ABSTRACT
Governors reportedly competed in offering returned students high positions in their own military academies. Students attending military academies in China between 1900 and 1910 had widely different family backgrounds. Toward the end of the nineteenth century the Ch'ing dynasty faced many threats to its security but had no competent army with which to respond. Soldiers were held in poor esteem by the populace and there seemed scant hope of strengthening the national defense force. It is interesting to speculate as to why the Chinese turned away from Germany toward Japan when military academies were established in greater numbers. Provincial governors and governors-general were given responsibility for organizing and financing the new military academies after 1900, but not all provincial officials responded to the call with equal vigor. Competition among provinces, as well as between the provinces and Peking, might also have affected the development of academies.
