Wilson and China: A Revised History of the Shandong Question: A Revised History of the Shandong Question

by Elleman; Bruce

• ISBN13: 9780765610508
• ISBN10: 0765610507
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2002-08-31
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

Drawing on sources in Japanese, Chinese, and American archives and libraries, this book reassesses another facet of Woodrow Wilson's agenda at the 1919 Paris Peace Conference at the end of World War I. Breaking with accepted scholarly opinions, the author argues that Wilson did not "betray" China, as many Chinese and Western scholars have charged; rather, Wilson successfully negotiated a compromise with the Japanese to ensure that China's sovereignty would be respected in Shandong Province. Rejecting the compromise, Chinese negotiators refused to sign the Treaty of Versailles, creating conditions for the Soviet Union's entry into China and its later influence over the course of the Chinese revolution.

Author Biography

Bruce A. Elleman is an Associated Professor in the Strategic Research Department, U.S. Naval War College, Newport, R.I.

Table of Contents

List of Maps	x
List of Documents	xi
Acknowledgments	xiii
Technical Note	xv
List of Abbreviations	xvii
Introduction	1	(6)
The Diplomatic Situation Prior to the Paris Peace Conference	7	(26)
The German Diplomatic Position in Shandong	8	(3)
Japan Declares War on Germany	11	(2)
Strategic and Military Importance of the Shandong Concession	13	(1)
Foreign Policy Issues Regarding the Shandong Concession	14	(1)
Japan Presents the Twenty-one Demands	15	(3)
The Japanese Ultimatum	18	(3)
China Joins the War Against Germany	21	(3)
The 1918 Secret Sino-Japanese Agreements	24	(3)
Conclusions	27	(2)
Noted	29	(4)
The Chinese Delegation's Proposals to the Paris Peace Conference	33	(20)
The Members of the Chinese Delegation	34	(2)
Wellington Koo and President Woodrow Wilson	36	(3)
The Chinese Delegation's Proposals to Paris	39	(2)
Wellington Koo and the Shandong Question	41	(3)
The Chinese Delegation's March and April Declarations	44	(2)
Director or Indirect Restitution of Shandong	46	(3)
Conclusions	49	(1)
Notes	50	(3)
The Japanese Delegation's Proposals to the Paris Peace Conference	53	(20)
The Japanese Delegation and its Proposals	54	(2)
The American Delegation's Opening Position on Shandong	56	(4)
Who Wanted the Secret Agreements Kept Secret?	60	(4)
The Impact of the Secret Agreements on America's Proposals	64	(2)
The Japanese Delegation's April 1919 Proposals	66	(3)
Conclusions	69	(1)
Notes	70	(3)
President Wilson's Compromise Proposal	73	(20)
The American Delegation and its Proposals	75	(2)
The Big Three's Negotiations with the Chinese Delegation	77	(3)
The Big Three's Negotiations with the Japanese Delegation	80	(4)
Wilson's Rationale Behind this Compromise Solution	84	(2)
The Impact of Wilson's Compromise	86	(3)
Conclusions	89	(1)
Notes	90	(3)
The Myth of Woodrow Wilson's Betrayal	93	(18)
The Importance of ``Face'' in China	94	(3)
The Chinese Diplomatic Reaction to the Shandong Resolutions	97	(1)
The Japanese Diplomatic Reaction to the Shandong Resolutions	98	(5)
The Shandong Resolutions, the May Fourth Movement, and Wilson	103	(2)
Liang Qichao's Interpretation of the Shandong Resolutions	105	(2)
Conclusions	107	(1)
Notes	108	(3)
Wilson's Failed Attempts to Secure a Japanese Statement of Intent	111	(24)
America Decides to Obtain a Japanese Statement of Intent	112	(2)
The Chinese Delegation Fails to Sign on a Provisional Basis	114	(4)
The Creation of a Draft Statement of Intent	118	(4)
Plans to Issue a Big Three Statement of Intent	122	(2)
Shandong and the League of Nations	124	(4)
Conclusions	128	(3)
Notes	131	(4)
Shandong and the Origins of the Chinese Communist Party	135	(20)
The May Fourth Movement and Chinese Radicalization	136	(2)
The Karakhan Manifesto and the Birth of Chinese Communism	138	(2)
The Shandong Resolution's Impact on Li Dazhao and Chen Duxiu	140	(5)
Shandong and the Founding of the Chinese Communist Party	145	(3)
Shandong and the United Front Strategy	148	(1)
Conclusions	149	(2)
Notes	151	(4)
The Myth of Soviet Equal Treatment of China	155	(20)
Shandong and the Diplomatic Legacy of Versailles	156	(4)
The 1921-1922 Washington Conference	160	(2)
Soviet Diplomacy and the United Front Strategy	162	(2)
Lev Karakhan's Secret Diplomacy and the CER	164	(1)
The 1925 Restoration of Soviet-Japanese Diplomatic Relations	165	(3)
Lev Karakhan and the Twenty-one Demands	168	(2)
Conclusions	170	(1)
Notes	171	(4)
Epilogue: The Impact of the Shandong Question	175	(8)
Notes	181	(2)
Appendix A: 27 January 1919 Notes	183	(4)
Appendix B: 28 January1919 Notes	187	(8)
Appendix C: 22 April 1919 Notes	195	(16)
Bibliography	211	(10)
Index	221