May Fourth Incident - May 4, 1919

On this day in 1919, thousands of students gathered at Tiananmen Square in Beijing to protest the Paris Peace Conference.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
The Day in History Class is a production of I
Heart Radio Welcome back to this Day in History Class,
where we reveal a new piece of history every day.
Today is May fourth, nineteen. The day was May fourth,

(00:24):
nineteen nineteen. At around one thirty in the afternoon, about
three thousand students from universities in Beijing gathered at the
Gate of Heavenly Peace in tian and Moon Square. They
were protesting the Versailles Peace Conference, which gave German rights
over Shandong and Eastern Chinese Province to Japan. The demonstrations

(00:47):
marked a peak in the May Fourth Movement, an intellectual
revolution and socio political reform movement in China. In nineteen fourteen,
Japan seized control of Shandong from Germany. The next year,
Japan issued a set of demands known as the twenty
one Demands that would extend Japanese control of Manchuria and

(01:08):
the Chinese economy. The demands called for China to recognize
Japan's seizure of German spheres of influence in China. Facing
the threat of war, Chinese President Yun Shu Kai accepted
most of the demands to appease Japan. This appeasement was
not well received by many Chinese folks. An anti Japanese

(01:29):
sentiment grew in China. On top of that, the Warlord
era that began in China after UN's death in nineteen
sixteen caused much social and political strife. The New Culture
movement also helped build the foundation for the May Fourth movement.
New Youth, established by Picking University professor Chen Dooshu, was

(01:52):
a monthly magazine that promoted ideals like science and democracy,
while opposing some traditional Chinese ideals and confusion value use.
Intellectuals who were inspired by New Youth began advocating for
reform and denouncing parts of Chinese heritage. They uplifted notions
of nationalism, liberalism, and socialism. They also suggested a new

(02:15):
vernacular writing style that would replace the classical written win
Yan Chinese. In nineteen seventeen, China declared war against Germany.
China joined the war on the side of the Allies
under the condition that it would get back all German
spheres of influence, including Shandong. The Allies were victorious, but

(02:37):
when the Treaty of Versailles was drawn up in nineteen nineteen,
Shandong was given to Japan. This controversy became known as
the Shandong Question or Shandong problem, and the Chinese public
was upset about that transfer of rights. Students at Beijing
University drafted a manifesto written by Luo Glen. It said,

(03:00):
in part, this is the last chance for China in
her life and death struggle. Today we swear two solemn
oaths with all our fellow countrymen. First, China's territory may
be conquered, but it cannot be given away. Second, the
Chinese people may be massacred, but they will not surrender.
Our country is about to be annihilated. Up Brethren opposed

(03:24):
to the Chinese delegations actions at the Paris Conference, a
coalition of student groups decided to hold a demonstration on
May seventh, but when the news about Shandong broke, they
decided to act quickly, so on May fourth, nineteen nineteen,
representatives from several student organizations met at the Peking College

(03:45):
of Law and Political Science to plan the demonstration. They
settled on five resolutions, which were as follows. Telegrams would
be sent to all interested in involved organizations domestically and
abroad asking them to protest this Jandong resolution. They would
educate the Chinese masses about what was happening at the conference,

(04:06):
A centralized organization of all student groups would be established
for organizational and administrative purposes, and finally, the route for
the demonstration that afternoon would start at tiana Mun Gate
and moved through the business area of the city. That afternoon,
thousands of students from thirteen universities gathered at tiana Mun Square.

(04:28):
They passed out flyers that said China would not concede
Shandong to Japan, and they called for the Baiyong government
not to ratify the Treaty of Versailles. The students marched
to the Legation Quarter in Beijing, where the foreign embassies
were located, and presented letters to foreign ministers. Diplomat cow
Roulin's house was burned down. The next day the student

(04:50):
protesters and Beijing went on strike, and students elsewhere in
China followed. Students also boycotted Japanese goods. Several students were
harmed or died in the demonstrations, and more than a
thousand were arrested. In early June, somewhere around a hundred
thousand industrial workers in Shanghai went on a week long
general strike. The workers began demanding higher wages and better

(05:15):
working conditions. Facing the pressure of all the protests, the
government finally gave in. The entire cabinet resigned. The government
released student prisoners, dismissed pro Japanese officials, and refused to
sign the Versailles treaty, but Japan still had control of
the Shandong peninsula. China signed a treaty with Germany in

(05:38):
nineteen twenty one, and in nineteen two, Shandong was returned
to China. As part of the deal, Japanese residents living
in Shandong got special privileges. The anti imperialist May Fourth
movement is seen as a turning point in Chinese intellectual thought.
Literature using vernacular Chinese emerged. The now nationalist Guaman Dong

(06:01):
Party was reorganized, Mass meetings were held throughout China for
the common people. And partly because the Chinese view the
Shandong problem as a betrayal by the Western powers, they
turned away from ideals of democracy and toward communism. Chinese
political movement became more radical. I'm Eves Jeff Code, and

(06:22):
hopefully you know a little more about history today than
you did yesterday. You can find us on Twitter, Instagram,
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for showing up. We'll meet here again tomorrow. May the
fourth be with you. For more podcasts from I Heart Radio,

(06:43):
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