World War I (Wei, 1956, p. ix).
China's repeated humilations by other powers stimulated
the force of Chinese nationalism and demands among its
educated elite for reform of China's antiquated governmental
structure. Japan significantly influenced that development in
three principal ways: (i) "the rapid and unexpected Japanese
victory [over Russia, a European power] . . . revealed to
China the advantages of learning the lessons of the West"
(Pelissier, 1963, p. 237); (ii) Five to 15,000 Chinese a
year studied in Japan which was a haven for China's newly
awakened and politically dissident generation; and (iii) after
1913 Japan became the primary menace to China's independence. In
1914, Japan seized Germany's concessions in the Shantung
Peninsula. In January, 1915, it presented to China, in turmoil
after Manchu rule collapsed in 1911-1912, its "21 Demands,"
pursuant to which Japan sought to obtain economic hegemony over
China. In 1919 at Versailles, the Western Allies accepted de
facto Japan's "special interests" in China. They required Japan
to agree only to withdraw its troops from Shantung and to respect
China's territorial integrity. Many Chinese believed that China
had been betrayed by the West. On May 4, 1919, student protests
erupted in Peking, which were followed by strikes and boycotts
of Japanese goods.
Russian and Japanese Intervention in China: 1920-1931
During the 1920's, China suffered a "progressive collapse of
both central and local government, . . . an increase in civil
strife, banditry and anarchy" (Pelissier, 1963, p. 260). Soviet
Russia pursued policies in China which were primarily intended to
limit Japanese penetration in Northern Manchuria and in other
areas on its Far Ea...