The Xuantong Restoration was the reestablishment of the Qing Empire and the subsequent ascension of Emperor Aisin Gioro Puyi to the Chinese Dragon Throne in an agreement between the German Empire and Wu Peifu of the Northern Zhili Clique in April 1927, shortly after the Third Zhili-Fengtian War. The restoration caused an uproar among the other Chinese military cliques, similar to the controversial and short-lived Restoration of 1917, and would lead to the Fourth Zhili-Fengtian War the following year, which would almost turn into a Japanese-German conflict due to the involvement of both powers in the background.
The Agreement[]
In the midst of the Third Zhili-Fengtian War, Germany and Wu Peifu of the Zhili Clique had made a deal. The Germans would hold back the oncoming Fengtian forces from Manchuria long enough at Lanfang for Wu to defeat other incoming Fengtian forces from Kalgan, keeping Wu from being pinned between two strong armies, a certain death sentence. This diplomatic manouvre eventually succeeded, Wu and the Zhili Clique won the war and Zhili dominance in the North China Plain was sealed.
Emperor Xuantong shortly after being restored to the Dragon Throne
In exchange for this life-saving act, Germany demanded that Wu would reinstate Puyi, who had worked together with the Germans since his expulsion from the Forbidden City by Feng Yuxiang in 1924, as Emperor, assuming that the instability in China derived from its lack of a monarch. Wu submitted, being in no position to negotiate with his saviors. When fighting had completely ceased in April 1927, the Xuantong Emperor was officially restored to the Dragon Throne.
Aftermath[]
News of the restoration sent shockwaves through China and the world, just like in 1916 and 1917, with many warlords taking in an opposing stance and establishing ties with the Fengtian Clique. At that point, Wu's proclamation was not recognized by most of the world, which meant that the Republic of China was still the legitimate Chinese government in the eyes of the international community. Zhang Zuolin, further urged by his Japanese benefactors, realized that fast action would be required to take down the Zhili Clique as soon as possible.
In the end, the warlord cliques of Yunnan, led by Tang Jiyao and Shanxi, led by Yan Xishan, showed willingness to join the Fengtian Cliques' Anti-Qing Coalition, culminating in the outbreak of the Fourth Zhili-Fengtian War in early 1928. German secret service operatives working together with Wu however had cracked Japanese encryption months prior, granting them full access to communication between Japan and its allied warlords. Thus, Wu Peifu was fully perpared for the invasion and able to inflict a decisive strike against the Fengtian and Shanxi Cliques.
The war soon evolved into a German-Japanese proxy war, with German-piloted aircraft patrolling the Beijing skies and Japanese divisions in disguise fighting for the Fengtian Clique. Hoping to push the war in their favour, both sides continued to escalate. In summer, said escalation would indeed arrive; German and Japanese troops would engage in fighting just outside Shanghai without official approval from their respective authorities, after Japanese troops had occupied the region to rescue the passengers of a train which had been captured by bandits. The situation almost caused the outbreak of a war between Japan and Germany, but the United States of America offered to mediate in the last minute.
Soon after, negotiations began in Shanghai. While the Shanghai Conference is primarily known for the fact that it laid the groundwork for the establishment of the Legation Cities on American insistence, so all nations could trade in China equally, it also led to the signation of an armistice between all participants, which finally ended the war and forced the Shanxi and Yunnan Clique to recognize Qing authority over China. Only the Fengtian Clique was excluded from thie latter term of the armistice due to Japanese influence.
With the end of the Fourth Zhili-Fengtian War, Qing and therefore Zhili dominance over China was selaed and peace seemed to return to China. This further illustrated to many that monarchism was the only force that could maintain stability in chaos-plagued regions such as China. But in recent times signs have appeared that not everything is safe as it seems; The Shanghai Uprising indicated that the Bejing government has little power outside the North China Plain, and China remains bitterly divided both geopolitically and ideologically.
Puyi's Government[]
Despite Puyi's restoration as Emperor of the Great Qing Dynasty, Son of Heaven, Lord of Ten Thousand Years, his de facto power is limited to the boundaries to the Forbidden City, as he is nothing more than a figurehead of the Northern Zhili Clique, acting as "the spirit of Chinese will and national character". The true power lies in the hands of Imperial Commisioner Wu Peifu, who even exceeds the power of President Cao Kun, a broken and depressed man, who is nothing more than a puppet of the military as well. Wu controls the government out of his power base in Luoyang, Henan, many hundred kilometres away from Beijing. Therefore, the Xuantong Emperor spends his time trying to find a way to finally rule the Empire he controlled in his youth, unlike the prison of a constitutional monarchy he finds himself in now...