Anhwei Faction

Anhwei Faction 

(also Anfu clique), one of the groupings of Pei-yang militarists organized in China in 1916, after the death of Yüan Shih-k’ai. It was named after the province of Anhwei, as the leaders of the Tuan Ch’i-jiu faction and other factions were native to this area. The armed forces of the Anhwei faction were in the provinces of Honan, Chahar, Hopeh, and Shantung, and in Outer Mongolia. These forces were used by the Anhwei faction to establish its supremacy in northern China and to unite the country under its rule.

In March 1918 the Anhwei faction established the reactionary political Anfu Club (hence its other name, Anfu clique). The Anhwei faction was financed by Japanese imperialists and was an instrument for the realization of their aggressive intentions in China. From 1916 to 1920, leaders of the Anhwei faction repeatedly headed the Peking government. In the summer of 1920, after their defeat in the war with the Chihli faction, the Anhwei faction ceased to exist and its club was dissolved.