Railway Protection Movement
The movement, centered in Sichuan province, expressed mass discontent with Qing rule, galvanized anti-Qing groups and contributed to the outbreak of the 1911 Revolution.
The mobilization of imperial troops from neighboring Hubei Province to suppress the Railway Protection Movement created the opportunity for revolutionaries in Wuhan to launch the Wuchang Uprising, which triggered the revolution that overthrew the Qing dynasty and established the Republic of China.
[7][12] The nationalization order drew strong opposition across southern China, especially Sichuan, which had the largest public shareholding in the Sichuan-Hankou Railway venture.
[7] Pu Dianjun and other influential members of the Sichuan Provincial Assembly organized the Railway Protection League on June 17, and made public speeches against the plan, which was widely regarded as a seizure of valuable economic assets by the Manchu court and conversion of local property to foreign control.
[7] On September 1, the Sichuan-Hankou Railway Company adopted a shareholders' resolution calling on the Sichuan public to withhold the payment of grain taxes to the Qing government.
[16]: 286 Protestors created "water telegrams" by carving a message on to oiled boards, which were smuggled out and floated downriver:[16]: 286 Butcher Zhao arrested Pu and Luo, Then massacred the Sichuan people.
[16]: 286–287 In one of Xinhai Revolution's first major battles, Zhao's modernized New Army soldiers opened fire from Chengdu's gates onto Gelaohui fighters, killing more than a thousand.
[20] The press together with radical students in both provinces reproached local elites for their perceived passivity and servility, and compared them unfavorably to the protesters in Sichuan.
[17] Nonetheless, the diversion of Qing troops from central China to fight in Sichuan was a major reason why the Wuchang Uprising, which began on October 10, 1911, was successful.
On November 14, Zhao Erfeng released Pu Dianjun from prison and negotiated an agreement to hand over power to a newly established Great Han Military Government of Sichuan.
[22][23] Ironically, the Sichuan–Hankou Railway, the underlying cause of all this trouble, remained unbuilt for decades due to political turmoil, warfare, inadequate funding, and extremely difficult terrain.
