The Anhui clique () was a military and political organization, one of several mutually hostile

clique A clique ( AusE, CanE, or ), in the social sciences, is a group of individuals who interact with one another and share similar interests. Interacting with cliques is part of normative social development regardless of gender, ethnicity, or popular ...

s or factions that split from the

Beiyang clique The Beiyang Army (), named after the Beiyang region,Hong Zhang (2019)"Yuan Shikai and the Significance of his Troop Training at Xiaozhan, Tianjin, 1895–1899" ''The Chinese Historical Review'' 26(1) was a large, Western-style Imperial Chinese ...

in the Republic of China's Warlord Era. It was named after

Anhui Anhui , (; formerly romanized as Anhwei) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the East China region. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze River ...

province because several of its generals–including its founder,

Duan Qirui Duan Qirui (; ) (March 6, 1865 – November 2, 1936) was a Chinese warlord and politician, a commander of the Beiyang Army and the acting Chief Executive of the Republic of China (in Beijing) from 1924 to 1926. He was also the Premier of the R ...

–were born in

. The clique's main members were

Duan Zhigui Duan Zhigui (; 1869 – March 1925) was a Chinese general. Born in Hefei, Anhui, he attained the post of Heilongjiang governor in the late Qing dynasty and between 1912-13 was governor of Chahar and the military governor of Hubei between 1914 ...

, Jin Yunpeng, Wang Yitang, Lu Yongxiang,

Zhang Jingyao Zhang Jingyao, ; ; 1881–1933), was a Chinese general, the military governor of Chahar and later Hunan Province. He was known as one of the most notorious of China's warlords, known for his troops' atrocities and the looting of Hunan of its ...

, Wu Guangxin,

Chen Shufan Chen Shufan () (1885 – November 2, 1949) was a Chinese general active during the early Republican period in China. He was a prominent general of the Anhui Clique and won the Order of Rank and Merit and Order of Wen-Hu. Biography Born in An ...

, Zheng Shiqi,

Xu Shuzheng Hsu Seu-Cheng or Xu Shuzheng (; ) (11 November 1880 – 29 December 1925) was a Chinese warlord in Republican China. A subordinate and right-hand man of Duan Qirui, he was a prominent member of the Anhui clique. Early life Xu was born in ...

, etc. Because the Anhui clique organized itself very early, it was more politically sophisticated than its warlord rivals.

History

With Japanese support and the suppression of the

Manchu Restoration The Manchu Restoration or Dingsi Restoration (), also known as Zhang Xun Restoration (), or Xuantong Restoration (), was an attempt to restore the Chinese monarchy by General Zhang Xun, whose army seized Beijing and briefly reinstalled the las ...

, it became the most powerful faction in China from 1916 to 1920. They had an uneasy co-existence with the Zhili clique and

Fengtian clique The Fengtian clique () was one of several opposing military factions that constituted the early Republic of China during its Warlord Era. It was named after Fengtian Province (now Liaoning), and operated from a territorial base comprising the th ...

in the

Beiyang government The Beiyang government (), officially the Republic of China (), sometimes spelled Peiyang Government, refers to the government of the Republic of China which sat in its capital Peking ( Beijing) between 1912 and 1928. It was internationally ...

. They advocated a hardline during the

Constitutional Protection War The Constitutional Protection Movement () was a series of movements led by Sun Yat-sen to resist the Beiyang government between 1917 and 1922, in which Sun established another government in Guangzhou as a result. It was known as the Third Revolu ...

. The

May Fourth Movement The May Fourth Movement was a Chinese anti-imperialist, cultural, and political movement which grew out of student protests in Beijing on May 4, 1919. Students gathered in front of Tiananmen (The Gate of Heavenly Peace) to protest the Chines ...

weakened their influence and eventually led to the Zhili–Anhui War in 1920 which saw the surprise defeat of the Anhui clique. Duan resigned and the clique lacked national leadership for the next four years when all their provinces were eventually annexed by the Zhili clique by the summer of 1924. ( Shandong was an anomaly, the Zhili clique appointed an Anhui general in 1923 there provided he remain neutral, see

Shandong Problem __NOTOC__ The Shandong Problem or Shandong Question (, Japanese: , ''Santō mondai'') was a dispute over Article 156 of the Treaty of Versailles in 1919, which dealt with the concession of the Shandong Peninsula. It was resolved in China's favor i ...

. Zheng Shiqi ruled until 1925 when he transferred it to Fengtian's

Zhang Zongchang Zhang Zongchang (1881 – 3 September 1932) was a Chinese warlord in Shandong in the early 20th century. ''Time'' dubbed him China's "basest warlord". He was known by many nicknames such as the "Dogmeat General" (), based on the name of his fa ...

per agreement with Duan.) After the Beijing Coup,

Feng Yuxiang Feng Yuxiang (; ; 6 November 1882 – 1 September 1948), courtesy name Huanzhang (焕章), was a warlord and a leader of the Republic of China from Chaohu, Anhui. He served as Vice Premier of the Republic of China from 1928 to 1930. He wa ...

and

Zhang Zuolin Zhang Zuolin (; March 19, 1875 June 4, 1928), courtesy name Yuting (雨亭), nicknamed Zhang Laogang (張老疙瘩), was an influential Chinese bandit, soldier, and warlord during the Warlord Era in China. The warlord of Manchuria from 1916 to ...

picked Duan to lead a provisional government. Lacking any significant military power, he and his few remaining supporters played Feng and Zhang against each other. They removed him from power and his last followers joined the Fengtian clique.

Political wing

They also had a political wing known as the Anfu Club (literally, ''Peace and Happiness Club'', after a Beijing lane where they met; folk etymology claims it was a pun on Anhui and

Fujian Fujian (; alternately romanized as Fukien or Hokkien) is a province on the southeastern coast of China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its cap ...

) which consisted of politicians that threw their fortune in with Duan. Formed on 7 March 1918 by

and Wang Yitang, it ran for elections for the northern

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the rep ...

and won three-fourths of the seats primarily because Anhui warlords bought the votes. They were a highly disciplined party created to push Duan's agenda through legal means such as electing fellow party member

Xu Shichang Xu Shichang (Hsu Shih-chang; ; courtesy name: Juren (Chu-jen; 菊人); October 20, 1855 – June 5, 1939) was the President of the Republic of China, in Beijing, from 10 October 1918 to 2 June 1922. The only permanent president of the Beiyang ...

as President of the ROC. Before the Zhili–Anhui War, it was also supported by the Fengtian clique, Xinjiang clique, and Shanxi clique. The Anhui clique was later destroyed after the Zhili-Anhui War when the Assembly was disbanded.

Financial wing

Their financial wing was the New Communications Clique (1916–1919) led by Cao Rulin. It was the rival to

Liang Shiyi Liang Shiyi (; May 5, 1869 – April 9, 1933) was a Chinese minister who served as List of premiers of China, premier of China during the Beiyang government from 1921 to 1922. Biography Liang Shiyi was born in Sanshui, Guangdong in 1869. In ...

's Old Communications Clique. Cao's conduct during the Paris Peace Conference led to the

and his dismissal.

History

Political wing

Financial wing

Notable people

References

See also