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The Collapse of the Qing and the Rise of Communism

Home » China » Beijing - History and Overview » The Collapse of the Qing and the Rise of Communism

In 1911, the Xinhai Revolution intended to overthrow the Qing Dynasty and establish a new republic. It took place through the betrayal of a high-ranking Qing official, Yuan Shikai. He pushed for the emperor’s abdication and his success prompted the rebels to appoint him as the president of the new Republic of China. One of their major decisions was to keep Beijing as the capitol city.

After successfully consolidating power, Yuan Shikai moved toward declaring himself the new Emperor of China in 1915, a move unpopular with the people. He died the following year, at which point control of China fell to regional warlords, many of whom fought for control of Beijing. At one point, the Nationalist party declared Nanjing in the south as the capitol, temporarily diminishing Beijing’s power and renaming it Beiping in 1928.

During the second Sino-Japanese War, Beiping fell to Japan on July 29, 1937. During the occupation the city returned to its former name of Beijing, and it was turned into a puppet government for Japan’s rule of northern China. The name was changed once again when the Japanese surrendered on August 15, 1945 at the end of World War II.

On January 31,1949 Communist forces took control of Beiping, under the leadership of Mao Zedong. In October he announced the formation of the People’s Republic of China, officially declaring once-again-renamed Beijing as the capitol. The Beijing city wall was torn down between 1965 and 1969 to make way for the construction of the 2nd Ring Road.

Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Mao’s Red Guards seized the city, demolishing ancient buildings, destroying precious art or selling it to raise funds for the nation, and killing those who spoke out against the government. This corruption set the stage for the 1989 tragedy at Tiananmen Square, where peacefully protesting students were assaulted by tanks on national television. The government downplayed the incident; they estimated deaths were between 400 and 800, while protestors alleged the casualties numbered toward 7000.

Beijing’s somewhat shaded past is on its way out, however. In the summer of 2001, the city was awarded the 2008 Summer Olympic Games, and currently officials are in the process of recreating the city. The residents are determined to present a positive face to the world, and construction and development projects are in full swing. Hopes are that the rest of the world will see a new and improved Beijing, erasing, or at least subduing, the negative images of the city’s past.

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