President Sun Yat-Sen
The Revive China Society
Stage 5: Civil War
The stage of civil war is the stage where most of the action to change the society takes place. In this stage, the new and the old governments usually take part in a war against each other. The new government usually wants power and change in society, while the old government does not welcome change and the revolution. In the Chinese Revolution, after many failed attempts at overthrowing and replacing the Manchu Government, the revolutionaries finally succeeded in replacing the Manchu Government after many small revolutions and uprisings, and the overthrowing of smaller provincial governments which were not militarily capable of defending themselves from the revolutionaries, which mostly ended in the leaders of the province giving up their power. The Manchu Government fought against the revolutionaries, and even though the Manchu Government defeated the revolutionaries in some of the battles they fought, in the end, the revolutionaries defeated the government. |
Stage 3: Widespread Dissatisfaction
The stage "Widespread Dissatisfaction" is the stage that comes before the revolution. The "pioneers" who believed that the existing regime was not longer capable of ruling the people would have influenced the rest of the people, and by then, most of the people under the the rule of the existing government would believe in the same idea the "pioneers" did in the beginning, and ideas of revolution would start to materialise. In the 1911 Chinese Revolution, this stage began after most of the population began to listen to and follow the small group of people who realised that the government was growing more and more incapable of governing the people. The people also began to be more aware after the government's numerous defeats by Western forces. After the Second Opium War, the country began to plunge deeper and deeper into poverty, and the people realised that because the government was unable to protect them, they had to take matters into their own hands. Many revolutionary groups had been planning to take over and reestablish the government for quite a while. Some of the earlier and more well known groups were Sun Yat-sen's XingZhongHui (興中會), which meant the "Revive China Society". The group later merged with another group the "Furen Literary Society" for more strength against the still relatively strong military forces the government had. Less notable groups were also formed around the country, in different areas and provinces. Although these groups were not united, they all had the same idea and belief, that the government had too much power to an extent that they were abusing the power, and were no longer able to function as a successful government. The first more notable uprising was in the late 1890s. The first major uprising was the First Guangzhou Uprising, where the Revive China Society rebelled against the Han government, The uprising failed, however, and many of the revolutionaries were arrested, including the leader, Lu Haodong, but the uprising sparked a fire in the people's hearts, and hope was brought to them by the first bold move the revolutionaries made. Stage 4: Transfer of Power The stage "Transfer of Power" is the stage in a political revolution in which the people supporting or leading the revolution begin to gain power and begin to execute small reforms to change the society. In the Chinese Revolution, the people began to gain their faith in the revolutionary groups, and that they were more capable of ruling and protecting the people than the government, because the revolutionaries were "one of the people". In the Chinese Revolution, important figures in the revolution, or the revolutionary leaders such as Sun Yat-Sen rose to power in the groups, and began to lead the people against the Manchu Government. |