History Characters / KaiserreichChina

In the North, the warlords that were united against the Northern Expedition began fighting each other again. The Zhili and Fengtian Cliques, having fought several wars over Beijing before, began a new power struggle. However, with an unexpected support from Germany, the Zhili clique captured Beijing. The leader of the Zhili clique, Wu Peifu, had promised the Germans to restore the deposed Emperor, Aisin-Gioro Puyi, in return for their support, the Germans believing that China's anarchy was the result of a lack of proper monarchy. Thus, by 1936, the Qing dynasty has been restored as a constitutional monarchy. It's a shadow of its former self, influenced by many different factions, including Zhili warlords and Germany.

Aisin-Gioro Puyi had never held any real power. He became an Emperor at the age of 2, and was then deposed at the age of 5 in the Xinhai revolution. He lived through most of his early years as a spoiled child inside the Forbidden City, but was then abruptly ejected in 1924 due to power struggles between warlords. Moving to the German concession at Tianjin, Germany took interest of him as a possible bargaining chip in East Asia. With Germany's help, Puyi was restored as the monarch of a new Qing. For another decade, the Zhili clique handled all the governance while Puyi lived idly in the Forbidden City.

By 1936, Puyi had been studying textbooks on philosophy, history, and politics. Perhaps now, after living most of his life in isolation, Puyi will have decided a path for China's future, and come out to become the rightful Emperor of China.

Emperor Aisin-Gioro Puyi had never held any real power. He became an Emperor at the age of 2, and was then deposed at the age of 5 in the Xinhai revolution. He lived through most of his early years as a spoiled child inside the Forbidden City, but was then abruptly ejected in 1924 due to power struggles between warlords. Moving to the German concession at Tianjin, Germany took interest of him as a possible bargaining chip in East Asia. With Germany's help, Puyi was restored as the monarch of a new Qing. For another decade, the Zhili clique handled all the governance while Puyi lived idly in the Forbidden City. By 1936, and having lived most of his life in isolation, perhaps now Puyi will have made up his mind on how to take up his rightful position as the Emperor of China.

* PuppetKing: [[ZigZaggingTrope Zig-Zagged]]. Puyi was installed by the Germans and supported by the local warlords of the Zhili Clique. However, he has a lot of autonomy and freedom to act in game, with the possibility of going against Zhili German Empire.

In the North, the warlords that were united against the Northern Expedition began fighting each other again. The Zhili and Fengtian Cliques, having fought several wars over Beijing before, began a new power struggle. However, with an unexpected support from Germany, the Zhili clique captured Beijing. The leader of the Zhili clique, Wu Peifu, had promised the Germans to restore the deposed Emperor, Aisin-Gioro Puyi, in return for their support, the Germans believing that a modern country should draw strength from a constitutional monarchy. Thus, by 1936, the Qing dynasty has been restored as a constitutional monarchy. It's a shadow of its former self, influenced by many different factions, including Zhili warlords and Germany.

* DumbassNoMore: With a little luck, Puyi has the potential to go from a painfully unworldly UpperClassTwit to one of the most successful political players in the world.
* EmperorScientist: As part of his efforts to restore a strong and prosperous China under his rule, he can institute sweeping reforms to modernize the country's political, economic, and military systems.
* EnemyMine: If the Qing get attacked by either Russia or Japan, they can appeal to the other independent Chinese factions to unite behind them and expel the foreigners.
* HistoricalHeroUpgrade: Goes from a PuppetKing under the Japanese thumb to ruler of a restored Qing China in his own right.
* MagikarpPower: Puyi starts in charge of a war-torn and politically splintered China, but if he manages to bring one of the other major Chinese factions (usually Fengtian or the AOG) under his wing, that's often enough to get the snowball started on the path to Chinese reunification.
* PuppetKing: [[ZigZaggingTrope Zig-Zagged]]. Puyi was installed by the Germans and supported by the local warlords of the Zhili Clique while most of his lands are administrated by the AOG. However, he has a lot of autonomy and freedom to act in game, with the possibility of going against the AOG and even the German Empire.

[[folder:Qing Empire]]
!''Qing Empire''

The dying Qing Dynasty that once ruled all of China was overthrown in 1911, during the [[UsefulNotes/NoMoreEmperors Xinhai Revolution]]. Through a compromise between Sun Yat-Sen, leader of the uprising, and Yuan Shikai, leader of the dominant army in China, the Beiyang Army, the Qing court was deposed. However, Yuan, with the Beiyang Army as his powerbase, made himself the Provisional President, started abusing his powers, and attempted to crown himself Emperor. This triggered a massive rebellion against Yuan, and Yuan soon stepped down. Immediately afterwards, the Beiyang Army fragmented. Beiyang generals became regional warlords who fought for control over the government in Beijing, beginning the Warlord Era.

After the death of Sun Yat-Sen, the leftist elements of the Kuomintang, lead by UsefulNotes/ChiangKaiShek, attempted to launch the Northern Expedition attempting to reunify China, after some political maneuvering, the pro-monarchist president Xu Shichang is able to call a German intervention in a coalition with the Zhili Clique, the central government and other warlords to defeat the Kuomintang. The war was a victory, but Germany, wanting a more stable ally, chose to restore the Qing dynasty lead by the last emperor, Aisin Gioro Puyi.

In the aftermath of the German intervention, only Japanese support saved the ambitious warlord Zhang Zuolin from seeing his territory incorporated into the newly restored Qing empire. Its resources crucial to the Japanese imperial ambitions, Fengtian's government struggle to balance Japanese business interests with its own dream of reuniting China.

The dying Qing Dynasty that once ruled all of China was overthrown in 1911, during the [[UsefulNotes/NoMoreEmperors Xinhai Revolution]]. Through a compromise between Sun Yat-Sen, leader of the uprising, and Yuan Shikai, leader of the dominant army in China, the Beiyang Army, the Qing court was deposed. However, Yuan, with the Beiyang Army as his powerbase, made himself the Provisional President, started abusing his powers, and attempted to crown himself Emperor. This triggered a massive rebellion against Yuan, and Yuan soon stepped down. Immediately afterwards, the Beiyang Army fragmented. Beiyang generals became regional warlords who fought for control over the Beijing government, beginning the Warlord Era.

The Qing Dynasty of Manchurian origin ruled the Empire of China from 1644, date of the conquest of China proper by the Manchu Aisin-Gioro clan, [[UsefulNotes/NoMoreEmperors to 1911, year of the Republican Xinhai Revolution that deposed Emperor Pu Yi]], this revolution was lead by two different factions which only had in common their mutual dislike for the Qing dynasty: The Republicans lead by Sun Yat-Sen, and the Military officers, many of which controlled the armies of China as their private forces, such as the Beiyang Army lead by Yuan Shikai. Sun Yat-Sen was elected as provisional President soon, being followed by Yuan Shikai.

Sun's Republic of China sadly would not last long, as President Yuan Shikai's attempted monarchy restoration left the republican government powerless. China was divided between warring warlord cliques and the Presidents would be usually puppets to a warlord or a warlord himself, this was known as the Beiyang government. After the death of Sun Yat-Sen, the leftist elements of the Kuomintang, lead by UsefulNotes/ChiangKaiShek, attempted to launch the Northern Expedition attempting to reunify China, after some political manouvering, the pro-monarchist president Xu Shichang is able to call a German intervention in a coalition with the Zhili Clique, the central government and other warlords to defeat the Kuomintang. The war was a victory, but Germany, wanting a more stable ally, chose to restore the Qing dynasty lead by the last emperor, Aisin Gioro Puyi.

[[folder:Qing]]
!''Qing''

The Qing Dynasty of Manchurian origin ruled the Empire of China from 1644, date of the conquest of China proper by the Manchu Aisin-Gioro clan, [[UsefulNotes/NoMoreEmperors to 1911, year of the Republican Xinhai Revolution that deposed Emperor Pu Yi]], this revolution was lead by two different factions which only had in common their mutual deslike for the Qing dynasty: The Republicans, lead by Sun Yat-Sen and the Military officers, many of which controlled the armies of China as their private forces, such as the Beiyang Army lead by Yuan Shikai. Sun Yat-Sen was ellected as provisional President soon begin followed by Yuan Shikai.

This short-lived republic would not last much, as an attempt to create a new empire by President Yuan Shikai left the republican government powerless and China was divided between warring warlord cliques and the Presidents would be usually puppets to a warlord or a warlord himself, this was known as the Beiyang government. After the death of Sun Yat-Sen, the leftist elements of the Kuomintang, lead by UsefulNotes/ChiangKaiShek, attempted to launch the Northern Expedition attempting to reunify China, after some political manouvering, the pro-monarchist president Xu Shichang is able to call a German intervention in a coalition with the Zhili Clique, the central government and other warlords to defeat the Kuomintang. The war was a victory, but Germany wanting a more "Stable" ally choose to restore the Qing dynasty lead by the last emperor Aisin Gioro Puyi.

* AuthorityInNameOnly: Only controls a small rump state on the coast despite claiming to be China's rightful ruler. The situation with the AOG bears special note; in theory their territory is legally part of Qing China and the company is only administering it on his behalf, but in practice the company's Board of Directors has considerable autonomy and more often takes its orders from Berlin rather than Beijing.

* VestigialEmpire: While he's the nominal ruler of all China, his actual authority is confined largely to the central eastern coastline between Manchuria and the Yangtze, with the rest of the country divided among fractious warlords and foreign puppets.

!!''Emperor Aisin Gioro Puyi''
[[quoteright:156:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/22_8pmnezi.png]]

[[quoteright:156:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/21_ijnlf6e.png]]

The International Mandate for the Chinese Concessions, commonly known as Legation Cities, is an international authority that governs former British possessions on the Chinese coast. Following the collapse of the British Empire, German and Japanese forces found an opening to further their interests in East Asia. With the rest of China still deadlocked between warring factions, Japanese and German troops scrambled to occupy the former British concessions in the name of "protection", escalating tensions between Berlin and Tokyo.

With the help of the United States, a ceasefire is organized, creating the International Mandate (based on the earlier International Settlement of Shanghai). Each city in the Mandate is governed by their own governor or council, who all answer to the Legation Council, an international council of ambassadors intended to represent the interests of the foreign powers and ensure free trade to China. While the Legation Cities are at peace for now, the Council regularly fails to achieve any consensus due to the conflicting interests of Germany and Japan, whose diplomatic cold war could reignite tensions in the future.

* BalanceOfPower: The Legation Cities are designed so that foreign powers, especially Germany and Japan, have a balanced power over the cities.

* NotSoOmniscientCouncilOfBickering: The Legation Council often fails to reach a consensus because the interests of the foreign nations are often conflicting.

With the help of the United States, a ceasefire is organized. The International Mandate (based on the earlier International Settlement of Shanghai) is created, along with an international council of ambassadors known as the Legation Council to govern the Legation Cities and ensure free trade to China.

* RetCon: The AOG is formerly ''Allgemeine Ostasien-Gesellschaft'' (General East Asian Company), a German MegaCorp that effectively controls Southern China as its own state. AOG is completely reworked in the China rework.

[[folder:Qing Empire]]
!''Qing Empire''

[[folder:Mongol Empire]]
!''Mongol Empire''
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mongolia_flag.png]]

Once the greatest empire in the world, Mongolia was under the Chinese rule for more than 200 years before 1912, when the Xinhai Revolution gave the Mongols an opportunity to cede from China and align themselves with Russia for protection. However, after Russia fell into the Civil War, the independence of Mongolia was threatened and it was occupied by the Chinese warlords. The Chinese invaders were expelled by the White Russian general Roman von Ungern-Sternberg, who established himself as the autocratic ruler of Mongolia. Despite Russian government's expectations of Ungern's loyalty, the Mad Baron acquired the Trans-Siberian Railroad and pursued his own interests foremost. While the self-proclaimed Khagan of Mongolia is sober enough to cautiously act between interests of Russia and Japan, there is nothing to hold him from accomplishing his dreams of the new Mongolian Empire if crisis strikes one of these countries...

!!''Baron [[UsefulNotes/UngernSternberg Roman von Ungern-Sternberg]]''

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Legation Cities]]
!''Legation Cities''
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kr_legation_cities.png]]

----

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Aufsichtsrat der Ostasiatische Generalverwaltung]]
!''Aufsichtsrat der Ostasiatische Generalverwaltung''

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/aog_flag_2.png]]

The ''Aufsichtsrat der Ostasiatische Generalverwaltung'' (Supervisory Board of the East Asian General Administration), or AOG for short, is a series of semi-legal German concessions on the coast of China.

----

* OneNationUnderCopyright: Private corporations like Krupp and HAPAG have significant influence on the AOG administration, and act as parties in gameplay.
* PrivateMilitaryContractors: Their military force while is technically part of Qing China, is mostly formed by mercenaries loyal to AOG money.
* PortTown: AOG controls port cities in the Chinese coast, similar to the Legation Cities.
* RetCon: The AOG is formerly ''Allgemeine Ostasien-Gesellschaft'' (General East Asian Company), a German MegaCorp that effectively controls Southern China as its own state. AOG is completely reworked in the China rework.

* PortTown: In the rework they will control port cities in the Chinese coast, similar to the Legation Cities.

* OneNationUnderCopyright: Private corporations like Krupp have significant influence on the AOG administration, and act as parties in gameplay.

* RetCon: The AOG is formerly named ''Allgemeine Ostasien-Gesellschaft'' (General East Asian Company), a German MegaCorp that effectively controls Southern China as its own state. AOG is completely reworked in the China rework.

* RetCon: The AOG is formerly named ''Allgemeine Ostasien-Gesellschaft'' (General East Asian Company), a German MegaCorp that effectively controls Southern China as its [[OneNationUnderCopyright own state]]. AOG is completely reworked in the China rework.

The ''Aufsichtsrat der Ostasiatische Generalverwaltung'' (Supervisory Board of the East Asian General Administration), or AOG for short, is a group of German-exclusive concessions on the coast of China.

[[folder:Allgemeine Ostasien-Gesellschaft]]
!''Allgemeine Ostasien-Gesellschaft''

The Allgemeine Ostasien-Gesellschaft, or General East Asian Company, is a German company equivalent of the British and Dutch East India Company. The AOG was founded after the German intervention in China after the Qing dynasty made concessions to Germany after they installed Puyi as emperor of China. The AOG controls some territories in southern China on lease, meaning that ''de jure'' they are part of Qing China but ''de facto'' they control as if they were their own country, exploiting local population and resources.

The country is in a process of a rework. In the future the AOG will only control some costal cities and enclaves, similar to the Legation cities, while having local Warlords as their puppets controlling southern China.

* MegaCorp: Modelled after the East India Company that many europeans countries had. The AOG controls trade not only in China, but in various parts of the East Pacific. Their influence even spreads to the Americas, as shown by the Pacific States of America focus tree.
* OneNationUnderCopyright: While AOG control Southern China in lease for Qing China, they basically acts as a state.

This short-lived republic would not last much, as an attempt to creat a new empire by President Yuan Shikai left the republican government powerless and China was divided between warring warlord cliques and th Presidents would be usually puppets to a warlord or a warlord himself, this was known as the Beiyang government. After the death of Sun Yat-Sen, the leftist elements of the Kuomintang, lead by UsefulNotes/ChiangKaiShek, attempted to launch the Northern Expedition attempting to reunify China, after some political manouvering, the pro-monarchist president Xu Shichang is able to call a German intervention in a coalition with the Zhili Clique, the central government and other warlords to defeat the Kuomintang. The war was a victory, but Germany wanting a more "Stable" ally choose to restore the Qing dynasty lead by the last emperor Aisin Gioro Puyi.

[[caption-width-right:350:The yellow dragon roars again!]]

!!China's Warring States

* PuppetKing: [[ZigZaggingTrope Zig-Zagged]]. Puyi was installed by the Germans and supported by the local warlords of the Zhili Clique while most of his lands are administrated by the AOG. However, he has a lot of autonomy and freedom to act in game, with the possibility of going against the AOG and even the German Empire

Once the greatest empire in the world, Mongolia was under the Chinese rule for more than 200 years before 1912, when the Xinhai Revolution gave the Mongols an opportunity to cede from China and align themselves with Russia for protection. However, after Russia fell into the Civil War, the independence of Mongolia was threatened and it was occupied by the Chinese warlords. The Chinese invaders were expelled by the White Russian general Roman von Ungern-Sternberg, who established himself as the autocratic ruler of Mongolia. Despite Russian government's exceptations of Ungern's loyalty, the Mad Baron acquired the Trans-Siberian Railroad and pursued his own interests foremost. While the self-proclaimed Khagan of Mongolia is sober enough to cautiously act between interests of Russia and Japan, there is nothing to hold him from accomplishing his dreams of the new Mongolian Empire if crisis strikes one of these countries...

* MegaCorp: Modelled after the East India Company that many europeans countries had. The AOG controlls trade not only in China, but in various parts of the East Pacific. Their influence even spreads to the Americas, as shown by the Pacific States of America focus tree.