Speaking of the end of the Qing Dynasty, what we can think of is that this series of unequal treaties that lost power and humiliated the country brought the most painful blow to the nation. Of course, after the fall of the Qing Dynasty, the pile of mess left behind must naturally be taken over. In the subsequent establishment of the Republic of China, out of many considerations, it took over all the reparations treaties signed with the great powers from the Qing government. At that time, after the demise of the Qing government, the indemnities owed reached 1 billion, so whether it was finally paid off, and what was the final way to deal with it?
Perhaps many people think that after the war between China and Japan, the first thing to be terminated is the reparations, but the truth is often the opposite. At that time, even if China was engaged in fierce battles with the Japanese side, it was still paying compensation to the other side. Even after the September 18 Incident, a comprehensive war against aggression broke out in China, but the Nationalist government still had to pay the Japanese side the issue of historical reparations that had been left over from the Qing Dynasty. It can be seen that this huge economic pressure is also the most helpless side of the National Government. Who would have thought that when the two sides fight because of hatred, they still have to pay each other this, what a shame.
Of course, a series of unequal treaties signed by the Qing Dynasty made the Nationalist government bear a huge amount of indemnities, and among these reparations, the most difficult for the Nationalist government to accept was that in addition to the principal, it was also necessary to pay high interest. Because the economic conditions of the government at that time were not good, it could only lend money to people from all over the world to pay compensation. Take the Treaty of Maguan, for example, when China was supposed to pay about 230 million yuan in silver to Japan. However, when the Qing Dynasty paid off the 230 million yuan in 4 installments, it also paid 25 million taels of silver to the other party as interest, and this high interest rate was simply more terrifying than usury.
Originally, as An invaded country, China itself was in a weak position, but after the war, it was necessary to sign such an unequal treaty with the other side, so the radicals at that time had a very good opinion on this matter. However, because the treaty has been signed and has constituted an international event of legitimacy, it cannot be changed, and it can only be repaid by borrowing money. When the Qing government borrowed money from it, the interest they collected was also installmented, and the interest repaid in 36 years could add up to more than 370 million, which made the National Government miserable.
Of course, the amount of indemnity signed by the "Maguan Treaty" and the "Xinugu Treaty" at that time, because of the huge amount, was also divided proportionally, with the different proportions of each power, the amount of the claim also had a certain difference, and the government could not come up with money, and when borrowing money, it was charged by the other party up to 982 million silver for the reparations of the "Xinugi Treaty", so this kind of compensation amount twice that of the remuneration treaty also allowed more Chinese people to see the ugly face of the Western powers.
Fortunately, when the counsellor in the Qing Dynasty met with the US secretary of state, the other party shook the matter out because of the leak. Therefore, we seized the opportunity to persuade the other party to refund part of the compensation. The final result is that the United States, under the pressure of public opinion, had to refund this part of the money by nearly 12.5 million US dollars. Under the leadership of the United States, other countries have also considered refunds in various ways, or stopped charging interest. In this way, the government at that time was given a chance to breathe, and the money returned was eventually used to build China's earliest universities, such as Tsinghua.
We have to admit that at the end of the feudal dynasty, the backwardness and beating situation in our country was very passive. But in the end, the United States was able to return part of the money through many considerations, which also made greater progress in China's education cause, which may not have been considered by the United States at that time. These talents, as innovative talents who can play a huge role in the later development of our country, if the United States could have anticipated this at that time, it would not have been willing to return these funds.