If I ask you: Did China enter the Second World War?
You'll swear: Of course you participated. Moreover, in this anti-fascist war that has affected the whole world, China is one of the countries that have sacrificed the most.
So, if I ask you: Did China participate in World War I?
You're a little unsure.
So if I ask you one more question: Do you know about the May Fourth Movement?
Your eyes lit up a little: May Fourth Youth Day, young people know.
So what does World War I have to do with the May Fourth Movement?
To illustrate this, let's go back to China during World War I.
After the outbreak of the Xinhai Revolution in 1911, the Revolutionary Party established a provisional government in Nanjing, and the provincial representatives elected Sun Yat-sen as the provisional president, and the Republic of China was formally established in January 1912.
At this time in China, the Republic of China had just been established, the Beiyang forces headed by Yuan Shikai were in charge of China, the Political Situation was turbulent after the Beiyang Government fell apart, and the country was in chaos.
When war broke out in 1914, Japan preemptively joined the Entente and captured Qingdao.
The Beiyang government had three paths: neutrality, membership in the Entente, and membership in the Allies.
Britain, Japan, Russia, and France, which were the strongest in East Asia at that time, were all in the Allied camp; the situation in Europe at that time was basically that Britain, France, and Russia beat up Germany, and it seemed that the Allies had a relatively good chance of winning.
Therefore, once the entente is defeated, it will be able to justifiably take back the German-Austrian concession factory coal mine railway in China, and there will be no need to pay reparations. (The mess left by the ancestors)
Think differently
By 1916, Germany had been at odds with Britain and France on the Western Front, grinding meat, and on the Eastern Front were slaughtering Russian soldiers. In 1917, when Russia was civilly strife and withdrew from the war, Germany took the opportunity to harvest large tracts of land and end the two-front war. If it were not for the sudden accession of the United States to the Entente, coupled with the outbreak of internal contradictions in Germany and the rebellion of workers and soldiers, it is really difficult to say who would win and who would lose.
In the face of the European powers that no one could offend, the Beiyang government quickly made clear its attitude toward the "First World War": neutrality.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="33" > why China fought in World War I</h1>
It is reasonable to say that China's distance from the battlefield will not have much impact on the outcome of the war. Therefore, both belligerents agreed that China remained neutral. But there is one country that doesn't think so, and that country is Japan. He wanted the war to spread quickly to Asia so that he could invade China with impunity. Japan took the initiative to declare war on Germany, in fact, only to gain Germany's interests in China's Shandong region. Therefore, on the question of Shandong's ownership, there was such a figure in the Beiyang government at that time, who, more than a month after the outbreak of the war, came to the conclusion through analysis: Germany will be defeated! This person was Liang Shiyi, who was then the prime minister of the cabinet.
Liang was a close confidant of Yuan Shikai at the time, secretary general of the Presidential Office, and later in charge of transportation and finance
In 1915, Liang Shiyi began to send people to contact the British minister in China, Zhu Erdian, to ask if he could help the Allies by sending labor, but the British refused. They also see China's intentions. But as the war continued, Britain and France became more and more unable to hold back. Only then did it take to let China participate in the war against Germany.
Shell casings from the Verdun battlefield
The number of Chinese participants in World War I
From the perspective of imperialism, both the United States and Japan had hoped to strengthen the allied forces and isolate the Allies on the one hand by encouraging China to participate in the war, and on the other hand, to strengthen their control over China and turn China into their own colonies. (When Duan Qirui, who held real power, decided to obey Japan and participate in the war, the United States saw that it could not achieve its original purpose, and it was unusual to oppose China's participation in the war.) From the perspective of the Beiyang warlords, since the death of Yuan Shikai, the Beiyang warlords have been torn apart, and all factions hope to borrow a lot from imperialism in the name of participating in the war, so as to expand their own forces, eliminate dissidents, and achieve "unification by force", especially the Anhui clan headed by Duan Qirui.
After China's entry into the war, the Duan Qirui government did not send troops to Fight in Europe, but only sent more than 100,000 laborers to export labor services to France, Russia and other Allied countries.
Chinese workers urgently repaired the bombed railway on the battlefield
Objectively enhancing the strength of the Entente Group and speeding up the end of the "First World War" also made China the victorious power of the "First World War.". Therefore, when the news of the victory of the Allies came, Cai Yuanpei could not contain his excitement and shouted "Labor sacred!" Long live the laborers!"
● The Humiliating Paris Peace Conference
As a victorious country, China was immersed in great joy at once. Grand celebrations were held frequently, and people called for the victory of the Allies as "the triumph of justice over power." In the eyes of the Chinese people, the long cold winter that began in China from the era of the Opium War will soon pass, and in this era of "axiom triumph over power," the upcoming Paris Peace Conference will certainly give China a fair run and cancel all unequal treaties imposed on China by the Western powers for more than half a century.
However, the Paris Peace Conference quickly shattered the dreams of the Chinese people. Ignoring China's opposition and the "axioms" they had advocated, several major powers sold their rights and interests in Shandong to Japan.
● May Fourth Movement
The news returned to China, and on May 4, 1919, angry young students took the lead in taking to the streets, and the vigorous "May Fourth" movement began.
By June 3, students went on strike, workers went on strike, and businessmen went on strike. The patriotic movement in the country was in full swing, and in Paris, on June 28, 1919, the Chinese delegation finally refused to sign the Treaty of Versailles, which humiliated the country, and China said "no" to the great powers for the first time.
It is Chinese people's patriotic movement against imperialism and feudalism, also known as the "May Fourth Wind and Thunder".
The impact of the First World War on China:
(1) Politically: The Chinese government triggered the "house dispute" on the question of whether to participate in the war; after the end of the "First World War", China, as one of the victorious powers, rejected the reasonable demands made at the Paris Peace Conference, triggering the May Fourth Patriotic Movement. Thus the proletariat stepped onto the stage of history and opened a new page in the history of the new-democratic revolution. As a result of the further upsurge of the national movement, the Chinese nation began a new awakening.
(2) Economically: During the War, the export of commodities from Britain, France, Germany and other belligerent countries to China fell sharply, and the demand for commodities increased, which alleviated the market pressure of national industry to a certain extent; objectively promoted the further development of national industry, and the proletariat and the bourgeoisie were strengthened.
(3) Ideological and cultural aspects: The outbreak of the Russian October Revolution in World War I injected new factors into the emerging new cultural movement and promoted the spread of Marxism in China; some intellectuals began to reflect on the shortcomings of Western culture through The First World War.
postscript:
At the beginning, the Beiyang government sent 140,000 Chinese workers in order to be able to reclaim Shandong from Germany after the war as a "victorious power". However, as we all know, after the end of the "First World War", the great powers did not regard China as a "victorious power", but transferred Germany's rights and interests in Shandong to Japan.
Their reasoning is that China is "declaring no war."
This sentence is truly sorry for the 140,000 Chinese workers who also threw their heads and spilled their blood in a foreign country.
Some people say that Chinese workers also go to earn wages. Yes, this is indeed an important driving force, but these Chinese workers went to the Battlefield of Europe and paid a labor that was absolutely worthy of that salary, and even their lives. They did not insult the image of Chinese, on the contrary, they let the world see the industriousness, bravery and intelligence of Chinese from another perspective.
In that era of turbulent and "weak countries without diplomacy", what else do you need them to do?
A thousand words, not as good as Lu Xun's words:
"When we entered the war in Europe, weren't we often conceited? But have you ever used the Analects to impress the German soldiers and overturned the submarine with the I Ching spell? The Confucians cite the hard work of the Chinese workers, who are mostly illiterate. ”