On March 10, 1959, reactionaries among the ruling elite of Tibet staged an armed rebellion centered on Lhasa in flagrant contravention of the 17-Article Agreement. To defend the unity of the nation and its people and to free Tibetan people once and for all, the central government took the decision to "thoroughly quell the rebellion, fully mobilize the masses and implement democratic reform." On March 28 Premier Zhou Enlai signed the State Council decree to disband the local government of old Tibet. The rebellion was crushed after a two-year conflict, paving the way towards democratic reform in Tibet.