Beiyang Government

Republic of China Government
（北洋政府）
1913－1915 1916－1917 1917－1928
Flag Coat of arms
Republic of China in 1926
Capital		Beijing
Languages		Chinese
Government		Parliamentary system 1913-1914 Presidential system 1914-1916 Parliamentary system 1916-1923 Presidential system 1923-1924 Parliamentary system 1924-1924 Presidential system 1924-1926 Parliamentary system 1926-1927 Presidential system 1924-1926 Military dictatorship 1927-1928
Historical era		20 Century
•	President inauguration	10/10 1913
•	Legislative Yuan open meeting	1913/4/8
•	May Fourth Movement	1919/5/4
•	Northern Expedition	1926/7/29
•	Guojun Government collapse	1928/6/3
•	Chinese reunification	12/29 1928
Preceded by Succeeded by Provisional Government of the Republic of China (1912) Empire of China (1915–16) Manchu Restoration Empire of China (1915–16) Manchu Restoration Nationalist government
Today part of		People's Republic of China  Republic of China  Mongolia  Russia  Tajikistan  Afghanistan  Pakistan  Bhutan  Myanmar  North Korea  India

The Beiyang government (北洋政府), also sometimes spelled Peiyang Government (Chinese: 北洋政府; pinyin: běiyáng zhèngfǔ), refers to the government of the Republic of China, which was in place in the capital city Beijing from 1912 to 1928. It was internationally recognized as the legitimate Chinese government. The name derives from the Beiyang Army, which dominated its politics with the rise of Yuan Shikai, who was a general of the previous imperial Qing government. After his death the army fractured into competing factions. Although the government and the state were nominally under civilian control under a constitution, the Beiyang generals were effectively in charge of it, with various factions vying for power. The government however enjoyed legitimacy abroad along with diplomatic recognition, had access to the tax and customs revenue, and could apply for foreign financial loans.

Domestically, its legitimacy however was challenged by Sun Yat-sen's Guangzhou-based Kuomintang (KMT) government movement in 1917. His successor Chiang Kai-shek defeated the Beiyang warlords during the Northern Expedition in 1926-28 and overthrew the government. The Kuomintang installed their Nationalist government in Nanjing and China's political order became a one-party regime, and subsequently received international recognition.

Under the Provisional Constitution of the Republic of China as drawn up by the provisional senate in February 1912, the National Assembly (parliament) elected the president and vice president for five-year terms, and appointed a premier to choose and lead the cabinet. The relevant ministers had to countersign executive decrees for them to be binding. The most important ministries were army, finance, communications, and interior. The navy ministry's importance declined significantly after most of its ships defected to the South's Constitutional Protection Movement in 1917. The communications ministry was also responsible for transportation, mail, and the Bank of Communications and was the base of the influential Communications Clique. The interior ministry was responsible for policing and security while the weaker ministry of justice handled judicial affairs and prisons. The ministry of foreign affairs had a renowned diplomatic corps with figures such as Wellington Koo. Because the generals required their skills, the foreign affairs ministry was given substantial independence. The ministry's greatest accomplishment was the 1922 return of German concessions in Shandong that were seized by Japan during World War I which greatly boosted the government's reputation. The foreign affairs ministry successfully denied the South's government of any international recognition all the way until the Beiyang government collapsed. China was a founding member of the League of Nations.