Republic of China (中华民国, 1912–1949)
Xinhai Revolution (辛亥革命) ended the Great Qing
In 1905, revolution leaders Sun Zhong-shan (孙中山, 1866–1935) and Song Jiao-ren (宋教仁, 1882–1913) met in Tokyo and founded the Chinese Revolutionary Alliance (中国同盟会), a secret society of underground resistance movement to the ruling regime.
In order to stop the Qing government from securing foreign loans at the cost of nationalizing all railroad lines, the local resistance forces, with support from the Chinese Revolutionary Alliance, successfully staged the Wuchang Uprising (武昌起义) on 10th October 1911. A series of similar revolts broke out across the country, renouncing the Great Qing Dynasty. Together, they are called the Xinhai Revolution (辛亥革命); because 1911 was the year of Xinhai according to the traditional Chinese calendar.
On 1st January 1912, the revolutionary forces declared the establishment of the Republic of China (中华民国), with Sun Zhong-shan as the President. This brought an end to the 2,132 years of imperial rule in China.
The country was subsequently divided into regional fractions, each ran by a powerful warlord.
Japanese invasion of Manchuria
On 18th September 1931, a Japanese Lieutenant, Suemori Kawamoto, of the 29th Japanese Infantry Regiment (独立守备队), detonated a small dynamite near a railway line near Shenyang (沈阳). Japan owned this line. Even though the explosion was not severe, and a train passed over it a few minutes later successfully, the Japanese accused the Chinese of insurrectionism and responded with a full-scale invasion that led to the occupation of Manchuria. Six months later, Manchuria became Manchukuo (满洲国, 1932–1945), a puppet state of the Empire of Japan (大日本帝国, 1868–1947). From 1934 to 1945, the Japanese ruled the country through a puppet emperor Aisin-Gioro Puyi (爱新觉罗溥仪), or Emperor Kang-de (康德皇帝), to legitimise their power.
On 7th July 1937, a dispute between the Japanese and Chinese troops at the Marco Polo Bridge (卢沟桥) gave impetus to a Japanese invasion of China; the bridge was located 15 kilometres southwest of the Fengtai District (丰台区) of Beijing. This marked the beginning of World War II in Asia and served as the Chinese Theatre of the much wider Second World War.