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The year 1911 launched China on a century of revolution and ended one of the most successful dynasties in Chinese history, the Qing. The New Policy reforms of the late Qing were remarkably successful in transforming China into a modern state. They failed only at the end, because of the ill-advised power-centralizing policies of the regent Zaifeng. Zaifeng's policies focused opposition on the Manchu ruling family and created the conditions for a sudden revolution in 1911. Understanding the 1911 Revolution requires more focus on the revolutionary milieu of 1911 that brought China to its tipping point. As a sudden revolution, China in 1911 is more similar to France in 1789, Russia in 1917, or Egypt in 2011 than it is to the subsequent revolutions of the Nationalist and Communist parties. Our analysis requires more attention to all the political forces that allied to overturn Manchu rule but could not maintain that unity to establish effective republican institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

An introduction is presented for the October 2013 issue, focusing on democracy in Chinese history surrounding the 1911 revolution, citing contributions by Zheng Xiaowei, John Fitzgerald, and Joshua Hill.