108 years ago today, on September 18, 1917 (August 3, 1917 in the lunar calendar), the war to protect the law broke out. Cheng Qian, the commander-in-chief of the French Protection Army in southern Hunan, on September 18, 1917, Sun Yat-sen launched the war to protect the law in order to oppose the warlords of the Northern Ocean and safeguard the "Temporary Treaty", which was an important event in the history of the modern Chinese bourgeois revolutionary movement. In early July 1917, Zhang Xun supported the restoration of Puyi, the deposed emperor of the Qing Dynasty. Sun Yat-sen was extremely angry, and he accompanied Liao Zhongkai, Zhu Zhixin, He Xiangning, Zhang Taiyan and others on the "Haichen" warship to go south from Shanghai, ready to organize a military crusade in the south. But before Sun Yat-sen arrived in Guangzhou, the restoration drama was over, and Duan Qirui, who had regained the power of the Beijing government, stubbornly refused to restore the "Provisional Convention" and convene the National Assembly under the noise of the Constitutional Research Association. In this case, Sun Yat-sen pointed the finger of the struggle at the Beiyang warlords represented by Duan Qirui. On the 17th, Sun Yat-sen arrived in Guangzhou and delivered a speech that night, clearly stating that the purpose of protecting the law is to overthrow the false republic and build a new republic, and called on all walks of life to rise up and fight for the protection of the law. Sun Yat-sen's call for protecting the law was first responded positively by the navy. On July 21, Cheng Biguang, the former chief of the navy of the Beijing government, issued a declaration of support for the protection of the law, declaring the independence of the navy, and then led the first fleet of the navy to Guangdong. In order to maintain their rule in the southwest, the Gui-Dian warlords also expressed their opposition to Duan Qirui's dissolution of the National Assembly and the abandonment of the "Temporary Covenant". As early as June 20, the Gui warlords announced that due to the dissolution of the National Assembly, the local military administration of Guangdong and Guangxi would be temporarily independent of the two provinces. Soon after, the Dian warlord Tang Jiyao also expressed his intention to act in concert with the two provinces. In this way, the four provinces of Guangdong and Yunnan and Guizhou became law protection bases. At the call of Sun Yat-sen, members of the National Assembly went south to participate in the protection of the law. By mid-August, more than 130 members had arrived in Guangzhou. Due to the lack of a quorum, Sun Yat-sen called an extraordinary session of the National Assembly on the 25th. On the 31st Outline "stipulates that the purpose of organizing the military government is to" determine the rebellion and restore the temporary treaty ", and declares that before the treaty is fully restored, the executive power of the Republic of China will be exercised by the grand marshal. On September 1, the extraordinary session of the National Assembly elected Sun Yat-sen as the grand marshal, and Tang Jiyao and Lu Rongting as the marshals (neither Tang nor Lu took office), responsible for exercising the powers of the military government. On the 10th, Sun Yat-sen took the oath of office, saying that he would do his best to eliminate Duan Qirui and other rebellions of the Republic of China and restore the" Provisional Treaty ". Then Sun Yat-sen ordered a crusade against Duan Qirui in the name of the grand marshal, which opened the prelude to the war of protecting the law. The war Before the establishment of the French Protector Military Government, Duan Qirui sent his confidant Fu Liangzuo to supervise the Hunan army in order to realize the plan of unifying the armed forces, and continuously drove the Beiyang Army into Hunan, which aroused strong dissatisfaction from all walks of life in Hunan. On September 18, Liu Jianfan and Lin Xiumei, the brigade commander of the Hunan Army stationed in Hengyang, made a joint call to declare the independence of Hunan. On October 6, the Xiangnan General Command of the French Protector Army was formed, and Cheng Qian was elected as the commander-in-chief. On the same day, the Xiangnan French Protector Army and the Beiyang Army engaged in a battle in Xinipu, Xiangtan, and the French Protector War officially broke out. Sun Yat-sen immediately returned the call to the general of the Hunan Army, hoping that he would "carry out the work and make great achievements". Since then, the Xiangnan French Protector Army and the Guangdong-Guangzhou French Protector Coalition and the Beiyang Army have been locked in a standoff in Hengshan and Baoqing for nearly a month, and the battle situation is very fierce. In November, the southern army began to gain the advantage and successively conquered Baoqing, Yongfeng, Xiangxiang, Hengshan, Xiangtan and other places. On the 18th, the Xiangnan French Protector Army occupied Changsha, the capital of Hunan Province. At this time, the provincial law-protecting forces also responded one after another. In early December, the Yunnan, Guizhou, and Sichuan French Protector Coalition forces drove out Wu Guangxin, the investigator sent by Duan Qirui to Sichuan, and captured Chongqing. In the same month, Li Tiancai and others declared their independence in Xiangyang and formed the "Hubei Jingguo Army"; Guo Jian and others declared their independence in Fengxiang and formed the "Shaanxi French Protector Army". In addition, Henan, Shandong and other provinces also had Yasukuni troops one after In just three or four months, the war of protecting the law spread to more than ten provinces, which greatly encouraged Sun Yat-sen. He had planned to join forces in Wuhan and carry out a large-scale northern expedition. With the continuous victory of the protecting army, the contradiction between the direct warlords of the Beijing government led by Feng Guozhang and the Anhui warlords led by Duan Qirui became increasingly apparent. Feng Guozhang secretly called for peace, hoping to use the power of the southwest military expedition to restrain Duan Qirui. Wang Ruxian, the commander-in-chief of the northern and southern Hunan armies, and Fan Guozhang, the deputy commander, who were sent by Duan Qirui to fight in southern Hunan, were in the direct line and adopted a negative attitude during the war. On November 14, they telegraphed the main army on the front line, causing the northern army to be defeated in Hunan, and Duan Qirui was forced to resign. After taking control of Xiangchuan and Sichuan provinces respectively, the Gui-Dian army's self-interest was satisfied, and they quickly made compromises with the direct warlords. On the 28th, the Gui warlords ignored Sun Yat-sen's opposition and electrified the main and. In mid-February of the following year, they reached an agreement with the Beijing government to truce for two weeks, giving the Beiyang Army a respite. In March, Duan Qirui returned to power and organized the Beiyang armies to launch a large-scale southward attack, and most of the territory occupied by the French Protector Army in Hunan was soon lost. Under the obstruction of the Gui-Dian army, Sun Yat-sen's northern expedition plan was finally impossible to realize. At the same time as obstructing the northern expedition of the French Protector Army, the Gui-Dian army also cooperated with the politicians of the Political Society (formed by some members of the former European Affairs Research Association in Beijing in November 1916) The Gui warlords, led by Lu Rongting, publicly stated several times that they would not have policy partnerships with the military led by Sun Yat-sen. Tang Jiyao not only tried his best to prevent the Dian army stationed in Guangdong from supporting the military government, but also wantonly slandered Sun Yat-sen. In January 1918, the Gui-Dian warlords organized the so-called law-protecting provincial federations to oppose Sun Yat-sen. Sun Yat-sen fought resolutely against the activities of the Gui-Dian warlords to undermine the military government. In early January, he publicly exposed the crimes of the Gui warlords in trying to strangle the military government, and ordered the navy to bombard the official office of Mo Rongxin, the acting supervisor of the Gui warlords in Guangdong, as a warning. However, due to Sun Yat-sen's lack of strong military support, the Gui warlords have no fear. At the end of February, they also despicably assassinated Cheng Biguang, the commander-in-chief of the navy of the military government who supported Sun Yat-sen and advocated the Northern Expedition. Politicians in the Political Science Association also strongly opposed Sun Yat-sen's leadership. On April 10, due to the activities of the Political Science Association, the extraordinary session of the National Assembly passed the "Amendment to the Military Government Organization Law", which changed the chief marshal system to the president collegiate system. Sun Yat-sen firmly opposed this absurd decision of the National Assembly. The next day, he pointed out to the National Assembly that it was illegal to reorganize the military government without authorization, and firmly stated: "Even if there is a desire to become the president after the reorganization, it will never be done." At this time, Tang Jiyao also called the southwestern provinces to express his support for the reorganization of the military government. Under the oppression of the Gui-Dian military junta and the politicians of the political society, Sun Yat-sen realized that it was impossible to achieve the goal of protecting the law by relying on the warlords, so he resigned in anger on May 4. In his resignation telegram, he exposed the reactionary nature of the warlords in the southwest, pointing out that "the south and the north are like raccoon dogs". After Sun Yat-sen resigned, the National Assembly reorganized the French Protector Junta at an extraordinary session, electing Tang Shaoyi, Tang Jiyao, Sun Yat-sen, Wu Tingfang, Lin Baoyi, Lu Rongting, and Cen Chunxuan as the chief administrative officer, with Cen Chunxuan as the chairperson and president. At this point, the French Protector Junta was completely controlled by the Gui-Dian military junta and its vassals. Under these circumstances, Sun Yat-sen left Guangzhou on May 21 and went to The failure of the war to protect the law shows that the forces of the Chinese warlords backed by imperialism are much stronger than the strength of the Chinese national bourgeoisie. The Chinese national bourgeoisie, because of its own weakness and its inability to mobilize the workers and peasants, is no longer able to assume the responsibility of leading the Chinese revolution.