AHC: Song Jiaoren Coming Into True Power?

How could Song Jiaoren, who, although president of the Kuomintang , was outmaneuvered by Sun-Yat-Sen and eventually assassinated under suspicious circumstances, have come into full power, and what would the butterflies be?
 
What's this about Song being outmaneuvered by Sun?

I know Song was targeted for assassination by Yuan Shikai for the old KMT (a separate entity to the modern KMT, which Sun rebuild from scratch in the early 1920s) due to his leadership in organizing the 1912 that led to the old KMT winning in a landslide. But I've not heard of anything about Song and Sun having any conflicts prior to the election or his death, even though Song does have a somewhat cocky attitude.

There must have been not enough English sources regarding his relation with Sun, so I'd appreciate if you could enlighten me.
 
Song was a great orator with strong organizational skills. If he was able to meet some of the army commanders before or during the election and convince them that he was a better man to promote their interest, one of them might inform him about the incoming assassination at the railway station.

Once Song survived the assassination and arrived at Beijing, Yuan would be the pubic enemy number one as Yuan was in 1916. Song would be very pro business and anti socialism. China would be very similar to Russia prior to 1914. That is because Song's supporters were Landed gentry and big business.
 
Lolol I'm writing a TL about this. It's in my sig. The thing is, I'm keeping Sun as the public face, while Song gets to be the domestic person.

And yes, I remember reading somewhere that Song and Sun had some conflict, but I don't remember exactly what. But the answer to the challenge is simple - maybe Yuan Shikai sees Sun as the bigger threat, and Sun is killed, while Song goes on to be the new Premier of China.

To answer the WI part of the OP, Song would really shake things up - not because he was a radical, but because his death changed everything. After his death, the KMT split up against Yuan Shikai, and Yuan kicked them out. Just not having him die allows us to skip the whole 'Yuan' catastrophe and the Warlord Era.

Happy times.
 
What's this about Song being outmaneuvered by Sun?

I know Song was targeted for assassination by Yuan Shikai for the old KMT (a separate entity to the modern KMT, which Sun rebuild from scratch in the early 1920s) due to his leadership in organizing the 1912 that led to the old KMT winning in a landslide. But I've not heard of anything about Song and Sun having any conflicts prior to the election or his death, even though Song does have a somewhat cocky attitude.

There must have been not enough English sources regarding his relation with Sun, so I'd appreciate if you could enlighten me.

I've found it!

http://www.economist.com/news/christmas/21568587-shot-killed-song-jiaoren-was-not-heard-around-world-it-might-have-changed
 
That is because Song's supporters were Landed gentry and big business.

Do you have a source for this?

Not being rude or anything, sincerely curious. It's just that I've trusted this sentence so much that I'm thinking about having a Communist revolution in China that's opposed to Song.
 
If Shikai had been eliminated, who would have the army have supported, Song or Sung? Perhaps even a Puyi restoration? More interestingly, how could have Song eventually have created a loyal military establishment?
 
If Shikai had been eliminated, who would have the army have supported, Song or Sung? Perhaps even a Puyi restoration? More interestingly, how could have Song eventually have created a loyal military establishment?

The army...um...I'm not exactly knowledgeable about Chinese military affairs. My timelines show a conspicuous lack of anything about military affairs :D

But I'd say that Song could just build relationships with the 'bourgeoisie' military leaders.
 
Damn you, autocorrect!

Don't worry, we all feel the struggle.

Military would be different depending on Sun vs. Song.

Sun can (probably) get the loyalty of the Communists and basically most military groups by being Sun - best figurehead ever.

Song can get the loyalty of the ex-Qing easily because he supports the landlords and rich gentry.
 
Don't worry, we all feel the struggle.

Military would be different depending on Sun vs. Song.

Sun can (probably) get the loyalty of the Communists and basically most military groups by being Sun - best figurehead ever.

Song can get the loyalty of the ex-Qing easily because he supports the landlords and rich gentry.

Firstly, were communists even a factor in the 1910s? Secondly, would Sun have been too smart to be a figurehead? I'm not being critical, I'm just ignorant of early Republican politics.
 
Firstly, were communists even a factor in the 1910s? Secondly, would Sun have been too smart to be a figurehead? I'm not being critical, I'm just ignorant of early Republican politics.

o_O Oops, I meant later on, like mid-1920's.

Also, Sun wasn't that competent. He was just in power long enough to be relevant but not long enough to alienate the Communists or rightist KMT members.

If you look at his legacy, it's not that good.
- KMT ruling as single-party, other than the CPC
- He stopped advocating for democracy
- He started supporting 'political tutelage'

Still, I like him because of his idealism. It's kinda like how I like Zhou Enlai and Liu Shaoqi.
 
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