Shanxi Clique

The **Shanxi Clique**, is a Chinese warlord state located in the Shanxi province and, most recently, the Suiyuan province. It is ruled by warlord Yan Xishan. *De jure*, the Shanxi Clique is connected to the Beiyang government. *De facto*, the Shanxi Clique mostly operates independently of the government in Peking and it's primary warlord armies(Zhili and Fengtian Cliques).

The province has always historically been geographically isolated. Originally, the Shanxi Clique was part of the Beiying army but split off once the period of High Warlordism commenced heading into the twenties.

## Origins

The origins of the Shanxi Clique go as far back as the 1911 Xinhai revolution, in which Yan Xishan was a prominent revolutionary that emerged from that war. During this period, swearing allegiance for the rebellion as an official would certainly mean death by decapitation if the Qing were to succeed in crushing the rebellion. Many of Yan Xishan's close associates did not declare themselves as officials to avoid this punishment.

When the Qing were defeated in the Rebellion, Yan was appointed as military governor of his home province of Shanxi from which he helped drive the Manchus from. During the period following the 1911 revolution, Yan attempted to undermine the powerful post-revolution general Yuan Shikai by joining with another Shanxi Revolutionary official Wu Luzhen. Yan sent his forces over to the Niangzi Mountain Pass in Western Shanxi, expecting an attack from Peking. Although Yan was ordered to suppress the revolutionaries, he had sympathy to them due to his experiences as a student in Japan aswell as being influenced by Japanese agent Kawashima Naniwa who wished to prevent Yuan from establishing a powerful central Chinese government that could resist Japan's future demands.

Yuan Shikai was able to intercept a telegraph from Wu Luzhen to which made him furious. Yuan encircled Wu's headquarters in a surprise attack and executed him and all of his staffers on the spot. Yuan order his troops under the command of Cao Kun and Wu Peifu to attack the Niangzi Pass. Yan Xishan was able to hold the pass on the initial attack but his troops dropped their weapons and fled by the time a second assault came. Instead of regrouping his forces to defend Taiyuan, Yan decided to move with his army to the northwest where he was able to meet up with revolutionary insurgents from the neighboring Shaanxi. Yan was able to keep his army intact as a result until the abdication of Yuan Shikai. When Yuan announced he would reestablish the monarchy, Yan had pledged his support to Yuan in which he accepted a title of nobility and even sent his own parents to Peking as hostages. Despite these collaborationist gestures to Yuan, Yan and his army were ultimately distant and unfriendly to the National Protection War which Yuan was caught up in. He would oust Yuan sympathizers a year after Yuan's death and defeat in that war.

## The Warlord Era

During the turbulent period after Yuan's death between rival warlords seething for power, Yan's forces had recieved a defeat in the neighboring Henan province with a local warlord there. This military defeat convinced Yan that Shanxi was too underdeveloped to support an army efficient enough to fight in any of the warlord conflicts. As a result, Yan's Shanxi Clique would remain generally neutral from the other conflicts and would focus on modernization of the province and it's resources.

Yan Xishan played the politics with neighboring warlords carefully, favoring only the warlords that would emerge victorious. Originally, Yan had aligned with the Anhui clique and began sending money to the clique but quickly became to be more distant as the Anhui Clique warlord Duan Qirui's army received devastating blows in the Henan province. When he was ordered to put down a revolt in the Shaanxi province, Yan had sent his troops there but had assured the Revolutionaries that his forces would leave them be. The final straw in the frigid alliance was when Duan began pressing Yan to transfer authority over to hand-picked individuals from Peking.

### First Zhili-Fengtian War

By 1920, Yan began increasing good relations with the Zhili Clique which had recently defeated the Anhui. At the same time, Yan continued sending money to the Anhui in case they would regain their power. By 1922, Yan had aligned with Cao Kun and Wu Peifu in order to appease the neighboring warlord Feng Yuxiang in Chachar who by this point were fighting in the First Zhili-Fengtian War. Despite his acts of good faith, Yan's authority was constantly in a struggle of being undermined by the Beiying Government.

### Second Zhili-Fengtian War

By 1924, the Second Zhili-Fengtian War had begun. In October of that year, Feng Yuxiang betrayed the Zhili warlords in the Beijing Coup. Yan had tried to appease the initial victors by sending troops to the Henanese Railway Junction to block Wu Peifu's forces from being reinforced. In order to retain good relations with the Zhili, Yan fired the commander of his troops at the junction for "exceeding his orders" for turning back Wu's forces. Feng Yuxiang, however, was unable to be fooled and even marked claims on northern Shanxi. Yan Xishan also was able to gain Duan Qirui's favor due to his limited power as president in Peking. In the end, Duan Qirui, Yan Xishan, Wu Peifu, and Cao Kun had formed a coalition that had undermined Feng's power predominantly to the Shaanxi area.