Duan Qirui

Duan Qurui

Duan Qirui ( Chinese  段祺瑞 , Pinyin Duàn Qíruì , W.-G. Tuan Ch'i-jui , IPA – transcription tu̯àn t͡ɕʰíɻu̯èi̯ ; * March 6, 1865 in Hefei , Anhui ; † November 2, 1936 in Shanghai ) was a Chinese general and politician who was Prime Minister of the Republic of China from 1916 to 1917, 1917 and again in 1918 . He also served as Provisional President of the Republic of China between 1924 and 1926.

Life

General, Governor and Secretary of the Army

Duan Qirei was an officer and during the Xinhai Revolution and the Wuchang Uprising in 1911 a general in the Beiyang Army commanded by Yuan Shikai . Shortly afterwards, he succeeded Borzigit Ruizheng as governor of Hubei Province . He remained in this position until Li Yuanhong became the province's military governor on October 11, 1911. After Yuan Shikai succeeded Sun Yat-sen as President of the Republic of China on March 10, 1912, Duan took over the post of Minister of the Army on March 30, 1912 and held it until he was replaced by Wang Shizhen on August 29, 1915. As such, he not only acquired high standing and influence in the military field, but also acted as the successor of Zhao Bingjun between May 1, 1913 and his replacement by Xiong Xiling on July 31, 1913 as acting Prime Minister of the Republic of China . In addition, he was Li Yuanhong's successor between December 19, 1913 and his replacement by Duan Zhigui on February 1, 1914, and acting military governor of Hubei. Shortly thereafter, from February 13 to April 3, 1914, he also held the post of military governor of Henan Province. He was later chief of staff from March 23 to April 23, 1916, before replacing Wang Shizhen on April 23, 1916 and again as Minister of the Army until May 23, 1917.

Prime Minister, World War I and warlord-era power struggles

President Li Yuanhong was Duan's opponent in the warlord era in 1916 and 1917

At the same time, Duan Qirei replaced Xu Shichang as State Secretary on April 23, 1916 and thus acted as head of government of the Beiyang government . After Yuan Shikai's death on June 6, 1916, Duan, who was nicknamed "Tiger", began to take control of the government with the support of the governors and generals. As a result, he was formally Prime Minister of the Republic of China in the so-called " Warlord " era on June 29, 1916 after the abolition of the office of State Secretary as a representative of the Progress Party . In 1917 the government began to decide whether to enter the First World War . He himself preferred to participate on the side of the Allied Powers allied with the Triple Entente , since the Japanese Empire , which was supporting him, wanted to overturn control of the Chinese armed forces during the war. Li Yuanhong, who had succeeded Yuan Shikai as president since June 7, 1916, feared such an influence of Japan like his supporters Great Britain and the USA and insisted on neutrality in order to preserve their interests in China.

President Li therefore dismissed him as Prime Minister on May 23, 1917 and replaced him with Wu Tingfang , while Zhang Shiyu became Acting Minister of the Army. Subsequently, Duan organized a "coalition of military governors" led by the governor of Anhui Province Ni Sichong , who like Duan advocated joining the war. He also asked General Zhang Xun , the commander of the troops stationed in Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province , to mediate the dispute with President Li. However, General Zhang saw the possibility of restoring the Qing Dynasty under Emperor Puyi . He marched into Beijing on July 1, 1917 , deposed President Li and restored the empire. With the support of the Anhui clique , however, Duan succeeded in retaking Beijing on July 12, 1917 and in restoring the republic.

Thereupon Duan was seen as a hero and on July 14, 1917, he was able to take office again as Prime Minister, while Li Yuanhong was again President. Three days later, on July 17, 1917, he again took over the post of Minister of the Army, while President Li was deposed and replaced by Feng Guozhang . On November 19, 1917, Wang Shizhen succeeded him as Minister of the Army and on November 22, 1917, Wang Daxie as Prime Minister. On March 23, 1918, Duan finally succeeded Qian Nengxun as Prime Minister and held this office until October 10, 1918, after which Qian Nengxun again succeeded him.

Post-war period, loss of power and Provisional President

Demonstrations in Beijing on May 4, 1919 were directed against, among others, Duan, who was considered corrupt and a collaborator of the Japanese government

Duan remained influential as a general and member of the Anhui clique, especially because of the continued support from Japan, which granted him endless credits to improve and strengthen his army. However, he was exposed to massive protests in Beijing as early as May 1919 during the May Fourth Movement . Despite these circumstances, however, he suffered a defeat in the Zhili Anhui War in 1920 against the Zhili clique under the generals Cao Kun , Sun Chuanfang and Wu Peifu .

After Feng Yuxiang arrested President Cao Kun in a coup in 1924 and had parliament dissolved, Duan took over the post of provisional president. He held this position until his dismissal on 20, 1926, whereupon Hu Weide became his successor. Previously, Zhang Zuolin had taken control of the outskirts of Beijing. After he had not held any office for almost ten years, he was last appointed advisor to the national government by Prime Minister Chiang Kai-shek in 1935 and held this position until his death in 1936.

Web links

• Short biography (rulers.org)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ China Provinces: Hubei
2. ↑ China: Ministries 1912-28
3. ↑ China: Prime Ministers
4. ↑ China Provinces: Hubei
5. ↑ China Provinces: Hubei
6. ↑ China: Ministries 1912-28
7. ↑ China: Prime Ministers
8. ↑ China: Prime Ministers
9. ↑ China: Ministries 1912-28
10. ↑ China: Prime Ministers
11. ↑ China: Presidents

Note: This article places the family name before the person's first name. This is the usual order in Chinese. Duan is the family name here, Qirui is the first name.