National Protection War
Also called: War against the Monarchy, Hongxian monarchy, Empire of China (1915–1916)
When Yuan Shikai moved to take the throne in December 1915, Cai E and others raised the National Protection Army in Yunnan on the 25th. As southern provinces declared independence one after another, Yuan gave up the monarchy after 83 days, and died of illness on 6 June 1916.
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Having done away with parliament, from the summer of 1915 Yuan Shikai had his followers stir up opinion that “a republic does not suit China” and gather provincial delegates to petition him to become emperor. On 12 December he accepted, declaring that the next year would be the first of the Hongxian era and the state the Empire of China.
Cai E, watched in Beijing, slipped away via Japan to Yunnan, and on 25 December declared independence with Tang Jiyao and others and raised the National Protection Army. While it advanced into Sichuan, Guizhou, Guangxi, Guangdong and Zhejiang declared independence, and Yuan’s own Beiyang generals turned against him. Japan and the other powers also opposed the monarchy.
On 22 March 1916 Yuan abandoned the throne — 83 days after the new era began on 1 January. The southern provinces demanded that he resign the presidency as well, and on 6 June he died of uraemia. Vice-president Li Yuanhong succeeded him, but real power passed to the Beiyang generals: the warlords.
