The New Republic and the May Fourth Movement

The 1911 Revolution

• Mutiny by the modern army• Provinces declare independence from the

Qing• Establishment of The Republic of China

– Sun Yatsen the first president

• Power taken over by Yuan Shikai– Former Qing official

• 1916 Beijing loses control of the rest of the country

The May Fourth Movement1) A political movement

• Imperialist pressure on China from 19th C– Pressure from Japan

• 1894 Japan defeats China in war to control Korea• 1904 Japan defeats Russia in war to control

Manchuria

• 1914 Outbreak of war in Europe– Japan joins Allies and captures the German

concession of Qingdao

• 1918 Treaty of Versailles gave Qingdao to Japan

→ Fury in China

→ Student demonstrations in Beijing→arrests

→ Protests spread to other cities

A Social and Cultural Movement

• Political change has failed

→ need to change the way people think

→ attack Confucianism, especially• Arranged marriages• Position of women

• New literature– To teach the new ideas to the people

Chen Duxiu and Hu Shi

Lu Xun

Political Change

• New political ideas enter China– Student study groups– Interest in political ideologies and scientific

thinking

• Founding of the Chinese Communist Party

The May Fourth Movement in Chinese History

• Inspired a new generation of leaders• Frequent commemoration• History still problematic in China