The Warlord era 1916-1928
"This extraordinary collection of self-made men pursued selfish ends to the extreme based on force in a meritocracy of violence."
-Jonathan Fenby in 'The Penguin History of Modern China: The Fall and Rise of a Great Power, 1850-2009'
Key Points
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LinksThe Warlord Era -abstract by James Sheridan, covers interpretations
The Military Persuasion -Harvard's William Kirby covering the Warlord era and militarism in China The Last Warlord -Rana Mitter's History Today article on Zhang Xueliang Overview of the Warlord Era - from Alpha History Warlord Era from Fun Front (scroll down the page) Warlords in China - Very hard journal article |
Historiography: Four Different Interpretations of the Warlord Era
Jerome Chen
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as a time of experimentation
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William Kirby
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Franz Michael
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Jerome Ch'en Vs Stephen McKinnon
"His (Yuan Shikai's) most powerful single legacy was the creation of a large number of warlords who were neither Confucian generals ... owing their allegiance to the throne nor officers of a national army pledged to defend the country's honor and interests (Ch'en 1972:214)." |
The Beiyang Army (Yuan Shikai's power base) was less regional and private that the regional armies of the mid-nineteenth century eg: The Anti-Taiping armies. |
Historiography: Which interpretation does the quote below best support?
"The disunity and disorder they fostered provided rich opportunity for intellectual diversity and iconoclasm to flourish. Neither the central government nor the provincial warlords were capable of efficiently controlling the universities, periodicals, publishing industries and other agencies of China's intellectual life.Chinese intellectuals in those years, partly in response to the evils of warlordism, engaged in the most intense discussion of ways in which China might be modernized and strengthened. The founding of the Communist Party in 1921 and the reorganization of the Kuomintang in 1924 stemmed partly fromt his intellectual flowering" -James E Sheridan
The Warlord Era in Popular Culture:
Marlene Dietrich in Shanghai Express
Sample Questions
To what extent do you agree with the view that Yuan Shikai was the first warlord?