What happened
After the Wuchang Uprising on October 10, 1911, most provinces declared independence from the Qing within weeks. The Republic of China was proclaimed on January 1, 1912, with Sun Yat-sen as provisional president in Nanjing; on February 12, 1912 the six-year-old emperor Puyi abdicated in an arrangement brokered by Yuan Shikai, who became president in Sun’s place.
Background
Qing defeats and unequal treaties, together with failed or half-hearted reforms, had undermined the dynasty. Revolutionaries had been organizing for years — Sun’s Tongmenghui was founded in 1905.
Consequences
The monarchy was gone, but stable republican government did not follow. Power passed to Yuan Shikai and then fragmented into the warlord era.