After the Boxer Rebellion, many Western powers saw railway investments as part of the consolidation in their spheres of influence over China. The nationalisation of railways was met with stiff resistance, particularly in Sichuan, and the resistance quickly turned into a movement known as the Sichuan Railway Protection Movement.

In 1910 the first risings directed actually against the regency took place, in the province of Hunan. In 1911 the "railway disturbances" broke out in western China as a reply of the railway shareholders in the province of Sichuan to the government decree of nationalization of all the railways. At the same time, there was a growing wave of resentment towards the Manchu rulers.

The Manchus themselves failed at first to realise the gravity of the revolutionary movement; they then fell into panic-stricken desperation. As a last resource, Yuan Shikai was recalled made prime minister.

In 1911, the Second Guangzhou Uprising, known in Chinese as the Yellow Flower Mound Uprising or the Guangzhou Xinhai Uprising, was a failed uprising led by Huang Xing and his fellow revolutionaries against the Qing dynasty in Guangzhou.

The Qing dynasty had struggled for a long time to reform the government and resist foreign aggression, but the program of reforms after 1900 was opposed by conservatives in the Qing court as too radical and by reformers as too slow. Several factions, including underground anti-Qing groups, revolutionaries in exile, reformers who wanted to save the monarchy by modernizing it, and activists across the country debated how or whether to overthrow the Qing dynasty. The flash-point came on 10 October 1911, with the Wuchang Uprising, which kicked off what is known as the Xinhai Revolution ending china's last imperial dynasty. Sun Yat-sen, the initial leader of the revolutionaries, organized his own political party called the Kuomintang (KMT) after the Xinhai Revolution of 1911.

Another party was created in 1912, the Republican Party, to which Yuan Shikai belonged. This party was a bit more conservative in nature compared to the KMT. In December 1912, an election was held, and Song Jiaoren was instrumental in ensuring victories for his party, the Kuomintang. It was widely thought that Song would become the next prime minister. However, tragedy struck with the Assassination of Song Jiaoren on 20 March 1913.

Similar revolts then broke out spontaneously around the country and Yuan Shikai, as Prime Minister, began negotiations with the revolutionaries. This led to the Founding of the Republic of China.

In the summer of 1913, seven southern provinces rebelled in what is known as the Second Revolution because they felt that Yuan Shikai was responsible for the assassination of Song Jiaoren and because they felt he obtained his position through political manipulation rather than merit. In addition, the armies hadn't been paid.

In 1914, World War I broke out. China declared its neutrality right from the beginning. However, knowing that China didn't have a strong military force of its own, Japan annexed Shandong and ousted the Germans there. Japan then sent China the Twenty-One Demands in 1915, which included granting Japan economic control of the railways in the north and give them long-term offices in Shandong, Manchuria, and Fujian.

in 1916, Yuan Shikai proclaimed himself the Hongxian Emperor and wanted to re-establish the monarchy. Provinces erupted in riots and rebellions. His governor Cal E and Tang Yiyao, governor of the influential Yunnan province, created the National Protection War.

In September 1915, Chen Duxiu founded the magazine New Youth. The New Culture Movement was a movement in China in the 1910s and 1920s that criticized classical Chinese ideas and promoted a new Chinese culture based upon progressive, modern and western ideals like democracy and science.

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 Chinese government's weak response to the Treaty of Versailles. The demonstrations marked a turning point in a broader anti-traditional

In 1921, Chen Duxiu and Li Dazhao led the Founding of the Chinese Communist Party with the help of the Far Eastern Bureau of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and Far Eastern Secretariat of the Communist International.

The First United Front was formed in 1924 as an alliance to end warlordism in China. A National Revolutionary Army was formed and it set out on the Northern Expedition in 1926.