On June 28, 1914, on the occasion of Serbia's National Day, Archduke Ferdinand, Crown Prince of Austria-Hungary, was shot and killed by a serbian youth Princip while inspecting Sarajevo, an event that became the trigger of the First World War.
After the outbreak of the Sarajevo Incident, a sharp contradiction between Britain and Germany between France and Germany, Russia and Austria was about to erupt, and the confrontation between the two major military blocs in Europe was tense, and a month later, austria-Hungary, with the support of Germany, declared war on Serbia under the pretext of assassination, and the mutual assistance treaty signed between the Allies and the Entente before played a role at this time.
The war between Austria-Hungary and Serbia was destined not to be a simple two-country war, but a multi-faceted war involving many interest groups, and then Germany, the Ottoman Empire, Italy and other countries joined the allied camp, while the opposite was Russia, France, Britain and Belgium, Japan, China and other countries.
The First World War began in 1914, and in 1917, the United States declared war against Germany, China and other countries also joined the battle, the Entente at that time reached 27 countries, and then Russia broke out the February Revolution, the October Revolution, withdrew from the imperialist war, until November 1918, Germany announced its surrender, the First World War marked the end, the battlefield was mainly in Europe.
Since the battlefield is in Europe, what does it have to do with China? Although China did not directly participate in the war militarily, Duan Qirui still gained some benefits by advocating joining the declaration of war against the Allies, and as far as the announcement at that time to sever diplomatic relations with Germany and Austria, renouncing indemnities, and recovering the Tianjin and Hankou concessions, it had already gained practical benefits, at least as a participating country and a victorious country, and its voice in the international arena was enhanced in the future, which was still of some use to the Chinese people who were in dire straits at that time.
It is worth mentioning that Due to its poverty and weakness, China did not have the strength to confront the strong powers at that time, but it helped Europe with practical actions, and in 1915, Liang Shiyi, as the cabinet chancellor, saw that Germany would inevitably lose the two-sided war, and China should send labor as a letter of submission to join the Entente.
At first, Liang Shiyi sent someone to ask the British ambassador to China whether he could send labor to help the Allies, and the British saw through Liang Shiyi's intentions, and at first they were very reluctant and expressed extreme contempt, and the British said to Liang Shiyi: You are not worthy.
However, the subsequent form of war became a turning point, which was also unexpected by the Entente countries such as Britain and France, and in February 1916, the Battle of Verdun broke out, france suffered heavy losses, and the army casualties exceeded 500,000, and the battle was called the Verdun Meat Grinder.
In June 1916, the Battle of the Somme broke out, with heavy British losses and more than 400,000 casualties, known as the Hell of the Somme.
From the beginning of the First World War to 1916, in two years, the Allies paid a huge price, especially the sharp decline in population, the gap in logistical supply capacity was serious, france saw the huge labor market that China had, and began to pressure China, forcing the Beiyang government to send hundreds of thousands of young adults to France to work.
The Beiyang government was under pressure and could only accept France's shameless demands, but no one at that time was willing to go to France to an unfamiliar place.
The Beiyang government secretly tricked the devil, attracted Chinese in the name of the company and enterprise, and sent 140,000 laborers to France in a deceitful way, and after these people underwent simple training, they boarded a cruise ship to France, but after arriving in France, these laborers understood that where there were any companies and where there were ways to get rich, all of them were deceitful, and it was clear that they were on the front line of the battlefield.
Some of the laborers who arrived in France were assigned to mines and some to military factories, but most of them were engaged in heavy construction and late supply work, and even in some areas, they were used as cannon fodder for stormtroopers. In general, the laborers who went to France were at the lowest level, without any rights or dignity.
But French soldiers in the front line, sacrifice is inevitable, the problem that follows is that those who stay at home are some old, weak, sick and disabled, and after the sacrifice of young adults, some French women will become widows, and due to the scarcity of men, some French women will have feelings in the process of doing things with Chinese laborers in the factory, and many advantages such as diligence, self-preservation, simplicity and simplicity of Chinese men attract French women.
According to historical records, a Chinese laborer named Li Xiuyun stayed in France after the end of World War I to marry and have children, and gave birth to six sons, and these children grew up to go to China to find their roots.
A grand ceremony was held in Paris, France, following a grand ceremony to commemorate Chinese laborers who had gone to France, and a statue was built in a corner of the city center, inscribed in Chinese characters and French: commemorating Chinese laborers and heroic fighters who contributed to France during the First World War.