The Republic of Taiwan was formed in 1895. It did not last for very long. The Treaty of Shimonoseki which ended the war between the Qing Dynasty of China and the Empire of Japan, gave Taiwan to the Japanese. The republic began when the Chinese left in May, 1895, and ended when the Japanese soldiers arrived in October, 1896. Some historians say it was the first republic in Asia, but there was one earlier, the , which had been started in 1777.