1911 Revolution (China)

On October 10, 1911, a military mutiny in Wuchang (modern Wuhan) triggered a chain of provincial defections from China's Qing dynasty. Known as the Xinhai Revolution, the uprising spread rapidly; by late November, 15 provinces had declared independence from Qing authority. Sun Yat-sen was elected provisional president of the Republic of China on January 1, 1912. He subsequently resigned in favor of Yuan Shikai, who brokered the abdication of the six-year-old Emperor Puyi on February 12, 1912, ending 268 years of Qing rule and over two millennia of imperial governance in China.