning to succeed Yuan Shikai and establish his own empire. He seduces powerful enemies outside and destroys public opinion inside. He is extremely cruel and does everything he can."   On October 11th of 1925, the governor of Zhejiang, Sun Chuanfang took matters into his own hands. He sent a telegram to the entire nation, opposing suppression efforts against Shanghai workers. He was taking a page out of Wu Peifu's playbook, to play upon the image of patriotism, making it seem you loved the people and were fighting for them. In reality this was a ploy to gather support and sympathy for what he was about to unleash. In early October, Sun Chuanfang began to hold secret meetings in Hangzhou with representatives of the Zhili clique of nearby provinces. The conversation was how to thwart the Fengtian from seizing all of their respective territories. They all came into an agreement, Sun Chuanfang would become their leader and he would lead his armies to attack Shanghai. This would be followed up by the Governor of Fujian, Zhou Yinren to lead his troops into Zhejiang to support Sun Chuanfang; the governor of Jiangxi Fang Benren would send his subordinate Deng Zhuoru also to help out in Zhejiang. Wang Pu the governor over southern Anhui, Chen Tiaoyuan the commander of the 4th Zhili division of Jiangsu and the retired warlods, Qi Xieyuan and Ma Lianjia would lend their forces as well. All together its said their forces were 200,000 strong.   After these meetings, Sun Chuanfang gathered the troops at Songjiang and Changxing calling for a “national day” on October the 10th and they performed a military parade. When Duan Qirui heard about this he sent Lu Zongyu to Hangzhou to try and mediate what was clearly turning into a dire situation. The mediation completely failed. Meanwhile Zhang Zuolin took notice and urgently summoned his 4 new governors, Li Jingling, Zhang Zongchang, Yang Yuting and Jiang Dengxuan. He was pulling them back to discuss how they should deal with this new emerging threat. However Zhang Zuolin was too late, for when the governors were enroute to meet with him, Sun Chuanfang made his move.   On October the 15th, Sun Chuanfang suddenly proclaimed himself the commander in chief of a 5 province coalition. The armies of Zhejiang, Fujian, Jiangsu, Jiangxi and Anhui were now in alliance. Sun Chuanfang created 5 routes armies; the 1st route army was led by Chen Yi consisting of the 1st division of the Zhejiang army; the 2nd route was led by Xiu Hongxun, consisting of the 4th division. The 1st and 2nd route armies were responsible for attacking Shanghai from the Shanghai-Hangzhou line. The 4th Route army led by Lu Xiangting, consisting of the 2nd division of the Anhui army and 5th Route army led by Zhou Fengqi, consisting of the 2nd Division of the Zhejiang armywere responsible for attacking Suzhou from Changxing. Sun Chuanfang took command of the 3rd route army, leading down the middle. On the 11th of October Sun Chuanfang sent a telegram calling on all foreign nations with interests in Shanghai to send personnel to investigate what he claimed was Fengtian Army members abusing workers and peasants. This of course was a guise to launch his attack.   The Fengtian warlords were taken completely offguard by Sun Chuanfangs rapid offensive, they had all unfortunately been enroute north for a meeting with Zhang Zuolin and thus were on a passive footing. Basically the Fengtian army was in a type of snake like formation extending from Yuguan to Tianjing, Pukou, Nanjing and Shanghai. They were quite dispersed. Thus began what is known as the Zhejiang-Fengtian War. Yet to complicate things, this was actually a theater of a larger war known as the Anti-Fengtian War or Third Zhili-Fengtian War. There were other theaters such as the Guominjun-Fengtian War, involving Feng Yuxiang. The Anti-Fengtian War is pretty incoherent, thus I will try to compartmenalize it.    What should be known in regards to the Zhejiang-Fengtian war, is that the Fengtian forces had the threat of Feng Yuxiang to their rear. If the Fengtian diverted forces to thwart the Guominjun, this would disallow them to quell the southern threat of Sun Chuanfang. Because of this, on October 14th, Yang Yuting ordered his subordinate Xing Shillian to withdraw from the Shanghai area quickly explaining to him in a telegram "due to the Shanghai case, in order to maintain order, we had to adjust the army and declare martial law. Now that the Shanghai case has been resolved, the title of martial law commander should be cancelled, the troops should be withdrawn, and the Jiangsu Police Department should be moved to Shanghai to deter the enemy."   The next day, Yang Yuting invited Jiang Denxuan to Nanjing to figure out how they would withdraw their troops along the Shanghai-Nanjing and Tianjian-Pukou rail lines. He also told Jiang Dengxuan, that Sun Chuanfang would "Su would not invade Zhejiang, consider the elegance of our classmates and resolutely stop the war." So it seemed Yang Yuting, who was a classmate of Sun Chuanfang was under the belief their friendship would prevent an escalation. However Sun Chuanfang on that very same day sent out a telegram to the 5 provinces to attack the Fengtian clique. On the 16th, the 2nd route Army of Xiu Hongxun began occupying Shanghai as the 4th Route army of Lu Xiangting occupied Yixing. Both then began advancing towards Suzhou and Wuxi. Roughly an hour before Sun Chuanfangs forces seized Shanghai, there was a mass withdrawal of the Fengtian forces there.   Because the Fengtian forces had adopted a passive, even non-resistant stance towards Sun Chuanfangs offensive, they all retreated quickly upon seeing any troops. Sun Chuanfang's armies made quick and bloodless progress, however upon reaching Lingkou near Danyang on October the 18th, Xing Shilians men did not retreat. Sun Chuanfang's vanguard found themselves facing what seemed to be determined resistance, but in reality it was a rearguard as the Fengtian forces were trying to evacuate Zhejiang province. On that evening, Yang Yuting convened a meeting in Nanjing with the other commanders, whereupon news came to them of the major defeats their forces had incurred. General Chen Tiaoyuan leading the 4th and 10th Zhili divisions stormed Nanjing and ordered Yang Yuting to be arrested. However Yang Yuting managed to escape from the city under the pretext he was. . . taking a bath. Yes a single source I've been relying upon for this event stated that without any context… so in my head I am imagining the classic hollywood, running a bath of water and jumping out of a window scenario. Regardless Yang Yuting abandoned the Fengtian garrison at Nanjing, fording a river and jumping into a car. On the 19th most of the Fengtians 8th Division, including their commander General Ding Chunxi stationed at Nanjing who had not already fled were surrounded and disarmed by Zhili forces. The next day Sun Chuanfang arrived to Nanjing whereupon he ordered Xie Hongxun's division to ford the river to pursue the Fengtian forces fleeing towards Bengdu. On the 21st Ni Chaorong's leading a Anhui Brigade stationed around Sixian, took a car over to Huaiguan where he telegraphed Jiang Dengxuan to resign. Jiang Dengxuan looked on in misery at the doomed Fengtian forces, knowing full well he had not enough time, men or means to halt the enemies advance, so he fled Bengdu on the 23rd, effectively resigning. Most of the Fengtian forces at Bengdu fled for Xuzhou.   Despite the rather embarrasing retreat of the Nanjing to Bengdu lines, the Fengtian forces were not even close to being really defeated. On the 21st, the Dogmeat General led reinforcements to the battlefield who were now ready for an actual battle. Sun Chuanfangs men at this point occupied Bengbu and had stopped their advance. Unbeknownst to the Fengtian commanders, Sun Chuanfang had secret being negotiations with Wu Peifu. Wu Peifu had come out of his forced retirement in Hubei, and to the north Feng Yuxiang was also coordinating with the three. Sun Chuanfang thought he had secured both men in the mission of attacking Xuzhou, but both of them had failed to perform. Thus Sun Chuanfang found himself in a bit of a pickle at Bengbu.   Meanwhile on the 26th, Zhang Zongchang ordered troops from Xin'an to attack Haizhou. Zhili forces led by General Bai Baoshan were defeated there soundly. The Fengtian army then contuined south to attack Qingjiangpu. Zhili troops led by Ma Yuren tried to defend the city, but soon became encircled and forced to surrender. Sun Chuanfang ordered Zheng Junyan and Chen Diaoyuan to reinforce the eastern sector to try and halt the Fengtian advance. On the 1st of November, Zhang Zongchang launched a new attack upon the Jingdu road, using armored cars and white russian forces. This force was led by Zhang Zongchangs subordinate Shi Chongbin, who had ordered to recapture Suxian and Guzhen.   The frontline Anhui troops became terrified of what looked to them to be a foreign force and fled the battlefield from Rengqiao all the way east of Guzhen. At this point Lu Xiangting, deputy commander in chief under Sun Chuanfang, began demolishing the railway to hinder the Fengtian advance. He dispatched Chen Yi and Xie Hongxun's 2nd division to hook around the rear of the Fengtian army to try and cut their retreat. The White Russian army alongside Chinese of the Fengtian forces were advancing alone in a vangard whence they were attacked from two sides. They had no hope of breaking through, nor fleeing backwards and were forced to surrender. Over 300 White Russian troops were killed in the carnage. Shi Chongbin was captured at Xinqiao station and his 47th brigade of the Shandong Army was completely surrounded.   Zhang Zongchang then dispatched Chu Yupu to reinforce and support the 47th Brigade in an counterattack to try and break out, but it failed. On Novemer 3rd, the 47th Brigade were disarmed and surrendered. Seeing no hope of rescue, Chu Yupu took his troops to man a defensive line between Suxian and Jiagou. Sun Chuanfang now took advantage of the crumbling Fengtian situation and ordered the Zhili forces to surround Xuzhou. Zhang Zongchang mobilized everything the Fengtian had for a decisive battle, but disaster was striking elsewhere. It will be discussed more indepth next episode, but Feng Yuxiang entered the fray, attacking the Fengtian rear in Hubei and western Shandong. Zhang Zuolin realized the dreaded two front war had finally come and elected to pull back his strength. Zhang Zuolin ordered Zhang Zongchang to pull the men back into Shandong on the 6th. On the 7th Xing Shilian, Xu Kun, Bi Shucheng and other Fengtian commanders were retreating from Haizhou and Suqian to Tancheng and Taierzhuang. Chu Yupu and other troops retreated from Suxian and Xuzhou to Hanzhuang and Lincheng. On November 8, Sun Chuanfangs army finally occupied Xuzhou. On the 20th, Sun Chuanfang sent a public telegram to return to Hangzhou from Xuzhou. From then on, the five provinces of Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, Jiangxi and Fujian were divided by Sun Chuanfang. The Zhejiang-Fengtian War was also declared over   It was a very embarrassing defeat for the Fengtian Clique. Across the Shanghai-Nanjing defensive line, the Fengtian army suffered heavy losses, their entire the 8th division was captured, most of the 20th division was annhilated. It was said only Liu Yifei, the commander of the 44th Brigade of the 20th Division had led his troops to resist the Zhejiang Army for several hours on the way back from Shanghai. Because he was isolated and helpless, Liu Yifei was apparently forced to disguise himself as a monk to escape. When he fled back to Fengtiann,  Zhang Zuolin, said to Liu Yifei "You are back, great! I heard that you disguised yourself as a monk. Damn it! In Jiangnan, you were the only one who fought with Sun Chuanfang for eight hours. Others surrendered without firing a shot because their parents didn't give them the courage! Now I will organize another Type A brigade for you, which is a three-regiment system. Soldiers are being recruited and stationed in the Dongshanzui barracks. Train hard!"   Upon winning the Zhejiang-Fengtian War, Sun Chuanfang immediately called for a ceasefire, literally as he was entering Xuzhou. His top priority was to consolidate his gains, for he understood he had only served the Fengtian a bloody nose, as they were preoccupied with war in the north. Then Chen Tiaoyuan of Jiangsu sent a telegram publicly announcing his support nominating Sun Chuanfang to form a government in Nanjing leading the 5 provinces he had led during their war. To try and remedy the situation, the Beiyang government offered Sun Chuandfang the position of military inspector of Jiangsu, combining his military inspector titles over Zhejiang and Fujian. Thus Sun Chuanfang would legitimately rule 3 provinces. The warlords running Jiangxi and Anhui were no match at all for Sun Chuanfang, thus they would have to submit to him regardless. So unofficially Sun Chuanfang established a new sort of government in Nanjing ruling the 5 provinces. This would be the very peak of his career, but nothing is ever built to last.   I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me. The Zhejiang-Fengtian War was honestly the result of Fengtian arrogance. Zhang Zuolin let his guard down, turned to his old banditry ways and unleashed his boys southeast, thinking no one would challenge them. Sun Chuanfang proved himself a very capable warlord and now he was a significant player in China's game of thrones.  

The Boxer Rebellion was a nationalist uprising in China in the early 20th century against foreign influence and perceived corruption, resulting in a brutal conflict that led to the signing of the unequal Boxer Protocol in 1901, showcasing the challenges of tradition and modernity in the face of imperialism.

"The Holy Martyrs of China were native Chinese Orthodox Christians brought up in piety at the Russian Orthodox Mission in Peking, which had been founded in 1685. During the Boxer Rebellion of 1900 against the foreign powers occupying China, native Chinese Christians were commanded by the Boxers to renounce Christianity or be tortured to death. Two hundred and twenty-two members of the Peking Mission, led by their priest Metrophanes Tsi-Chung and his family, refused to deny Christ, and were deemed worthy of a martyric death." ( Great Horologion)

"The Holy Martyrs of China were native Chinese Orthodox Christians brought up in piety at the Russian Orthodox Mission in Peking, which had been founded in 1685. During the Boxer Rebellion of 1900 against the foreign powers occupying China, native Chinese Christians were commanded by the Boxers to renounce Christianity or be tortured to death. Two hundred and twenty-two members of the Peking Mission, led by their priest Metrophanes Tsi-Chung and his family, refused to deny Christ, and were deemed worthy of a martyric death." ( Great Horologion)

When the Trump administration's policy of separating families at the country's borders was announced, opposition from the public and the legal community was swift. The outcry and judicial decisions led to a reversal of the administration's stated policy. But detention and family separation have a long history in this country, history professor Ana Raquel Minian says. Minian, who immigrated from Mexico to the United States right before the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, has made an academic career studying immigration, incarceration and detention. As a young adult, Minian followed the news of Guantanamo Bay Naval Base being used to detain people who might be connected to those attacks. But in researching their new book, In the Shadow of Liberty: The Invisible History of Immigrant Detention in the United States, Minian discovered the base was first used as a detention center under President George H.W. Bush to hold Haitian refugees. Minian uses the personal experiences of four immigrants to walk readers through the history of immigrant detention in the United States: Fu Chi Hao, a Chinese Christian attempting to escape the Boxer Rebellion in 1901; Holocaust survivor Ellen Knauff, a war bride of an American GI who arrived at Ellis Island in 1948; Gerardo Mansur, a Cuban who joined the Mariel boat lift in 1979; and Fernando Arredondo, a Guatamalan asylum seeker who was separated from his daughter by border officials in 2018.  In this episode of The Modern Law Library, Minian shares details of these stories with the ABA Journal's Lee Rawles. They also discuss the shifting motivations behind changes in the immigration system, parole versus detention, and how attorneys can help immigrants currently in detention.

When the Trump administration's policy of separating families at the country's borders was announced, opposition from the public and the legal community was swift. The outcry and judicial decisions led to a reversal of the administration's stated policy. But detention and family separation have a long history in this country, history professor Ana Raquel Minian says. Minian, who immigrated from Mexico to the United States right before the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, has made an academic career studying immigration, incarceration and detention. As a young adult, Minian followed the news of Guantanamo Bay Naval Base being used to detain people who might be connected to those attacks. But in researching their new book, In the Shadow of Liberty: The Invisible History of Immigrant Detention in the United States, Minian discovered the base was first used as a detention center under President George H.W. Bush to hold Haitian refugees. Minian uses the personal experiences of four immigrants to walk readers through the history of immigrant detention in the United States: Fu Chi Hao, a Chinese Christian attempting to escape the Boxer Rebellion in 1901; Holocaust survivor Ellen Knauff, a war bride of an American GI who arrived at Ellis Island in 1948; Gerardo Mansur, a Cuban who joined the Mariel boat lift in 1979; and Fernando Arredondo, a Guatamalan asylum seeker who was separated from his daughter by border officials in 2018.  In this episode of The Modern Law Library, Minian shares details of these stories with the ABA Journal's Lee Rawles. They also discuss the shifting motivations behind changes in the immigration system, parole versus detention, and how attorneys can help immigrants currently in detention.

Last time we spoke about the Southern Warlords.  Yuan Shikai's abuse of power prompted declarations of independence from several southern regions, leading to the Second Revolution of 1913. Despite initial successes, Yuan Shikai's Beiyang Army ultimately crushed the uprisings. Dr. Sun Yat-Sen, after various setbacks and political maneuvers, founded the Chinese Revolutionary Party and later resurrected the Kuomintang. Chiang Kai-Shek emerged as a significant figure within the KMT, navigating through alliances and conflicts. Meanwhile the formation of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) paralleled these events, driven by figures like Chen Duxiu, Li Dazhao, and later, Mao Zedong. Concurrently, various regional warlord cliques, including the Yunnan, Guangxi, Guangdong, Sichuan, and Hunan cliques, vied for power, often aligning with or against larger political entities like the KMT or the CCP. We have met the warlords now its time to tell their story.   #97 The Manchu Restoration of the Pigtail General   Welcome to the Fall and Rise of China Podcast, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about the history of Asia? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on history of asia and much more  so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel where I cover the history of China and Japan from the 19th century until the end of the Pacific War.   Now where to begin, you sort of have to speak about someone we already have spoken to death about, the father of the warlords, Yuan Shikai. He “helped” with quotation marks usher in the republic of china and had a very heavy hand creating the New Army. He was a man of the 19th century, he had served in the First-Sino Japanese War of 1894-1895, then during the Boxer Rebellion. If you remember, back during the Boxer Rebellion, when Empress Dowager Cixi began frantically calling for an alliance with the Boxers to fight off the foreigners, Yuan Shikai like most governors at the time, put his head down. As the foreigners marched from Tientsin to Beijing, Yuan Shikai spent his time strengthening his position as Viceroy of Shandong. During this time he also received the Viceroy of Zhili and Commissioner for North China Trade. He had very lucrative posts and he used the money to set up military colleges. He hired foreign instructors, procured modern armaments and managed to create a professionally trained military. When the Xinhai revolution broke out, Yuan Shikai was made commander-in-chief and he brought his Beiyang Army to quell the rebels at Wuchang. Yet Yuan Shikai was not a moron and could see where the tides were turning, so he began a plot to take control of the new emerging republic. During his tenure, better said dictatorship, he strengthened his personal rule and suppressed any who could threaten him. Now we have already covered most of his story, during the last year of his life, Yuan Shikai increasingly began relying on the support of his military commanders in the capital and in various provinces. Many of these commanders betrayed him, the first one was General Cai E, the emerging warlord of Yunnan. On January 1st of 1916, Cai E declared independence for Yunnan and indeed Sichuan province thus threatening Yuan Shikai's rule over central China. After this Guangxi and Guangdong declared independence. As Yuan Shikai's subordinates began to betray him one by one, the most significant man amongst them would turn out to be Duan Qirui. Duan Qirui was a very talented young officer in command of the artillery corps of Yuan Shikai's Beiyang army. He distinguished himself during the Boxer Rebellion, helping suppress the Boxers, then in 1911 he was sent against the Wuhan rebels. In 1912 as peace talks were being held between Nanjing and Beijing, Duan was an envoy for Beijing and here he personally declared he was in favor of Emperor Puyi abdicating. This earned him an appointment as Minister for the Army in the northern republican government headed by Yuan Shikai. He soon earned himself governorship over Hubei province. Yuan Shikai increasingly began to isolate himself while in power and he often turned to Duan to help rally support. In April of 1916 Duan was appointed premier over the Beijing government. This was the first real taste of power for Duan, and although he would be quite authoritarian, he was no lover of public office. He had buddhist inclinations, and enjoyed the quiet life. Thus he delegated much of his authority to his subordinates and usually stood by their decisions. One of his primary interests was training soldiers and he made sure to grab the position of Ministry of War alongside his premiership. He managed to convince Yuan Shikai to adopt a cabinet style of government, taking major issues behind closed doors amongst trusted elites. Here was born the fabric of warlord era politics. While Duan was premier had led a cabinet, it was of course at the whim of Yuan Shikai who directed its actions. While Duan could not exact real power in the cabinet, what he did do was perform lesser actions using a smaller cabal of loyal ruling elites, mostly subordinate officers to him. Duan also tried to get Yuan Shikai to give up his title as Grand Marshal and to place all military power in the hands of the War Ministry. That last part is an eye opener to be sure, but Duan never tried to overthrow his master. But while under Yuan Shikai he did transfer a detachment of troops loyal to him to guard against his enemies. Now when Yuan Shikai died he left a sealed box and inside it were three names, Xu Shichang, Li Yuanhong and Duan Qirui. None of the three men were eager to take the Presidency, Duan was the first to suggest Li take the job. Li was not keen about the idea, but it is said Duan coerced him into it. Duan spoke with all his senior military officers, they were not at all pleased with the idea of Li Yuanhong as president, but Duan explained to them, it was better to govern in the shadows. Li would be a very useful puppet, he was a southerner not liked by the other northerners, thus very easy to manipulate. Better yet, blame would be cast upon him, and not those like Duan. Yet Duan was very authoritarian and irritated by having to explain his actions to a state council and to president Li, who himself was not always content to give his rubber stamp of approval. Thus the easy puppet began to not be so easy. Worse, Li began taking an interest in military affairs and in relations with other warlords. Duan once in anger exclaimed 'I ask him to sign things and put his  seal on them, not to sit on my head!' Regardless, there was a fail safe system. The president of the republic was not permitted to put his seal on any measures not already passed by the State Council which Duan dominated. Now the entire sealed box thing was certainly not how a President gets elected. Just because Li had automatically become president did not mean he would not have to soon face an election to continue it. Now before his death Yuan Shikai had suspended the constitution. Prominent members of the Southern factions in Guangzhou, such as Liang Qichao demanded the 1912 constitution be held up accordingly, ie: that Li face an election. On June 15th of 1917, the commander of the first fleet, Admiral Li Tingxin, at that time based in Shanghai, alongside other admirals declared support for the old constitution being restored and threatened to ignore orders from Beijing if it was not reinstated. This snowballed into the formation of a National Protection Army in the Southwest. This was seriously bad news for Duan. While there were three fleets, the 1st Fleet was the dominant one. Despite protest from other northern warlords, Duan capitulated, the old constitution was restored.  This was not the only crisis Duan faced at the time, there were also calls for army reduction nationwide. After years of uprisings, rebellions and regional wars, some many different military groups were established and it no longer made any sense. As you can imagine, many of these so called armies, were in fact Warlords personal armies and any talk of reduction brought Duan directly in confrontation with other warlords. Of course Duan wanted to take the opportunity to weaken his enemies. Duan sought to create a national  army consisting of 40 divisions, roughly 10,000 men each and 20 independent brigade of 5000 men each, thus a force of 500,000 or so. Each province was also to supply their local garrisons with 200 battalions nation-wide, a battalion being roughly 5000 men making a total of 100,000 provisional troops. This of course was based on the old Qing system, have provincial armies that did not stray from their respective provinces and a mobile main force. This would not at all be representative of warlord China. Duans plan to weaken the south did not seem feasible politically, I mean, if you were a southern warlord would you go along with this? Duan quickly realized it would be impossible to disarm his enemies, thus he would have to defeat them on the battlefield. Yet in order to do so he required circumstances, such as provinces refusing to pay taxes to Beijing or claiming independence. Now in 1917, Duan was being pressured by the Entente powers to sever relations with Germany and better yet, declare war. As we saw in the previous episodes, a lot of events unfolded during WW1, Japan invaded Qingdao, then Japan unleashed the 21 demands, and in 1917 Germany resumed unrestricted U-boat warfare. The United States invited China to join her in formal protest over this. On March 10th, Duan addressed parliament urging to sever ties to Germany, but parliament was reluctant. For the Chinese military elite, the idea of declaring war on Germany was very attractive. It could possibly open up foreign subsidies, and perhaps a renegotiation of some unequal treaties with Entente powers. It would turn out this was a very popular stance amongst the civilian population as they overwhelmingly voted for a declaration of war later on. However discussions on the matter were quite chaotic. While Duan Qirui wished to declare war on Germany, Li Yuanhong did not.  After the March 10th declaration a large series of quarrels began. Duan Qirui in fury offered his resignation as Premier, while vice president Feng Guozhang tried desperately to mediate between him and Li Yuanhong. Most of the parliament team including Liang Qichiao worked to alienate Duan Qirui during the process. In a true Yuan Shikai fashion, Duan Qirui attempted to intimate the parliament into declaring war. Then suddenly in May, an English language newspaper in Beijing published details of a large loan Duan Qirui had secretly negotiated with the Japanese, the infamous Nishihara loans. To the public this looked like Yuan Shikai's Reorganization Loan all over again. Li Yuanhong thus got all of parliament on his side and chose to use his new power to dismiss Duan Qirui. This was honestly a huge gamble as Li Yuanhong had no military support of his own. He was betting on the Beiyang commanders to respect the constitutional president and parliament. Duan Qiruir's supporters as expected all declared independence of their respective provinces and followed Duan Qirui to Tientsin where he established a new HQ. Thus Duan Qirui and his loyal military governor left Beijing and set up shop in Tientsin, gathering forces to rebel against Li Yuanhong and retake the capital. Realizing he was screwed, Li Yaunhong looked for another strongman to defend the capital against Duan. Li had few he could turn to in the north, most of the Beiyang Generals were loyal to Duan. Then suddenly out of the blue, General Zhang Xun offered to mediate the conflict between Li and Duan. Zhang Xun was an eccentric general who had served as a military escort for Empress Dowager Cixi during the Boxer Rebellion and afterwards a Beiyang General in Yuan Shikai's army. He fought on the Qing side in 1911, after the Qing dynasty fell he remained loyal to Yuan Shikai. Despite being a general in the new Republic, he refused to cut his Manchu queue, thus he earned the nickname the “pigtailed general”. Why might he still carry this hairstyle you might ask, well he was a die hard Qing loyalist. He had served Yuan Shikai, more or less to get back at the revolutionaries that had taken down the Qing. Zhang Xun supported Yuan Shikai's emperor phase and earned himself a 1st Class Duke title for it. Now when Duan Qirui expressed his desire to sever ties to Germany, Zhang Xun opposed this. Zhang Xun had few allies as one would guess. There was the leader of the royalist party, Kang Youmei who attempted to restore a monarchy politically and there was the Japanese. From the Japanese point of view, they wanted someone like Emperor Puyi to be placed back on the Manchu throne, simply because they believed he would be easy to control. Japanese prime minister Masaki Terauchi appointed Japan's deputy chief of military staff, Tanaka Giichi and even got some Black Dragon members to go over to brush shoulders with those like Zhang Xun to prod them into restoring the monarchy. Thus Zhang Xun had some political help, and Japanese funding. One story has it that Zhang Xun went to Duan in Tientsin first, and offered to support him if Duan restored the Manchu monarchy. Duan allegedly pretended to agree to this. Zhang Xun then discussed matters with Li Yuanhong and pressured him to dissolve parliament on June 13th, stating if he did so he would help defend Beijing and Li agreed to this allowing him to bring his army over.  Thus at midnight on June 30th of 1917, Zhang Xun's army arrived outside Beijing, whereupon Zhang apparently came into the city alone to listen to a play. Zhang Xun then ordered his subordinate officers to invite the temporary garrison commander in chief of Beijing and Tientsin, Wang Shizhen, deputy commanders Jiang Chaozong, Chen Guangyuan and director of the Beijing police department Wu Bingxiang over. He announced to them in a meeting "I am leading the troops to Beijing this time. We are not here to mediate with someone, but to restore the emperor to the throne and restore the Qing Dynasty." He then told them all he planned to enter the palace to ask the emperor if he would retake the throne. He looked at the men and asked what they thought. Wang, Jiang, Chen and Wu were frightened by this sudden statement. Wang Shizhen asked: "Have the provinces and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs contacted each other?" Zhang Xun replied: "The diplomacy is indeed sure. Feng Guozhang and Lu Rongting both expressed their approval and sent messages to urge them. The provincial governors also unanimously supported it." Wang Shizhen and others sat silent and speechless. Zhang Xun added: "I am determined to do it. If you agree, then open the city gate and let my troops in. Otherwise, please go back to your arrangements and fight to the death!" Wang Shizhen and others looked at each other and did not dare to say anything else, to them all he seemed to be insane. Zhang Xun went to the gates and demanded they be opened as his 5000-man army entered Beijing. Then Zhang Xun donned a blue gauze robe with a yellow mandarin jack, a red crown and marched with Kang Youwei, Wang Shizhen, Jiang Chaozong, Chen Guangyuan and Wu Bingxiang amongst other civil and military officials to the palace in the early morning of July 1st. At 3am, 12 year old Puyi met with Zhang Xun and the others. Upon seeing Puyi, Zhang Xun kowtowed 3 times with everyone else following. Zhang then asked him to go ahead with a restoration stating "Five years ago, Empress Dowager Longyu couldn't bear to let the people suffer for the honor of her surname , so she issued an edict to establish a republic. Unexpectedly, the people would not live in peace... A republic is not in line with our national conditions. Only when the emperor is restored can all the people be saved..." Puyi followed Chen Baochen's instructions and said humbly: "I am too young and have no talent or virtue to take on such a big position." Zhang Xun immediately praised: "The emperor is wise and sage, and everyone in the world knows it. In the past, the Holy Ancestor Emperor (referring to Kangxi) also practiced Zuo in his early years." Puyi quickly followed Chen Baochen's instructions and said: "In this case, I will do whatever it takes!" So Zhang Xun, Kang Youwei and others knelt down on the ground and shouted long live the emperor, Wang Shizhen and others had no choice but to kneel down and cheer casually. At 4am Zhang Xun sent Liang Dingen, an old minister in the Qing Dynasty to go to the presidential palace with an edict conferring the title of 1st class Duke for Li Yuanhong alongside a memorial Kang Youwei wrote reading "Li Yuanhong petitioned to return the state affairs" Li Yuanhong was asked to sign it. Li Yuanhong was shocked by all of this. Li Yuanhong would recall thinking “I drove away the wolf Duan Qirui at the front door, but attracted the tiger Zhang Xun at the back door”. Li Yuanhong sternly refused stating "I hold the position of president. I am entrusted by the people and dare not do such a thing. If the restoration issue is proposed by Zhang Xun alone, I am afraid that China and foreign countries may not recognize it. How can I dare to agree to it privately?" Liang Dingfen threatened: "If you don't agree, you may regret it." Li Yuanhong refused again, prompting Liang Dingfen to leave in anger. The next day, Li Yuanhong called Vice President Feng Guozhang, who was in Nanjing, to take over as acting president as he fled to the Japanese Embassy District in Dongjiaomin Lane for refuge. People within the city scrambled at the news. The old Huanglong shop that had been out of business for 5 years at that point returned to business but could not meet the demands of the citizens scrambling for traditional paper dragon flags. All the old princes, nobles and such came out of the woodwork as they say looking to celebrate the restoration in front of the palace waiting to see the emperor. Apparently a ton of people scrambled to find queue wigs and mandarin jackets. For the vast majority of China, the restoration was met with absolute outrage. Dr Sun Yat-Sen at the very moment of hearing the news over in Shanghai, simply got up and declared a rebellion…because of course he did…its what he did for a living honestly. Dr Sun Yat-Sen grabbed his colleagues and they all agreed to rush over to Guangzhou to form a crusade against Zhang Xun. Everyone across china did similar actions, in all the major capitals in the south angry leaders got together to form plans. After Li Yuanhong fled for his life, he sent a telegram to Duan Qirui begging him to save Beijing. Duan Qirui who was already organizing a full blown invasion to seize the capital for himself probably smiled. Duan Qirui quickly got his Anhui army together and marched upon Beijing. Back in Beijing within 48 hours of the restoration, numerous edicts were proclaimed trying to bolster the Manchu restoration. As you can imagine this was all very shocking to the general public. Feng Guozhang in Nanjing publicly opposed the restoration as Duan Qirui swore a public oath to end the Qing dynasty again. On July 5th, Duan's forces stormed the Beijing-Tientsin railway just 40 km's from the capital. That same day, Zhang Xun ordered all those loyal to him to bolster Beijing defenses, however he was very outnumbered. Just about all the Beiyang troops opposed him, and that was kind of a duh moment. Honestly this entire event is typically told in a comedic narrative. Feng Guozhang officially took the office of presidency on July 6th while still in Nanjing and by July 11th, Duan Qirui's army surrounded Beijing. Within the city those like Wang Shizhen begged Zhang Xun to surrender, but he refused. On July 12th, Duan Qirui ordered an aerial bombardment upon the Forbidden City. A French WW1 era Caudron Type D aircraft piloted by Pan Shizhong and bombardier Du Yuyuan launched from Nanyuan Airbase and dropped three bombs over the Forbidden city, killing a single eunuch, but doing little damage whatsoever. There are sources that claim the pilot was actually the principal of the Nanyuan Aviation school, Qin Guoyong, regardless this was the first recorded instance of aerial bombardment deployed by the Republican era Chinese Air Force. Li Yuanhong publicly stated he refused to retake his position as president. The newly restored Manchu Court immediately prepared an edict of abdication for Emperor Puyi, but did not dare proclaim it lest Zhang Xun or his loyalist forces kill them. Officials of this imperial court managed to secretly negotiate with Duan Qirui's besieging forces, begging them not to assault the capital. The imperial court officials even began beginning foreign legations to help. Boy a lot had changed since 1900 haha. With Zhang Xun not budging, the courts negotiations fell apart, prompting Duan to announce a general assault would begin the next day. The assault saw Qing loyalists manning the wall of the Temple of Heaven firing at the invaders, but nearly as soon as guns began to fire, negotiations were resumed. It turned out Zhang Xun had fled to the Dutch embassy, so his men begged Duan for a ceasefire. Duan granted it immediately and peacefully entered Beijing, establishing control over the government and police forces. Zhang Xun hid himself in the Dutch legation and would never participate in politics ever again. Zhang first fled to the German concession in Tientsin, then in March of 1918 the Beiyang government pardoned him. With his freedom in hand, Zhang Xun lived a life of seclusion in an apartment in Tientsin. He tried to run a business until 1923 when he got sick and died at the age of 68. He was posthumously given the title “Zhongwu” and buried in his hometown of Chitian Village, Fengxin county.  Thus ended the 12 day old Manchu restoration and the Manchu Clique. When approached on the subject, Emperor Puyi stated he never wanted the throne in the first place, who knows the truth of said matter. Li Yuanhong had resigned as president, making Feng Guozhang the new president of the Beiyang government, still no election had been held, mind you. Duan Qirui took back his position as Premier, but refused to restore parliament nor the old constitution. Duan Qirui forced the Beiyang government to declare war on the Central Powers and began sending laborers to the Entente powers alongside a token force to Siberia. Now he was free to use the Nishihara loans uninhabited, building up what would become the dominant army in China, the Anhui army. Meanwhile Dr Sun Yat-Sen and countless others began rebellious activity in the south. Duan Qirui flocked many to his banner, creating his power base in Anhui province. His clique would be the first to organize themselves properly and he had a lot of funding behind him. Zhang Xun's failed Manchu restoration was honestly one of the greatest strokes of luck imaginable for Duan Qirui. Yet as he promoted and appointed family and close friends to prestigious positions, he overlooked many. These military officers and civil servants felt slighted by this and many turned to Feng Guozhang. Feng Guozhang had come back to Beijing to assume the presidency, but not before he had made sure to set up his proteges as military commanders in Jiangsu, Hubei and Guangxi. These three provinces formed the basis strength of his new Clique, the Zhili Clique. Thus two players placed their pieces on the board, there were many more to come. Duan Qirui and Feng Guozhang both were inspired to unify China in their own image. Wars would be fought against the Southerners, but wars would also be fought in the north. Duan Qirui felt confident he had achieved supremacy and could now act against his enemies, but what if his enemies all banded together to beat him?   I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me. The Qing loyalist, Zhang Xun attempted a Manchu Restoration, and well, he did restore it for roughly 12 days.  However Zhang Xun could have no idea what he really ushered in, for his actions had much more dire consequences. Duan Qirui was given a golden opportunity to seize more and more power, and he did, now his Anhui Clique was king of the hill, but we all know what happens in that game.   

Last time we spoke about the May fourth movement of 1919 . The Xinhai Revolution of 1911 sparked the May Fourth Movement marked by nationalism, anti-imperialism, and a quest for modernization. Disillusioned with traditional values and foreign encroachments, Chinese intellectuals, students, and workers embraced Western ideals, particularly Marxism, to reform Chinese society. The movement led to the emergence of the Chinese Communist Party and a broader alliance against warlordism and Japanese imperialism. Tensions arose between reformist liberalism and revolutionary Marxism, reflecting debates over China's path to progress. Despite setbacks, the May Fourth Movement's legacy persisted, shaping China's political landscape and laying the groundwork for future revolutionary action. Its an understatement to say it was a watershed moment in modern Chinese history. But underneath it lurked a new Era, one that was to be fought and ruled by warlords.   #94 Meet the Northern Warlords   Welcome to the Fall and Rise of China Podcast, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about the history of Asia? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on history of asia and much more  so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel where I cover the history of China and Japan from the 19th century until the end of the Pacific War. How to even begin. I am staring at roughly 10 tabs of books alongside numerous scripts I had written nearly a year ago about China's Warlord Era. I have already written an extensive series, that I also molded into a long form documentary about the Warlord Era, you can find it at the Pacific War Channel on Youtube or in audio form on all podcast platforms. However, I realize now, I really did not dig deep enough, specifically on….who exactly were the warlords? Its true, I covered their numerous battles, made jokes about them, but I did not really go deep into their backgrounds.To be honest their backgrounds are quite fascinating, they were all kooky characters. Thus I thought what better than to start off the Warlord Era by introducing some of the warlords and their cliques. But because there is literally so many warlords, I literally halfway through writing this one had to change it to just the Northern Warlords, next episode we cover the southern ones. After the death of Yuan Shikai China underwent a major shift from being a state-dominated civil bureaucracy overseen by a central authority to military dominated regions. These regions were dominated by the Warlords whom in the words of American political scientist Lucian Pye “were instinctively suspicious, quick to suspect that their interests might be threatened, hard-headed, devoted to the short run and impervious to idealistic abstractions". Most of the Warlords, came from military backgrounds, having gone through the new-style military colleges of the late 19th and early 20th century with foreign instructors. Most of the warlords were extremely brutal to not just their enemies, but civilians and their own troops. They killed without a second thought their own men if they suspected insubordination. They used horrible torture tactics like suspending a victim by the neck in bamboo or wooden cages, breaking knees, slicing limbs, branding and so forth. If railway workers tried to go on strike, a Warlord would often execute a few of them to get them back to work. A British diplomat in Sichuan province witnessed two mutineers being publicly hacked to death with their hearts and livers cut out; another two were burned to death; and others had slits cut into their bodies into which were inserted burning candles before they were hacked to pieces Warlords had to depend on subordinate officers, thus personal loyalty was of vital importance. Many Warlords would be betrayed by their officers who were often bribed by other Warlords. During the Warlord period, there was a balance of power. For those who don't know, the Balance of Power theory suggests states or in this case warlord regions, may secure their own survival by preventing any other state from gaining enough military power to dominate all others. So basically in Europe historically you see this with Britain, France and Spain. Two of the states would always join forces against the largest state to keep everyone in check. During the Warlord Era where there are numerous cliques with their own regional bases, the balance of power becomes quite complicated, but most books or even Youtube videos for that matter focus on 3 big ones, that we will get into soon.  Now the Warlords entire power scheme relied on their military, thus it was a precious thing to conserve. Going to war with another Clique might increase ones sphere of influence, but it might also weaken ones military so much they become vulnerable to attacks from other Cliques. This is further complicated by all the intricacies of the 20th century, this is an age of industry, economic power, trade and so forth. Not all the Warlords held regions with the economic capacity or logistical strength to wage longterm wars, some needed decisive knockout blows. As you can imagine, theres thousands of variables at play, making it nearly impossible for any given Clique to dominate all of China. The Warlord Era played out during a time when railroads were the fastest and cheapest means of transporting troops, thus capturing railroads was of vital importance. This was also an age directly after WW1 where the armored train was king. An armored train full of artillery and machine guns could land troops and perform fire support for them in battle.  Warlord armies consisted of common soldiers and more often than naught bandits. These grunt types had no loyalty to anyone, many joined Warlord armies as a means to an end, everyone has to eat as they say. Often a bandit became a soldier during times of war, then during times of peace they went back to banditry, it was a vicious cycle. Warlord armies were a plague upon the populations they came into contact with. They plundered, raped, took hostages for money, took women into sexual slavery, murder was rampant. Warlords often looted the countryside as a means to pay their troops. Peasants often joined a Warlord army, fought a battle, became captured by the enemy who simply enlisted them. Yes, Warlords often incorporated POW's into their armies, a system that would bite them in the ass often. Since I am the Pacific War Channel, I have to mention, a famous figure of the Pacific War, Vinegar Joseph Stilwell went to China as an attache in the 1920's and got to see Warlordism first hand. In 1926 he inspected a warlord unit and estimated 20% of the men were 4 foot 6, the average age was roughly 14 and many walked barefoot. Warlord armies were composed of infantry, cavalry, artillery, sometimes armor and even airforces for the lucky big guys. They were organized like any modern military with commanding officers over various units. They were composed of regular units, typically the core of a Warlords army. These were professionally trained soldiers, often equipped with modern firearms and artillery, the backbone of the army so to say. Then there were irregular militias, these were the local recruit types. They were less trained, less equipped, but like in any good army they provided numbers and numbers are a strength of its own. They could be used for garrison duties, patrolling, support roles, freeing up the regular army units. They were more prevalent in rural areas where manpower was always needed to keep control. Next there were foreign advisors and foreign mercenaries. Some Warlords hired foreign military advisors and mercenaries to bolster their strength. The advisors came from any of the great powers, but most especially Japan, Britain, France and Germany. The Russian civil war also added a ton of White Russians to the mix, some Warlords took advantage of this hiring full White Russian regiments like Zhang Zongchang. In 1916 China had roughly half a million soldiers, by 1922 this tripled, then it tripled again in 1924. Such manpower cost money, thus Warlords enacted large taxes to keep their armies going. One way of raising funds were specific taxes called lijin, it was a form of internal tariff, placed on the transit of goods being traded between provinces. One example of lijin was seen in Sichuan province were 27 different taxes were placed upon salt and paper going down the Yangtze river to Shanghai. It was taxes 11 different times by various warlords to the sum of 160% of its total value. Warlords also took enormous loans further complicated the economic order. Many Warlords got into the black market, stealing, cultivating and selling opium. Countless Warlords faced insane inflation situations seeing them continuously printing more and more money. As a Canadian under Justin Trudeau I have no idea what that is like, cough cough. Warlords were not all well educated, thus the illiterate Warlord of Manchuria, Zhang Zuolin when facing increasing prices obviously caused by inflation, he assumed it was the result of greedy merchants and began executing them. All of these money problems occurred because men and equipment were needed. Warlords bought their military arms typically from foreign nations. They purchased weapons from all sorts of nations like Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Japan, thus there was a plethora of different weapons. For rifles, many used the domestic manufactured Hanyang 88 and Mauser, while also importing rifles like the German Mauser Gewehr 98, British Lee-Enfield, the French Chauchat rifle and Italian Carcano M1891. For handguns the most popular was the Mauser C96. For Submachine guns apparently the Bergman MP28 was a favorite, but of course the Thompson submachine gun and MP18 also were purchased. For machine guns its was the Maxim, Chauchat, Browning, Vickers, MG08, Lewis gun, Hotchkiss m1909, honestly there are too many to list. Bayonets were bought and forged en masse alongside a variety of swords and sabers, the Chinese preferred the Dao and Jian for cavalry and ceremonies. Armored cars and trucks were bought en masse, armored trains were employed by a few warlords like Zhang Zongchang. Zhang Zuolin managed to buy some Renault FT tanks in the later 1920s. All the big warlords scrambled to get their hands on WW1 tanks and aircraft, though few used these effectively in battle. In the case of aircraft they really served primarily as reconnaissance.  Now lets talk about the Warlords and their Cliques. There were hundreds of warlords, I can't go through them all, but what I will do is name the larger guys, and throughout the series I am sure we will keep adding more. First, the origin of the warlords is of course the father of warlords, Yuan Shikai. Yuan Shikai built up the strongest army in China, the Beiyang Army that outlasted him. Many of Yuan Shikai's officers would become Warlords and their loyal followers made up cliques. Two officers very close to Yuan Shikai were Duan Qirui and Feng Guozhang. Both men began their military careers in the Tientsin Military academy a school established by Li Hongzhang ack in 1885. Duan Qirui's grandfather had served in Li Hongzhangs army, thus he was very much a military son. Feng Guozhang came from a family of landowners who had fallen on hard times, he failed to obtain his second civil service degree dashing his hopes to gain a post in the civilian bureaucracy, so he turned to the military. Both Duan and Feng gained good reputations, prompting Yuan Shikai to bring them into his inner circle. Both served him faithfully during the Xinhai Revolution and were rewarded with high office positions in his new government. Duan received military governorship over Hunan and Hubei and Feng received military governorship over Jiangsu. When Yuan Shikai died, Li Yuanghong took the presidency, actually forced by Duan Qirui who became Premier and Feng Guozhang became Vice-President. The Beiyang government henceforth, basically served at the whim to whichever warlord held the strongest army and largest presence within Beijing at any given time. Now leaderless, the Beiyang Army broke apart, its regiments and divisions fell under the control of various warlords in northern China who claimed them for their private armies. The Warlords sought to increase their power by increasing the size of their armies. This also resulted in the creation of major factions, better known as “cliques”. Duan Qirui became the founder of the Anhui clique, it was called this because the majority of its most influential members came from Anhui, including Duan. This clique had close ties to Japan, in previous episodes I mentioned Duan Qirui's secret Nishihara loans, this was done to bolster the cliques army. The Anhui clique organized themselves very early on and were more politically sophisticated than their rivals. The clique had a political wing known as the Anfu Club meaning “peace and happiness club”. Basically this was a group of Beijing politicians who favored Duan and tried to mold the political order his way. There was also a financial wing known as “the new communications clique” led by Cao Rulin who was a rival to Liang Shiyi's “Old Communications clique” part of the Cantonese clique, yes this gets really confusing. The Anhui clique basically became the biggest clique at the offset and would be led by multiple figures over the years.  There were many Beiyang officers who were not allowed into the Anhui clique. In the Beiyang Army as in any army, countless men had been overlooked for promotions by those like Duan Qirui and became bitter. These disgruntled officers who felt Duan Qirui had snubbed them gradually rallied behind Feng Guozhang forming the Zhili Clique. The Zhili Clique had its power base in Jiangsu, Jiangxi and Hubei. The Zhili clique was western oriented relying on western nations for funding and arms. Unlike the Anhui, early on the Zhili lacked strong bonds, thus they were more likely to abandon or betray another. They would be led by multiple figures, but no one would be as popular as Wu Peifu. Now as I very much know after creating my Warlord series on the Pacific War channel, I got a ton of comments about Wu Peifu, he is a fan favorite. Wu Peifu was born in Shandong and he received a traditional confucian education. Most would argue Wu Peifu was a Confucian scholar turned soldier in fact. It seems the Japanese victory over China in 1895 persuaded Wu to join the military. He enrolled in one of the new military academies at the time, the Baoding Military academy in Beijing and graduated in 1903 as a 2nd Lt in the beiyang army. Three years later he was assigned to Cao Kun's 3rd division and this sprang a 20 year relationship between the two men. Cao Kun took Wu under his wing and would become the leader of the Zhili clique after Feng Guozhang. However, Cao Kun was heavily invested in political matters. Because of this he relied heavily on Wu Peifu to manage military affairs and this paid off big time as Wu Peifu became one of modern China's greatest military strategists. Think Lelouche from Code Geass, if you get that reference you are a person of culture haha. Wu Peifu earned the epithet “the Jade Marshal” because of his military and intellectual prowess. He would won many battles and campaigns over rival warlords, often outmaneuvering or outwitting them. He also was very committed to maintaining integrity and order within his military. He emphasized professionalism and adhered to codes of conduct, earning a lot of respect amongst his men and China in general. To many he looked elegant and composed, resembling the qualities of Jade. He would brush shoulders with other famous Zhili clique warlords like Sun Chuanfang and Qi Xieyuan, but honestly the list is very large. Now if you read about the warlord Era, typically they display three large cliques in the north who influence most of the era, the Anhui clique, Zhili clique and of course the Fengtian clique.  They basically form a balance of power in North China. I should also probably note, China is facing a North/South divide during the Warlord Era so you often hear the cliques called Northern faction cliques or SOuthern faction cliques. The Fengtian clique's sphere of influence was Manchuria and thus was heavily backed by Japan. Like Wu Peifu, the founder of the Fengtian clique is also a fan favorite, his name was Zhang Zuolin, the Tiger of Manchuria. Zhang Zuolin was born in Haicheng in southern Fengtian province, modern Liaoning to a poor family. He received very little formal education, but when old enough he ran a stable at an Inn. He was a slender, kind of frail man with a droopy mustache and a soft voice. He enlisted in the military during the first sino-Japanese war learning how to be a soldier and returned to Fengtian were some say he became a Honghuzi. There is a story, most likely made up by Zhang Zuolin mind you that he was on a hunting trip when he came across a wounded Honghuzi on horseback. He killed the man, stole his horse and took his Honghuzi identity for himself. He gradually organized a small militia force to defend the locality and this became the nucleus of his personal army. Scholars are unsure whether Zhang Zuolin was ever a Honghuzi. Some claim he led a honghuzi gang, others state he was accused of being honghuzi because his local militia was not a regular military unit. During the Boxer Rebellion his gang joined the imperial army and afterwards they worked as security escorts for traveling merchants. During the Russo-Japanese war his men worked as mercenaries for the IJA. After the war he reached an arrangement with the military governor of Fengtien to have his forces become a regiment in the regular Qing army. During the Xinhai revolution as many declared independence movements in Manchuria, the pro-Manchu governor used Zhang Zuolins regiment to set up a “Manchurian People's peacekeeping council”. This was simply done to intimidate and threaten the revolutionaries, but for Zhang Zuolin's role he was awarded the Vice Ministry of Military affairs. When Yuan Shikai was trying to seize the presidency from Dr Sun Yat-Sen, Zhang Zuolin supported him and received military provisions for doing so. Zhang Zuolin murdered a number of leading figures in Mukden and was promoted multiple times by the Ailing Qing dynasty. When it became obvious Yuan Shikai was going to takeover, Zhang Zuolin threw his lot in with him. After 1911 Zhang Zuolin helped quell the rebellion earning a rank of Lt-General. Then when Yuan Shikai declared himself emperor, Zhang Zuolin was one of the very few who supported him. For this Yuan Shikai promoted him to Military governor of Fengtian. In 1916 when Yuan Shikai had to put down rebellions in the southern provinces, Zhang Zuolin supported the effort, however when Duan Qirui sent a new military governor to replace him, Zhang Zuolin went to the Kwantung Army for help. With the Japanese help Zhang Zuolin got rid of the many and would retain his authority over Fengtian. When Yuan Shikai died, Zhang Zuolin was in the perfect position to become a warlord in his region. By 1919 he managed to gain the position of inspector general over all 3 provinces of Manchuria and appointed loyal subordinates all over Manchuria to make sure his control was absolute. By 1920 he was the de facto supreme leader of Manchuria and controlled the Fengtian Army. Zhang Zuolin would dominate the Fengtian Clique nearly its entire existence, only to be replaced by his son Zhang Xueliang after his death. The Fengtian clique produced many warlords, the most notorious being of course, the Dogmeat General Zhang Zongchang. I wont get into it here, but I honestly plan on doing an entire episode to cover Zhang Zongchang's life story, its too hilarious and horrifying not to.  The next northern warlord clique was the Shanxi clique of Yan Xishan. Yan Xishan was born in the late 19th century in Wutai county of Xinzhou, Shanxi. His family were mostly bankers and merchants, he himself worked in his fathers bank and pursued a traditional Confucian education. However economic depression in his region, prompting Yan to join a military school in Taiyuan. There he was introduced to western sciences and in 1904 he went to Japan to study at the Tokyo Shimbu Gakko, a military preparatory academy. He enlisted in the Japanese army academy and graduated in 1909. Yan studied in Japan for 5 years and was impressed by Japan's modernization efforts. He observed much of what he could and would later use it to modernize Shanxi. Yan concluded Japan had successfully modernized largely because of its governments abilities to mobilize its populace in support of its policies and the close respectful relationship that existed in its military and civilian populations. In 1910 Yan wrote a pamphlet warning China that it was endanger of being overtaken by Japan unless it developed a form of Bushido. Before going to Japan, Yan had been disgusted with the wide scale corruption of Shanxi officials and believed the Qing dynasty's hostility towards modernization and industrialization led to its downfall. While in Japan Yan met with Dr Sun Yat-Sen and joined his Tongmenghui. When Yan came back to China he was assigned divisional command of the New Army in Shanxi. Despite his post, Yan actually covertly worked to overthrow the Qing. During the Xinhai revolution Yan led a local revolutionary force to drive out the Qing loyalist troops in the province and proclaimed its independence. Yan hoped to join forces with another prominent Shanxi revolutionary named Wu Luzhen, to resist Yuan Shikai's dominance over Northern China. However Wu Luzhen was assassinated just before Yan was elected military governor. Yan tried to resist, but Yuan Shikai's Beiyang Army overwhelmed Shanxi. Yan only survived by withdrawing further north forming alliances with the neighboring Shaanxi province. Yan managed to avoid a military confrontation with Yuan Shikai, thus preserving his own base of power. Although Yan was friends with Dr Sun Yat-Sen he did not support his 1913 Second Revolution and instead got closer to Yuan Shikai. Because of this Yuan Shikai allowed him to retake his post as military governor of Shanxi. Yan used this post to build a personal army and by the time of Yuan Shikai's death solidified his control over Shanxi. Now a little bit about Shanxi, it was one of the poorest provinces in China. Yan believed unless he modernized and revived its economy, Shanxi would simply succumb to rival warlords. As Yan watched from the sidelines in 1919, he saw his province simply could not compete with the bigger boys, thus he took up a policy of neutrality. While the warlord Era wars raged on he instead exclusively worked to modernize Shanxi, particularly developing its resource sector. Yan's governance of Shanxi led to him being dubbed the “model governor” by foreigners. In 1918 there was a bubonic plague outbreak in northern Shanxi taking the lives of nearly 3000 people in two months. Yan dealt with this by issuing instructions on modern germ theory and plague management to his provincial officials. He told his populace the plague was caused by germs that were breathed through lungs, that the disease was incurable and the only way to thwart it was social distancing. He ordered his officials to keep infected family and friends, even entire infected communities quarantined, by threat of police if necessary. Yan also sought foreign doctors to help suppress the epidemic. When Yan was in Japan he spent time in a hospital for 3 months where he saw X-rays, microscopes and other medical equipment for the first time and it seems this greatly impressed him. The epidemic prompted Yan to modernize Shanxi's medicine industry, funding the Research Society for advancement of Chinese Medicine in Taiyuan in 1921. The school promoted both western and chinese medicine, teaching courses in German, Japanese and English. While Yan would a isolationist for most of the warlord era, he had a large role in the end of it. The next northern clique is one I don't want to talk too much about because they only come into the scene later on. There is also the fact the leader of this faction happens to be the rival to Zhang Zongchang, and I think I might make the next or in a future episode a comparison of the two because it would be funny. What you should know is the Guominjun were basically a spin off of the Kuomintang. They were more or less a branch of the Kuomintang, but located in the north. The clique was formed by Feng Yuxiang, known as the “christian general”. Again I don't want to say too much, but this guy was funny, he used to check the fingernails of his troops before battle, no joke I've seen footage of it. Feng Yuxiang's Guominjun would end up being based in northwestern Hebei province. The next northern clique was known as the Ma Clique or the “Three Ma's of the northwest”. This clique goes back to our episode on the Dungan revolt. The Ma cliques traces back to the Qing General Dong Fuxiang, the same man who fought during the Dungan revolt and saved Empress Dowager Cixi during the Boxer Rebellion. He commanded Hui armies whose commanders went on to found the Ma Clique such as Ma Anliang and Ma Fuxiang. During the Xinhai revolution, Ma Anliang led 20 Hui battalions to defend the Qing dynasty by attacking Shaanxi where revolutionaries led by Zhang Fenghui sprang up. Ma Anliang failed to capture Shaanxi and when Puyi abdicated Ma agreed to join the new republic. Unlike Ma Anliang, Ma Fuxiang did not fight for the Qing, but rather the revolutionaries. Ma Fuxiang refused to join the invasion of Shaanxi and instead declared independence of Kansu from Qing control. Because of this Ma Fuxiang was rewarded military governor of Ningxia by Yuan Shikai. Ma Anliang was the founder of the Ma CLique, but died in 1918 leaving the mantle of de fact leader of Muslims in northwest China to fall to Ma Fuxiang. The Ma clique controlled Qinghai, Gangsu and Ningxia. Its three most prominent memers were Ma Bufang, Ma Hongkui and Ma Hongbin known as the Xibei San Ma “thee Ma of the northwest”. The clique would fight the Guominjun and later Xinjiang cliques during the warlord era wars. The next northern clique was the Xinjiang clique with their power base in Xinjiang. One thing that is unique to this clique was that some of their leaders were from outside the province. In 1907 Yunnanese Yang Zengxin was assigned governor over Xinjiang. He received support from Ma Yuanzhang, a Sufi Jahriyya Shaykh who enabled him to raise a massive Hui muslim army primarily from Jahriyya communities. Like Ma Anliang, Yang Zengxin was a manchu loyalist, neither trusted the revolutionaries. When the Xinhai revolution broke out, like Ma Anliang, Yang Zengxin fought for the Qing. After Puyi's abdication, Yang Zengxin supported Yuan Shikai becoming emperor, simply because he believed monarchy was the best system for China. Thus Yang Zengxin invited a bunch of anti-yuan leading officials to a banquet and decapitating them. Yuan Shikai rewarded him with a first rank of count during his brief tenure as emperor. After Yuan Shikai's death, Li Yuanhong assigned Fan Yaonan to observe Yang Zengxin to see if he could be replaced. Yang Zengxin was not a idiot, he made sure to recognize which ever faction at any given time controlled the Beiyang government to avoid any troubles. He kept his rule over Xinjiang relatively peaceful, at least in terms of Warlord Era China. When the Russian Civil War broke out he remained luke warm to the new Soviet Union, because the reality was, Xinjiang had always been economically dependent on Russia. Under his leadership Xinjiang formed a lot of deals with the Soviets independent of the Beiyang government. To complicate things, certain Ma's like Ma Fuxiang were also members of the Xinjiang clique and held military positions under Yang Zengxin. Yang Zengxin controlled his province with an iron first, relying heavily on Hui muslims forces to keep conflict at bay. He had absolute power and had a funny habit of keeping the radio station keys on him at all times and read every message that aired on it prior, making sure to get rid of any parts he did not approve of. Because of the geographical location of Xinjiang, the clique did not have as much influence on warlord era china vs others.  The last northern clique, is honestly not one I really consider a real clique, but then again you could say the same thing about many others. This clique would be called the “Manchu Restorationists” kind of like a Qing white lotus in some ways. They were prominent figures who simply wanted to bring back the Qing dynasty after the Xinhai Revolution. I really don't want to tell the story just yet, because its a wild and rather comical one, but if anyone was the so-called leader of this clique it was Zhang Xun, the Pigtailed General. But I guess I have to leave you with a bit of a teaser, Zhang Xun technically overthrew the republic and ushered in a Manchu Restoration….for a few days.  I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me. I think I covered roughly 60% of the Northern Warlords and their respective cliques. In the next episode I literally decided just now I will tell the tale of two northern warlords, one a angel and one a devil. I hope you are ready for some comedy and a bit of horror, for it will be the rivals Feng Yuxiang and Zhang Zongchang. 

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Part 3/5 SUPPORT THE SHOW AND GET THE REST OF THE SERIES RIGHT NOW: https://www.patreon.com/lionsledbydonkeys BUY JOE'S BOOK: https://www.amazon.com/Invisible-War-Military-Sci-Fi-Undying-ebook/dp/B0CQ6BH6BD/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3K76S781H082F&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.XHKGWIOva407zn4HjcxVoDwpnrg_teWOwoT_cwv4MFhELwL-P_oC8zl_Tn7SdmE1hqhUiaxIM18D5M9PRpYDktSOd6zkDyGguWFvbaV8Mwn6hHhTfF2w2nBkSMqIZyMmunRrnoLp1hr5HopuXq0OYr1iHAgz9JEoxGKuWIJWNqFmbYFMvKLhHsBpVVbNo9vPPZMn_2BYVOwcUjL9zaORsskz4Q3k5x06kkbFQG5Ct0A.kvo5nqES86hdehPE6YBIEFnCDNpPIYxdJ0Nq9a-xWkE&dib_tag=se&keywords=joe+kassabian&qid=1710749293&sprefix=%2Caps%2C146&sr=8-1 The Eight Nation Alliance hits some speed bumps as the various sides seem to want to fight each other as much as they do the Boxers.

Last time we spoke about Chinese laborers during the Great War. Although China took upa stance of neutrality at the offset of WW1, there was still this enormous desire to join the Entente side. The new Republic of China wanted to get a seat at the peace table to hopefully undue some of the terrible unequal treaties. To procure that seat, China approached France, Britain, Russia and by the end of the war America to send their workers to help the war effort. On the western and eastern fronts, chinese laborers made a colossal contribution that tipped the scale of the war towards an Entente victory. On the Eastern front some Chinese fought in irregular units and under emergency circumstances even on the western front some saw combat. When the laborers came back home they brought with them new ideas that would dramatically change China. The people of China demanded change, but how would China fare by the end of the Great War?   #90 Twenty-One Demands & the Walrus Emperor   Welcome to the Fall and Rise of China Podcast, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about the history of Asia? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on history of asia and much more  so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel where I cover the history of China and Japan from the 19th century until the end of the Pacific War. Taking a look back at China at the outbreak of WW1. Yuan Shikai certainly had a lot on his plate. When European nations began declaring war in late July, it brought military conflict to China. Yuan Shikai and his advisors thought over all the options laid bare before them and decided to proclaim neutrality on August 6th of 1914. As we have seen the other great powers, particularly Japan did not care. Japan besieged Tsingtao, despite China tossing protests. Yuan Shikai had little choice but to permit the Japanese military actions against Qingdao. The fighting that broke out in the Kiautschou area would constitute the only acts of war on Chinese soil during the first world war. Unfortunately the Japanese were not going to settle with just defeating the Germans. Japan had already gained a enormous sphere of influence in Manchuria after her victories in the 1st Sino-Japanese war and Russo-Japanese War. When China underwent its Xinhai revolution it became fragile, quite vulnerable and thus opened a floodgate.  With WW1 raging on in Europe, the global powers were all too preoccupied to contest any actions in Asia, giving Japan an enormous opportunity. Japan sought to expand her commercial interests in Manchuria, but also elsewhere. After seizing Qingdao, Prime Minister Okuma Shigenobu and Foreign Minister Kato Takaai drafted the infamous Twenty-One Demands. From the Japanese perspective, Yuan Shikai's government looked rogue, untrustworthy, they had no idea how long the thing would stand up, it might crumble at a moments notice. Their leases in south Manchuria were going to run out soon, thus they needed to extend them. Then there was the situation of Shandong province. Its always Shandong as they say. Japan was technically occupying it, having taken it from the Germans who previously held a concession over it. Being a concession, it was known Shandong would be returned to China, but now then when was an unknown variable. Japan also had some economic trade with China that made her somewhat dependent upon her. For example Yawata, Japan's first iron and steel complex that had been financed with Chinese indemnity payments ironically, was also dependent on Chinese raw materials that had been streaming into Japan since 1901. Japan industrialists needed to firm up their commercial relations with places like the Hanyehping works in Hankou. They hoped to establish joint sino-japanese control over strategic resources. Japan also strongly sought to be the dominate power in Asia, she wanted the western powers to back off. With these things in mind, the twenty-one demands were born. And by demands they were technically more “requests”, nevertheless they amounted to substantial infractions upon Chinese sovereignty. On January 18th of 1915, Japanese ambassador Hioki Eki delivered the twenty-one demands to Yuan Shikai in a private audience. They were delivered with a warning of dire consequences if the Beiyang government were to reject them. I know it might be quite boring and rather a University professor thing to do, but I will read the demands out. Now the Twenty-One Demands were divided into 5 groups Group 1 (four demands) confirmed Japan's recent seizure of German ports and operations in Shandong Province, and expanded Japan's sphere of influence over the railways, coasts and major cities of the province. Group 2 (seven demands) pertained to Japan's South Manchuria Railway Zone, extending the leasehold over the territory for 99 years, and expanding Japan's sphere of influence in southern Manchuria and eastern Inner Mongolia, to include rights of settlement and extraterritoriality, appointment of financial and administrative officials to the government and priority for Japanese investments in those areas. Japan demanded access to Inner Mongolia for raw materials, as a manufacturing site, and as a strategic buffer against Russian encroachment in Korea. Group 3 (two demands) gave Japan control of the Han-Ye-Ping (Hanyang, Daye, and Pingxiang) mining and metallurgical complex in central China; it was deep in debt to Japan. Group 4 (one demand) barred China from giving any further coastal or island concessions to foreign powers. Group 5 (seven demands) was the most aggressive. China was to hire Japanese advisors who could take effective control of China's finance and police. Japan would be empowered to build three major railways, and also Buddhist temples and schools. Japan would gain effective control of Fujian, across the Taiwan Strait from Taiwan, which had been ceded to Japan in 1895. Now Japan knew what they were asking for, particularly in group 5 were basically like asking China to become a full colony under Japanese rule. Traditional history holds the narrative that Japan simply was taking advantage of the first world war to press China for imperial gains and Yuan Shikai accepted the demands in exchange for funding and support of his future monarchical project. Yuan Shikai ever since has been vilified as a sort of traitor who negotiated a dirty deal with the Japanese. Its a bit more complicated than that however as you can imagine. Yuan Shikai was outraged when the Japanese minister came over with the demands, it was a heavy blow against him and his new government. Accordinging to US minister Paul Reinsch “Yuan was stunned, unable to speak for a long time”. When the Chinese were trying to smooth talk Yuan and his advisors they made flowery speeches about how Japan would shoulder the modernizing of China, that the demands were in the spirit of Amity, friendship and peace. Yuan Shikai remarked to this “our country would no longer be a country and our people would be slaves.” Yuan Shikai understood full well what Japan sought, but he was powerless to stop them. What he did do to try and curb some of the damage was delay the response by replacing his foreign minister Sun Baoqi with Lu Zhengxiang, whose slow and overly polite manner, greatly frustrated and pissed off the Japanese. The classic Chinese approach to diplomacy, stall stall stall. It is said Lu often spent an hour or more in courtesies like tea-drinking before getting down to business. Over 24 meetings would be held over the demands. Now the Japanese wanted all of this to be kept secret as it would hurt both nations reputations on the world stage. Yuan Shikai did not play by their rules. Instead he leaked the demands to foreign diplomats and representatives, and in turn this got leaked to the media and caused nationwide protests. Yuan Shikai hoped the protests would push the Japanese to back off. Yuan Shikai also tried to persuade foreign intervention. First he sent his Japanese adviser Argia Nagao back to Japan to prod the Genro. Then he began speaking to the Americans who were very focused on maintaining their Open Door Policy and the British who were very suspicious of Japan's intentions. Neither nation wanted to see China simply falling into Japan's orbit. And of course Yuan Shikai tried to negotiate the demands themselves, particularly the group 5 demands which he pointed out “these items interfere with China's internal politics and infringe on our national sovereignty. It is hard to agree.” Towards the economic demands he remarked “these demands are too broad and cannot be enforced.” Regarding Japan's demands that China not lease islands or coastal regions to “Taguo /a third country”, Yuan Shikai wanted to change the words “Taguo” to “waiguo / foreign countries”. That change altered China's national interests for it meant China would not allow any country, including Japan to lease or rent Chinese islands or coastal regions.  Overall though, Yuan Shikai was very careful not to be overly aggressive for he knew full well, no one was able to help China at that moment if Japan decided to start another war. He also was playing with fire massively, for he unleashed Chinese nationalism, something that could and would get out of hand. The Chinese stalled for as long as they could, but the Japanese patience would run out on May 7th. Japanese ambassador Hioki Eki issued an ultimatum, but this time with only thirteen demands. Yuan Shikai's government had only 2 days to accept. After months of tenacious diplomacy, the final version of the demands was quite different. The 5th group had been dropped and more other items were less harsh. Yuan Shikai was powerless he was going to have to accept the demands and he knew full well this was yet another humiliation against China and her people. The supreme state council met on the 8th, where Yuan Shikai told his officials it was a shameful and heartbreaking agony to accept the demons, but they had no choice, lest war ravage them all again. He looked at his council and stated bluntly, China needed to catch up to Japan within a decade to remedy the situation. Yuan Shikai would issue secretly on May 14th, a notice to high ranking officials throughout the country, telling them to expose Japan's ambitions and China's debility. He urged them to bear in mind the extreme pain of this humiliation and advised them to work hard to create a bright future to avoid the collapse of the state and the extinction of the nation. The demands were reluctantly accepted on May 9th, and henceforth May 9th was declared “a day of national humiliation” commemorated annually.  The consequence of accepting the thirteen demands, became colloquially known as “the Shandong problem”, again its always Shandong province haha. Now at the beginning of the war China supported the Entente under certain conditions. One of those conditions was that Kiautschou Bay, the leased territory of the Shandong peninsula belonging to the Germans, would be returned to China. Something that occurred very very often during WW1, particularly on the part of Britain, was the issue of double promising. I literally made up a term I think. Britain during WW1 in an effort to secure allies or certain objectives would promise two different states or non-state actors the exact same thing after the war was done. A lot of the problems facing the middle-east today can be attributed to this. In the case of the Shandong problem, when Japan entered the war on behalf of the Entente, Britain basically promised they could keep their holdings, this of course included Shandong. We will come back to the Shandong problem as its a surprisingly long lasting one, but now I want to take quite a silly detour. Yuan Shikai is quite a character to say the least. He was viewed very differently at given times.Take for example the public perception of him after the Xinhai Revolution took place. Many honestly saw him as a sort of Napoleon Bonaparte like figure. Many also questioned what Yuan Shikai truly sought, did he believe in things like democracy? One author I have used during these recent podcasts, who in my opinion is a hilarious Yuan Shikai apologist tried to argue the case “Yuan Shikai did not understand what democracy was, thus that is why he did the things he did”. Now beginning around 1913, there were rumors Yuan Shikai simply sought to make himself an emperor over a new dynasty. This of course came at a time everyone was vying for power over the Republic, China was supposed to be a Republic after all, I think we all know however this was not ever a reality. Yuan Shikai certainly tried to make the case he was a Republican, that he believed in the republicanism espoused by just about all the leading figures. He also would make statements publicly espousing “I will never proclaim myself to be a monarch”. Yet as we have seen he certainly sent the wheels into motion to create a dictatorship. Yet for public appearances he kept the charade he was doing his absolute best as president and that he unwaveringly supported republicanism.  Thus there were two major hurdles in the way, if lets say he did want to become an emperor: 1) he kept making pledges he would not do so and 2) the republican system obviously did not allow for this, there had been a revolution to stop the monarchy after all! There was little to no options if someone wanted to make themselves emperor over China…unless they made it seem like thats what the people wanted. In 1915, Yuan Shikai quasi stomped all political rivals, I say quasi because there actually were rivals literally everywhere, but for the most part he had concentrated power into his own hands. Now, the apologist author had this to say about Yuan Shikai's sudden change of heart for the monarchy “His belief in superstition was perhaps another factor, for geomancers had told him that by establishing a monarchy he would smash his family curse, which held that men in the Yuan family would rarely live beyond their fifties. The suggestion here was that he would live long if he founded a monarchy. Also, fengshui masters had told him that his ancestral tombs had shown a blessed sign favouring imperial rule” The author then finishes by stating, its a difficult question and further inquiry should be made. That is the classic end of any scholar article, where they know full well they can't justify what they are writing haha. According to the high ranking official Zhu Qiqian who was close to Yuan Shikai “Yuan's monarchical movement started with Kaiser Wilhelm II telling the Chinese that monarchy would be more suitable for China”. British minister Jordan had a meeting with Yuan Shikai on OCtober 2nd of 1915, and on the topic of him becoming emperor, he simply stated “this is China's internal affairs which should not be interfered with by any others.” American minister Reinsch basically said the same thing when asked. News outlets began spreading rumors Yuan Shikai was going to declare himself emperor. In June of 1915, Japanese media reported as such, but Yuan Shikai responded “nothing is more foolish than a man becoming emperor. For national salvation, I have already sacrificed myself, and I would rather not sacrifice my descendants.” Well despite this, a monarchical movement began, orchestrated by many people such as Yuan Shikai's son Yuan Keding. Our friend from the last podcast, Liang Shiyi, now minister of communications, raised funds and organized popular petitions for Yuan to form a monarchy. Soon numerous petition groups “organically” with quotation marks, sprang up all over Beijing all claiming republicanism held too many weaknesses and that China was in a dire strait needing a strong monarchy. Petition groups sprang up in provinces urging the same thing. Beijing was filled with noisy parades, procession, petitioners ran around rampantly.  Then the United Association of National Petition was founded on September 19th, 1915 in Beijing to champion monarchism. Supporters gathered in Beijing, producing this “organic” impression everyone wanted the monarchy back.  Facing so many petitioners, Yuan Shikai decided to let the people determine the future of the national political system and by the people, I mean him. On October 8th, 1915 he approved the order that a “Canzhengyuan”, political participation council organize a “ Guomindaibiaodahui”, a national representative assembly. They would form a final ruling on the issue. The order required all the representatives had to be elected, each county had to choose one, and various ethnic groups, civil societies and overseas Chinese organizations also needed to select representatives. Yuan Shikai hoped such an arrangement would dispel any perceptions he was just appointing himself Emperor. Each county representative went to his provincial capital to cast a ballot. The political participation council in Beijing collected the ballots and announced the results. The representatives were selected and each received 500$ for travel expenses. Yuan Shikai dispatched Zhu Qiqian to secretly telegram all provincial officials to regulate the “election” air quotes. Yuan Shikai had all of his confidents working for this election. High ranking officials, family members, friends and so forth. On December 11, 1915 the Political Participation Council announced the results, all 1993 ballots endorsed a constitutional monarchy with Yuan Shikai as emperor. So yeah, every ballot, hrmmmm. On behalf of the representatives, the council begged Yuan Shikai to assume the throne immediately, claiming it was the will of the people. Yuan Shikai declined, arguing he had pledged to support the republic, that as the guardian of republicanism he would lose trust if he became emperor. He asked the council to find another candidate. What proceeded as you can imagine was simple theatrics. That afternoon, the council held a special meeting and decided to present a second imperial advocacy. In the advocacy were things proving Yuan Shikai was an indispensable ruler, qualified for taking the throne. His 6 great accomplishments were suppressing the Boxer Rebellion, enforcing progressive reforms, achieving a post-revolutionary conciliation, crushing the second revolution and conducting intense diplomacy with neighbors like Japan. To absolve Yuan Shikai of the guilt of violating his republican pledges the document stated “the pledge to the republic was effective only if the peoples' will supported republicanism. If the people have switched to constitutional monarchy, the previous pledge was automatically relinquished. As the presidency does not exist anymore, the former presidential pledges naturally disappear”. And thus Yuan Shikai reluctantly, under extreme pressure issued a public order declaring his acceptance on December 13th, 1915. Thus Yuan Shikai became the Hongxian Emperor and began to implement imperial orders. To woo over the national elites, he created a system of noble ranks and bestowed 130 prominent individuals titles as princes, dukes, marquis, earls, viscounts and barons. His closest friends were given special appellations and exempted from imperial duties. Xu Shichang, Li Jingxi, Zhang Jian and Zhao Erxun, his closest 4 friends became the Songshansiyou “four friends of Mount Song”. Yet just as he was getting down to the work as they say, an anti-yuan movement swept the country, go figure. High ranking Beiyang generals and politicians were amongst Yuan Shikai's, lets call them, reluctant collaborators, and some were even opponents. His monarchy turned them hostile. Many had supported him for decades and their very careers were beholden to his patronage. But the monarchy was simple incompatible with the times. Li Yuanhong, a leading figure in the Beiyang Clique who was linked to Yuan Shikai through marriage, strongly resisted the monarchy. He was the first to have the title prince bestowed upon him, but he refused and threatened to commit suicide if coerced to take it. Xu Shichang, simply resigned. Feng Guozhang, a military commander in Nanjing was very angry about the situation. Feng Guozhang came to Beijing to try and persuade Yuan Shikai to not become emperor, and Yuan Shikai promised him for months it was only rumors, he'd never do it, not Yuan come on man! Once he became emperor, Feng Guozhang felt betrayed and became quite an obstacle to Yuan Shikai. Then there was Duan Qirui another Yuan Shikai loyalist, but he concealed his anti-monarchy stance. He simply told Yuan Shikai that if he tried to become emperor, he would become a villain in chinese history. Duan Qirui was the only high ranking general not to be given a noble title rank. Instead he was given a personal chef by Yuan Shikai, and Duan Qirui made sure never to eat any food prepared by the man. All these names by the way are important figures of the Beiyang clique, cliques will become a dominating feature when we get into the warlord era. Basically the leader of the Beiyang clique, Yuan Shikai had greatly pissed off all of his followers.  Of course Dr. Sun Yat-sen responded immediately to Yuan Shikai becoming emperor, calling for another revolution. In his words “the future of our motherland has suddenly became more darkened. The republic built by our martyrs has unexpectedly turned out to be the private possession of the Yuan family. Four hundred million compatriots wept profusely ... and see the third revolution as the best remedy for national salvation.” Dr Sun Yat-Sen portrayed Yuan Shikai as a “minzei” national thief and now the Chinese people lived in bondage. He called upon the people to fight to save the republic. Soon KMT revolutionaries began to seize county seats, first in Shandong led by Ju Zheng, then they occupied parts in Guangdong and attacked the provincial capital there. However Dr Sun Yat-Sen was not the only player in town anymore. There was the new Nation Army led by Cai E in Yunnan province and Liang Qichao. Liang Qichao was one of the first big voices against Yuan Shikai's monarchial movement when they were emerging as rumors. He was also something of a sensei to Cai E, pushing him to coordinate military commanders in the southwest. Liang Qichao left northern China for Shanghai after Yuan Shikai proclaimed himself emperor and then made his way to Hong Kong, before traveling to Vietnam. From there he gradually traveled to join up with the Nation Army in March of 1916. And there he created a rival government. Then there were the liberal types, many intellectuals who had traveled abroad like Chen Duxiu. Chen Duxiu published in the New Youth an article stating “the nomenclatures of emperors and kings should have already perished after the Qing abdication edict, but unfortunately the Prepare for Peace Society led to the problem of the national political system.” Many pro-Yuan Shikai intellectuals suddenly turned against him, such as Li Dazhao. Born in Zhili, Li Dazhao had benefited from Yuan Shikai's reforms and supported him for quite some time, but the monarchism enraged him. As Li Dazhao joined the anti-Yuan movement he declared “All those who dare to rekindle the tyrannical cinders, or reignite the monarchical flames, whether the followers of the Prepare for Peace Society or the adherents of dynastic restoration, should be regarded as traitors of the state and public enemies of citizens. Their organization should be exterminated, their books burned, their backers eradicated, and their roots removed. Their sprouts should be destroyed so that they could not grow and proliferate. Then, there will be a hope of great prospect for our country”. Japan, never one to let an opportunity slip by them, began communicating with Cai E, Sun Yat-sen, Liang Qichao and Beiyang generals like Feng Guozhang and Duan Qirui. Japan began training and arming them. Soon military commanders in Guangxi, Guizhou, Yunnan working in league with Liang Qichao declared war against Yuan Shikai. Zhang Xun in Xuzhou of Jiangxi province refused to fly the Beiyang republic flag and made sure his men grew long queues, expressing their loyalty to the Qing dynasty. Liang Qichao dispatched Cai E to Kunming where he met with Tang Jiyao, a local military commander to begin a rebellion. On December 24th, Yuan Shikai received a telegram from Cai E urging him to return China into a Republic and he had one day to do so, or else. Yuan Shikai rejected the order and on the 25th of December, Yunnan province declared independence, uh oh. The Nation Army consisted of 3 main forces, Cai E's first army who marched upon Sichuan; Li Liejun's 2nd army who marched upon Guangxi and Hunan and Tang Jiyao's 3rd army who were held in reserve. Their goal was to occupy southern China so a Northern expedition could be launched to overthrow Yuan Shikai.  On January 1st, 1916 they issued an proclamation, claiming Yuan Shikai had performed 20 egregious crimes and must go into exile and let China be a republic again. Within days their armies marched upon Sichuan and Guizhou. By February Guizhou declared independence. Yuan Shikai immediately went to work stripping the rebels of their official titles and ordered Cao Kun to lead a military expedition against Yunnan. Under Cao Kun was Ma Jizeng who took an army through Hunan to attack Guizhou and Yunnan. A second force was led by Zhang Jingyao through Sichuan then Yunnan. A third force led by Long Jiguang went through Guangxi and then Yunnan. There were fierce battles, one particularly rough one at Xuzhou, where Cai E's armies seized the city in January, but lost it by March. The war was dubbed “the strange war,” because it really became  “a war of tongues,”. Each side kept through accusations in telegrams, newspapers and pamphlets. Now Yuan Shikai's Beiyang forces were superior in terms of numbers, weaponry and such, but the southerners were using terrain against them. All of the Beiyang forces were northern chinese, not used to southern climate and it proved difficult for them to acclimate. They were also not in the greatest state of morale, having to fight for the tin pot emperor as it were.  As a result the Beiyang forces did not seize the quick victory they thought they would. Though one major triumph was when Feng Yuxiang took Xuzhou on March 2nd, 1916 earning himself the title of baron. For those who don't know, Feng Yuxiang would famously become known as the Christian warlord. Meanwhile, Guangxi declared independence on March 15th led by Lu Rongting. Looking at a brutal stalemate of a war, Feng Guozhang began secretly telegraming Yuan Shikai to give up the monarchy, not a good sign. By early 1916, all the war fronts were seeing disasters. On March 21st, Yuan Shikai convened a special meeting with his high ranking officials. He proposed abolishing the monarchy and only one diehard loyalist general, Ni Sichong said he shouldn't, the rest all said yes. The following day Yuan announced his decision to step down from being an emperor. On March 23rd, 1916 the Hongxian dynasty ended, yes he was emperor for 83 days.  I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me. I bet some of you are wondering why I titled this the Walrus Emperor. I could not help myself, he honestly is such a goofy character and the propaganda outlets of his day drew him as this fat walrus, seriously give it a google “Yuan Shikai Walrus”. You wont be disappointed

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The Imperial powers of Europe and Japan humiliate China until they create an uprising of magical martial artists who are terrified of period blood. SUPPORT THE SHOW: https://www.patreon.com/lionsledbydonkeys Sources: David Silby. The Boxer Rebellion and The Great Game in China Diana Preston. The Boxer Rebellion: The Dramatic History of China's War Against Foreigners That Shook the World in the Summer of 1900 Henry Keown-Boyd. The Fists of Righteous Harmony Joseph Esherick. The Origins of the Boxer Uprising

Last time we spoke about the invasion of Sakhalin and the Portsmouth Treaty. The Japanese had defeated their enemy upon the land and sea, yet the reality was, both empires were ailing. They were both verging bankruptcy, but Russia held the edge in more troops and deeper allied pockets for loans. The Japanese sought the aid of President Theodore Roosevelt to usher a peace, but more importantly one that favored Japan's war aims. With his advice, Japan seized Sakhalin to improve their poker hand. At the Portsmouth negotiations, the Japanese would be rather shocked to find their American hero somewhat championed the Russian side when it came to war indemnities. In the end Japan signed the Portsmouth Treaty and would face an outraged population back home. The Hibiya riots erupted, and now the Japanese felt betrayed by America. Yet what of China, how was this going to affect her?   #85 Old Ways Meet New Policies    Welcome to the Fall and Rise of China Podcast, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about the history of Asia? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on history of asia and much more  so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel where I cover the history of China and Japan from the 19th century until the end of the Pacific War. The turn of the 20th century saw the Qing government face an unprecedented national crisis. The Boxer Rebellion did not go well. The Empress Dowager Cixi and the Beijing government literally fled the capital, not a good look. On January 29th of 1901, Empress Dowager Cixi, from her refuge in Xi'an issued an imperial edict in the name of Emperor Guangxu “After we moved out of the capital city, the empress has been constantly busy with state affairs. As emperor, I deeply regret my mistakes. In the past decades, problems have accumulated and been papered over as we mindlessly followed the old ways, leading to the calamity we face today. Now that peace negotiations are underway, we should reform all political affairs so that the country can become strong and prosperous”. To the Qing government she issued this “submit suggestions regarding reform measures within two months. The suggestions should be based on the current situation with reference to both Chinese and Western experience. Reform proposals should cover law, administration, people's livelihood, education, the examination system, military affairs, and public finance. What should be continued and what changed? What should be eliminated and what combined? What should be done to strengthen China, develop human talent, reach fiscal balance, and build a strong army?'. Thus the Qing officials busied themselves looking into the matters and expressed their opinions in countless memorials. The most influential of these opinions would come from three memorials jointly submitted by the Governor General of Jiangnang, Liu Kunyi and the governor general of Hubei-Hunan, Zhang Zhidong.  The first memorial proposed 4 methods for improving education. It advised setting up schools of liberal arts and military academies. To reform the civil examination system, abolish the military examination system and encourage studies abroad. The second memorial proposed 11 measures to reform the administration. They should promote frugality, abandon outdated rules, cease the sale of office, reform official salaries, eliminate clerks and runners, bring more leniency to criminal punishments, change the policies for official selection, find new ways to support the livelihood of Manchu serving in the eight banners, eliminate garrisons, eliminate the Green Standard army and simplify literary formalities. The third memorial proposed 12 reforms based on Western practices. To dispatch intellectuals to tour the world, to adopt foreign military practices, a new military strengthening program, improve agriculture, further industrialize, enact some new laws on mining/transport and commerce, revise the criminal code, introduce silver coins, introduce a stamp tax, create a modern postal service, learn foreign medicine practices and translate more foreign books.  These memorials were approved by Cixi and would become the blueprint for the New Policy Reforms of the late Qing dynasty. On July 20th, Cixi issued another edict to affirm these ideas would be implemented ‘“For the sake of the dynasty and people, the emperor and I have no other choice.” The Zongli Yamen was officially changed to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Outdated posts were eliminated, such as the director general of the Yellow River and Grand Canal, governorship over Hubei, Yunnan and Guangdong provinces whom already held governor-generals, the court of sacrificial worship and the court of banqueting, those 2 last ones are something else arent they. For the military, traditional troops were disbanded or retrained as a reserve army or for police forces. The military examination system was abolished, new military academies were created. A military training bureau was created to train the “New Army” and a Ministry of Police took charge of public security instead of the wonky Green Standard system. To further economic development, a Ministry of Commerce was created. New regulations for chambers of commerce were promulgated. Business laws and provisional regulations for corporate registration were both promulgated. An exhibition center to encourage industrialization was set up in Beijing; vocational colleges were created; the Board of Revenue Bank was also created. On September 7th of 1901, the Qing government signed the humiliating Boxer Protocol and on the 6th of October Cixi made her glamorous return to the capital. China began a new approach with the west. On January 28th of 1902, the Qing court invited foreign ministers to the Imperial Palace ““The audience was conducted throughout with more formality and dignity and with greater outward show of respect for the foreign representatives than heretofore; the event was especially noteworthy as being the first occasion on which the empress dowager has openly appeared in an audience, and not behind the screen of gauze”. Qing officials of all ranks followed suit, trying their best to please the foreign representatives. The term walking on eggshells applies, the Boxer Rebellion had greatly pissed off most of the powerful nations. Thus the Qing dynasty was doing its very best to please both the foreign powers and its people, trying desperately to maintain its ailing rule. Yet the damage beginning all the way in the 1830's was too much. The Qing government also did not outright abandon its autocratic ruling system, in many ways it was providing band aid solutions in the form of reform measures. In a rather dramatic fashion, in 1902 during the birthday of Empress Dowager Cixi a poem was read y Gu Hongming, the aide to Zhang Zhidong “Everywhere people sing about loving the state, but nobody sings about loving the people.The emperor enjoys longevity, and the people pay the bill; the emperor lives forever, and the people suffer.”Everyone gasped in shock. Moments like this highlight the reality of the situation. While the Qing government was tossing reforms left and right, they were not far reaching enough. There were also countless provincial and local officials who refused to adopt the reforms. One example was the governor of Guangdong, Shanxi, Henan and governor-general of Guangdong and Guangxi, yes the age old classic of too many titles on a single person, Zhang Renjun. Zhang was a hardcore conservative and thought the reforms would increase government expenditures and thus further aggravate the populace, in his words “The people are already exhausted and catastrophe will come if we keep exploiting them.” He also believed the dynasty would not benefit from the reforms. He was against the organization and training of a modern army, establishing chambers of commerce and sending intellectuals abroad to study. To the last point he believed the Chinese students going abroad would have their minds poisoned and come back ushering in revolution, he would not be too wrong there. Above all else, he had been a Qing official a long time and knew fundamentally most Qing officials were greedy morons. He was basically the Ron Swanson of the Qing Dynasty haha. He was stuck in some ways, but brought up pretty good glaring problems with the reforms.  After 1905 further reforms were established and there was talk of preparing for constitutionalism, perhaps setting up provincial assemblies with a national assembly, introducing local self-government and such. Yet dramatic change required dramatic change, ca-ching, it would be a heavy financial burden. The Qing government assigned the expense for the reforms upon the provinces, whom in turn apportioned costs upon prefectures and counties. Ultimately the money was being extracted from the common people, whom were already paying enormous indemnities for the Boxer Protocol. Alongside this government stipends for their officials were spearing, as the greedy morons, in Zhang's words of course, lived lavishly. As you can imagine, the age old practice of fleecing the populace ran rampant. Qing officials were exploiting the populace for self gain. A German missionary working in China at the time, Richard Wilhelm had this to say “The Manchu aristocracy made use of the new chaotic conditions in order to feather their [sic] own nest. One reform crowded out another. A great deal of money was spent and nothing substantial was achieved. This state of affairs led to far-reaching dissatisfaction throughout the Empire. The officials, who were not given a clear and uniform lead by the authorities, were placed in the most awkward positions as a result of having to find money locally in accordance with the various edicts of reform which followed rapidly one upon another”. There were numerous flaws in the implementation of the reforms. A large reason for this was a lack of comprehensive planning. In terms of public financing, the reforms simply cost too much. For example, the cost for policing of a small province was something like 2 million taels, for larger provinces it was 3 million. A Qing official named Daungfang said of the situation ‘“As China is vast, if there were only two policemen per square kilometer, the annual expenditure for police nationwide would approach half a billion. The annual state revenue is insufficient to afford this expense, not to mention other reforms.” French diplomats aiding Beijing's Police and military reform programs at the time had this to say “At least we can say that the Qing empire lacks wisdom and foresight, as it decided to establish 36 divisions and to regroup the navy in a great hurry, but failed to consider how to finance these large annual expenses.” Alongside the enormous costs of the reforms, there were those trying to profit from them as well. In 1911, the American sociologist Edward Alsworth Ross had this to say “In an educational center far up the Yangtse the authorities kept bringing out American teachers at great expense under a year contract and then at the end of the year replaced them with others no better qualified. Inasmuch as every shift calls for an allowance of $300 for travel money, the knowing ones suspect that some official gets “squeeze” on the travel money and that is the reason for the incessant changing of teachers”.  As reformed institutions were created, many officials seized the opportunities to get their friends and family positions forming cliques. One account had Tang Shaoyi, one of the Chinese who got to go abroad to study, received the appointment of General director over the Shanghai-Nanjing railway, the Beijing-Wuhan Railway and Vice Minister of Communications, it was said of his tenure “Into every vacant place in the Customs or the railways or in the ministry that came to his bestowal he stowed one of his own relatives by blood or marriage or one of his own Cantonese clan. Out of 400 appointments in the Ministry of Communications made during his tenure of office 350 were jobs for which he could be called to account'.  A lot of new taxes were introduced in the name of the “New Policies”, some added by the Qing government directly, some by local officials, hell even local gentry got involved in the fleecing. An imperial edict acknowledged it “In recent years, the people have been exhausted. In addition, provinces have extracted reparations from the people, robbing Peter to pay Paul, so that the people's livelihood is ever more precarious. … Provincial governors have used all means to collect funds to finance local administration and pushed the people to desperation” A lot of schools sprang up all over China, nearly all of them offering studies in the natural sciences. Colleges of liberal arts and law offered Western social sciences, and this in particular opened new avenues to the Chinese. As the students embraced all kinds of new knowledge, they also took a critical eye to their society and current affairs. Many who were sent to study abroad came back and taught at universities, bringing with them revolutionary ideology.  On September 24th of 1905, Empress Dowager Cixi dispatched 5 ministers abroad; Zhen Prince Zaize, Minister of Finance Dai Hongci, Minister of the Military Xu Shichang, Governor of Hunan Duanfang and Prime Minister of the Business Department Shaoying. On November 25th, the Qing government set up a special institution to study constitutional governments of foreign nations, to provide guidance on their own constitutional reform. It was quite similar to what the Japanese did during the Meiji restoration, albeit quite late. Dai Gonci and Duanfang were the first to depart, traveling to the US to meet with President Theodore Roosevelt. Then Zaize led the rest to depart. At the end of 1906 they all submitted a report stating “the only way for the state to be powerful is constitutionalism”. This prompted Cixi to promulgate a decree on September 1st of 1906 announcing the “preparatory imitation of constitution”. By 1907 the preparatory office of the “Zizhengyuan Institute” Ie: parliament was created. Ming Lun and Sun Jiaxuan were appointed presidents of it. After this, constitutional guilds were established in all major cities within China. By 1908 a constitutional outline was published, showcasing civil rights and obligations; essentials of parliament and election law essentials.  Now for the military, in 1905 the Beiyang Army was reorganized into the New Army. Initially the Qing government planned to establish it as 500,000 regular troops over the course of 10 years, but they would only managed to train roughly 190,000 by 1911. By 1909 a Ministry of War was established to control the new army. Now back in 1904 a study was done, looking into what needed to be done for the New Army. The report indicated China should dispatch government officials to the provinces to make sure imperial decrees were being followed, this might seem like an obvious thing to do, but it had not really been enforced previously. There was a lot of huff and puff over who controls New Army units and a concession was made to allow provinces to raise them, but ultimately they took orders from the Qing court. The 8 banners were excluded from the reform. The report argued the need for specialized and educated officers for both the front lines and staff. Officer pay was increased in an attempt to thwart corruption. Officers were given detailed regulations and were expected to lead their men, not their drill instructors, who due to a lack of qualified officers were often employed to instruct the men. Officers therefore were pretty useless in battle and the soldiers had very little faith in their officers. The report called for standardization of weaponry and for the army to be divided into 3 categories as per the norms of western armies: the standing army was to be 1st class reserves; second class reserves for the regulars would serve 3 years, then they would return home and enroll in the first reserve for another 3-4 years. The army would organize into corps with 2 divisions each consisting of 2 brigades of infantry, 1 regiment of cavalry and artillery, 1 battalion of engineers and transport units. It was estimated each corp would cost nearly 3 million taels and divisions about 1.3 million. With an expected 36 divisions this would amount to 50,000,000 taels annually to grow the new army.  Taking a look at the political reforms, on July 28th the governor-general of Zhili province, Yuan Shikai submitted a 10 point memorial. He suggested creating a national assembly, Zizhengyuan, at the central level, while provincial assemblies would be set in provincial capitals and other assembles would be set up in prefectures and counties. For legislatures, he suggested finding qualified members of the provincial assemblies to be promoted to the national assembly. Now he was one of many to make suggests, others like Cen Chunxuan also made proposals. By October of 1907 an imperial decree was made “Provincial governors should promptly set up provincial assemblies in provincial capitals; fair-minded and enlightened officials and gentry should be prudently selected to take charge; and qualified gentry and citizens should select capable persons as members of provincial assemblies. … Local governments should carry out reforms, and the decisions made by assemblymen should be implemented by provincial governors. Provincial governors should report significant events to the provincial assemblies before they take initiatives. In the future, provincial assemblies shall promote some of their members to the National Assembly. If the National Assembly conducts inquiries, it shall send official documents to provincial governors to ask them to pass on the information, and also directly ask the provincial assemblies for response. If provincial assemblies have some issues, they shall inform the provincial governors and report directly to the national assembly for investigation”. In the end the Qing court favored Yuan Shikai's ideas. Though they endorsed the ideas, the Qing court also had no plan to implement them. Because of this the provincial governors had no idea what to do. Lackluster and inconsistency resulted, prompting the Qing court to issue a Charter for the Provincial assemblies and election of provincial assemblymen on July 22nd of 1908. The Qing court basically gave the provinces a year to set up the assemblies. Now elections had never before occurred in China, officials and peoples had no experience with them. The process of preparing provincial assemblies, verifying the qualifications of voters, first, second round elections, organizing the sessions all required a lot of people and a lot of money. There was no way they were going to pull it off in a year. The Qing court began harassing the provincial officials and the first session of the provincial assemblies would convene on October 14th of 1909. There would be two regular sessions held prior to 1911. After pulling off the first session, provincial governors were under a lot of pressure to produce action. Ultimately most were too afraid to act on specific issues, corrupt or incompetent and this led to a large dissatisfaction. When the second annual session of provincial assemblies occurred there was a large amount of conflict. Issues like finally banning opium were hotly debated, many argued its poisoning effect on their society, while others argued the government would lose too much revenue from opium taxes. We haven't talked about opium in quite some time eh? It honestly was a large problem until Mao Zedong's reign. The provincial assembly system had a lot of problems. The governor of Zhejiang province, Zengyun described much of them in a report he made in 1910 “One year after it was established, the provincial assembly has still accomplished little. … Assemblymen can point out problems, but few can articulate the reasons for them. … As China did not have this system before, legislators are confused. They do not know what issues should be discussed. A few persons with exposure to the law and politics of other countries have only a partial understanding and cannot cite appropriate precedents or articulate them clearly. Moreover, they cannot communicate well with others as most people are rather ignorant. Therefore, although decisions are made by majority vote, the assemblymen rarely support or reject proposals appropriately. During the thirty to forty days of the session, more than half of the assemblymen have not spoken at all. Constitutionalism was introduced with the aim of fostering communication between the government and people. I fear that if such problems persist, the government and people will be further estranged. It is particularly worrisome that the outcome would deviate so much from our initial aim”. There were countless reasons for conflicts between the provincial assemblies and governors. First the provincial officials tended to have a weak idea of constitutionalism and tended to not allow the provincial assemblies participate in public administration. Secondly, the new restrictions upon governors within the constitutional order hindered action. Thirdly the transition to constitutional rule was messy, for example the respective powers of provincial officials and assemblies were very vague. Fourth provincial assemblies tended to be insensitive to the real problems faced by governors. Fifth governors and assemblies had very different positions, responsibilities and thus priorities, conflict was inevitable. Lastly, the provincial assemblies often focused too much on trivial issues such as etiquette. Simultaneously while all of these reforms and debates were going on, something else was brewing, revolutionary fever. In September of 1905, a revolutionary named Wu Yue set off a bomb trying to assassinate the 5 ministers who were about to be sent abroad to study constitutionalism. On July 6th of 1907 Xu Xilian led a failed revolt in Anqing, but was successful in killing its governor. This incident sparked a lot of attention from the Qing court and provincial officials. The Qing government was in a tough spot, to them it seemed there were revolutionaries pushing for constitutionalism and those pushing against it. There were countless revolutionaries and revolutionary groups that had formed throughout the Qing Dynasty's history. Many sought to re-establish a Han-led government, you know all those pesky Ming types. I obviously cant talk about them all, but there is one in particularly thats worth mentioning. In 1891 one man studying to become a doctor, met some friends in Hong Kong, many of whom were revolutionaries. One was named Yeung Ku-wan, and he was the leader of the Furen Literary Society calling to overthrow the Qing dynasty. The man went on to become a doctor and wrote a 8000 character petition to our old friend Li Hongzhang in 1894. His petition presented ideas for modernizing China. He traveled to Tianjin to try and personally meet Li Hongzhang and give him the petition, but was not granted an audience. It seems from the experience, Sun Yat-Sen's heart turned to revolution. He departed China and traveled to Hawaii, a place that was basically a second home to him, he was educated there and had family living in Honolulu. In 1894 in Hawaii he founded the Xīngzhōnghuì “Revive China Society”. This would be the first Chinese nationalist revolutionary society and each person admitted to it would swear the following oath “Expel Tatar barbarians, revive Zhonghua, and establish a unified government”. Sun Yat-Sen returned to Hong Kong in 1895 and met up again with Yueng Ku-wan. Both men viewed the First Sino-Japanese war situation as a huge opportunity and resolved to merge their societies. Dr. Sun Yat-Sen became the secretary of the newly merged group while Yeung Ku-wan was the president. They had Lu Haodong design a flag for their society, the Blue sky with a white Sun flag. If you pull up a picture of the flag, the 12 rays of the white sun represent 12 months and 12 traditional chinese hours, it symbolizes the spirit of progress. Soon their society began to brush shoulders with some old friends of ours, the Tiandihui “heaven and earth society” and even the triads. Dr Sun Yat-Sen was associating with such groups to gain funds and aid in his global travel to support a revolution.  In 1895, the Xīngzhōnghuì unleashed their planned uprising in Guangzhou, thus earning the name the “first Guangzhou uprising”. On October 26th , Yeung Ku-wan and Dr Sun Yat-sen led Zheng Shiliang and Lu Haodong to Guangzhou intending to capture the city in a single strike. However their plans were leaked to Qing authorities. The Qing arrested many of the revolutionaries, including Lu Haodong who would later be executed. The uprising was a complete failure. Yeung Ku-Wan and Dr Sun Yat-sen were both sent into an exile for 5 years. Dr Sun Yet-sen spent his exile promoting revolution within China abroad. He went to Japan, the US, Canada and Britain. While in Britain Dr Sun Yat-sen was seized by the Chinese secret service and nearly smuggled back to CHina in an effort to be executed. James Cantlie working with the globe, the times and foreign office managed to get Dr Sun Yat-sen released. James was a former teacher of Sun at Hong Kong college for medicine and a lifelong friend. When Sun made his way to Japan in 1897 he befriended the Japanese politician Tōten Miyazaki who motived him towards Pan-Asianism. Sun would also befriend Mariano Ponce, a diplomat of the first Philippine Republic. During the Philippine Revolution and Philippine-American War, Sun helped Ponce procure weapons from the IJA. Sun hoped to help the Filipinos win back their independence so the Philippines could be used as a staging point for another Chinese revolution. Ultimately the Americans won and thus Sun's dreams of allying with the Philippines vanished. On October 8th of 1900 Sun ordered the launch of another uprising, this time in Huizhou. A revolutionary army led by Zheng Shiliang, around 20,000 men strong, began a coup. This led his force to fight against the local Qing forces, with Sun working out of Taiwan promised to supply his men with ammunition from the Japanese. However, the Japanese got cold feet and the Japanese Prime Minister prohibited Sun Yat-sen from carrying out revolutionary activities on Taiwan. Sun tried to turn to the triads for help, but it simply did not pan out, thus after a month of fighting, Zheng Shiliang had no choice but to order the army to disperse.  After this Sun traveled to Bangkok in 1903 trying to secure funds. On Yaowarat Road in Bangkok's Chinatown Sun issued a famous speech claiming “overseas Chinese were the mother of the revolution”. Yaowarat road would later be commemorated as Sun Yat Sen Street. In 1905 Sun Yat-sen went to Singapore and merged his Xinzhongwei with the Guangfuhui “restoration society” and a few other smaller groups to form the Tongmenghui. Sun then created the three principles of the people: Minzu “nationalism”, minquan “democracy” and minsheng “welfare”. With Minzu, Sun sought national independence, as during his time China was under threat from imperialist powers. China needed to break the unequal treaties and harmonize the differing peoples of the nation. This led to the development of the Five races under one Union: Han, Mongol, Tibetan, Manchu and Muslim. For Minquan, he sought for the people to have real say in governance, and for Minsheng he sought for the government to take care of its peoples needs.  The Tongmenghui rapidly grew, finding support all over the world. With this rapid growth came more and more uprisings. On December 1st of 1907, Sun led an uprising in Zhennanguan against the Qing forces at the Friendship Pass. If you remember all the way back to when we were covering the Franco wars in indochina, the Friendship Pass is the border of China-Vietnam In Guangxi-Lang Son provinces. The uprising failed after 7 days of fighting, but Sun never gave up. In 1907 he launched more failed uprisings such as the Huanggang uprising, the Huizhou seven women lake uprising and Qinzhou uprising. In 1908 even more came, the Qin-lian uprising and Hekou uprising. And these were those backed by Sun Yat-Sen, there was a hell of a lot more going on such as the Great Ming Uprising in 1903, the Ping-liu-li uprising, the Anqing uprising. Then in 1910 Sun unleashed the second Guangzhou uprising, seeing a few hundred revolutionaries break into the residence of the Qing viceroy of Guangdong and Guangxi provinces. This one was initially pretty successful,but the Qing gathered forces and turned the tide of battle. 72 revolutionaries out of 86 dead bodies were identified and revered as the 72 martyrs. To say revolutionary fever was at an all time high is an understatement. China was about to change forever, in the year 1911. I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me. The Qing government was in full panic mode. Too much damage had been dealt to the empire, China had lost face. To quell the outside world she signed humiliating treaties, but to quell her own people, now that was more challenging. The old ways gradually fell to new policies, but can an old dog learn new tricks? 

Last time we spoke about the legendary battle of Tsushima. Admiral Rozhdestvenski traveled across the globe to bring the Baltic fleet to the Pacific to give a climactic fight to Admiral Togo's combined fleet. Yet during the journey, Port Arthur fell leaving the only destination to be Vladivostok and they would have to take a perilous journey through the Tsushima strait to get to her. Rozhdestvenski's grand journey meant his ships were ill maintained and the crews had no time for training. The Japanese meanwhile had trained vigorously and brought new technological advantages into the mix that would significantly tip the scale. The Russian baltic fleet was absolutely annihilated at a minimal lose for the IJN. The battle of Tsushima became one of the most famous naval battles in history and its decisive nature would become indoctrinated in the IJN until the end of WW2.    #84 The Russo-Japanese War part 11: The Portsmouth Treaty    Welcome to the Fall and Rise of China Podcast, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about the history of Asia? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on history of asia and much more  so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel where I cover the history of China and Japan from the 19th century until the end of the Pacific War. I have to start this podcast by repeating a funny little bit from this week. One of my bosses over at Kings and Generals suddenly messages me on discord and says “hey what's going on with the China Podcast, are we doing a series on the Russo-Japanese War now?” And to this I laughed, because he had a good point, I am sure there are a lot of you who were wondering….well why are we spending so much time on this, if the Fall and Rise of China podcast is ..well about China. The Russo-Japanese War would have a profound effect on China and global history. Something many forget, this entire war occurred within China, a nation not officially taking part in the conflict! Having a war break out between two other empires within your borders was an absolutely humiliating situation. China had just lost a war against the Russians in Manchuria. When the war broke out, China declared neutrality and asked both sides to not violate her territory, which both did without a care in the world. The Chinese did help the Japanese, especially the Honghuzi. Now the 1st Sino-Japanese War had left quite a foul taste in the mouth of the Chinese, but during the Russo-Japanese War some Pan-Asianim did develop. The Chinese public gradually began supporting the Japanese, there were quite a lot of youth in China demanding the Qing government allow them to enlist and help fight off the Russians. Countless Chinese helped with labor, working in a vast spy network and sold both sides provisions. When the Russians lost the battle of Tsushima and Mukden, there were many influential and future influential figures that celebrated this. Notably Mahatma Gandhi, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, Jawaharlal Nehru and Sun Yat-Sen were deeply influenced by the Japanese victory. Why were they so influenced, because it was the first time a non-white nation had defeated a white one, and not just that, one of the great powers. The Russian Empire was in the public's mind, defeated handily by a small asiatic nation, it was a david and goliath story come true. Ironically, the Yellow Peril which Kaiser Wilhelm had utilized to usher in the war was turned up to 100 when the Japanese won.Now all that is fine and dandy, but there was another dramatic effect this war would hold over Japan and China. We technically have not spoken about “the end” of the Russo-Japanese War, there is actually another battle and the peace negotiations to discuss. It is here things will occur that will actually lay the groundwork for WW2. So now we are heading back into the story. The Japanese had won at Mukden and now at Tsushima, so that was that, they had won the war right? The Russians had taken up a new defensive position in northern Manchuria and were still being reinforced, 2 corps were enroute. In the war of attrition, the Russians would eventually win, despite having no naval ability, they would simply overwhelm the Japanese with numbers. Both nations faced bankruptcy, but the Russians were able to take larger loans from France and Germany, thus the situation was from a financial point of view more perilous for Japan. 53% of Japan's annual revenue had been devoted to the war effort. For Russia, the humiliation and financial ruin was accompanied by a full blown revolution. Thus both nations really needed the war to end and fast. Now comes in my favorite US president, Theodore Roosevelt. Roosevelt was one of the few at the offset of the war to place his bet on a Japanese victory. He also attempted to resolve the disputes between the two empires before the war broke out, often citing the Kaiser's Yellow Peril propaganda as being a main culprit to the hostilities. Roosevelt wrote to the British diplomat, Cecil Spring Rice that he believed Wilhelm should bear partial responsibility for the war "as he has done all he could to bring it about". Roosevelt is a fascinating figure. He was of course a product of his time, a 19th century man, he had views of white superiority, but demonstrated a certain tolerance towards nonwhites. This extended itself a lot towards the Japanese, there was a lot about the Japanese he admired. After the battle of Tsushima Roosevelt wrote “even the battle of Trafalgar could not match this. I grew so excited that I myself became almost like a Japanese, and I could not attend to official duties.” Roosevelt famously practiced judo with Japanese opponents and avidly read Nitobe Inazo's “Bushido”. Roosevelt was sent many books from his friend at Harvard, Kaneko Kentaro and wrote in appreciation “Perhaps I was most impressed by this little volume on Bushido. …It seems to me, my dear Baron, that Japan has much to teach to the nations of the Occident, just as she has something to learn from them. I have long felt that Japan's entrance into the circle of the great civilized powers was of good omen for all of the world.Certainly I myself, hope that I have learned not a little from what I have read of the fine Samurai spirit, and from the way in which that spirit has been and is being transformed to meet the needs of modern life.” In some ways perhaps you could call Roosevelt a Japanophile, but I would stress, like any white elites of the 19th century, he still had ingrained in him a sense that whites, notably white anglo saxons were the most civilized in the world.  It should come to no surprise, Roosevelt who publicly spoke well of the Japanese during the war, found the Japanese coming to him to help mediate the peace. Now as much as Roosevelt had openly favored the Japanese during the conflict, now there was a looming issue on the American president's mind. The Japanese were aggressively expanding in Asia and the Pacific, this was not something Roosevelt liked very much. After the fall of Port Arthur, Roosevelt wrote “if Japan tries to gain from her victory in the Russo-Japanese War more than she ought to have, she will array against her all the great powers, and however determined she may be she cannot successfully face an allied world”. Roosevelt was greatly troubled by the potential threat Japan posed against America's own increasing strength and influence in the asia-pacific. He would dispatch one General Arthur MacArthur, for you Pacific War week by week podcast listeners, yes I managed to bring MacArthur into this one. Arthur MacArthur was sent on a tour of the far east in 1905 and he was of course accompanied by his wife and a young Lt Douglas MacArthur who would go on to write ‘The purpose of our observations was to measure the strength of the Japanese Army and its method of warfare … But I had the uneasy feeling that the haughty, feudalistic samurai who were their leaders, were, through their victories, planting the seed of eventual Japanese conquest of the Orient.' No worries I am not going to turn this into a MacArthur rant. Roosevelt's agreed to act as a mediator before the battle of Tsushima. After the Tsushima victory, the Japanese expected they would receive large benefits from peace talks. They had good reason to believe so, Russia had lost on the land and sea, revolution was burning within the empire. Anarchists attacked the Tsar's uncle and brother in law, Grand Duke Serge Alexandroitich, the governor general of Moscow. Riots and anti-war demonstrations were widespread, violence was found in major Russian cities. From the Russian point of view, the Japanese had committed all her available manpower in the field, thus only mediation could save Japan from incoming disaster. In many ways it was a kind of race, who would run out of men first? Japan because she literally had a much smaller population, or would the Russian people simply overthrow the Tsar regime? Both regimes also were verging bankruptcy, whose dollar would run out first? Russia had not lost any of “her” territory, something Roosevelt was quick to point out to the Japanese. Thus Roosevelt was sort of winking at the Japanese that they should secure Russian territory so they had more bargaining power at the peace table, so the Japanese went to work. Japan and Russian had signed a treaty in 1875, the Treaty of Saint Petersburg that saw Japan ceding part of Sakhalin island to Russia in exchange for the Kuril islands. Now by the time of the Russo-Japanese war the population of Sakhalin was roughly 30,000 including 4000 Ainu. The island held a large prison and was used as a place for those Russia sought to exile. Overall it was not a very significant territory to the Russians. Its climate as you can imagine, was quite harsh, even by Russian standards. The Russians had a garrison of 7280 men on the island, the majority were conscripted farmers, hunters and prisoners with little in terms of training or equipment. They were led by General Mikhail Nikolaevich Lyapunov, who had been appointed military governor of Sakhalin in 1898. He had joined the military academy at the age of 16, but quickly found a talent in law, so he became a lawyer, while continuing his military career on the side. Thus the man was not particularly experienced in terms of war.  After the battle of Tsushima, the Japanese quickly wrangled together a force of 14,000 men for the brand new 13th IJA division led by General Haraguchi Kensai. Admiral Kataoka Shichiro assembled a naval force at Aomori Bay of 8 armored cruisers, 9 destroyers, 4 coastal defense ships and 12 torpedo boats to transport the division for an invasion of Sakhalin. The naval force departed on July 5th and landed in Aniwa Bay and near the port of Korsakov. They faced little opposition, a second group landed closer to Korsakov where they destroyed a battery of field artillery and defeated a small Russian force. The Japanese quickly advanced against Korsakov the next day, but the garrison of 2000 Russians led by Colonel Josef Arciszweski there had burned it to the ground. On July 8th the IJN force cleared Chitose Bay and on the 10th occupied Kindo Cape. Meanwhile the 13th division advanced north, taking the village of Vladimirovka. Colonel Arciszweski had dug to resist the Japanese, but his force was quickly outflanked and they withdrew into mountains within the interior of the island. By July 16th, Arciszweski surrendered his forces. Around 200 Russians were captured, the Japanese had suffered 18 deaths and 58 wounded. On the 17th 1905 General Lyapunov, through a representative, sent a message to General Kensai "Your Excellency! The lack of medicines and dressings and, as a result, the lack of the possibility of rendering assistance to the wounded, forced me to propose to Your Excellency to cease hostilities for purely humane reasons." General Haraguchi responded by demanding that General Lyapunov surrender all weapons and all movable and immovable state property that were intact, as well as the surrender of all maps, documents, papers related to the military department and administration. On the 19th General Lyapunov at his headquarters in the village of Onor gave the order: "The lack of food and firearms, as well as entrenching tools, the lack of sanitary facilities, the enormous numerical superiority of the Japanese army and the absence of a prepared path of retreat put us in such a situation when which further resistance would be useless bloodshed. In view of this, having received an offer from the commander of the Japanese army, which landed on the island, to surrender, I convened a military council, at which, to discuss the general situation...". On the 24th the Japanese landed in northern Sakhalin near Alexandrovsk-Sakhalinsky. The Russians had 5000 troops under the direct control of General Lyapunov. Lyapunov chose to flee the city with his forces and later surrendered seeing the Japanese capture 3200 men, 79 officers and General Lyapunov. He was the only Russian governor to surrender during the war. The Japanese would also capture another 1260 soldiers around Onor with a large stockpile of weapons, ammunition and food. After all was said and done, the battle for Sakhalin saw the Russians suffer 181 deaths, thousands taken prisoner. With that done with, the Japanese now had officially seized Russian territory. Alongside this the Japanese re-signed the Anglo-Japanese alliance for another 10 years and entered talks with the US regarding their positions over Korea and the Philippines. The Taft-Katsura agreement between William Howard Taft and Count Katsura Taro saw the US agree Japan should seek a protectorate over Korea, and Japan agreed the Philippines should be left under the good governance of the US. It should be noted this was all “a agreement” nothing was signed. In many ways it was a betrayal of Korea by the US, as the Americans and Koreans had signed an amity and commerce treaty in 1882, which the Koreans assumed was a mutual defense treaty. Regardless, the Japanese were securing their poker hand before heading into the negotiations. The peace negotiations were held at Portsmouth, New Hampshire. The Russian peace team was led by Sergius Witte who quickly stressed Russia had not been beaten and the war was very much still on. He also began privately complaining to all that it was his view the Japanese sought to gain as much loot from an agreement as possible. He was 100% correct in that assumption. Witte also made it clear, the Tsar's position in regards to Korea had not changed and that Russia would never pay a rouble in war indemnities. The Japanese were lead by Baron Komura, a harvard graduate. He came into the negotiations immediately demanding Korea was in the sphere of Japanese influence, that the Russians should depart Manchuria, the cession of Sakhalin, the granting of new fishing rights along the Russian coast, the spoils of war to be agreed upon and of course a fat sum of war indemnities. The teams had arrived on August 8th of 1905, and would stay at the Hotel Wentworth in New Castle. The actual negotiations took place at the General Stores Building, furnished with Mahogany furniture from the Cabinet Room of the White House. The conference was arranged so the most difficult parts would come last, namely, indemnities and Sakhalin. There were 12 sessions held between August 9th to the 30th. During the first 8 sessions, both sides reached an agreement on 8 points.  There should be an immediate ceasefire. The Russians would recognize  Japanese claims over Korea. The Russian forces would evacuate Manchuria.  Russia would cede its leases over Port Arthur and Dalien, the South Manchuria Railway and some mining concession, and Russia would retain the Chinese Eastern Railway in northern Manchuria. The next 4 points were much trickery.  On August the 15th the two vexed subjects were brought forth, Sakhalin and indemnity payments. It seemed the American public opinion over these issues had swung to the Russians. Witte, briefed by the Tsar stated there would be no payments for the return of Sakhalin and no indemnities, and stressed the Russians remained resolved to continue fighting. The Russians were very aware of Japan's financial distress and concluded that a demand for indemnity would be their most pressing concern. During the talks Roosevelt would later write ‘This (the indemnity) would never have been entertained by him, and he had calculated that the Peace Conference would break down on this point, and the struggle be continued until Japan could raise no more money.'On the issue Roosevelt intervened and advised the Japanese that if she did not abandon her claims for an indemnity, the world would come to believe the war had been fought for financial gain. Roosevelt on the 18th proposed dividing Sakhalin. Witte countered this on the 23rrd proposing Japan keep Sakhalin and drop her claims of indemnities. Komura rejected this proposal prompting Witte to warn him he was instructed to cease negotiations and resume the war. This ultimatum was met by 4 new Russian divisions arriving to Manchuria and Witte made a public display of literally showing everyone himself packing his bags preparing to leave. The Russians were convinced the Japanese could not afford to resume the war and were making a grand display to the Americans and Japanese that Russia would never agree to paying a single rouble. Komura was not in a good position and caved into the demands. The Japanese agreed in exchange for the southern half of Sakhalin they would drop their claims for indemnities. On September 5th, the treaty was signed, and ratified on the 10th of October in Japan, and the 14th for Russia. A random little side note, during the war Montenegro had declared war on Japan, but everyone kind of forgot about this and no mention of Montenegro was made in the treaty so technically Japan and Montenegro were at war until 2006 when Japan officially ended the war. Witte wrote to the New York Times about the treaty “The judgement of all observers here, whether pro-Japanese or pro-Russian, is that the victory is as astonishing a thing as ever was seen in diplomatic history. A nation hopelessly beaten in every battle of the war, one army captured and the other overwhelmingly routed, with a navy swept from the seas, dictated her own terms to the victory”. His rather bombastic claims were well warranted as the treaty signing had a profound effect on Japan. The Japanese public exploded. The over taxation for the war effort, the loss of so many sons and fathers had prompted the Japanese public to believe they were owed a lot. From the point of view of the Japanese public, the only news they received was endless victories over the lands and seas, they had no idea of the financial plight of their nation. When they heard the terms of the treaty, riots exploded. The most famous riots occurred in Hibiya Park in central Tokyo where activities and protesters assembled some 30,000 people strong. They marched upon the Imperial Palace grounds and rampaged the city for over 2 days. They especially targeted government buildings, the police, Russian property, but notably that of the US. From the publics view, Roosevelt and America had backstabbed them. Russian and American missionary churches were vandalized, martial law was erected. Over 350 buildings were damaged, 17 people were killed, 450 policemen, 48 firemen and civilians were injured. Prime Minister Katsura Taro's cabinet collapsed. While Roosevelt earned a nobel peace prize for his efforts, Japan's extremely positive view of America had dramatically soured. Its hard to picture it given the history of WW1 and WW2, but until this point America was kind of seen as a good big brother to Japan all things considered. The Japanese felt cheated of their rightful claims as victors of the war. Take this into consideration. During the 1st sino-Japanese War, Japan was denied her spoils by the triple intervention of France, Germany and Russia. During the Boxer Rebellion, the Russians used the situation to encroach into Manchuria, which Japan saw as a direct threat. Japan from her perspective won the Russo-Japanese War and now the US was stealing her spoils from her. From the Japanese perspective she deserved recognition as a great power and furthermore recognition as being racially equal. I wont delve to deeply into it, but after WW1, Japan would receive another similar and egregious wound when President Woodrow Wilson denied Japan's request to be recognized as racially equal to the other great powers. That would become the last straw, that drove Japan away from the west and towards WW2. But this is not a Japanese podcast haha, I apologize if I sometimes go in that direction its what I specialized in.  The Russo-Japanese War saw the Japanese suffer 58,000 to 86,000 deaths, for the Russians it was between 43,000 and 120,000. Of the casualties, the Japanese had lost perhaps 59,000 from combat, 27,000 from disease. For the Russians 34-53,000 died from combat and 9-19,000 from disease with another 75,000 captured. And let us not forget the Chinese who would see 20,000 civilian deaths and a financial loss of over 69 million taels. While the Japanese treated the tens of thousands of Russian prisoners extremely well considering what POW treatment would look like during WW1 and WW2, the treatment of Chinese was abysmal. The war between Russia and Japan occurred on Chinese soil, but China was powerless to prevent it and suffered human and financial loss. This added to the Chinese public's sense of humiliation. Alongside this, the treaty of Portsmouth basically started an annexation process of Korea to Japan, but it also handed a ton of privileges and extraterritorial rule over to Japan. Now Japan had her feet firmly set in Manchuria, weakening Qing rule. If you were part of the elites in the Qing dynasty and your responsibility was to improve the empire, it seems investigating how Japan beat Russia should be on top of your list of “to do's”.  Indeed, as we spoke a lot about during the 1st sino japanese war, Japan and China took different paths to modernization in the face of western imperialism. Japan did not defeat Russia solely because of the modernization of her army, Japan had thoroughly organized and prepared her populace for modern politics, military, economic, social and culture….while China struggled behind. China needed to emulate certain aspects, like Japan had to strengthen herself. When Japan and Russia signed the treaty of Portsmouth they were exchanging benefits and many of these were not theirs to take or give, but rather Chinas! Imagine you were a subject of the Qing dynasty living in Manchuria where your home may have been destroyed, perhaps you lost loved ones to the conflict, what did your government do? Nothing. It was a watershed moment for the common people of China, their government did absolutely nothing in the face of all of it. The intellectual class of China was enraged and invigorated by it all. There was this tremendous sense they as a people needed to improve in terms of politics, military, societal, economic, education and culture, China needed to actually modernize. The Qing dynasty was being seen by many as decrepit, too old and stuck in its ways.   In the historical context China was entering the “late Qing reforms” or “new policies” period. This actually began in 1901, but I believed it was very important to get the Russo-Japanese War story into the mix before I dabbled into this very complex part of modern Chinese history. The Qing dynasty is soon coming to its end. Stating all of that I thought it would be a cool time to do a bit of housekeeping. You Mr or Mrs listener, I'd love to hear from you. As you likely know I write and narrate the two podcast Pacific War week by week and the Fall and Rise of China Podcast's for Kings and Generals. However, I also happen to be a Youtuber, and Podcaster on the side. I have the Pacific War Channel where you can find content about the history of Asia from the 1830's until the end of the Pacific war in 1945, in many ways its like this podcast. I also awkwardly have a podcast platform called “the pacific war channel”, and as you can imagine its a bit directionless since …well lets be honest its redundant given these two podcasts I do. I have been trying to think about how to change that podcast around and I would love to hear from you guys. Best way to give feedback, toss comments on my Youtube channel, or join my Pacific War Channel discord, found on my Youtube channel page. I have a few idea's myself, perhaps doing a more general history focused podcast where I tell stories just like the Fall and Rise of China Podcast, but my god in much short series haha, let's say in 3 parters and such. Or I could do an entire other podcast series on The Rise and Fall of Japan, see what I did there with the titles? Yeah that ones been in the back on my mind for awhile. I could also take on a co-pilot for the podcasts so its not only single narration, similar to Tom Holland's “the rest is history”. There's a ton of directions I can go in, but one thing is for sure, the “Pacific War Channel Podcast” needs a new direction, probably a new name as well.  Also and I know its annoying, but a big thank you to all of you who check out the Pacific War channel on Youtube and my Patreon where I make monthly patreon exclusive podcasts. I would love to go full time one day, but alas the Youtube game is a hard one. If you get the chance please check out my Youtube channel, I am now as we speak unleashing a multiple part series on the Japanese invasion of Manchuria 1931-1932, something barely anyone covers. Most historians give it about a few paragraphs, but it was quite a complicated event. I am trying to tackle the 15 year war between Japan and China from 1931-1945 in a chronological order, event by event and such. Stating all of that I love all you guys, and here comes the same outro I do every single time haha. I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me. One Empire has Risen like a bright Sun as another, tumbles down like a large bear. Asia henceforth will completely change, now the Japanese dominate the landscape. Yet what of China? How will the common Chinese take to this latest round of humiliation? The Qing dynasty is hanging by a thread and that thread is about to be cut. 

In this topical episode, commissioned by Early's Raiders Colonel Lee Beaumont, James discusses the Boxer Rebellion, focusing on American involvement in the conflict, especially the role of US Marines. If you would like to commission an episode on a topic of your choosing, you can do so by joining Early's Raiders at the Major level or higher. For more information, go to Patreon.com and search for Key Battles of American History.

In the Boxer Rebellion of 1900, a Chinese secret organization called the Society of the Righteous and Harmonious Fists led an uprising in northern China against the spread of Western and Japanese influence there. The rebels, referred to by Westerners as Boxers because they performed physical exercises they believed would make them able to withstand bullets, killed foreigners and Chinese Christians and destroyed foreign property. From June to August, the Boxers besieged the foreign district of China's capital city Beijing (then called Peking) until an international force that included American troops subdued the uprising. By the terms of the Boxer Protocol, which officially ended the rebellion in 1901, China agreed to pay more than $330 million in reparations. Check out our sister podcast the Mystery of Everything Coffee Collab With The Lore Lodge COFFEE Travel to Peru with me here Travel to Italy With Me here Bonus episodes as well as ad-free episodes on Patreon. Find us on Instagram. Join us on Discord. Submit your relatives on our website Podcast Youtube Channel Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Last time we spoke about Admiral Togo's struggle to destroy or firmly blockade the Russian fleet at Port Arthur and the bloody battle along the Yalu river. Togo had a tough time getting the Russians to come out to play with him. Ultimately Admiral Makarov had been a gleaming hope for the Russian navy, but his death spelt utter doom to them as well. Now that the Russian navy was effectively bottled up in Port Arthur and unwilling to come out again, the land campaigns of the war could begin. As the 2nd IJA were landing along the Liaodong Peninsula the 1st IJA of General Kuroki were going to have their first great battle of the war, at the Yalu river. Kuropatkin did not want to defend so south near Korea, but Alexeiev forced the issue and thus the Russians made a doomed defense at Yalu. Utterly defeated the Russians now had to flee north.    #76 The Russo-Japanese War part 3: the battle of Nanshan   Welcome to the Fall and Rise of China Podcast, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about the history of Asia? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on history of asia and much more  so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel where I cover the history of China and Japan from the 19th century until the end of the Pacific War. The Russians collapsed at Yalu and now were fleeing northwards towards Liaoyang. It was shocking. An oriental army had beaten a european one. The Japanese confidence exploded and the Russian morale imploded. As the Russians fled they chose not to set up intermediate defensive positions in the mountains overlooking the road to Fenghuangcheng nor the Great Wall due south of the town. Instead they bypassed it all to head for Liaoyang as quickly as possible. Thus the strategically important town of Fenghuangcheng was wide open to the Japanese who would bypass it as well and kept a even pace also heading for Liaoyang. The reason for this was simple, the 1st IJA's job was to cut off the retreating Russian force from Port Arthur as their comrades in the 2nd IJA landed on the Liaodong peninsula to hit port arthur. The victory at Yalu had removed any threats upon Korea. Russia had demonstrated her inability to go on the offensive both at sea and on the land. Desperate times called for desperate measures. With the Russian pacific fleet stuck in Port Arthur, attempts began to be made for their rescue. The first idea put forward was to release the Russian Black Sea fleet, but this was problematic. Russia had recently fought a war with the Ottomans in 1877. They approached the Sultan about the issue as treaties had been made to keep the Russian fleet north of the Dardanelles forts. 12 warships would have to depart the Black Sea, and take a trip via the Suez Canal to get over to the Indian and then Pacific Oceans. It would take at least 63 days and over 65,000 tons of coal. It was an incredible gamble. If the fleet made it to the Pacific too late they may find Port Arthur captured and Vladivostok blockaded spelling catastrophe. Despite the naval losses and the loss at Yalu, Russia was still strong and could manage a defensive campaign. It was hoped if the Japanese extended further into the Kwantung peninsula and Liaoyang the Russians could recoil a bit, grab their immense reserves and launch counter attacks. But such maneuvers would require Russia to abandon Manchuria and then launch large scale counter offensives, something they were unwilling to do. On the other side, the fact the Russian fleet was not destroyed within Port Arthur was a thorn in their side. Rumors spread that the Baltic fleet would come over. Together the two fleets could overwhelm the Japanese. The Japanese had to seize Port Arthur strategically, and emotionally it was of the utmost importance to take revenge for the slighting she received during the Triple Intervention. On May 5th the 2nd IJA began to unload near Pitzuwo which lies between the Tasha and Lilan rivers. The Japanese newspress began to write of the landing and how the Japanese would next strike Nanshan. The Russians reading all the news trying to figure out the Japanese strategy began to believe they would strike anywhere but Nanshan. Meanwhile Admiral Alexeiev was ordered by the Tsar to take a train from Port Arthur for Mukden. This left General Stoessel in command of the Kwantung Peninsula, General Smirnov in command of Port Arthur's fortress and Admiral Witgeft to lead the trapped naval forces. On May 6th Alexeiev gave firm advice to Witgeft that performing attacks upon the Japanese transports currently unloading freely upon the Liaodong peninsula just some 60 miles east of him, would be “desirable”. He did not give him a direct order to do so however, so Witgeft got his war council together to discuss the matter. No senior naval officer was willing to take initiative on their name. As you can imagine it was a case where no one wanted to give the order fearing repercussions, including Alexeiev. Thus Witgeft calculated the safest decision was to do nothing and await the baltic fleet. The naval officers watched as most of their high caliber guns were removed from the ships and added to the land defenses of port arthur.  General Oku's 2nd IJA consisted of the 1st, 3rd and 4th division. Their first order of business was to seize Dalny so it could be used a landing and base of operations. To get to Dalny they would have to pass over Nanshan. It was a risky endeavor as the Russians could potentially received reinforcements from the north, thus Oku began his campaign by requesting reinforcements in the form of the 5th division and 1st cavalry brigade, though he would start his campaign before they could arrive. Oku ordered the 3rd and 4th divisions to block the potential threat from the north while the 1st division advanced southwards to Chinchou. Oku's intelligence indicated the 2nd brigade of the 4th siberian rifle division led by major General Nadyein had recently been reinforce to roughly divisional strength from Port Arthur. At around 12:30pm Oku's 1st division and the Nadyeins force ran into another and after losing 150 men Nadyein pulled back to Nanshan. Oku's small victory here managed to sever rail communications of the Kwantung peninsula from the north. For those of you without a map on hand, the Liaodong peninsula and Kwantung peninsula are connected by an isthmus around 4000 yards wide. On both sides are muddy foreshore which at lower tides adds another 4000 yards of width. To the east is Dalien, to the west Chinchou bay. Southwest some 35 miles is Port Arthur with various large hill controlling its land approach. The most forward of these is Nanshan, a feature to the sea with large guns, that had to be overcome to get to Port Arthur. The position overlooked 4 miles to the east where there was the 2200 foot tall Mount Sampson and to the southwest was Nankuangling. The defense of Nanshan fell technically upon the commander of the 4th East Siberian rifle division, Lt General Fok, but in reality it would really fall upon Colonel Tretyakov of the 5th east siberian rifle regiement. General Fok was what was commonly referred to as a “police general”, a general produced during peace times. Like so many of these type of men, he rose through the ranks as a military trainer, as an administrator or just brushing the right shoulders. He was extremely suscepitable of other commanders ideas and this would really mess things up. Kuropatkin wanted to avoid another Yalu debacle so he cautioned Fok against against fighting the enemy too long at the cost of a proper withdrawal. Kuropatkin did not mean to imply Fok should withdraw at all, just that he must not allow his forces to be obliterated. Now General Stoessel also advised Fok. He told him to hold at Nanshin and go on the offensive as soon as the Japanese approached. These two contradicting pieces of advice would greatly confuse the battle for Nanshan.  Two miles behind Nanshan was a small town called Maoyitui where the 13th east siberian rifle regiment and another two miles behind them was the 15th east siberian rifle regiment. South east of them was the village of Lower Nankuanling where the 14th east siberian rifle regiment were stationed. Upon the narrow point of Dalienwan was a battery of heavy guns looking over Hand Bay where the gunship Bobr was also patrolling. Bobr was sealed in by minefields hoping to lure in some IJN warships. Colonel Tretyakov had 8 companies in his front line, one and half companies in local reserve, two companies of the 13th east siberian rifle regiment in general reserve and some scout forces of the 13th and 14th east siberian rifle regiment. In all he had roughly 2700 riflemen. North of him lay 3 IJA divisions of the 2nd IJA, the 3rd IJA division was just released from her holding position as the 5th IJA division just arrived to the scene.  On the 19th of May, the 10th IJA division landed at Takushan completely unmolested. The landing was done to confuse the Russians and offer flank protection. The 4th IJA division advanced from the direction of CHinchou taking the right flank, the 1st took the middle and the 3rd the left flank. The 2nd IJA had a total strength of around 38,500, 31,000 or so were riflement. The Russians had a potential 17,000 men to toss at the incoming Japanese but ultimately only 3000 would participate in the battle for Nanshan. Colonel Tretyakov had personally aided in the fortification of Nanshan during the Boxer Rebellion and war in Manchuria. At its height Nanshan was equipped to be garrisoned by two battalions and 90 guns, but its maintenance had really fallen apart. When the war broke out with Japan the Russians sought to repair and refortify Nanshan and hired 5000 Chinese coolies for the work, amongst them in disguise was Colonel Doi of the IJA. The eastern face of Nanshan held minefields and barbed wire fences over which Russians held excellent fields of fire. The western side was also defended by barbed wire fences laid across ravines, but the Russians found it unlikely the Japanese would advance from there. A continuous line of shelter trenches ran around the top of the hills providing a depth of four lines of alternative trenches. The Russians had learnt their lesson at Yalu and now dug their artillery in and connected them to telephone. Despite the excellent state of its defenses, Tretyakov was not fully happy. He recognized his western flank was a bit weak and his prospects for counter attacks or a withdrawal were unfavourable. What Tretyakov wanted and pleaded for was to release more men so he could close up his southern face and add more options to the battle, but General Fok rejected this and said to him “less heroism is required to defend this position than to retreat from it”. The 2nd IJA had 198 field and mountain artillery at their disposal, ut none of the enormous 4.72 inch howitzers at this time. The Russians had 48 quick firing field guns out of a total of 114 artillery pieces of various calibers between 3.4 to 6 inches. The Russians would enjoy the advantage of cover but only had around 150 shells per gun. This time it would be the Japanese obliged to expose their artillery when firing. Oku chose the 24th of May to begin the attack. A signal was sent to the IJN who dispatched the Akagi, Chokai, Heiyen Tsukushi to bombard the Russian positions over the next 2 days. The main assault would kick off on the 25th after naval and land artillery and softened up the Russian positions and the 4th IJA division had seized Chinchou, garrisoned by no more than 400 men. Terrible weather prevented the IJN forces from performing their naval bombardment on time, thus Oku postponed the main attack until the 26th.  Up on his HQ lookout, Tretyakov watched as the torrential rain tore at the mud, uncovering countless mines. There was no time to rebury them, the rain would continue to pour until the night of the 25th. Meanwhile the 4th IJA division was trying to break through the north gate of Chinchou and failing at the task. Because of the holdup, the 1st IJA division lent two battalions who hit Chnchou's eastern gate and at 5:20am sapper blew in the gate as the Japanese stormed the city. The Russian defenders fled through the south gate, only to be cut down by the 4th IJA divisions fire. Around half a company would manage to survive and reach Nanshan's trenches. The main attack finally kicked off at 4:30am with a 3 hour artillery duel. The Japanese focused their artillery upon the exposed minefield. The IJN flotilla arrived to Chinchou bay at 6am and began adding their cannons. The gunfire was so thunderous, the 3rd IJA landing at Pitzuwo could hear it. The 4th IJA division advanced from Chinchou along the beach. The Russians took notice to the threat to their left flank and began withdrawing two batteries from hills on Nanshan to the southwest to better hit the 4th division. The IJN flotilla saw this and mistakenly believed a retreat was in progress so they moved further south intending to bombard the Russians fleeing. This left the 4th IJA division without proper artillery support and they were torn to pieces by the batteries that had been moved. Signals were frantically tossed at the IJN who moved back to their original position by 10am and resumed their bombardment. The warships would remain there until 2pm, when the tide changes forced them to pull out. The Japanese had a terrible time advancing three divisions in a narrow front. Military advice of the day would have been something along the lines as “Algerian Tactics”, a colloquial term for the type of frontal attacks the French had made during their campaign in north africa. It was basically like a Prussian advancing phalanx, but these types of tactics had become useless with the advent of trench warfare. Oku preferred a three pronged simultaneous advance. By midday, the Japanese believed the Russians were shell shocked by the artillery and IJN fire, so two battalions were sent forward to seize the first row of trenches. A correspondent for the time had this to say “At first the straggling walls of Mauchiaying give them some cover, under which they have a moment's breathing space. Then the gallant little infantry press on again up the breast of the slopes of the Russian position. It is an almost impossible task. As yet the defenders are not sufficiently shaken. An avalanche of concentrated fire from the infantry in the trenches, the machine guns in the Russian works, and the quick firing field artillery supporting the defences strike the Japanese to the full. They melt away from the glacis like solder before the flame of a blow pipe. A few who seem to have charmed lives struggle on till they reach the wire entanglements. It is a vain, if heroic, effort. Wasted within fifteen minutes, these two battalions cease to exist except as a trail of mutilated bodies at the foot of the Russian glacis.” The 1st IJA division was now halted 300 yards from the Russian trenches. Two out of the three battalions in the reserve were moved forward. The 3rd division was under enfiladed fire coming out of the southern shore. The 3rd division received the last reserve battalion to keep up their advance. The Japanese tossed over 9 charges at Nanshan throughout the day, but by 6pm the battle had reached a stalemate. Both sides had exhausted the majority of their artillery munitions. Tretyakov tossed his local reserve to his right flank and had held off the 3 Japanese divisions quite well. To his rear, General Fok held the reserve 13th, 14th and 15th east siberian regiments. Tretyakov had requested two companies, and although Fok promised to hand them over they had not come. Fok refused to hand over the forces because he was convinced the Japanese were going to land behind Tretyakov. Tretyakov's right and center were holding well, but the constant shelling was taking a toll upon his left flank. The 5th and 9th companies were down to half their numbers under the intense artillery fire and the 4th IJA division was beginning to drive them out along the coastal area. The 4th division had waded through deep water and mud under fire against the Russians. Tretyakov had asked for his expected two companies from Fok to reinforce the left flank, but only arrived at the last minute and were useless. A dispatch from Reuters said of the collapse of the left flank “when the Russians finally retreated, the water was literally crimson”. Upon breaking the left flank, the Japanese turned inland to pursue them as they fled through ravines. General Fok was at his forward flank and saw this and immediately ordered his companies to withdraw, but he failed to pass this knowledge over to Tretyakov who was trying to salvage the situation. As the Japanese advanced up the feature, their comrades in the other flank and center surged forward causing an onslaught. The Russians were tossed into confusing seeing some of their forces in the failed flank withdraw. Some began to withdraw to the next line of trenches without orders, some stood their ground. Tretyakov toured the front to assess the situation and saw a munition dump at the railway station of Tafangshen suddenly explode killing nearly 20 men. He was enraged to find out Fok ordered the dump destroyed fearing it would fall to the Japanese. He also found out for the first time, forces he had requested from Fok, around 3 regiments who were to man defenses in the south had never been committed. He had planned to use such a force in the south to swing a counter attack against the Japanese.  Panic was overcoming the defenders, men began to rout, many fleeing south. Many Japanese began to bivouac on captured hills. Tretyakov attempted to restore order and managed to pull his forces together to make a more orderly withdrawal. His men had fought very well, losing 450 during the proper combat, but when the routing began he had lost 650, he was enraged and threw scorn at Fok. At 7:20pm the rising sun flag was raised over the heights of Nanshan, by 8pm the Japanese were eating their dinner upon their prize. The Japanese had 739 deaths and 5459 wounded. Amongst the dead was the 26 year old Katsusuke, the eldest son of General Nogi, a veteran of the battle for Port Arthur in 1894. He died of his wounds on May 30th of 1904. When Nogi received news of this he was about to travel over to take command of the 3rd IJA. He said this “There is to be no funeral ceremony, no mourning until the end of this war. When my surviving son and myself will be among the mourners or the mourned.'  The Japanese counted their munitions, they had expended 174 rounds per gun. Thus they had expended more rounds in a single battle than what was used during the entire Sino-Japanese war. At Nanshan 34,000 shells had been tossed alongside 2.2 million rounds of small arm munitions. Such news shocked Tokyo, but it was lessons the world would soon face in 1914. To give you an idea, at the third battle of Ypres in 1917, the British would expend 4,283,550 shells within two weeks. Basically war had evolved. The Japanese had to wait for their munition columns to reach them, which would occur by May 27th and then they resume their advance to Nankuanling junction and Dalienwan.  Dalny lying 8 miles away from the Nankuanling junction remained a well fortified position that could serve perhaps superior to that of Nanshan. Tretyakov's men withdrawal was in the direction of Dalny as they abandoned 82 pieces of artillery and 10 machine guns in the process. They expected to take a rest and eat at Dalny, but General Fok ordered the entire echelon to make for Port Arthur with haste. The residents of Dalny found out Nanshan had fallen when the soldiers arrived, panic broke. Over 600 Russian civilian began to flee southwards as Dalny's facilities were destroyed. General Stoessel made an official report that it had always been his intent to abandon Nanshan and dismissed the rumors of so much abandoned equipment as “old pieces of Chinese equipment from 1900”. When Tretyakov's men arrived to Port Arthur on May 30th, Stoessel shouted at them “You are a wretched undisciplined corps of traitors, cowards and blackguards. I will try the lot of you by court martial. How did you dare leave Chinchou? Don't dare to show yourself in Port Arthur, lest by your presence you infect the whole garrison with your cowardice.' Stoessel than with reluctance handed out the Cross of St George to the wounded because it was the Tsar's orders to do so. Tretyakov would later write in his memoirs ‘These were the sole recipients of rewards for the Nanshan battle, those slightly wounded receiving nothing for their bravery.' It should be noted there were three unwounded men who received the Cross of St George for their bravery and one was General Fok. On May 3th, the 3rd IJA division entered Dalny uncontested, finding the town had been ransacked heavily by local Chinese. Much of the food provisions had been dispersed, but the dockyards, 290 railway wagons, workshops were all fully intact. The great port of Dalny was now in the 2nd IJA's hands. The Japanese 1st and 11th division advanced through the 2nd IJA enroute to the 3rd IJA of General Nogi. Nogi was given the daunting task of bringing Port Arthur to her knees. Now the Russians had fallen back to a 15 mile long line of defence that ran from Shiapingtao on the east coast all the way to Anshishan on the west coast. Shiapingtao was roughly 18 miles south west of Dalny and Anshishan was around 18 miles away from Port Arthur. The first line of Russian defense was around the 800 foot high Waitoushan and 1000 foot high Prominent Peak. Prominent Peak which would later be named Sword Hill or “Kenshan” by General Nohi was vital to the security of Port Arther as it held an observation point that could see the movement of ships and overlooked Dalny. So it was one of the first major objectives required to be taken before a proper siege could be erected against the city.  On June 26th, Nogi had his men fight through the passes who easily dislodged the Russian defenders upon Waitoushan, but found Kenshan a much tougher nut to crack. A Russian naval force appeared around Shiapingtao, caused a delay to the seizure of Kenshan. The Russians launched 5 counter attacks to try and retake Waitoushan and secure Kenshan but they failed. When the cause seemed hopeless, Stoessel ordered the men to fall back 4 miles to the Green Hills to prepare the next line of defense. Meanwhile General Nogi was biding his time, awaiting reinforcements and further supplies to be brought over to Dalny. By mid July he would receive the 9th division to add to his 1st and 11th. Along with this he would get two independent reserve brigades, a naval brigade and an independent mixed artillery brigade. The 3rd IJA were soon 60,000 men strong.  On July 26th the 3rd IJA began an advance against the Russian defenses along the Green Hills. They would be formidable if it was not for their length and proximity to the railway offering the Japanese excellent outflanking options. It took three days to break the Russian lines. The Russians had fought very well suffering around 1000 casualties for the 4000 the Japanese incurred. Nogi ordered the men to advance quickly to not give the Russians a breath. The Russians pulled back to Fenghuangshan known also as the Wolf Hills. Tretyakov had this to say “I learnt that our men on Fenghuangshan had hurriedly retreated into the fortress without offering any serious resistance to the enemy. This was extremely unwelcome news, for now we should have to come into direct touch with the enemy round the fortress itself. “ General Nogi's men were only receiving the first appetizer of the horror to come. The hill filled path to Port Arthur enacted devastating casualties upon the 3rd IJA, but when they would face the real defensive lines of Port Arthur, such as the Orphan hills and 203 meter hill, the Japanese would learn what 20th century warfare truly had become.  I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me. General Nogi lost countless men and even his eldest son taking the formidable position of Nanshan. The Japanese were bleeding themselves in a new era of warfare to take back what they felt was theirs, the formidable Port Arthur. What more would it could the Japanese, and that of Nogi? 

Last time we spoke about the Red Bearded Honghuzi Bandits. Yes Manchuria and many parts of China proper have had a bandit problem going back to ancient times. The borderlands between the Russian Empire and Qing Dynasty proved to be the perfect grounds for bandits to evolve. The Honghuzi were getting larger, more organized and certain leaders amongst them would have long lasting impacts on the history of China. Such names that come to mind are Zhang Zuolin and the Dogmeat General Zhang Zongchang. Such forces were incorporated officially into the Qing military to thwart other bandit groups and eventually to harass the Russians or Japanese in conflict looming on the horizon. Everything seems to be hot in Manchuria, Russian has full on invaded her and is reluctant to drag her troops out. There are those unhappy with this circumstance and they will soon make themselves heard loud and clear.    #73 The Yellow Peril and a War in the East   Welcome to the Fall and Rise of China Podcast, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about the history of Asia? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on history of asia and much more  so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel where I cover the history of China and Japan from the 19th century until the end of the Pacific War. The Boxer Rebellion is over. The Russo-Chinese War in Manchuria is over. Order had been restored to Beijing and in Manchuria things were significantly quieted down. Now the other nations of the 8 nation alliance had their hands full dealing with the expedition against Beijing and they sort of turned a blind eye to what was a side conflict in Manchuria. But when things were settling down and 177,000 Russian forces had more or less invaded and were occupying Manchuria, well a lot of eyeballs bulged. Britain and Japan sought common cause, both had significant investments in the Asia-Pacific. For example Britain had Weihaiwei and was literally staring down at the Russians over in Port Arthur and Dalien. Japan had been slighted by the triple intervention by Russia, Germany and France, losing her acquisitions of Port Arthur and Dalien to the Russians. Manchuria was always seen as a buffer zone to the Japanese, she now hand a toehold in Korea and such large Russian activity in Manchuria was very threatening. Let us not forget the entire war between the Qing dynasty and Japan over Korea, to a lesser extent also had Russian as a 4th party. Russia did meddle in Korea and continuously antagonized Japan. Thus with common cause Japan and Britain formed an alliance on January 30th of 1902. In response Russia and France formed their own on March 16th of 1902. The alliances basically worked to thwart any other great powers from getting involved in a potential war between Japan and Russia.  Now Russia also agreed to the rest of the great powers that she would gradually withdraw her forces from Manchuria. It was to be rolled out in 3 periods of 6 months. The first phase saw southwest Manchuria evacuated and returned to China, but when it came to the second phase, suddenly Russia was making demands for concessions to the Qing dynasty.  Britain, Japan and the US protested the demands and this bolstered China to reject them. Now turned back the clock a bit there was another sticky situation. When chaos was erupting in Korea, King Gojong ran to the Russians for protection for over two years. This turned the nations favor towards the Russians over the Chinese and Japanese. Russia seized this opportunity to strengthen her forces in defense of her legation in Korea, and this action was met with actions taken up by Japan. Japanese and Russian officials met and this was the result verbatim: A further agreement between Russia and Japan had been signed in Tokyo on 25 April 1898. The agreement contained three understandings: The independence of Korea was assured; neither country would interfere in Korea's domestic affairs. There would be no appointment of military or civil advisers without discussion with the interested parties. Russia agreed not to hinder Japan's development of trade with Korea.  Aside from this the Russians of course wanted to seize as much as they could. A Russian-Korean bank was formed in 1897, and a timber cutting contract was given to Russian industrialists in the Yalu river area. In 1901, Tsar Nicholas II told Prince Henry of Prussia, "I do not want to seize Korea but under no circumstances can I allow Japan to become firmly established there. That will be a “casus belli." The contract only came into effect when the Manchurian railway projects were kicking off and when able bodies were around, which came about during the occupation of Manchuria. In april of 1903 Russians acquired some land and established a fort at Yongampo near the mouth of the Yalu river. America and Japan received similar concessions in the region. The Japanese began receiving reports, indicating Port Arthur was being heavily stocked with supplies and a large body of Russian troops were advancing across the Liaodong Peninsula towards Korea. Thus from the Japanese point of view it looked clear Russia was not honoring her agreements. On July 28th of 1903, the Japanese ambassador at St Petersburg was instructed to make it known to the Russians, the 7 demands they made to China was not seen as a “relaxation of her hold on Manchuria but rather a consolidation” Two days later, Russian Admiral Alexeiev was appointed Viceroy of the Far East. Alexeiev would hold supreme power to exercises diplomacy between Russian East Asia and her neighbors as well as command the Russian military and naval forces in the east. From the Japanese point of view, a permanent Russian occupation of Manchuria would be prejudicial over her own security and interests. It would also threaten Korea, which was her sphere of interest, one she was not looking to share. Russia agreed to consider drawing up a new treaty. On August 12th of 1903 a draft was presented at St Petersburg, but in the meantime Russia was strengthening her position in the far east. This tense situation kept going, until January 13th of 1904 when Japan offered to recognize Manchuria as being outside her sphere of interest, if Russia would agree Korea was Japan's sphere of interest. It was to be blunt a very fair deal. Japan requested an early reply to the proposal, but by February 4th of 1904 no reply was forthcoming. Two days later the Japanese ambassador, Mr. Kurino called upon the Russian foreign minister, Count Lamsdorf to take his leave. Kurino explained to Lamsdorf that the Japanese government had decided to adopt some “independent action” deeming it necessary to defend its established rights and legitimate interests. Basically Japan's patience had come to an end. The Russian ambassador to Tokyo, Baron Rosen, had continuously sent warnings to his superiors in St Petersburg that if they continued to corner Japan, she would most certainly fight them. Such sentiment was shared by War Minister General Kuroptkin who resigned in a state of exasperation some months earlier. Tsar Nicholas II did not want a war, but he was continuously assured by his advisers, Japan was not strong enough to fight them. When Mr. Kurino took his leave, the immediate signal was made to Admiral Alexeiev, who was in Tokyo at the time. The new viceroy saw with his own eyes evidence of Japanese mobilization and he advised St Petersburg accordingly. The Japanese foreign ministry confirmed their government had run out of patience. However all of this was taken to be a bluff. It has been theorized Alexeiev was simply not averse to a war with a country he certainly deemed inferior to his own. It is also theorized Tsar Nicholas II probably believed if a war would to break out it would be a short and victorious one, and perhaps such an event could distract the tide of revolution hitting his nation, the people of Russia were not happy anymore about the Romanov rule. Funny enough, all of these talks, deceptions and plans were to take shape in China. The Chinese were literally never even thought of or spoken to, and soon a war would literally occur within their borders against their will. How did this all come about? It might sound a bit funny, but a large reason the Russo-Japanese War would occur would simply be a result of, pardon my french, shit talking by one Kaiser Wilhelm II. When Kaiser Wilhelm I died on March 9th of 1888, Germany fell to Frederick III who died of throat cancer only 99 days after taking the reins. On June 15th, a 29 year old Kaiser Wilhelm II took the throne. Now for those of you who don't know, Otto von Bismarck, the man who unified Germany was during the late 19th century one of the greatest political players in the world. Bismarck had an incredible understanding of the balance of power theory and studied all the most powerful nations national interests. He brokered international deals using his knowledge to increase Germany's standing in global politics and he also in many ways designed a system of international alliances to thwart a global war….which ironically would in many ways cause ww1. If you want to know more specifically about this by the way, check out Kings and Generals alliances that caused WW1, I wrote that script and its a fascinating story. Dan Carlin famously referred to Bismarcks work as creating a giant hand grenade, that if the pin got pulled out, only Bismarck understood how to put it back in. While Bismarck was in power things were pretty good, but he was such a colossal figure, that when the young Kaiser came into power, many of his advisers suggested he was being overshadowed by Bismarck. Kaiser Wilhelm II listening to his advisers, sought to stop Bismarck from taking the quote en quote “day to day” administration. Conflicts began to arise between the two men. Wilhelm did not understand the complexities of Bismarcks international relations and saw him as far too peaceful. Wilhelm gradually fell under the influence of his military leaders to the dismay of Bismarck who thought the Kaiser would lead them swiftly into a war with a nation like Russia. In 1890 Bismarck resigned under pressure from Wilhelm II and other German leaders, and as Dan Carlin would say, now the grenade he created was set to go off. Now when the new Kaiser venturing into international relations, he was deeply influenced by a ideological concept that he would use as a tool to coerce international players to act out. The concept is known as the “yellow peril” “le Peril Jaune” as coined by Russian sociologist Jacques Novikow in the late 19th century. In essence the yellow peril was a racist ideology that held asians to be subhuman, like apes and monkeys, but also that as a racial group should they unite, they would threaten what was thought to be the superior race of the day, whites. Basically the idea was that if all the nations of asia were to unite, they could retaliate against the White nations who were at the time colonizing or forcing unequal treaties upon them. There was also a religious element to it, that Christianity was under threat from the hoards of the east.  Now back to Wilhelm II, one of his advisers was the diplomat Max von Brandt who advised him that Imperial Germany had major colonial interests in China. The Triple Intervention that Germany endorsed was justified by the Kaiser under the guise it was to thwart what he began calling “die Gelbe Gefahr / the yellow peril”. The Kaiser began a propaganda campaign using the famous allegorical lithograph “Peoples of Europe, Guard your Most Sacred Possessions” created in 1895 by Hermann Knackfuss. You can google the image. The lithograph portrays the European monarchs with Germany as the leader of Europe personified by a “prehistoric warrior-goddesses being led by the Archangel Michael against the yellow peril from the east. The east is seen as a dark cloud of smoke which rests eerily upon a calm Buddha, wreathed in flame”. The imagery is very apparent, white and christianity is under threat from asian and their eastern religions. This type of ideology goes all the way back to Ancient Greece and Persia, its the age old west vs east stuff. Today you would call this sort of talk, a race war. Now you are probably asking, ok this leader of Germany is just a racist dude, how does this cause a war between Russia and Japan? This story is rather hilarious and hard to believe, but in summary, the Kaiser used the ideology to trick his cousin into war.  For those unaware, Kaiser Wilhelm II was first cousins with King Geoerge V of Britain,  to Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, to Queens Marie of Romania, Maud of Norway, Victoria Eugene of Spain, and even the woman he would eventually marry, the Empress of Russia. Now the Germany presented to Wilhelm was involved in some alliances. I mentioned Britain and Japan had an alliance and France and Russian had an alliance. Wilhelm and his advisers sought to increase Germany's stature. Wilhelm believed that if Russia went to war with Japan, it would break up the Franco-Russian alliance and with no one else to turn to, Russia would seek an alliance with Germany. Wilhelms reasoning was that France was not supporting of Russians expansion into asia and such aggressive actions like going to war with Japan would be highly disapproved by France. The French Premier Maurice Rouvier publicly declared that the Franco-Russian alliance applied only in Europe and not Asia and that if Japan and Russia went to war, France would remain neutral. Such rhetoric seemed to prove Wilhelms beliefs. Germany meanwhile felt threatened by Britain and had embarked on what was known as the Tirpitz Plan in the late 1890s. The Tirpitz plan was Germany's plan to achieve world power status through naval power, but the world's greatest navy of course was Britain at the time. What essentially happened was Germany challenging Britain to an arms race in the form of naval warship building programs. Everything the Kaiser pursued during the late 19th century was what was called “Weltpolitik / world politics” which essentially was just Germany's imperialistic foreign policy to become a global power. Wilhelm and his advisers were playing world politics to weaken rivals and strengthen Germany plain and simple.  So Wilhelm believes he can break the French-Russian alliance and squeeze himself in Frances place if he can get the Russians to go to war with Japan who just happened to be allied to Germany's main rival, Britain. Some real game of thrones stuff here. Wilhelm also believed if Germany could pull this off, France would be compelled to join them, forming a triple alliance against Britain and Japan so they could all pursue their expansionist policies in places like Asia. There was also the belief pulling this off would pull Russia away from the Balkans which was a huge source of tension with Germany's main ally Austro-Hungary. Thats all fine and dandy, but how does Wilhelm get his cousin Tsar Nicholas to go to war with the Japanese, here comes the yellow peril.  Starting in 1895, Kaiser Wilhelm began using the Yellow Peril ideology to portray Germany as the great defender of the west against the barbarism of the east. But then all of a sudden Wilhelm began sending personal letters to his cousin Nicholas praising him as the quote “savior of the white races” and began urging him to take a more hardened approach to Asia. The letters between the two have been referred to as the “willy-nicky” letters, consisting of 75 messages sent back and forth between 1895-1914. I wont list them all of course but lets take a peak at how Wilhelm wrote to his cousin. In 1895 Wilhelm wrote this from Kaltenbronn Schwarzwald. I will paraphrase of course there's a ton of fluff. Dearest Nicky, I thank you sincerely for the excellent way in which you initiated the combined action of Europe[27] for the sake of its interests against Japan. It was high time that energetic steps were taken, and will make an excellent impression in Japan as elsewhere. It shows to evidence how necessary it is that we should hold together, and also that there is existent a base of common interests upon which all European nations may work in joint action for the welfare of all as is shown by the adherence of France to us two. May the conviction that this can be done without touching a nations honour, take root more and more firmly, then no doubt the fear of war in Europe will dissipate more and more. The kind and most valuable messages which you sent me through Osten Sacken[28] by Count Eulenburgs transmission in Vienna have given me a signal proof of your loyalty and openness towards me. I shall certainly do all in my power to keep Europe quiet and also guard the rear or Russia so that nobody shall hamper your action towards the Far East! For that is clearly the great task of the future for Russia to cultivate the Asian Continent and to defend Europe from the inroads of the Great Yellow race. In this you will always find me on your side ready to help you as best I can. You have well understood that call of Providence and have quickly grasped the moment; it is of immense political and historical value and much good will come of it. I shall with interest await the further development of our action and hope that, just as I will gladly help you to settle the question of eventual annexations[29] of portions of territory for Russia, you will kindly see that Germany may also be able to acquire a Port somewhere were it does not "gêne" you. You can see how Wilhelm is egging on his cousin about how Germany will have his back if he were to be bolder in Asia. Also the cute end bit about Germany acquiring some ports.  In 1898 for a New Years letter Wilhelm sent this Dearest Niky May this New Year be a happy one for you dear Allx and the whole of your house and country. May the plans, which you mature be fullfilled for the wellfare of your people. Henry's mission^ is one of the steps I have taken for the help and countenance of your lofty Ideals—without which no sovereign can exist—in promoting civilisation I. e. Christianity in [41] the Far East! Will you kindly accept a drawing I have sketched for you, showing the Symbolising figures of Russia and Germany as sentinels at the Yellow Sea for the proclaiming of the Gospel of Truth and Light in the East. I drew the sketch in the Xmas week under the blaze of the lights of theXmas trees!  Here Wilhelm is pressing upon the religious aspect and is basically flattering Nicholas. Again in 1898 Wilhelm wrote Dearest Nicky I must congratulate you most heartily at the successful issue of your action at Port Arthur ; we two will make a good pair of sentinels at the entrance of the gulf of Petchili, who will be duly respected especially by the Yellow Ones ! I think the way you managed to soothe the feelings of the "fretful Japs"by the masterly arrangement at Korea a remarkably fine piece of diplomacy and a great show of foresight; which Is apt to show what a boon it was that by your great journey,^ you were able to study the Question of the Far East locally and are now morally speaking the Master of Peking! Fretful Japs indeed In 1902 we get probably the most important letter involving the yellow peril Dear Nicky This is the more necessary as/certain symptoms in the East seems to show that Japan is becoming a rather restless customer and that the situation necessitates all coolness and decision of the Peace Powers. The news of the attachment of the Japanese General Yamai^—former leader of the Jap. troops in China—to the Legation at Peking in order to take in hand the reorganisation of the Chinese Army—i.e. for the unavowed object of driving every other foreigner out of China—is very serious. 20 to 30 Million of trained Chinese helped by half a dozen Jap. Divisions and led by fine, undaunted Christian hating Jap. Officers, is a future to be con- templated not without anxiety; and not impossible. In fact it is the coming into reality of the *'Yellow Peril" which I depicted some years ago, and for which engraving I was laughed at by the greater mass of the People for my graphic depiction of it ... Your devoted friend and cousin, Willy, Admiral of the Atlantic".  And there it is, an army of millions of Chinese led by Japanese officers, the yellow peril. So for years Wilhelm egged on his cousin, making him believe he was this savior of the white race, holding the yellow hoard back from sweeping over Europe. Wilhelm also made sure to leave ambiguous ideas that Germany had Russians back, that if war came and let's say a nation like Britain jumped into the mix, Germany would jump in too. Arguable if there was any reality behind these claims. Now back to the situation in the far east, King Gojong found his nation stuck between two tigers again, this time it was Japan and Russia. He believed the key to the issue was Manchuria and sought for Korea to remain as neutral as possible so she could hope to preserve her independence, I would saw independence with finger quotes. Meanwhile the Chinese ambassador to St Petersburg, Hu Weide was receiving reports from Beijing on whether Russia or Japan were likely to win such a war and how it would favor China. It was argued it was in China's interest for Japan to win, because a Japanese victory would likely breakdown Russians stronghold on Manchuria and perhaps China could wrestle it all back in. China decided in December of 1903 to remain neutral if war came, because while she knew Japan was the only one in the far east capable of pushing Russia out, she also did not know what Japan's ambitions might be in Manchuria.  In early 1904 negotiations continued between Russia and Japan, but like I mentioned earlier Japan gradually figured out Russia was not being serious. This was more than likely due to an infamous message sent by Wilhelm to Nicholas in December of 1903.  Since 97—Kiaochow—we have never left Russia in any doubt that we would cover her back in Europe, in case she decided to pursue a bigger policy in the Far East that might lead to military complications (with the aim of relieving our eastern border from the fearful pressure and threat of the massive Russian army!). Whereupon, Russia took Port Arthur and trusting us, took her fleet out of the Baltic, thereby making herself vulnerable to us by sea. In Danzig 01 and Reval 02, the same assurance was given again, with result that entire Russian divisions from Poland and European Russia were and are being sent to the Far East. This would not had happened if our governments had not been in agreement! Nicholas for his part was prepared to compromise with Japan, but the incessant letters from Wilhelm egging him on as a coward for thinking about compromising gradually broke the Tsar. The Kaiser wrote this: undertaking the protection and defence of the White Race, and with it, Christian civilization, against the Yellow Race. And whatever the Japs are determined to ensure the domination of the Yellow Race in East Asia, to put themselves at its head and organise and lead it into battle against the White Race. That is the kernel of the situation, and therefore there can be very little doubt about where the sympathies of all half-way intelligent Europeans should lie. England betrayed Europe's interests to America in a cowardly and shameful way over the Panama Canal question, so as to be left in 'peace' by the Yankees. Will the 'Tsar' likewise betray the interests of the White Race to the Yellow as to be 'left in peace' and not embarrass the Hague tribunal too much?. Nicholas replied he still sought peace, and Wilhelm replied in telegram “oh you innocent angel, this is the language of an innocent angel. But not that of a White Tsar!” Regardless of the Tsar's feelings, Japan was firmly under the belief Russia was not serious about seeking a peaceful solution to their dispute over Manchuria and Korea. When Japan proposed recognizing Manchuria was Russia's sphere of influence if Russia would respect their sphere of influence over Korea, the Russia counter proposal was basically, no, Russia would retain Manchuria and Korea would be open game.  Potential diplomatic resolutions between the two nations had thus failed. Historians generally argue it was the fault of Nicholas II who pushed his administration to give no ground. Why he acted this way though has two major arguments, one I have highlighted, the egging on by the Kaiser, but there was another element at play. The Russian people were frankly fed up with the royal family, the people were looking for change. To start a war and rile up patriotism could have been an attempt to quell the Russian people from revolutionary actions and in retrospect it certainly seems the case. The Tsar's advisers despite being hawkish did not seek a war with Japan, they simply wanted to bully what they thought was a weaker nation into submission. Because the reality was, Manchuria was far, the trans siberian railway was not complete, moving troops and provisions such a distance was a colossal task.  Japan performed a large scale study of the Russian power in Manchuria. The Japanese had been secretly surveying and mapping as far as east of Lake Baikal. In 1904 the Japanese had 380,000 active and reserve army forces, 200,000 in the 2nd reserve, another 50,000 in conscription reserve and 220,000 trained men of the national army, thus they could in theory toss 850,000 men into a conflict and by conscripting perhaps 4,250,000 who would all have to be trained taking time and money. Japan's effective strength was 257,000 infantry, 11,000 cavalry and 894 artillery pieces. They held 12 infantry divisions each containing 11,400 infantry, 430 cavalry and 36 guns a piece. Their troops received 12 months training, once the war started this would be cut to 6 months. Their artillery battalions held 3 batteries with both field and mountain guns ranging in caliber of 2.95 inches to 4.72 inches. Their infantry were equipped with a modern 1900 .256 inch magazine rifle that could fire 2000 yards but was effective at 300. Each soldier carried a knapsack, greatcoat and shelter tent. In their sacks were two days rations and entrenching tools. For machine guns they would receive Hotchkiss guns. The logistical system for the Japanese would be much better than the Russians. They had a series of lines of support. The soldiers carried two days rations, with echelons of transports that carried provisions behind them. Each division had its own transport battalion, including an ambulance train to deal with casualties. Chinese carts, Chinese and Korean coolies would all be paid premium prices for logistical aid. The Japanese would buy local foodstuff from the Koreans and Chinese at premium prices to earn the local populaces support over the Russians. For the Russians their army stood roughly at 4.5 million, but only 6 of the 25 European army corps would play an active role in the far east. By February of 1904 the Russians had roughly 60,000 troops, 3000 cavalry and 164 guns posted at Vladivostok, Harbin and Port Arthur. By Mid february this would be increased to 95,000; with 45,000 at Vladivostok, 8000 at Harbin, 9000 in Haicheng; 11,000 near the Yalu and 22,000 around Port Arthur. The Russian had the European 1st, 4th, 8th, 10th, 16th and 17th army corps each numbering 28,000 rifles and 112 guns. Alongside these were 7 Siberian corps. While the Russians held the advantage in numbers, the trans siberian was not complete and the route going around Lake Baikal formed a massive delay. Lake Baikal is basically the size of Switzerland, around 386 miles long. Thus the forces in Manchuria would be at the mercy of local foodstuffs for provisions, which meant they were competing with the Japanese to purchase them, while the Japanese had their own nations foodstuffs coming via sea transport, from Korea and of course within China. The Russian troops were armed with a .299 caliber rifles, but their training was lackluster and required all men to fire at short range on orders from superior officers. The upcoming war would catch the Russian gunners in the midst of a  re-equipment programme. A third of their guns were a new 3 inch quick firing gun with a range of 6000 yards, capable of battering the Japanese artillery. However the gunners training period was quite literally on the job. Thus many of the gunners were coming into the conflict with a new technology they had not even fired yet. Japan's population was then 46.5 million, Russia's 130 million. The Russian military opinion saw the Japanese “as little people who lived in paper houses…and wasted hours on flower arrangement and tea ceremonies”. However, Minister of War Kuropatkin visited Japan in 1903 and was impressed by their infantry and artillery, stating that they were equal to any European army, and advocated avoiding war with them. Russia's navy was much larger, but divided between the Baltic Sea, the Black Sea and the Pacific, whereas Japan's was concentrated in her home waters. By 1902, Russia began strengthening her Pacific squadron and, by the end of 1903, had 7 battleships, 7 cruisers, 25 destroyers and 27 smaller ships. The IJN (the Japanese Navy) consisted of 6 battleships, 10 cruisers, 40 destroyers and 40 smaller vessels. The Russian ships were a hotchpotch of differing types, armaments and speeds, with a varied amount of armor protection. The Japanese ships were nearly all British built, uniform and faster. Alcohol excess amongst Russian crews was a serious problem. Baltic crews spent the 6 months of winter ashore because the gulf of Finland froze and because of bureaucratic demand for uniformity. So did the crews of the Black Sea fleet. Thus, Russian sailors spent less time at sea and less time training. The Japanese navy under British instruction spent more time at sea, and trained intensively. Japanese sailors were literate, while most Russian sailors were not. These variables would come out to play when dealing with steam-driven warships, the most technologically advanced weapons of the day. At the outbreak of the conflict the Russian Far East fleet would have 7 battleships, 6 cruisers and 13 destroyers at Port Arthur. At Vladivostok were 4 first class cruisers, with a number of torpedo boats. At Chemulpo in Korea were the protected cruisers Varya and gunboat Koreyetz. A crucial component of the conflict would be commanding the sea ways. Both nations recognized this fact all too well. The Russian far east fleet was constrained from year the round training by being icebound in Vladivostok for 3 months of the year. Her fleet was also a ragtag bunch with different armaments, speed, armor and flexibility. Russia was dependent on foreign built ships, though she was fully capable of building her own. Russia had ships built from Britain, Germany, France and the US. The Russian navy was based on conscription at 7 years with 3 years of reserve.  The IJN combined fleet was led by Vice-Admiral Heihachiro Togo. The two divided squadrons of the Russian Pacific Fleet were commanded overall by Admiral Oskar Ludvig Stark. The Main Russian squadron was in Port Arthur and the other cruiser squadron was at Vladivostok under the command of Admiral Nikolai Skrydlov. Port Arthur offered some shore artillery battery defense, though it was underfunded due to divestments for the development of Dalny, and its dry dock capabilities were quite limited compared to that of Sasebo. The Russians were bluffing the Japanese while continuing the strengthen their position in the far east. But the Japanese would not wait for them to do so.   I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me. Kaiser Wilhelm II had egged his cousin Tsar Nicholas II into facing against the Empire of Japan. Little did the Russian Tsar know, but he was about to send his nation to their doom, for the Japanese had done their homework and were determined to rid Manchuria of the Russian menace

Undark Magazine's Rod McCullom discusses his article, "Robot Police Dogs Are on Patrol, But Who's Holding the Leash? Numerous cities have acquired dog-like robots for policing. Researchers say the lack of transparency is worrying." Another installment of 'The Past Inside the Present' from Dr. Seb Wüpper, this time on the Boxer Rebellion.