User:PalaceGuard008/Constitutional history of China

The Constitutional history of China describes the modern constitutional evolution of China.

Background
From the beginning of recorded history until 1911, China was ruled by a succession of monarchical sovereigns. In 1912, the Xinhai Revolution overthrew the Qing Dynasty, and established the Republic of China under a provisional Constitution. Dictatorship and corruption, as well as the presence of warlords scarcely under the control of the central government, weakened the state during this period. In 1928, the Northern Expedition led by the Kuomintang, or Chinese Nationalist Party, defeated the Beiyang Government, and established a unified, one party government. Following periods of intermittent civil war, the Kuomintang government instituted a Constitution in 1947. However, the civil war turned decisively against the Republic of China government, and in 1949 the government relocated to the island of Taiwan. There, the Constitution continued in effect but many of its provisions were suspended under martial law. Meanwhile, the victorious Communist Paty of China set up its own government, the People's Republic of China, in mainland China, and five years later promulgated the Constitution of the People's Republic of China.