Yünnan Rebellion of 1915

a troop uprising in December 1915 in Yünnan Province that was provoked by the attempt of Yüan Shih-k’ai to become emperor. Known in Soviet historical literature as the Third Revolution, it initiated a widespread anti-monarchical movement in China. The rebellion was organized and led by liberals from the Chin-pu Tang (Progressive Party) and former members of the revolutionary party T’ungmeng Hui who had taken part in the bourgeois Hsinhai Revolution of 1911–13.

On Dec. 12, 1915, Yüan announced that he would accept the title of emperor. On December 25 the generals Ts’ai Ao and T’ang Chiyao proclaimed Yünnan independent of Peking. In January 1916 the troops of Yünnan, which had named themselves the Army of National Protection, launched a northern campaign to defeat Yüan. By June 1916 the rebellion had been joined by the provinces of Kweichow, Kwangsi, Kwangtung, Chekiang, Szechwan, and Hunan. On June 6, Yüan suddenly died. The new Peking government proclaimed the restoration of the republican constitution of 1912. The attempt to restore the monarchy collapsed.