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

by Elleman; Bruce

• ISBN13: 9780765610515
• ISBN10: 0765610515
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• 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.

Table of Contents

List of Maps

List of Documents

Acknowledgements

Technical Note

List of Abbreviations

Introduction

The Diplomatic Situation Prior to the Paris Peace Conference

The German Diplomatic Position in Shandong

Japan Declares War on Germany

Strategic and Military Importance of the Shandong Concession

Foreign Policy Issues Regarding the Shandong Concession

Japan Presents the Twenty-one Demands

The Japanese Ultimatum

China Joins the War Against Germany

The 1918 Secret Sino-Japanese Agreements

Conclusions

Notes

The Chinese Delegation's Proposals to the Paris Peace Conference

The Members of the Chinese Delegation

Wellington Koo and President Woodrow Wilson

The Chinese Delegation's Proposals to Paris

Wellington Koo and the Shandong Question

The Chinese Delegation's March and April Declarations

Direct or Indirect Restitution of Shandong

Conclusions

Notes

The Japanese Delegation's Proposals to the Paris Conference

The Japanese Delegation and its Proposals

The American Delegation's Opening Position on Shandong

Who Wanted the Secret Agreements Kept Secret?

The Impact of the Secret Agreements on America's Proposals

The Japanese Delegation's April 1919 Proposals

Conclusions

President Wilson's Compromise Proposal

The American Delegation and its Proposals

The Big Three's Negotiations with the Chinese Delegation

The Big Three's Negotiations with the Japanese Delegation

Wilson's Rationale Behind this Compromise Solution

The Impact of Wilson's Compromise

Conclusions

Notes

The Myth of Woodrow Wilson's Betrayal

The Importance of "Face" in China

The Chinese Diplomatic Reaction to the Shandong Resolutions

The Japanese Diplomatic Reaction to the Shandong Resolutions

The Shandong Resolution, The May Fourth Movement, and Wilson

Liang Qichao's Interpretation of the Shandong Resolutions

Conclusions

Notes

Wilson's Failed Attempts to Secure a Japanese Statement of Intent

American Decides to Obtain a Japanese Statement of Intent

The Chinese Delegation Fails to Sign on a Provisional Basis

The Creation of a Draft Statement of Intent

Plans to Issue a Big Three Statement of Intent

Shandong and the League of Nations

Conclusions

Notes

Shandong and the Origins of the Chinese Communist Party

The May Fourth Movement and Chinese Radicalization

The Karakhan Manifesto and the Birth of Chinese Communism

The Shandong Resolution's Impact on

Shandong and the Founding of the Chinese Communist Party

Shandong and the United Front Strategy

Conclusions

Notes

The Myth of Soviet Equal Treatment of China

Shandong and the Diplomatic Legacy of Versailles

The 1921-1922 Washington Conference

Soviet Diplomacy and the United Front Strategy

Lev Karakhan's Secret Diplomacy and the CER

The 1925 Restoration of Soviet-Japanese Diplomatic Relations

Lev Karakhan and the Twenty-one Demands

Conclusions

Notes

Epilogue: The Impact of the Shandong Question

Notes

27 January 1919 Notes

28 January 1919 Notes

22 April 1919 Notes

Bibliography

Index

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