In what sense was the 4 May Movement an expression of

Last updated: 9/21/2023

In what sense was the 4 May Movement an expression of Chinese nationalism The most significant consequence of warlordism was the stimulus it gave to the 4 May Movement an intense and sustained outburst of resentment in China against the Japanese in particular and the imperialist occupiers in general The Movement was of central importance in Chinese politics between 1919 and 1927 in preparing the ground for the reorganisation of the GMD in 1919 and the creation of the Chinese Communist Party in 1921 It took its name from the first day of the violent demonstration in Beijing which followed the news of China s humiliation at the Versailles Peace Conference of 1919 The origins of the 4 May Movement Anti foreigner reaction was most notable among China s intellectuals who disillusioned by the failure of the 1911 Revolution and the republic to achieve real advances for the country were further dismayed by the refusal of the West in 1919 to extend the principle of self determination to China Western pressures on China 1914 19 To understand China s sense of humiliation in 1919 it is necessary to examine the attitude of the Allied powers France Russia and Britain towards China between 1914 and 1919 At the start of the First World War in 1914 the Allies had urged both China and Japan to declare war on Germany Japan did so but then put pressure on the Beijing government to delay its entry into the war The Japanese motive was to prevent China s improving its international standing In addition Japan obtained from the British a secret promise that they would not press for China s entry without first consulting Tokyo Armed with this guarantee Japan then in the first month of the war seized the German territories in China including Shandong province with its key port of Qingdao At the time the Japanese declared that these possessions would eventually be returned to China but the emptiness of that promise became evident in 1915 when Japan s notorious 21 Demands threatened to reduce China to a Japanese vassal state see page 58 Britain s reluctance to take China s side at this point arose from its concern to avoid offending Japan as a major war ally By 1915 it was becoming clear that the European war would be a protracted one Britain and the Allies simply could not afford to risk losing Japan s support However it was this same reason the mounting demands of the war in Europe that led the Allies in 1917 to renew their appeal to China to join the hostilities against Germany Up to that year the