45 Facts About Duan Qirui

Duan Qirui was a Chinese warlord, politician and commander of the Beiyang Army who ruled as the effective dictator of northern China in the late 1910s.

Duan Qirui was the Premier of the Republic of China on four occasions between 1913 and 1918, and from 1924 to 1926 he served as acting Chief Executive of the Republic of China in Beijing.

Duan Qirui opposed Yuan's restoration of monarchy in China and, upon Yuan's death, continued as premier and took effective control of northern China.

Duan Qirui's tenure was marked by political infighting as well as conflict with southern parliamentarians under the leadership of Sun Yat-sen.

In 1917, Duan Qirui took part in suppressing another attempt to restore the monarchy, and spearheaded China's involvement in the First World War on the side of the Allies.

Duan Qirui negotiated a series of loans with Japan, with which he built up the Anhui clique and prepared for a conquest of the south.

Duan Qirui came out of retirement in 1924 to head Zhang Zuolin and Feng Yuxiang's Beiyang government, but was again deposed after Zhang's victory over Feng in the Anti-Fengtian War.

Duan Qirui subsequently retired to Tianjin before settling in Shanghai, where he died in 1936.

Duan Qirui's grandfather was Duan Pei, an officer in Li Hongzhang's privately raised Huai Army.

Duan Qirui's father died early and he was raised by his maternal grandmother.

In 1885 Duan Qirui entered Tianjin Military Academy, specializing in artillery, and graduated at the top of his class.

Duan Qirui first saw action in the Boxer Rebellion, where he served Yuan in Shandong province and distinguished himself in combat against the Boxers.

Duan Qirui was further named to Yuan's cabinet as minister of war in 1912, then premier in 1913 while keeping his position as war minister.

Duan Qirui rose to power as a close ally of Yuan Shikai, but the two came to increasingly disagree with each other over various issues as time went on.

One of the main problems was that Duan Qirui began to amass influence over the Beiyang Army as minister of war, thereby undermining Yuan's own control over the soldiers.

Duan Qirui served as premier intermittently from 1913 to 1918, under several governments, as part of a series of shaky coalitions.

In 1916, when Yuan Shikai was on his deathbed, he called several of the most important political and military figures in his government, including Duan Qirui, to hear his last political testament.

Duan Qirui consulted with other senior military leaders of northern China, calculated that Li was the weakest and least popular of the three and then successfully pressured him to take the presidency, possibly under the rationale that a weak, unpopular president would be easier to manipulate.

Duan Qirui was opposed by both President Li Yuanhong and Vice President Feng Guozhang, the second most important Beiyang military commander after Duan himself.

Duan Qirui decided to take action against southern military commanders by reassigning them to other posts and thereby breaking their control.

Duan Qirui saw an opportunity to ingratiate China with the European powers and the US by declaring on the side of the Allies against Central powers.

However, Duan Qirui was opposed again by both the president and vice-president, along with most of the parliament.

Duan Qirui was impatient to gain parliament's approval through negotiation and resorted to bullying tactics with organized mobs.

Duan Qirui was returned to power while Li Yuanhong, having had enough of Beiyang politics, resigned the presidency.

Duan Qirui declared war on Germany and Austria-Hungary Empire and took back Germany's settlement and Austria Hungary's settlement in Tianjin.

Duan Qirui hoped that China could gain international prestige by involving itself in "The Great War".

Duan Qirui dispatched two former subordinates of Feng Guozhang to the south to conquer Hunan, the linchpin of central China; one of these commanders was Wu Peifu.

Nevertheless, Duan Qirui still exercised enormous influence in Beijing due to the various military commanders who were still loyal to him.

Feng Guozhang was forced to reappoint him to the cabinet as Minister of War, and Duan Qirui dispatched troops to the south.

Duan Qirui ordered Zhang Zuolin, military ruler of Manchuria, to send troops to Beijing as a ploy to further pressure Feng to restore him to the premiership.

President Feng Guozhang's term expired on October 10,1918; in an attempt to placate the south, he agreed not to seek re-election provided Duan Qirui vacate the office of premier on the same day.

Duan Qirui's position was weakening as rumours of his secret dealings with the Japanese began to surface.

In retribution, Duan Qirui forced the new president to dismiss both Cao and Wu even though there was no possible way to actually remove them from their posts.

Duan Qirui renamed his army the "National Pacification Army" and mobilized them for war with the Zhili clique and its supporters.

Jin Yunpeng, who had been a protege of Duan Qirui, was appointed premier in August 1920.

Duan Qirui called on Sun Yat-sen and the Kuomintang in the south to restart negotiations towards national reunification.

Duan Qirui dispatched military police to disperse the protesters, and in the resulting melee 47 protesters were killed and over 200 injured, including Li Dazhao, co-founder of the Communist Party.

The next month Feng Yuxiang again revolted, this time against the Fengtian clique, and deposed Duan Qirui, who was forced to flee to Zhang Zuolin for protection.

Duan Qirui exiled himself to Tianjin and later moved to Shanghai where he died on November 2,1936.

Duan Qirui gained a reputation as tough and authoritarian, but without a great love for public office.

Duan Qirui was observed to have a "Buddhist inclination", and enjoyed solitude.

Duan Qirui delegated great authority to his subordinates, and generally supported their decisions.

Duan Qirui was well known as a player and patron of weiqi.

Duan Qirui usually won because his opponents feared defeating him, with the exception of his son-in-law, who was a patron of weiqi and was not afraid of defeating his father-in-law.

Duan Qirui kept a hen farm at home to provide him with eggs, but kept no roosters, as he claimed that without fertilization, the eggs remained vegetarian.