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Nation Reborn: China in the Warlord Era

Nation Reborn: China in the Warlord Era
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The May Fourth Movement was an intellectual and reformist movement that reached its peak in 1919. The movement was initiated mainly by university students angry at China's treatment at the hands of Western powers. They were particularly outraged by the treatment of Shandong province, which was given to the Japanese after World War I.

In the age of warlords and wordsmiths, you, the players, will navigate the great game that is the re-founding of the Chinese nation after the perilous restoration and militarist chaos of Yuan Shikai's tyrant-reign over Beijing.
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Karen

Karen

Contemplating a blank canvas.
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Ireland

MUSIC​

Premise

It is May 4th, 1919, and a spontaneous student protest in Beijing has rapidly escalated into a fully fledged shift in Chinese society as the tenuous hold of the Republic of China is loosened in the final days leading up to the end of the Paris Peace Conference.

Though having a largely minimal role in events during and after the war, many staunch nationalists looked with hopeful eyes at the return of Qingdao, a Japanese-occupied treaty port having been originally held by the now-dead German Empire. The future of the concessions as a whole had been raised by Chinese diplomats, only to fall upon deaf ears, and the Anfu Club - a clique of officers and western-educated intellectuals influencing the nation's government - had pulled China out of negotiation in favour of avoiding provoking the rising power of Japan.

As a result, the already overarching presence of the New Culture Movement would culminate on May 4th, where protests against continued Japanese oversight in Shandong, the ineptitude of the government, and fears of another monarchist coup all culminated in this anti-imperialist and anti-feudal protests that shook the already shaken China to her core.

However, things are not limited to social disorder, as the very national order is split in three; the Zhili, Anhui and Fengtian cliques of officers stand at an impasse, with treachery and chicanery threatening to bring down the demesne raised by Yuan Shikai and Sun Wen in 1911 - ever ambitious warlords, ideological fanatics, and ruthless pragmatists - through their own greed for power and control over the rapidly modernizing nation of China.

In this game, players will take the leadership over elements of a weakened China exposed to more radical splinters beyond the more simplistic ambitions of a warlord seeking control over Beijing. If you are interested in just picking up a clique and fighting wars and generally having a more 'moderate' playthrough, look no further than the roster available below, however, if you wish to go funny mode, there is a set of instructions for those either more versed in Chinese history for the period or simply more interested in playing something 'other.'

Claim 3, 1 your most preferred, 3 least. Those marked with * are required.

Anhui Clique* -
Ruled by the strongman Duan Qirui, the Anhui Clique is divided between peacemakers and warmongers, yet it holds the fragile balance of the Beiyang regime in check as his underling Jin Yunpeng squats over the National Assembly, while the ambivalent puppet Xu Shichang simply rubber-stamps anything the de facto Generalissimo desires, including approving the highly controversial expedition into Mongolia overseen by ardent militarist and Qirui's protege, Xu Shuzheng.

(Northern) Zhili Clique* -
With Beijing in the shocks of revolution, many view the unsteady regime as having been critically weakened. In particular, the ambitious generals Cao Kun and Wu Peifu, only held in check by the venerable Feng Guozhang, as long as that peace will last. It is clear that Feng is not long for this world, and the imminent power struggle between the politicians and military men in the Zhili Clique has already split the preeminent faction's a significant amount.

(Southern) Zhili Clique* -
Li Chun was a man of ambition, as was his second-in-command, Qi Xieyuan. The two men had come to effectively rule China's second revolutionary homestead in a splintering of the Zhili Clique. Though Feng Guozhang still commands their loyalty - and respect - it is a sobering fact that they hold little interest in hanging on the coattails of Wu Peifu, nor the rest of the Baoding-centric officers in the north. With conflict brewing as China is struck by another wave of instability, opportunity presents itself when crisis strikes Hunan province...

Fengtian Clique* -
A relatively recent arrival in the byzantime game of warlord era politics, the Mukden Tiger as he has become known as, Zhang Zuolin, reigns over Manchuria almost entirely uncontested as his subordinates gleefully raid across the border into Mongolia and strife-ridden Russia, but the glory days are not to last. Meng Enyuan, governor of Harbin, has begun purging Zuolin's men from his ranks and shoring up his defenses as he flees to Changchun. This slight against the Marshal cannot stand, with a heart heavy with greed, Zhang Zuolin musters his armies to strike out and unite Manchuria once and for all.

Guangxi Clique -
A member of the true old guard, Lu Rongting stands largely uncontested in the far south of China, controlling the vast region of Liangguang with an iron fist and blatant corruption as the remnants of Sun Yat-sen's Canton government pays tribute to the mighty warlord of Nanning. Having removed the ban on opium trade, Lu Rongting has made few friends, with rumours of an army forming in southern Fujian under a banner of anti-corruption and cries of 'remove the warlord!' It seems that the rule of Nanning will soon be questioned as the puppet-governor Mo Rongxin faces increasingly stiffer resistance in Canton.

Guangdong Provincial Assembly* -
A remnant of the Guomindang's military that had fled to southern Fujian after being ousted by the Guangxi Clique, the Provincial Assembly under Chairman and Governor Chen Jiongming sits as the remnant of Sun Yat-sen's actual government in Canton, disregarding the southern puppet. An idealist to the core, Chen Jiongming has formed a united front with the warlord Deng Zhongyuan and Sun Yat-sen, who is currently in exile. This united army seeks only two things; to oust the warlord Lu Rongting and restore the Constitutional Protection Movement that had been started to resist the warlord rule of the Beiyang Army following the botched monarchist restoration.

Yunnan-Guizhou Alliance -
An incredibly tenuous alliance formed between governors Tang Jiyao and Liu Xianshi, this provincial faction, while not led by the Beijing-appointed governors, carries a great deal of legitimacy and respect among the rest of the cliques. Tang Jiyao is the protege to the highly-regarded Cai E, who rallied the National Protection Army to resist Yuan Shikai's attempt to create a new Chinese empire, the veterans of the subsequent war making up the core of Tang's new army. It has been made apparent, however, that Tang is corpulent and a republican in name only, seeking to build up his own despotic realm in southern China. In order to fulfill these ambitions, he has launched a war into Sichuan, capturing Chongqing and placing Xiong Kewu on the backfoot, but his momentum has already begun to falter as rival generals like Gu Pinzhen and Ye Quan conspire against the master of Yunnan.

Sichuan Clique -
Incredibly volatile and rife with soldiers from nearby provinces, Sichuan is a troubled land, one that hardly screams stability as the generals sent to pacify the region had opted to stay and dig in and join in on the power struggle. The abrupt invasion from the south did however put the power struggle into tailspin as Beijing-appointee Liu Cunhou openly flirts with Tang Jiyao's faction, presiding over an exiled army in southern Shensi, while the real bastion of anti-Yunnanese effort has holed up in Chengdu under the tentative leadership of Xiong Kewu. A talented officer and dreamer, Kewu is comparably more radical than his counterparts, a fact that has disgruntled many in his army, and should the war against Yunnan go poorly, Xiong Kewu may not last as the disputed leader of Sichuan.

Shanxi Clique -
Having held power for nearly a decade, Yan Xishan is a pragmatic man. Lacking the aggressive ambition of many of his peers, he has opted to simply make Shanxi a better place to live and bolster his own control over the province. Having preserved through the highs and lows of the last decade, many expect Yan Xishan to last for another twenty years at this rate, though increasing tensions in Beijing and the recent upheaval have raised concerns that his province may come under threat, and, lacking any allies either abroad or at home, the rule of the 'Model Governor' may come to a premature end should he not act on the opportunity.

Khosorut League -
In a region where Mongols, Tibetans, Turkics and Han mingle in a melting pot of rural countryside and small villages dominated entirely by tribes, it is no surprise that the eccentric holds precedence here. The League, a nicety applied to the unchecked power of the Qinghai Ma tribe under Ma Qi - a veteran of the Boxer Rebellion - has taken almost total control over the crossroads into China's wild frontier, including the lucrative Hexi corridor, turning the entire region into effective bandit country loyal to him and his Hui cousins in Ningxia, fighting a protracted war of attrition against the Beijing-appointee Zhang Guangjian, whose nominal loyalties to the Anhui Clique are only meddled by his ties to the last Imperial dynasty as the former pro-Qing governor of Shandong. Save for the hanging sword that is the Jingguojun or NPA stranded in Henan and Shensi, the League is largely uncontested in their corner of the nation, save, of course, for the imminent instability in Mongolia.

Sinkiang Clique -
The wild frontier of China, Xinjiang was not just a land as diverse as one could find in northern China, but it was large, the entire province being larger than the German Empire with a population of similar proportions. Despite this, after the 1913 attempted Qumul revolt, the region has seen an unprecedented peace, governor Yang Zengxin recognizing and largely avoiding the strife of China by keeping his head down both proverbially and literally. Though the Beijing government outwardly despised Zengxin as he was an open monarchist, being elevated to Count by Yuan Shikai for his support of Yuan's attempted restoration. Despite this, Yang's close alliance with the large population of Sufi muslims living in the province and his relatively relaxed relations with the native Uyghur population meant that any replacement would have large shoes to fill, and a great deal of enemies from the start.

However China is not all warlords, and, to show that off in an interesting manner, I will also allow players to claim provinces and make them more 'whacky', in the sense that in addition to apply for x province, you'll also be able to explain to me what happened to it in the wake of the May Fourth Movement. Basically, all I am asking is that you add to your claims a brief rundown of the state of the province following a massive period of social unrest; this means for the most part you will be no longer a constituent of the Republic of China and functionally independent, do keep that in mind when you apply. Therefore, Beijing, Zhili, Fengtian, Anhui, Guangdong, and Jiangsu provinces will not be available to claim for the 'whacky' path. There is also a soft cap of 15 players total, as well. The basic format to this is just write down whichever province you intend to start in and give me a brief summary of what you intend to do, and I can help you with leaders and the like, do make sure to give me an exact indication however as I don't want to make any presumptions in this.

For those who are uncertain if they would fit in due to a lack of historical knowledge on the period, have no fear, because I am certainly not going to be a perfectionist when it comes to presentation; if the total extent of your knowledge on the Warlord Era is HoI4 (specifically Kaiserreich) or background info in forum games, that would be more or less enough to get started and get involved. One thing I should note is that for the sake of ease of understanding, Shaanxi will be referred to as Shensi during the course of the game, while Shanxi will retain the pinyin translation. I'll also provide flags if you need one for your territory. If you do go for a provincial thing like what I have described, make sure to list 2 other claims, though they don't have to be provinces, they can just be cliques.

For a provincial reference list, please see HERE

In addition, if you have any questions or clarifications, and just to help me coordinate the game better, check out the Discord here:
discord.gg

Discord - Group Chat That’s All Fun & Games

Discord is great for playing games and chilling with friends, or even building a worldwide community. Customize your own space to talk, play, and hang out.
discord.gg discord.gg

Mechanics & Rules

This game will largely run on the precedent of GM fiat, with a rough national ledger being updated every 5 turns to indicate the upturn and downturn of China over the course of the game. See below for the starting layout, and an example of a player stat-line:


REPUBLIC OF CHINA
Leader: President Xu Shichang
Government type: Federal parliamentary republic
Ideology: Republican constitutionalism with statist tendency (Anfu Club)
Capital: Beijing
Government Popularity: Medium--
Government Stability: Medium--
Economic Outlook: Poor

Anhui Clique
Leader: Duan Qirui
Ideology: Moderate Republican
Stability: 8
Army (split into size/quality): Medium/Average
Air force: Small/Poor
Navy: Small/Poor
Player: NPC

Key for military stats:
Size: Small / Medium / Large
Quality: Poor / Average / Good / Elite


Before that, I would like to clarify that order will fall under two categories; a general order and war order, and that these will cover a year of in-game time unless otherwise requested, however it is general precedent that the faster you send you orders in, the higher odds of a mini as I have a lot of free time on my hands at the moment. A soft cap of 300 words is the general ruling.

Aside from that, all that I ask is that people have fun and leave their grudges at the door, as will I try my best to make the game as enjoyable as possible. Respect the rules of SV like you would any other place.
 
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    • 1. The Peach Garden League (Fukien)
    The empire, long divided, must unite; long united, must divide. Thus it has ever been. The Peach Garden League was founded from the inspiration of the Peach Garden Oath. Three brothers from the three different families rose to power within the same region. The first was Bai Jun, an educated man whose love for knowledge and books was known to all within the capital of the province. The next was Mao Lan, a man without peer, for his peers were slain in the coup that saw their final brother rise to power. Yan Jin was a charismatic man who has lived his life as righteously as he could. Yan Jin was a conscript within the army, sentenced to die in the fighting the good man broke. Leading a coup against the government, with his brothers in arms (conscripts) they surprisingly managed to take over the city of Fuzhou and form there managed to secure the rest of the Fukien Provence from those who lost their ways.

    Ruling the region with a gentle palm, Yan Jin now seeks to show the people of china that the Empire, now divided, is stronger together and united. Calling himself the Grand Governor he seeks to return to the old ways romanticized in the Three Kingdoms era

    2. Shanxi Clique
    3. Sinkiang Clique
     
    Province: Shanghai/Zhejiang

    When the May 4 Movement began, Shanghai and its neighboring province of Zhejiang were under the rule of Yang Shande, a Beiyang governor unremarkable in most respects except his unwavering support of a Chinese monarchy. This led him to back both Yuan Shikai, who made him an Imperial count, and the attempted Qing restoration. However, when May 4 arrived, his popularity rapidly plummeted among a public no longer content to return to the old status quo in China.

    Despite Yang's attempts to keep order, the workers of Shanghai and peasants of Zhejiang began to form dissident organizations to free themselves from monarchist rule. And as new ideological thought began to spread throughout China, many of these organizations adopted the tenets of anarchist communism.

    When revolution finally came for Yang, it was swift and surprisingly bloodless—many of the soldiers he would have relied on to suppress dissent had already defected to the anarchists. The international concessions, however, remained largely intact as the rebels focused their efforts on their hated ruler. Though this probably saved the young commune from the vengeance of the Western powers, it also meant that the concessions would remain as poisonous thorns in its side for the foreseeable future.

    Nonetheless, the farmers and laborers enthusiastically set about the task of reorganizing the province, setting up new institutions while dismantling the old. Though hopeful news had reached their ears of their ideals spreading elsewhere in China, they remained wary of the response to their revolution at home and abroad, knowing everything would depend on whether they could defend what they'd won...

    2. Yunnan Clique/Yunnan-Guizhou Alliance
    3. Khosorut League/Kokounur League/Ma Clique
     
    1. Fengtian Clique
    2.
    Hunan Province: Zhang Jingyao was a cheap thug and totally corrupt, even by the standards of an Anhui Clique warlord. The May Fourth Movement gave the people the courage to rise up against his army of glorified bandits. The resulting bloody massacre in the capital city of Changsha saw the governor burn alive in his palace and his remaining troops abandoning the city, joining their compatriots in the countryside. It came at the cost of thousands of civilian lives and the ruination of a city already brought low by two years of shortsighted dictatorship. With the warlord's troops dispersed and the protest leaders, including many politically active school and university teachers and professors, slain governance of Changsha and with it Hunan fell to a council meeting of local property owners and merchants, those who had survived Zhang's murderous larceny.
    3. Ahui Clique
     
    1. Sinkiang Clique
    2. Shanxi Clique
    3. Guangdong Provincial Assembly
     
    Keeping applications open until Monday. Have some silly geese who said they'll join but haven't.
     
    1. Fujian
    In the chaos of the warlord battles proceeding after the founding of the Republic, Fujian would see particularly effervescent social movements. Of varied form, one crucially influenced by the Guangzhou Group of anarchism would manage to achieve starting superiority through both luck and labor. Labor, in that they proposed working among both workers and peasants, and were able to join the two together in organization, and luck in that after a pyrrhic skirmish in the mountains, the local warlord's government singled them out as the major public threat- and, given his unpopularity, led to many to rally around that group.

    The first victory would come in the mountains, after which the warlord would be assassinated by a local's propaganda of the deed, which destabilized the local government enough for the capital to be taken, and that success would make the demoralized warlord armies retreat- not being paid enough to die. The resulting situation is as such that a vanguard of anarchists lead the province, eager to expand their thought internally and externally.
    2. Rehe
    The expulsion of revolutionaries, suspected dissidents, and general busybodies from the capital of Beijing did not quite achieve its intended purpose: they simply migrated a measure north and set up in the province of Rehe, united by common grievances and the trip; as a single group they were able to organize resistance to the local government with the already embittered locals, and collapsed the warlord from within, splitting his conscripted forces. Now a united front of generally socialist and nationalist-antiimperialist tendency, they hope to return to Beijing and liberate it for the future.
    3. Northern Zhili Clique
    Wu Peifu, thank you
     
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    The first wave of claims have been accepted, see THIS map for a reference as to which provinces have been taken (marked in green!)

    I will keep accepting people for the rest of the day while I work on Robert's Rebellion.

    EDIT: Check the post above for the actual list of claims, sorry.
     
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    I don't know much about Chinese warlord era. So can I didn't make claims and played whatever random nations given to me?
     
    Jack Jack said:
    I don't know much about Chinese warlord era. So can I didn't make claims and played whatever random nations given to me?
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    If you want ideas from KR:HOI4, you could always go for the Northern Zhili Clique or Yunnan- they've roughly the same leaders as in the mod, and they're not particularly complicated, being warlord alliances.
     
    1. The Peach Garden League (Hubei)
    The empire, long divided, must unite; long united, must divide. Thus it has ever been. The Peach Garden League was founded from the inspiration of the Peach Garden Oath. Three brothers from the three different families rose to power within the same region. The first was Bai Jun, an educated man whose love for knowledge and books was known to all within the capital of the province. The next was Mao Lan, a man without peer, for his peers were slain in the coup that saw their final brother rise to power. Yan Jin was a charismatic man who has lived his life as righteously as he could. Yan Jin was a conscript within the army, sentenced to die in the fighting the good man broke. Leading a coup against the government, with his brothers in arms (conscripts) they surprisingly managed to take over the city of Fuzhou and form there managed to secure the rest of the Fukien Provence from those who lost their ways.

    Ruling the region with a gentle palm, Yan Jin now seeks to show the people of china that the Empire, now divided, is stronger together and united. Calling himself the Grand Governor he seeks to return to the old ways romanticized in the Three Kingdoms era

    Im adding more info and stuff tonight after I get off work
     
    So this thread will be more active on SV or discord? And will players required to join discord? Because I only opened discord once a week ( I shared computers with my wife. I using SV on mobile)
     
    Jack Jack said:
    So this thread will be more active on SV or discord? And will players required to join discord? Because I only opened discord once a week ( I shared computers with my wife. I using SV on mobile)
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...

    I'm generally on both actively, but there is no requirement to join the Discord unless you just want to post memes and generally joke around.
     
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