After the Xinhai Revolution and the overthrow of the Qing Dynasty, Sun Yat-sen established the Republic of China. But the fruits of the revolution were eventually stolen by Yuan Shikai. With Yuan Shikai's proclamation as emperor, various factions rose up one after another to crusade. As a result, warlords and warlords of all sizes appeared on the land of China, and they all supported their own troops and fought together for the sake of seizing territory and interests.
However, these warlords have strong and weak armies in their hands, you fight me, I fight you, but why does not one of them declare independence?
First of all, this is related to the sense of national identity formed by the Chinese for thousands of years, the ideal of unifying the world.
All warlords, big and small, have grown up with the education of loyalty and patriotism, and the Confucianism of ruling the country and the world has long been implanted in the depths of every Chinese's heart. In their hearts, they always believe that their country is a whole, and only by unifying the whole country can they achieve their own grand cause. And if anyone chooses independence, they are not qualified to unify the whole country.
Second, they always think in their hearts that they are Chinese, and if they are independent, it is an act of betrayal of their ancestors.
In the traditional consciousness of the Chinese, if a person has a reputation for betraying his ancestors, then no one will support him. Usually the warlords you beat me, I beat you, but no matter what, it's all a matter of your own family behind closed doors.
If you choose to be independent, you will become an outsider, a traitor, and anyone can attack you and destroy you in a righteous and bright way. The consequence of this is that the central government will not spare you, and other warlords will take the opportunity to destroy you. The common people will scold you to death, and the soldiers in your own army will not listen to you.
Third, during the Republic of China, although the warlords fought each other, the central government still existed formally, and the state was formally a whole, and whoever dared to be independent would be beaten.
The warlords, though fighting for each other, all belong to a government in name. The warlords still need a plausible reason to fight for turf. And if anyone is independent, it is to give others a justified reason to attack.
Therefore, whether it is the central government or the local warlords, they all wish that any warlord would become independent, so that everyone would have the opportunity to attack them en masse, and the division would be famous. Warlords who want independence will soon be divided up by other warlords in terms of land and sphere of influence. Therefore, no one is willing or dares to be this "rising bird".
Finally, the warlords each occupy a place, and they are the emperor of the land with the highest power in this place, so what's the point of risking a lot of risk to become independent?
The warlords monopolize one side, and the central government can't control it. Whoever really established an independent state with the support of that imperial power is also a puppet, just like Pu Yi of the puppet Manchukuo established with the support of Japan, who has no real power and is still worried every day, it is better to be as comfortable as a local emperor.
Therefore, to sum up, the sense of national identity and the traditional idea of unifying the country and achieving hegemony make the warlords have no independent thoughts in their hearts, and the infamy of betraying the country and betraying their ancestors after independence, as well as the betrayal of relatives and relatives that are bound to come, make the warlords dare not act independently.