u/Thin-Musician-9342

My friend and I have been playing a few sessions of Global 1940 recently, and he - tired of my Taranto raids - requested a bid so Italy can have a game where it gets off its feet and have fun crushing the Med.

The bid is a destroyer placed in SZ99, blocking the Allied fleet and thus guaranteeting that Italy’s navy survives the first turn.

He’s at my skill level, if not higher: so these situations naturally kill the game’s balance, but I’ve been playing this out on the condition that I’m not responsible for losing ;) That being said, I wonder if there is an equivalent Allied bid that could offset Italy’s fleet surviving and retain the balance of the game. Given the existing disparity between Axis and Allied forces, and the amount of Axis units left on the board as a result of Italy’s fleet being guaranteed to live, I imagine it would have to be in the 10-20 IPC range. But exactly where that cash would appear on the board, I’m not sure. What do you all think?

Hey everyone,

I want to inquire about which of the two services WP offers is best for my current situation. Apologies in advance as it's rather long.

At work, I've been tasked with maintaining a travel website (writing a few articles a month), and the format is both restrictive and beginning to show its age. I figured this year I'd make revising it one of my main professional goals, so I want to learn how to use WordPress (our current provider) to make it happen. We currently have an independent contractor operating the site, so I'm working off of the foundation and code that they've laid, which really limits what I can do with the site. My idea is to completely overhaul the structure, make the visuals prettier, and add in a few features that aren't present in the current version (in-site maps with WP Go Maps Pro, and a tag system for organizing destinations/activities).

I've been given carte blanche to change everything as I see fit. So as long as the finished product functions and looks good, they don't care if the entire thing changes. In fact, it'll probably have to, since our current site is built on the .org system and uses a lot of code in its construction. In other words, I'm planning on rebuilding this site from the ground up.

For me as someone who has zero code knowledge but decent computer skills and a lot of time on my hands, should I built the revised site with .com or take up the task of learning .org?

There are a few considerations here. I've found a few decent plugins on .com but still have no knowledge on using it. I understand that the inflated cost of .com is one of its biggest criticisms, but there is a chance that the hosting costs would be less than what we're paying for that contractor. I'm more concerned about the freedom to design and use plugins more effectively than economics at this stage.

Even in the event I learn .org extensively, this job is exclusively a short-term hire (5 year max, soon to enter year 2), with someone guaranteed to fill the roll after my time is up. This isn't a tech job, so it's very unlikely that my successor would want/be able to maintain a .org site, and I'd have to maintain a caretaker role to keep the site updated. I don't mind this personally but they might not enjoy having to work through me.

Any advice on my situation, or experience from another non-programmer who built a site with WP would be greatly welcome. Thank you!

This is Part 4 of my ongoing Great Qing AAR. You can view the full story so far here. This, time, I need your help deciding the fate of China in an electoral poll - read till the end for more.

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>Chapter 4: An Electoral Upset
September 13, 1936

The Emperor has wasted no time making use of his new freedom.

“I’m a much busier man than I used to be,” Puyi joked, “I worry I may already be losing my touch at tennis.”
Enjoying the cool September air, he enjoyed tea on a balcony overlooking the Forbidden City, joined by longtime acquaintance Hu Shih.
“You’ll have to watch out for Wanrong, then,” he laughed, “I hear she’s stepped up her training since you took to politics.”

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An American-educated liberal thinker, he was certainly an unlikely visitor for the newly restored Emperor, but the two had more in common than apperances suggested. An independent voice in Beijing’s academic and intellectual scenes, Hu delierately avoided allegiances to any specific group or party. In doing so, he earned the respect of them all: by promoting cooperation between all players in the National Assembly - including actively undemocratic elements - he aimed to bring gradual yet real change to China’s political and legal systems.
Perhaps it was this pragmatism which brought him into open friendship with Puyi in the Beiyang era. They bonded over visions of a freer, modern China, back when neither of them had the power to make it reality.

Neither had ever expected to be in a position where they could enact these grand visions.
Hu was no longer acquainted with a puppet or a pretender to the throne: sitting before him was Emperor of China. Events since June had unfolded so suddenly that neither man had fully grasped how profoundly the world around them had changed.

The Emperor, who had a critical decision to make in the coming days, was eager for the input of such a renowned intellectual mind, especially one who was willing to at least tolerate the Monarchy on the condition of genuine reform:
“Are you occupied later this week? Your presence at the National Leadership Summit would be most welcome.”
Hu had wondered if the invitation would come, or if Pujie and the other hardliners had already dissuaded him of the idea. The question of attendance was not an easy decision to make. He took a slow sip of tea as he carefully considered his next words.
“I’m afraid not everyone in attendance would think it so welcome.”

The Emperor understood his trepidation, frustrated with the exclusionary tendancies of his advisors: “If we exclude those who have ever worked with or pledged allegiance to the former Republic, we’d hardly have a citizenry left to rule over.”
As the sun began to set behind the city's skyline on the horizon, the Emperor continued:
“I will see to it personally that you are received warmly, and your words listened to with great care.”

Hu truly wanted to believe that the Qing Monarchy could be China’s best chance at democracy. Yet he was deeply concerned that the meek Emperor, sidelined from politics his whole life, would be coerced in his appointments to the new government:
“If the decisions made as a result of the Summit are Your Majesty’s alone, then I would be honoured to attend.”

The Emperor gave a smile as best he could, to hide his own anxiety on the coming deliberation:
“Rest assured: since the Restoration, the decisions I make are my own.”
He wished he could believe his own words.

>September 17, 1936
Beijing, Qing Empire

Attendants of the National Leader Summit enter the Forbidden City (September 17, 1936)

With the internal security of the Empire ensured, the coup forces now had the task of forming a new government from the ashes of the Beijing political scene.

Rule had previously been cemented in the Harmony Association, a grouping of politicians and military men assembled by the Zhili Clique to maintain the illusion of civilian rule in what was in reality a military dictatorship. Trading credibility for money, they helped prop up a despotic warlord government. In the wake of the coup, most fled, mostly to Nanjing where their Zhili connections offered the best chance at a new line of employment. Those who stayed could not be trusted to act in good faith within the Royalist administration.

Days after Wuhan was declared secure, the government convened a meeting - dubbed the National Leadership Summit - with the Emperor, his most trusted advisors, and representatives from all three parties. The objective was to create a government strong enough to reform the Empire, strengthen its military, and re-unify the country.
Planning for a democratic future was one of many priorities, but most important among them was stability and national security.

Shandong governor Qu Yingguang, for his invaluable role in restoring the Monarchy and non-partisan outlook, was asked to arbitrate and make a decision together with the Emperor. He was a committed monarchist, who had seen firsthand the suffering of his province created by the Republican era, under the despotic rule of warlord Zhang Zongchang, the “Dogmeat General.” Bandits, corrupt soldiers, and opium traders had destroyed much of his rural homeland. Like Hu Shih, he was wary of the more reactionary factions which had backed the coup, instead finding much common ground with conservative reformers among the CERA and Zongshe Party.

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The Summit lasted for days before a resolution was made. Both open debates and private talks were extensively carried out, involving negotiations over each party’s platforms and plans for national leadership.

Not long into the conference, rumours abounded over heated arguments breaking out during negotiations with the Young China Party. Its leader Li Huang, failing to cultivate a wing of moderates who could negotiate with the parties in Beijing, could not keep his more radical members in line.
It was even rumoured that one, in a staggering faux pas, openly suggested deposing Puyi, calling him “too soft,” in a private negotiation with Qu. Before being removed, he insisted on the need to establish a “strong military state,” by either maintaining Pujie as the Qing Emperor, or even restoring the Republic under a martial President if need be.

This would be the last time Qu granted a private audience with the YCP.

Summit members enter the main hall to hear the results of negotiations (September 20, 1936)

On the evening of September 20th, all members gathered for Qu to announce the results. Those observing the Assembly, as well as the press, widely expected it to end in a CERA victory, owing to its broad popularity and extensive rural reform proposals.

Yet in a surprising upset, the favourite to win had been usurped by the Zongshe Party: the nobility had won Qu’s favour and earned a victory which shocked the nation. To many outsiders, it seemed as if the aristocracy had just taken the first step back towards an autocratic Empire. Intellectuals and former Republican politicians, who had been invited to the Summit in good faith, walked out in disgust.

To those who remained, Qu explained the reasons behind the controversial decision.
For all of its strengths, the CERA drew its legacy from a controversial past: its founder, Kang Youwei, was indeed a brilliant legal scholar, and his dedication to the Monarchy was admirable. Yet the failure of his 100 Days’ Reform showed that idealism alone could not solve China’s myriad of problems. Qu observed that the success of the Meiji Restoration, and indeed present-day Japan, was achieved from collaboration between its intellectual, military, and industrial classes. To achieve this perfect balance, the Zongshe were a much more suitable candidate.

While the Emperor did not experience any notable change in status following the 1928 Restoration, the Manchu aristocrats skillfully took advantage of the situation. Building up considerable industrial fortunes, they used the wealth of the Aisin-Gioro clan to form a burgeoning industrial class. Qu was confident that the Zongshe were in an apt position to take advantage of these family ties to ambitiously industrialize China’s economy and, most importantly, its arms industry. Although their political experience was limited, its ranks were filled with men boasting decades of practical experience in industry and finance.

Of course, Qu and the Emperor had more long-term considerations in mind not mentioned publicly. They feared the CERA, with its larger pool of representatives and existing support base, may have dwarfed the others and eventually create a single-party stranglehold over the Assembly. Secretly, Qu had described the CERA, with its progressive policies, as an “ideal postwar leader,” reflecting his conviction that a unification war was imminent, and the Zongshe would better prepare the Empire for it.

The Zongshe was indeed, as its critics argued, an interest group dressed up as a political party. This was, for reasons he could not openly say, exactly they had been chosen to lead. Qu calculated that its limited party platform - which had little concrete plans for political and rural reform - would force them to cooperate more closely with other members of the Assembly and become more responsive to public opinion, creating a pluralistic environment in Beijing.
Giving them a parliamentary majority would also force them to draw in hundreds of new members to represent all of its ridings, introducing the party to new ideas and broaden its membership to those outside of the aristocracy. The hope was that this would strengthen its moderate wing and give birth to a new conservative bloc, resembling Japan’s Rikken Seiyukai or the Canadian Tories.

Both Qu and the Emperor understood that this was a gamble: if reactionary forcees won control of the Party, the monarchy risked reverting back to its historic failings, sideline the other parties in the Assembly and further weaken the monarchy’s already frail popularity.

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As the lead party of the coalition, the Zongshe established their rule over provincial and municipal capitals, as well as much of the North China Plain.

The CERA was given roughly a third of the seats in the Assembly. These corresponded largely to the Empire’s most impoverished regions, as well as those most damaged by the destruction of the Central Plains War. The deal was sweetened by a stipulation Qu had included in which the Zongshe would authorise generous financial support to the CERA’s rural projects, even in Zongshe-controllled areas.

Although sidelined and outmaneuvered in the lengthy debates, the YCP was still given a token representation in the Assembly. Qu hoped that this would placate their radicalism by giving them legal representation over their power base in Baoding. Their emphasis and expertise on industrialisation was hoped to result in a flourishing of arms production from the Baoding Arsenal. This was, however, on the condition that each of their candidates was subject to an independent review by the Central Government. The military academy within the city would also receive similar oversight to prevent future cadets from ultranationalist indoctrination.

Barely large enough to be considered parties, the Democracy and Science Forum and Old Political Science Clique were given a small numbers of seats in the Assembly. Although not large enough to be influential in their own right, it was hoped that their presence would allow the Assembly to hear voices to close to those of the people.

China's new Prime Minister, Zheng Xiaoxu

Delivering his acceptance speech, party leader and Prime Minister Zheng Xiaoxu warmly thanked Governor Qu and the Chinese people for placing their faith in the Emperor's most loyal supporters. In pleasant language which reflected his membership of the party's moderate Dongcheng Association, he offered praise to the other parties in attendance, identifying common goals and expressing his gratitude for the opportunity to work together with them. Next, he promised a wide package of reforms, ranging from finance to military affairs, and specifically referenced the CERA's rural reform projects as a key goal of the new government. The Prime Minister's amicable regards were well-received, a silver lining to the uncomfortable reality that power was back in the hands of the aristocracy.

Only time will tell if they were worthy to wield it.

Thanks for reading. Check out the poll below.

>POLL: The Question of the Assembly

The Qing’s current parliament, The National Assembly, is a Republican institution. It was created in 1912, after Puyi’s abdication, and its structure remained unchanged even after the half-hearted Restoration of 1928.

The National Assembly in the Republican Era (February, 1919)

During the recent leadership negotiations, many speakers brought forward motions to reform the National Assembly; both to make a more efficient, democratic Parliament, but also to move its image away from the failed Republic and years of Zhili captivity. The hope was that the parties would use the existing Assembly structure in the short-term to stabalize the nation, but slowly begin to shape it into a new direction according to a long-term vision. The Qing did have their own pre-Xinhai parliament, the Advisory Council (1906-1912), but its half-hearted implementation and failure to prevent revolution have given it a poor legacy. The Restorationist government, therefore, are hoping to adopt an entirely new system.

Over time, three camps began to form regarding which model to adopt.

The first was to create an Imperial Diet (國會), which was to be based strongly off of the Japanese model. Taking inspiration from the Meiji Constitution, this system would involve more direct input from the Emperor, as well as greater military representation. As the Japanese took inspiration from the Prussian model, the Army would receive two representatives in Cabinets, both of whom may be active-serving, while the Navy also would also send a representative. This would give the military greater influence in national policy, and was thus popular with the YCP, elements of the Zongshe, and much of the new Imperial Army’s officer corps.

The second was to create an Imperial Parliament (议会) closely modelled on the Canadian and former British parliamentary systems. These greatly limited the influence of the military, as well as the monarch’s executive functions. The Westminster system had a proven track record, with the British Parliment in particular being a long-running constitutional monarchy. Its recent failure in the 1925 Revolution had soured its reputation somewhat, but liberal figures in the CERA, as well as independent intellectuals, speak in favour of adopting it as a step forward to liberal democracy in the Qing Dynasty.

Finally, a more ambitious proposal was put forward to revive the old Grand Council (军机处), a kind of privy council dating back to the 18th century, and rework it into a parlimentary body. The Grand Council dates back to the very height of the Qing Dynasty, and represents a time when its Mandate of Heaven was unquestionable. Of course, the Council was never intended to be a modern parliament, and so the new Grand Council would likely be a parliamentary model built from scratch, while merely using the name and symbolism of its historic predecessor.
Supporters of this third option are a curious mix of personalities from across the political spectrum. Members of the Aisin-Gioro family and hardline conservatives are joined by some of the most progressive intellectuals, including Liang Shuming of the CERA. The latter support the vision of a reformed Grand Council for not just its history, but also the fact that it would become a clean slate for Chinese democracy, allowing reformist elements to create a fairer system from the ground up rather than adopting ones from abroad.

At the end of the day, it is left up to the Emperor and his advisors (you!) to decide...

The state of the world seen through intrigue in China's Legation Cities.

This is Part 3 of my ongoing Great Qing AAR. You can view the full story so far here.

August, 1936

“COUP IN BEIJING: EMPEROR PU-YI RESTORED TO POWER”

“JADE MARSHAL KILLED: CHINESE GOVERNMENT COLLAPSES”

As martial law in Beijing began to loosen following the end of the Central Plains War, journalists finally began spreading word of the coup. Their reports corroborated the stories of foreigners who had fled to the coastal Concession cities during the chaos, slowly giving the outside world a picture of what had transpired.

Local police erect defenses around the entrances to Tianjin immediately following the Beijing Coup (June, 1936)

The international reaction to the Manchu Restoration was one of universal shock. The true nature of the monarchy, as a facade for Wu Peifu’s military government, was an open secret to all in the know of Chinese affairs. It was unthinkable that the Zhili regime would fall not to rival warlords, but to an internal coup. The fact that these putschists bowed to an unpopular Emperor was all the more baffling.

Shock led to anxiety. The Beiyang Government (1912-1936), both as a republic and monarchy, maintained a policy of cordial relations with Western powers. Complying to all treaties and offering considerable benefits to foreign investment, the Beijing warlords hoped to placate the West and use these connections to reunify the nation. The Qing Dynasty, on the other hand, had a history of both compliance and - as demonstrated in the 1900 Boxer Rebellion - resistence.

Although the new Qing state was deeply fractured internally and controlled only a handful of the nation’s provinces, there was already tremendous anxiety that the restored Empire would, in one British colunnist’s words, “…rid Asia of Western civilization and return the Orient to its virgin state of backwardness.”

Nowhere was this anxiety more felt than in the Legation Cities, a multinational string of concession cities united under a single government. The seven nations, which owned the concessions, dispatched delegates to the Legation Council in Shanghai, from which the cities were governed.

The Westerners enjoy their tea and caviar while Eastern China burns.

It was created to protect the West from the consequences of their actions; a safe zone from which their citizens and investments could be safe while China suffered from instability and civil war. In 1928, the Jade Wind incident threatened to plunge East Asia into another deadly war. Germany and Japan were preparing to intervene on behalf of their respective allies in Beijing and Fengtian, who had been fighting a vicious brother’s war just after defeating the Kuomintang together. The Americans, not wanting to risk losing their precious investments, rushed to negotiate. While war was avoided, China’s dignity and sovereignty was stained, while the great powers drew up a framework for ‘peaceful’ competition in its economy.

While the Legations exist as a multinational entity, the atmosphere of the Council is far from cooperative. The goal is, after all, not to end Great Power competition in China, but only to codify it with the cleaner image of suits and ties. Beneath the gentlemanly veneer of the Council Building in Shanghai, each of its members maintain sizable miliary garrisons in their respective quarters of the city: the German and Japanese command the largest of these, and tense standoffs between the two are a frequent occurance.

Members of the American garrison talk down the German security forces during an incident with the Japanese (April, 1931)

Outside of the Council formalities and military intrigue, the highs and lows of capitalism run unchecked. Shanghai, Tianjin, Hong Kong, and even the smaller cities enjoy a level of decadence unthinkable in the Chinese interior. The streets buzz with Western culture and vice alike, thanks to the constant flow of capital these major ports facilitate. The incredible economic and social power of the Legations have attracted many of China’s best, brightest, and richest away from provincial lands, where they serve foreigns interests over those of their homeland.

Those making a living in these packed streets littered with parties, opium dens and whorehouses had little time to worry over the Monarchy’s return to power.

But from the halls of power in the Legation Council, each member had its own reaction to the return of Manchu rule.

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The Germans were among the more recent European powers who had arrived to claim a slice of the Chinese market . After unifying the German states and proclaiming the German Empire in 1870, the Prussians rapidly expanded their colonial empire and Africa and Asia. Their arrival in China was hallmarked by their seizure of the coastal city Tsingtao in 1899.

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The Central Powers’ victory in the Great War solidified the Kaiser’s position on the world stage: two years after the war ended in Europe, Japan was humiliated in the Tsingtao Accords of 1921, and forced to return Qingdao and the Marshal Islands to the Germans. Though Germany’s focus remains in Europe, heading the mighty Reichspakt alliance of alligned governments and client states, the German navy enjoys high influence and generous capital in all things concerning East Asia.

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The Manchu Restoration coincided with -and highly exacerbated - the rush of anxiety among the German diplomats in the summer of 1936. Not only had they just lost access to Beijing’s loyalty - and economic priviliges - but their most loyal German ally in Nanjing was struggling to quell the resurgent Kuomintang. These left-wing nationalists would never tolerate Germany's presence in China, and thus the Prussians were on the verge of losing their entire presence in the Chinese interior.

Thus, the immediate German reaction was surprisingly muted. The Germans had evacuated their assets and personnel from Qing lands, and focused their full attention on preventing Nanjing's collapse. On a personal level, most German representatives, and indeed its civilian masses, were sympathetic to the monarchist cause. Of course, the Qing had officially cut ties with Berlin, and the Germans were unhappy with their loss of influence, but the silver lining was that an anti-Japanese monarchy remained in Beijing.

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The Americans enjoy a particularly privileged status in Shanghai, with their ambassador, Nelson Trusler Johnson, leading since 1932 as the High Comissioner. US presence in China exposes their destructive hypocrisy on two accounts: first, their claim to ‘anti-imperialism’ while they participate in the wholesale robbery of Chinese resources, and profit off of its weakness. Second, the ambassadors, diplomats, and industrialists enjoy a life of high luxury while the American people face starvation, poverty, and a government that has been failing them for years.

The United States’ neutrality in the Great War isolated them diplomatically, depriving them of valuable trading partners and setting the nation up for economic ruin with the Great Depression, beginning in 1925 and continuing even into 1936. The United States of America is stricken with political violence, threats of civil war, and endless economic ruin; yet those within the Legations embrace the gluttony of endless dinner parties, drugs, and the company of women.

Although the Americans have no love for monarchies, the Yankee response to the Restoration was largely positive. It was hoped that the loss of German influence in Beijing could send shockwaves in Shanghai, giving them more influence in China over time. Yet there was some concern in the US Military garrisons in Tianjin, who remembered well the ferocity of the Qing assaults on its garrison during the Boxer Rebellion, and also worried that a weakened Germany would give the Japanese a stronger foothold in China.

Royal Navy vessels attack Chinese ships during the First Opium War (January, 1841)

The British had by far the longest history in Chinese affairs. Since the 18th century, they had forced their way into the Chinese market by smuggling opium from India, and profiting from the peoples' addiction. When the Qing attempted to stop the spread and protect its people, the British responded by iniating the Opium Wars. Occupying Hong Kong and securing large concessions in other Chinese cities, the British inequably profited off Chinese poverty for decades. Yet even these villains were not invincible.

A new, socialist order has emerged in Western Europe.

After their loss in the Great War, the British people, inspired by the 1920 revolution in France, overthrew the longstanding monarchy, and created the Union of Britain from the ashes of the former United Kingdom. Together with the French Commune and Mussolini’s Socialist Republic of Italy, the Red front in Western Europe is preparing to bring about a global socialist revolution through their alliance, the Third Internationale.

However, the British seat in the Legation Council does not answer to London.

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When it became clear the British Isles were lost to the revolutionaries, King George VII retreated to his Empire’s model colony alongside loyal citizens and much of the Royal Navy.

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As the remnants of the French Third Republic desperately tried to stabilize their situation from their capital-in-exile of Algiers, The Germans used this opportunity to sweep up the most valuable remnants of the British and French colonial empires, notably seizing their African posessions and the valuable Asian colonies in Indochina and Malaya.

The British Crown continues to rule over the remannts of its Empire from Ottawa through the British Government in Exile, in a nervous alliance with the existing Canadian political parties. British influence in Asia is enforced by a loyal Australia, which has largely taken responsibility for military affairs. This includes the protection of Hong Kong, which remains Britain’s power base in China.

Australia loyally serves the Empire in exile, while Germany struggles to maintain control over its colony in Indochina.

Although the British Empire now lacks the military strength to defend its concessions by force, its long history in Asia has granted the British Legation more experience than any other naton on the Council, and is staffed with an elite team of experts in finance, administration, and Chinese affairs. They, like the Americans, were optimistic that the loss of German influence as a result of the Manchu Restoration would reverbiate in Shanghai, and perhaps give them a larger slice of the Chinese market. But the Qing’s hostile attitude to foreign influence and the British Empire’s own loss of power, as well as the rising influence of Japan, gave rise to anxiety over the fate of their Chinese possessions in the long term…

Puyi's childhood tutor and long-time friend, Scottish-born Sir Reginald Fleming Johnston, has mentioned to the young Emperor of a journalist in Ottawa reporting on the very interesting developments in Canadian affairs.

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The Japanese continue to pride themselves as the world’s only non-European Great Power: forged through successful wars against the Qing in 1894, and Russia in 1904, the Japanese Empire's reputation for historic victories has only recently soured, with both the Tsingtao Accords and Jade Wind Incident repeating the long history of Japanese diplomatic defeats cooling the expectations from military successes.

For Japan, access to China and its resources is an existential priority. With a small landmass and limited natural resources, Japan views the mainland as the Empire’s future.

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Most of Japan’s influence is felt not in Shanghai, but in Shenyang, where the Japan-sponsored Fengtian Government has been a de-facto independent republic since 1928. While the government is in theory independent, the Japanese government provides financing, weapons, military training, and owns a significant amount of property, including much of its key infrastructure. It is an open secret that Japan expects Fengtian to be a vehicle for extending its control over China as a whole. Grand Marshal Zhang Zuolin’s march south is seen as a question of if, not when.

Politically, the Restoration was seen by the Japanese as a major diplomatic victory. With the Germans now absent from Beijing, they saw the Central Plain as an easy target for expansion. Politically, the coup was viewed somewhat positively by conservative Japanese press, which drew comparison between the Zhili Clique and the Tokugawa Shogunate: both were martial forces which fell to a benevolent, modernised monarchy. Officially, however, Tokyo characterised the new government as a step backwards, rather than forwards, bringing Middle Kingdom back to a more primitive state.

There was no doubt among the Japanese government, military, and populace that they could defeat even a reformed Qing Dynasty, as they had done handily in 1894.

The major players in China were joined on the council by delegates from Russia, Austria-Hungary, and Belgium.

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Victory in the Great War did not save the Austro-Hungarian Empire from internal struggles, but did give the Habsburg monarchy time to reform the byzantine political system which nearly broke under the stress of prolonged conflict.

In the wake of the Great War, the Habsburgs had fully embraced federalism as the future for the Austrian state. In 1936, the basic structure of the Empire remains unchanged from its founding vision in 1867: two halves - the Austrian Empire and Kingdom of Hungary - each functionally independent and only loosely bound in military and foreign policy.

The Great War had exposed the fragility of this structure, but the Hungarians did not share the Austrian drive for reform. Thus, only the Austrian half has successfuly devolved: autonomy has been granted to the regions of Bohemia, Galicia, and Illyria. Yet the minorities in Hungary languish under a centralist structure and assimilationist Magyarization policies. Appeals to the Hungarian parliament by King Karl continue to fall on deaf ears, and it only seems like a matter of time before violence breaks out.

Austria had perhaps the most positive reaction to Restoration in the entire Legation Council. The Empire was represented in China only by a few city blocks’ worth of territory, and meant Austria was free to view the future of China in political and diplomatic terms, rather than economic ones. The image of the Great Qing as a declining empire - one which had fallen far, but was not beyond saving - was met with incredible sympathy by Austria’s political and intellectual classes. The Austrian military and academia observed a renaissance of interest in Sinology and current affairs throughout the late 1930s, with many travelling to Beijing to observe its political movements as inspiration for what could be possible in Vienna.

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The kingdom once known as Belgium earned its miniscule Chinese concession from its participation in the Eight-Nation Alliance, which had put down the Boxer Rebellion in 1900.

Defeated in the Great War, the Belgian king joined the British in exile while his former Kingdom became Flanders-Wallonia, under the leadership of a greatly unpopular German king.

The Belgian voice in the Legation Council echoed its German counterpart, condemning the Imperial Coup and pushing for punitive action against Beijing. Yet the Belgian people had far greater concerns closer to home, and many were inspired to see Germany being defied on the world stage. Anti-German voices in Brussels became just a bit louder in the weeks following news of the coup…

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Russia had a long history of humiliating the Chinese nation: in 1860 the Cossacks stole Outer Manchuria, and in subsequent treaties snatched legal control over all of Manchuria, establishing a naval base at Port Arthur and extending its influence as far south as Korea by 1900.

It was only a Japanese victory in the Russo-Japanese War which set Moscow back, and their defeat in the Great War further tarnished its status.

From 1917, the Russian Civil War saw the nation destroyed by fighting between the communist Red Army and non-communist White Army. It was only German support which allowed the Whites to prevail, and Russia avoided becoming a socialist republic. Yet the humiliating terms of the Treaty of Brest-Litowsk and Treaty of Minsk forced Russia to open its economy up to exploitative German terms, and acknowledge the independence of Ukraine, Belarus, and the United Baltic Duchy.

Exhausted and humiliated, the Russian people now place their faith in Boris Savinkov and his populist government. A former terrorist turned politician, Savinkov promises to restore the nation’s honour through aggressive government policies, and to lead the military to victories over the German order in Europe.

The situation continues to develop in Eastern Europe.

The Russians had won their first diplomatic victory in mid-1936, with the collapse of the United Baltic Duchy. The artificial Baltic German state had finally collapsed into the native republics of Latvia and Estonia, while German influence desperately held on in the city of Riga. The Russians were optimistic that, with time and a few weapons shipments, the other states in the Eastern Bloc may too collapse in their favour.

Regarding the Manchu Restoration, the Russian delegation was surprisingly silent. Not only was their main attention being directed West, but decades of decline had withered away most of their influence in Shanghai. Thus, like Austria, their situation had changed little with the Restoration.
It was rumoured, however, that some Russian citizens and even low-level politicians ventured out into the Qing interior, meeting with Young China Party members and bonding over their shared beliefs for an authoritarian and aggressively nationalist state.

Members of the CERA assemble within the Forbidden City for an audience with the Emperor (August 29, 1936)

For Puyi and his cabinet of advisors, foreign affairs are of little concern. First must come the process of forming a government; then rejuvinating the economy and reforming the military. Only then can the Emperor begin to extend Qing control back over the rebellious provinces, and maybe then expel the foreign imperialists from China, once and for all.

Thanks for reading.

This is Part 2 of my ongoing Great Qing AAR. You can view the full story so far here.

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April, 1936

Protests continue over the Zhili regime's neautrality in the League War (May 2, 1936)

The confused political and military environment created the perfect cover for discussions on resistance. Resenting their continued status as controlled opposition, three parties banded together to overthrow the Zhili government and initiate a complete reform of the Chinese state.

An assembly of Zongshe Party members greeting foreign dignitaries. Aisin-Gioro Zaitao, a key member and leader of its Reformist wing, stands in the centre (September, 1933)

The Zongshe Party was responsible for organising the alliance. Aisin Gioro Pujie, younger brother of the Emperor, personally assembled much of the coalition’s upper echelon, and carried a significant amount of influence among its decision making. As a party, they sought a proper restoration of the Imperial system and the reforming of China into an industrialized economy. Desiring a harmonious balance between the National Assembly and the Imperial Court, they aimed to develop the Assembly into a system resembling the Japanese Imperial Diet.

Four members of the early CERA pose for a photograph (1903)

The Chinese Empire Reform Association (CERA) eagerly committed to the cause under the shared banner of imperial restoration: with a core bloc of dedicated monarchists and a tradition of pre-Xinhai reformism, they were responsible for bringing a great deal of intellectual and middle-class support for the impending regime change. More agrarian than the Zongshe, their vision of China was decentralised, where civic life was to be based at the village level. Extensive land reform would create a system of harmony in the Chinese countryside, with moderate labour reform in the cities bringing peace and prosperity to the Middle Kingdom.

Flag of the Young China Party

The odd ones out of Restorationalist dialogue, the Young China Party was initially reluctant to join the coalition, even attempting to negotiate with the other two parties for a moderated form of restoration. Their vision was for an ambitious, aggressive overhaul of the Chinese nation-state. Heavily militarised and centralised, they desired a strong China which could survive the twentieth century. A strictly Republican party for almost all of its history, their compromised vision for the Emperor was to be largely unchanged from how it was under the Zhili.
Though eventually conceding to the Zongshe and CERA’s demands for a proper restoration, the YCP was viewed with increasing suspicion by the other two parties leading up to the coup.

With scarce military resources available to the few Manchu generals and their Baoding allies, the plotters recruited Qu Yingguang, a committed monarchist who was himself at odds with the Zhili’s long history of political corruption and concessionism. He eagerly accepted, and immediately began preparations for military intervention. Though one of the smallest in China, Qu’s army was pledged to secure the Emperor’s rule in Shandong, and then assist in putting down any Zhili forces that resisted the coup.

Unlike the Model Governor of Shanxi, we can be sure of Qu's loyalty.

With Wu desperately trying to maintain cohesion and enforce neutrality on the frontline, and Cao trying in vain to diffuse the endless protests, there was no moment to spare any attention to the vague threat of a coup. Not expecting any threat from monarchist forces, Wu instead focused on his suspicions against the Young China Party, sending a few additional forces to cover the approaches to Baoding and its military school.

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When troop movements were reported from Shandong, Wu expressed concern, but refused to believe that the province could pose a real threat. Still concerned with disorder in the south, he merely placed the existing garrisons bordering the province on higher alert.

Who gave him the authority to do this?

Likewise, a summons to the Imperial Court was, though unprecedented, not an immediate source of alarm. The Emperor did, indeed, have the constitutional ability to summon the President. The miniscule size of the monarchist parties in Beijing, and the monarchy’s general lack of public support, convinced Wu and Cao that this meeting was not connected to the country’s unrest. To the end, Wu believed that the true threat was from Baoding, where he had lost contact with several units just days prior to the planned meeting with Puyi, and where young military cadets - more easily swayed by ideology - were in training.
On the train north to Beijing, Wu’s last order to his commanders was to strengthen security in Luoyang, his personal headquarters, rather than risk resources to snuff out a potential coup in Beijing that, for all he knew, may or may not exist.

The two men arrived at the Forbidden City and walked inside, never to be seen alive again.

Death to Traitors! Long Live the Emperor!

While news of the Restoration reaches the outside world, Shandong pledges its loyalty to the Emperor.

The sudden death of the Zhili's larger-than-life commander caused an immediate rift in the army. Manchu cavalry units, while mostly ceremonial, used speed and surprise in cooperation with a few regular Army divisions to secure Beijing concurrently with the coup. However, the loyalty of the rest of the army was yet uncertain.

Surprised, disorganised and facing heavy resistance across the North China Plain, loyalist warlord forces opted to retreat south behind the Yellow River. In the confusion and void of authority they mercilessly looted and laid waste to several towns and villages as they retreated.

The troops under Central Government control, stationed north of Beijing along the Manchurian border, were already exhausted in their frustration at the Zhili's mismanagement of the nation. Stories of warlord troops marching south and terrorizing the villages in their path hardly swayed them to act against what was turning out to be a very popular coup.

When Manchu forces marched to liberate Baoding, they found the city in ruins and largely devoid of Zhili troops to fight. The YCP-alligned cadets, who had done most of the fighting, offered only a cold welcome. They were not all sold on the Restorationist vision, and many secretly harbored more radical views for China and its future. There were several tense standoffs between government troops and these Baoding cadets before the city was declared secure, and the city was brought back into government control.

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From there, the march south was swift and brutal, encircling and destroying retreating Zhili units on the way to Luoyang, and from there Wuhan.

Wuhan fell on August 16th, 1936. The birthplace of the Revolution is now its grave: the Great Qing will restore its former glory!

The fall of the River City eliminated the final Zhili stronghold, and ended the final internal threat to the new Restorationalist regime. The Zhili Clique had fallen far in mere weeks: from the masters of China to a scattered band of soldiers, retreating to the far reaches of the Chinese interior.

The state of China and East Asia immediately following the end of the Central Plains War (September 3. 1936)

With peace reigning in the Central Plains, the Restorationist government had won its first victory, and the right to survive at least for the moment. Yet for the Qing Dynasty to be truly redeemed, the political and military situations must first be rectified. Three political parties begin to vie for control of the nation, and dozens of hostile warlords watch the strife of the Central Plains with eager interest, thinking this to be their moment to claim China under their tracherous banner.

But for now, the day is won.

...

Citizens assemble at the Forbidden City (September 9, 1936).

Puyi delivers a speech together with his brother, Pujie. (AI)

On September 9th, a celebration was organised in the Forbidden City. Taking advantage of the fall of the Zhili, the Restorationalists hoped to reinforce the reputation of the Imperial institution and the personal popularity of the Emperor. Sparing no expense, entertainment and refreshments were generously provided. The excitement of the night culminated with an appearance by the Emperor himself, flanked by his brother, Pujie. The restored Emperor delivered a rousing, yet clearly scripted, address to his citizens:

>...In the decades of faith you have given the Republic, it has granted you only division and strife. With its squabbling, infighting and treachery, the Republican cause has driven our dear countrymen apart from each other. Do not forget that we are the ones who gave Zhonghua its name centuries ago*!* Only we have a legacy of bringing China together, more than any Chinese government in history. Make no mistake: this we will do a second time. There is no denying the errors of our nation's past, most shamefully our repeated defeats by the Western imperialists. In losing the trust of the nation, we allowed it to fall into Republican anarchy. Yet, today we remedied our mistakes, toppled the treacherous Zhili and brought hope to China once again! We do this not for our own glory, but to restore our rightful position as your protectors, and do what decades of Republican and Zhili rule have failed to do: create for every Chinese citizen a prosperous, secure and democratic state. This is our promise to you: that we will fight for China, its democracy, and its people!...

Though spoken by a clearly nervous Puyi, the speech was well-received. Its wording intentionally leaned into the most unpopular failings of the Zhili regime, and positioned the Qing not only as protectors and unifiers of the Chinese nation, but also guarantors of the democratic process more reliable than the former Republicans had been. More than anything, the people needed to understand that an Imperial restoration did not mean a reactionary backslide. Rather, Puyi emphasised that the Restoration would be one of progress and reform.

Few moments in modern China had been so optimistic for the future as the autumn of 1936; the antiquated reputation of the Qing monarchy reversed almost in instant. It was now the task of the Restorationalist plotters to maintain this momentum into the difficult years ahead.