文档介绍：218
The Revolutionary Process
the overseas Chinese and from parts of the new student and
officer classes within the country. In revolt, they joined with
the larger movement, inside China, which sought provincial
autonomy particularly in economic development. On this
issue the leading landlord gentry mercial interests ac•
tive in the provincial assemblies had united in opposition to
the belated efforts of the Manchu central government when
it tried to reform China from the top down. The whole issue
of provincial autonomy against monarchic centralization of
power had been raised in the provincial assemblies and also
in the provisional national assembly at Peking. It had been
brought to a head by the dispute over railroad development,
particularly the financing of railroads through Hankow and
into Szechwan. On this railroad issue the provincial leaders
had ranged themselves in public statements against the ele•
ment of foreign control implicit in Peking's railway loan
agreements. They had been jealous of the prospect that cen•
tral government officials would chiefly profit from the new
developments.
The revolution of 1911 thus represented a good deal more
than the revolutionary leadership supplied by Sun Vat-sen
and his colleagues. By the same token, Sun, though the nomi•
nalleader of the revolution, had relatively little power to con•
trol the forces behind it. He was inaugurated as provisional
president of the new republic on January 1, 1912, at Nanking.
But several bined to make him decide to
step aside \vithin a few \veeks in favor of Yuan Shih-k'ai, as
a strong administrator better fitted to eed to the top posi•
tion.
Yuan, the builder of the New Army in North China, had
been called to run the Peking government when the Manchu
regent resigned in December 1911. With this beginning he
was able to improve his position as the only man prospective•
ly capable of maintaining order in the country. He negotiat-
219
Reform and Revol