May Fourth Movement

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THE MAY FOURTH MOVEMENT

Introduction

China has joined WW1 and gave its alliance to the Allied Triple Entente . This was during the year 1917 . China was given the condition that all territories that were controlled by Germany shall be given back to China . Later that year , a lot of Chinese laborers were sent to France to fight and work . After China and its allies became victorious , the condition that was given to China was not met . This is due to the Versailles Treaty which

happened on April 1919

The Chinese government requested the following

Abolition of all privileges in China of alien powers

Cancellation of the "21 Demands

The return of Shandong to China

This brief discourse will attempt to shed more light on the issue by first providing a concise overview of the May Fourth Movement . In attempting to show just how this event has impacted China 's course of history , there will also be a segment devoted to the events that transpired during and after this period . This will also include the effects that the May Fourth Revolution brought about . Finally , the birth and rise of the Chinese Communist Party shall also be included in this brief discussion

In to arrive at a better understanding of the situation , there shall first be this brief overview to provide the reader with a better perspective of the arguments and the flow of the discussion . Using this brief overview , one is able to construct a certain timeline while reading the report and can fully appreciate the events that occurred during these times

Brief Overview

The May Fourth Movement , while begun directly because of the protests over the Treaty of Versailles , is considered as having been the result of the failure of the 1911 revolution to establish a semblance of a Republican Form of government in China . As discussed previously , the relevance of such movement was more political and social (Chow 352 While there are economic repercussions from such movement , the main and more noticeable impact was on the traditional Chinese Culture which many intellectuals felt was too antiquated and outdated to provide China with the advantage that it needed to compete in the new century (Schwarcz 137

The New Culture ' movements , as some call the May Fourth Movement was centered on the philosophy that only by adopting a new culture could the old political establishments be overthrown or changed (Schwarcz 137 . By 1915 , intellectuals who were inspired by the teachings of Chen Duxiu began to encourage the other Chinese to clamor for reform and a strengthening of Chinese society (Schwarcz 137 . According to these intellectuals , this could only be accomplished by accepting the Western advantages in science and political thinking . This would make China impervious to foreign influence and thus powerful enough to resist the imperialist tendencies of the Western World

By May 4 , 1919 , the social unrest had reached its peak and thus the May Fourth Movement began (Schwarcz 139 . Initially a protest over Article...