Fresh off his victory over Sun and the KMT, Yuan fell into the old strongman trap of overreaching while his regime hadn't yet found its footing. That, coupled with his regime being undermined from abroad eventually led him to make a really bad call that totally blew up in his face. 

Bibliography for this episode: 

1. Fairbank, John K & Denis Twitchett The Cambridge History of China, Volume 12: Republican China 1912-1949, Part 1 Cambridge University Press 1983

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