The Hupeh revolutionary movement, 1900-1912 : a study of the role of the new-style army

Abstract

This thesis studies the revolutionary movement in Hupeh from 1900 to 1912 with special reference to the role of the new-style army„ It attempts to show that the modernization of the Chinese army after 1895 changed the military tradition, thereby creating the circumstances in which the modern army became a centre of revolutionary ferment. It also describes the process by which the Hupeh army was infiltrated and subverted, and attempts to explain why the revolution erupted in Hupeh and not elsewhere. This should illuminate the military genesis of the revolution and establish the fact that the success of the Wuchang Uprising was the result of many years of military subversion. Revolutionary activity in Hupeh dates back to the Hankow revolt of 1900. Based on the military support of the secret societies, the unsuccessful revolt showed that the societies were unreliable allies for the revolutionary intellectuals. Realizing the need to tap an alternative source of military power, the Hupeh intellectuals in 1904 decided on a programme, which aimed at the subversion of the new-style army. Their early organizations were designed to achieve co-operation between local students and the military. But after 1907, the military elements emerged to positions of leadership. For many years the Hupeh revolutionary movement, though part of the nation-wide anti-Manchu campaign, had been a local movement with a momentum of its own. After the Canton uprising of 1911, even the T 'ung-meng-hui changed its focal point of operations from South China to the Yangtze area. This made the Hupeh revolutionaries more determined to act. Operating independently both of the T 'ung-meng-hui and of the Central China Bureau, the Hupeh leaders planned an uprising with Hunanese support. Even though a bomb accident on October 9 exposed the plan and the revolutionary organization to the provincial government, the uprising occurred on the following day and succeeded where other revolts had failed.