On September 21, 1898, Empress Dowager Cixi launched the "Wushu Coup", imprisoning the Guangxu Emperor, and the 103-day Wushu Rebellion failed. However, more than two years later, Empress Dowager Cixi finally woke up and issued an edict to set up a "Supervision and Administration Office" to implement the "New Deal" nationwide. The main content of the "New Deal" is basically the same as that of the Penghu Reform Law, but no one expected that Empress Dowager Cixi's "New Deal" would bring down the Qing Dynasty!
On February 12, 1912, Empress Longyu issued an abdication edict in the name of Emperor Xuantong, and the Qing Dynasty collapsed. The demise of the Qing Dynasty was certainly the result of a variety of factors and was directly related to the "New Deal". The main contents of the "New Deal" include the organization and training of the New Army, the reform of the bureaucratic system, the advocacy of commerce, the reform of education, the designation of laws, and the preparation of the Mongolian reform system. Among them, the formation and training of the new army was one of the most important contents of the Qing government's new policy.
After the Eight-Power Alliance's war of aggression against China, the military power of the Qing Dynasty was dealt a heavy blow, and the original Xiang Army, huai army, and training army were all overwhelmed and lost their combat effectiveness. In order to consolidate the rule of the dynasty, the Qing Dynasty decided to spend a lot of effort to train a completely new army in full accordance with the Western military system. In 1903, the Qing government set up a military training office in the central government and a supervision and training office at the local level, which was responsible for military training.
In 1906, the Qing Dynasty abolished the Military Department and established the War Department, incorporating the Training Department into it and unifying the command of the new army throughout the country. A year later, the Qing Dynasty formulated a huge military training plan and decided to train a new army in 36 towns across the country. However, contrary to expectations, the new army carefully created by the Qing government became the gravediggers of the Qing Dynasty. The reason is simple: the new army is out of control, they are used by the revolutionary party and Yuan Shikai, and eventually overthrow the Qing Dynasty.
In 1911, after the Wuchang Uprising launched by the Hubei New Army, new armies revolted all over the country, including Hunan, Shaanxi, Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangxi, Guangdong, Shanxi and other places. At that time, the number of new troops in the country was 241,000, of which 95,000 were in the southern town associations, and almost all of them participated in the Xinhai Revolution. The strongest of the new armies in the north was the six towns of Beiyang, but they were controlled by Yuan Shikai, and the imperial court could not control them at all.
After Yuan Shikai led the Beiyang New Army to the south, he successively conquered Hankou and Hanyang, but he did not move his troops, did not attack Wuchang, but negotiated peace with the revolutionary army. By this time, the Qing Dynasty had completely lost control of the New Army, and all that awaited it was its demise. "The gun is out of power", the army is the pillar of maintaining a political power, so how did the Qing Dynasty lose its military power in a vacuum?
There are certain differences between the New Army and the traditional troops, and many intellectual classes in the army have joined, and their ideology is active, coupled with the propaganda work of the revolutionaries in the army, the New Army has gradually revolutionized. In addition, the Qing Dynasty sent a large number of students to study abroad, who were deeply influenced by the revolutionary trend of thought, and joined the League, or were influenced by revolutionary ideas. After returning home, most of these students became middle- and lower-level officers of the New Army.
For example, Yan Xishan, Cai Yi, Wu Luzhen, Xu Chongzhi, Sun Daoren, etc., after the outbreak of the Wuchang Uprising, launched new army uprisings in various places, shaking the lifeblood of the Qing Dynasty's rule. In addition, Yuan Shikai cannot be ignored, and in the process of compiling and training the Beiyang New Army, he completely controlled this army. If the Qing government lost the new army, it was bound to lose the country. After the fall of the Qing Dynasty, the New Army became a tool in the hands of warlords of various factions.
References: 1. "Beiyang Warlord"; 2. "Selected Materials of the Xinhai Revolution"