In the last century, the successive outbreaks of two world wars have involved the whole world. China's major contribution and sacrifice to world peace in World War II was the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression; during World War I, the mainland was still under the rule of warlord governments, and its role in World War I was often overlooked due to the early age of the war and the nature of the war.
In fact, China sent 140,000 people to Europe in the form of "laborers" during World War I, an event that had an important impact on World War I and changed the course of China's history. After the end of World War I, the performance of vested interests in ignoring the lives of these Chinese laborers during the war filled the indignation of domestic intellectuals, and it was also one of the reasons for the outbreak of the 54 Movement.
After 140,000 laborers were tricked out of the country, some were responsible for digging coal, and some were working hard in French factories. Many people thought they would live in the West in such peace. But as the war swept through Europe and China declared war on the Axis powers, the Allies assigned Chinese laborers to dig trenches day and night, and later all of them were sent to the front, and eventually 6,000 people died on the battlefields of France in a foreign land.
In the Treaty of Versailles signed after the war, the Western powers greatly infringed on China's rights as a participating country, and eventually aroused widespread dissatisfaction. Unlike the indifference of Western governments, these laborers have been recognized by the local people in the private sector, and even many French women have expressed their willingness to stay in France and become part of the local area. What's going on?
Work-study is actually an elite immigration policy pioneered by France, and it can be regarded as the originator of the later "international students". During World War I, the war between the Allies and the Allies intensified, with massive population losses on both sides. In order to make up for the shortage of reserve personnel and the decline in productivity caused by the scarcity of labor, the European powers set their sights on the Beiyang government at that time, which led to the birth of this policy.
China, led by this policy, has sent a large number of laborers to Europe, all of whom are young and middle-aged people from the countryside who receive very little education. The laborers worked as coolies in France, working 10 hours a day, earning a wage of only 1 franc, and benefits and subsidies such as medical security were almost non-existent.
The people of the mainland have always had an excellent tradition of bearing hardships and standing hard work, and the laborers have gritted their teeth and endured this almost oppressive act, but the problem is that there is no provision for participation in military operations in the labor agreement signed, and the French side forced the laborers to go to the front line in wartime. At the same time, with the loss of the male population in France, french women took to the streets like laborers to take on social responsibilities.
In the long-term cooperative labor, French women appreciate the hard-working spirit of Chinese. Unequal treaties concluded after the war angered not only Chinese, but many French women also objected. Some women have developed feelings for Chinese laborers and have formed families on both sides, while others have shown humanitarian concern that the government should leave these Chinese in France and give them a right to live legally on the land.
The vast majority of workers have experienced varying degrees of discrimination while living in Europe. At the Versailles Conference of 1919, their desire to use their contributions in the war to improve China's international standing was also overlooked, which was an injustice in the Western world. In distant places, workers had to form their own groups to defend each other's rights by huddling together for warmth.
Finally, under the mediation of many parties, the labor problem was finally resolved. Some of the workers chose to stay in France and start a new life, while others chose to return to their hometowns, and in the old days of the 1910s and 1920s, these Chinese laborers endured heavy work, experienced the war, experienced the Spanish flu, experienced many inhumane sufferings, but also told the world the gritty qualities of Chinese.
Reports/Feedback