The New Army (Traditional Chinese: 新軍, Simplified Chinese: 新军; Pinyin: Xīnjūn, Manchu: Ice cooha), more fully called the Newly Created Army ( Xinjian Lujun), was the combined modernised army corps formed under the Qing dynasty in December 1895, following its defeat in the First Sino-Japanese War. At first it consisted of a few experimental units, but after 1901 it was envisioned as a regular and professional army, fully trained and equipped according to Western standards with a reserve. In 1903 an imperial edict expanded it to 36 divisions of 12,500 men each, or total of 450,000 in peacetime supplemented by a further 523,000 reservists in wartime, though it never achieved a strength above 300,000.

1895-1897

thumb|upright=1.5|Chinese soldiers in 1899–1901. Left: three infantrymen of the New Imperial Army. Front: drum major of the regular army. Seated on the trunk: field artilleryman. Right: Boxers.

A forerunner to the effort of modernising the Chinese army was created before the end of the Sino-Japanese War: in February 1895, the Qing court assembled its Dingwu or the Pacification Army ( Dingwu jun), consisting of 10 battalions or ying (), totaling 4,750 men. This was initially organized by and aided by German advisor Constantin von Hanneken. However, after one year of training, this force had not yet been trained sufficiently to meet western standards.

thumb|Pacification Army ( Dingwu jun) in 1895.

The Chien Men gate refers to the Zhengyangmen.

The successful example of the new army was followed in other provinces. The New Army of Yuan was renamed the Beiyang Army on June 25, 1902, after Yuan was officially promoted to the "Minister of Beiyang". By the end of the dynasty in 1911, most provinces had established sizable new armies; however, Yuan's army was still most powerful, comprising six groups and numbering more than 75,000 men. The Qing unified all of China's armies into one force, the "Chinese Army", which was commonly still called the New Army. Two-thirds of the Chinese Army was Yuan's Beiyang Army.

During the Xinhai Revolution, most of the non-Beiyang forces as well as some Beiyang units in the Chinese Army revolted against the Qing. Yuan led the Beiyang Army into opposing the revolution while also negotiating for the Qing's surrender and his ascendency to the presidency of the new republic.

Politics and modernisation

thumb|left|Uniforms of the New Army, 1910.

thumb|Hubei New Army honour guards and military band

Yuan kept a tight grip on the command of the army after its establishment by installing officials only loyal to him; however, after his death in 1916, the army groups were quickly fragmented into four major forces of combative warlords, according to the locations of garrisons. These army groups and generals played different roles in the politics of the Republic of China until the establishment of the People's Republic of China following the Chinese Communist Party's victory in the Chinese Civil War.

One of the most important legacies of the New Army was the professionalisation of the military and perhaps introduction of militarism to China. Previously, almost any male could join and soldiers were mostly poor, landless and illiterate peasants. The New Armies moved beyond the personalised recruitment and patronage of Zeng Guofan and Zuo Zongtang, which had been successful in the mid-century uprisings, but seemed discredited in the face of modern armies in Japan and the West. The New Army began screening volunteers and created modern military academies to train officers. The modernisation and professionalisation of the New Army impressed many in the gentry class to join. The young Chiang Kai-shek, for instance, briefly attended Yuan's Baoding Military Academy, which thus influenced him in forming his Whampoa Academy, which trained a succeeding generation of soldiers. Yuan and his successors equated military dominance of the political sphere with national survival. The political army would become a dominant force in China for much of the twentieth century.

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File:Qing new army 1905.jpg|Qing soldiers of a New Army unit in 1905.

File:New army generals and bureaucracies of Hubei.jpg|New Army constables in Wuchang in 1906

File:China army manoeuvers LCCN2014688611.jpg|Qing New Army manoeuvres

File:China army manoeuvers LCCN2014688612.jpg|Qing New Army manoeuvres

File:Qing New army officers and soldiers 1911.jpg|Qing New Army in 1911

File:Soldiers of the Qing Dynasty’s New Army.jpg|Qing New Army in Chengdu in 1911

File:New Army 3rd division officers training.jpg|Qing constables training

File:Chinese Army officers LCCN2014688609.jpg|New Army constables

File:Qing New army officers.jpg|New Army constables

File:New Army 2nd division manoeuvres 1910 03.jpg|New Army in 1910

File:Cavalry of the Chinese new army.jpg|Cavalry of the Qing New Army

File:Chinese Army LCCN2014688614.jpg|Chinese medics of the Qing New Army

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Zhang Zhidong in Liangjiang

Following the disastrous performance of the Qing armies in the First Sino-Japanese War Zhang zhidong the then Viceroy of Liangjiang stated in a memorial that he intended to raise a 10,000 strong German-trained army with 8 infantry battalions of 250, 2 artillery battalions of 200, 2 cavalry battalions of 180 and 1 engineer battalion of 100 men with more men including doctors, veterinarians and armourers but no support staff such as quarter-masters, transportation or signal units. 35 Germans were to serve in the new army not as instructors but as actual commanders of the units. Every 6 months the German officers were to rotate to a new group of soldiers matching the numbers listed above and to train these men thus in 2 years Zhang Zhidong was to possess 10,000 crack German-trained soldiers it was estimated the 10,000 strong force would cost 440,000 taels annually. The memorial was approved however the force was transferred to Liu Kunyi who did not raise the army beyond its original group and increase it to the proposed 10,000 men as the throne feared provincial officials commanding powerful armies and wanted the force under the more conservative Liu.

Notable figures of Beiyang

thumb|Several notable figures such as [[Zaitao, Zaixun, Xu Shichang, Sheng Xuanhuai, Zaizhen, and Yinchang]]

  • Yuan Shikai (袁世凱)
  • Duan Qirui (段祺瑞)
  • Wang Yingkai (王英楷)
  • Wu Peifu (吳佩孚)
  • Feng Guozhang (馮國璋)
  • Sun Chuanfang (孫傳芳)
  • Xu Shichang (徐世昌)
  • Wang Shizhen (王士珍)
  • Cao Kun (曹錕)
  • Zhang Xun (張勳)
  • Feng Yuxiang (馮玉祥)
  • Lu Yongxiang (盧永祥)
  • Xu Shuzheng (徐樹錚)
  • Zhang Zhizhong (張治中)
  • Song Zheyuan (宋哲元)
  • Tang Shengzhi (唐生智)
  • Qin Dechun (秦德純)
  • Qi Xieyuan (齊燮元)

See also

  • Military of the Qing dynasty
  • Military history of China before 1912
  • Late Qing reforms
  • Beiyang Army
  • Ever Victorious Army

Explanatory notes

References

Citations

Sources

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