The rule of the last Emperor of China, Yuan Shikai, came to an end on this day 94 years ago. Yuan Shikai had held influential military and political positions during the final period of the Qing dynasty. As commander of the Beiyang Army, he held a stronger military position than the revolutionary forces which created the Republic of China, and the revolutionaries reluctantly agreed to him becoming the president.
Yuan Shikai was sworn in as provisional president of the Republic of China on 10 March 1912. Democratic elections for the National Assembly were held in the following year, and the Chinese Nationalist Party were victorious. A power struggle ensued, and Yuan used his military power to take over the government, dissolving the national and provincial assemblies.
With the country under military rule, Yuan declared himself Emperor, commencing on 1 January 1916. Opposition to his rule grew quickly and his power base eroded, so that he was forced to abdicate after less than three months. He died of kidney failure later the same year. The army fragmented into numerous rival groups led by warlords, and his legacy of instability plagued China for the next two decades.