Republic of China (1912–1949) instance of historical country
Names
During the mainland period, the country was known in English as "China" or the "Republic of China". Internally, Zhongguo (Chinese: 中國; lit. 'middle country'), Zhonghua or Jung-hwa (Chinese: 中華; lit. 'middle and beautiful'), or Minguo (Chinese: 民國; lit. 'people's country') were used as short forms of the official country name Zhonghua Minguo (Chinese: 中華民國; lit. 'Chinese people's state')  in Chinese. Both "Beiyang government" (from 1912 to 1928), and "Nationalist government" (from 1928 to 1949) used the name "Republic of China" as their official name. The People's Republic of China (PRC), which rules mainland China today, considers ROC as a country that ceased to exist since 1949; thus, the history of ROC before 1949 is often referred to as Republican Era (simplified Chinese: 民国时期; traditional Chinese: 民國時期) of China. The ROC, now based in Taiwan, today considers itself a continuation of the country, thus referring to the period of its mainland governance as the Mainland Period (traditional Chinese: 大陸時期; simplified Chinese: 大陆时期) of the Republic of China in Taiwan.Significance of the name
The country's official Chinese name Chunghwa Minkuo, stemmed from the party manifesto of Tongmenghui in 1905, which says the four goals of the Chinese revolution was "to expel the Manchu rulers, to revive Chunghwa, to establish a Republic, and to distribute land equally among the people. (Chinese: 驅除韃虜, 恢復中華, 創立民國, 平均地權; pinyin: Qūchú dálǔ, huīfù Zhōnghuá, chuànglì mínguó, píngjūn dì quán)." The convener of Tongmenghui and Chinese revolutionary leader Sun Yat-sen proposed the name Chunghwa Minkuo as the assumed name of the new country when the revolution succeeded. After the Xinhai revolution overthrew the Qing dynasty in 1911–12, Sun further explained the meaning of the country's Chinese name in detail in 1916:Do you know the meaning of Chunghwa Minkuo? Why don't we call it Chunghwa Konghekuo (Chinese: 中華共和國; pinyin: Zhōnghuá Gònghéguó; lit. 'Chinese republic') but rather Chunghwa Minkuo (Chinese: 中華民國; pinyin: Zhōnghuá Mínguó; lit. 'Chinese people's state')? The meaning of the Chinese character "Min" (Chinese: 民; pinyin: Mín; lit. 'people') is the result of my decade-long research. Republics in Europe and the Americas were founded before this state. With our state founded in the 20th century, we shall have the spirit of innovation but not be satisfied with mimicking those founded in the 18th and 19th centuries. A republic as a representative form of government is universal across the world. For example, despite the dichotomy of the nobles and the slaves, Greece calls its state a republican dictatorship. While the United States, with its fourteen states, sets an example of large-scale democracy, Switzerland almost practices pure democracy. As our state transforms from absolutism to representative democracy, how can we fail to innovate and fall behind other nations? Our nation should thrive to see the world, to see the brightness of democracy, to better pursue fuller democracy on our soils. Under the flag of representative systems, our people only have the right to be politically represented. If we are to pursue democracy, we will possess the rights of initiatives, nullification, and recall. But such people's rights are not appropriate to be exercised on a provincial basis but rather be on a county-wide basis. Local finance should be autonomous, while the central government's finance is funded by localities. All kinds of the rest the industries should avoid the shortcomings of American-styled trust monopolies and should be controlled by the central government. If so, within a few years, a grave, bright Republic of China will be among the top republics in the world.
On 20 October 1923, Sun again stressed that Chunghwa Minkuo means a state "of the people".History
Overview
A republic was formally established on 1 January 1912 following the Xinhai Revolution, which itself began with the Wuchang uprising on 10 October 1911, successfully overthrowing the Qing dynasty and ending over two thousand years of imperial rule in China. From its founding until 1949, the republic was based on mainland China. Central authority waxed and waned in response to warlordism (1915–1928), a Japanese invasion (1937–1945), and a full-scale civil war (1927–1949), with central authority strongest during the Nanjing Decade (1927–1937), when most of China came under the control of the authoritarian, one-party military dictatorship of the Kuomintang (KMT).In 1945, at the end of World War II, the Empire of Japan surrendered control of Taiwan and its island groups to the Allies; and Taiwan was placed under the Republic of China's administrative control. The communist takeover of mainland China in 1949, after the Chinese Civil War, left the ruling Kuomintang with control over only Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu, and other minor islands. With the loss of the mainland, the ROC government retreated to Taiwan and the KMT declared Taipei the provisional capital. Meanwhile, the CCP took over all of mainland China and founded the People's Republic of China (PRC) in Beijing.1912–1916: Founding
In 1912, after over two thousand years of imperial rule, a republic was established to replace the monarchy. The Qing dynasty that preceded the republic had experienced instability throughout the 19th century and suffered from both internal rebellion and foreign imperialism. A program of institutional reform proved too little and too late. Only the lack of an alternative regime prolonged the monarchy's existence until 1912.The Chinese Republic grew out of the Wuchang Uprising against the Qing government, on 10 October 1911, which is now celebrated annually as the ROC's national day, also known as "Double Ten Day". Sun Yat-sen had been actively promoting revolution from his bases in exile. He then returned and on 29 December, Sun Yat-sen was elected president by the Nanjing assembly, which consisted of representatives from seventeen provinces. On 1 January 1912, he was officially inaugurated and pledged "to overthrow the despotic government led by the Manchu, consolidate the Republic of China and plan for the welfare of the people". Sun's new government lacked military strength. As a compromise, he negotiated with Yuan Shikai the commander of the Beiyang Army, promising Yuan the presidency of the republic if he were to remove the Qing emperor by force. Yuan agreed to the deal. On 12 February 1912, regent Empress Dowager Longyu signed the abdication decree on behalf of the Xuantong Emperor, ending several millennia of Chinese monarchical rule. Song Jiaoren led the Kuomintang Party to electoral victories by fashioning his party's program to appeal to the gentry, landowners, and merchants. Song was assassinated on 20 March 1913, at the behest of Yuan Shikai.Yuan was elected president of the ROC in 1913. He ruled by military power and ignored the republican institutions established by his predecessor, threatening to execute Senate members who disagreed with his decisions. He soon dissolved the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) party, banned "secret organizations" (which implicitly included the KMT), and ignored the provisional constitution. An attempt at a democratic election in 1912 ended with the assassination of the elected candidate by a man recruited by Yuan. Ultimately, Yuan declared himself Emperor of China in 1915. The new ruler of China tried to increase centralization by abolishing the provincial system; however, this move angered the gentry along with the provincial governors, who were usually military men.
type of example of manifestation of representation of