May Fourth Movement World History 11/28/12

Beginnings May 4, 1919 Student protests erupted in Beijing and later spread to cities across China. “China’s territory may be conquered but it cannot be taken away! The Chinese people may be massacred, but they will not surrender.” Organized boycotts of Japanese goods.

May Fourth Movement Set off a cultural and intellectual movement known as the May Fourth Movement. Goal was to strengthen China. Some leaders blamed the success of imperialism on China’s own weakness. Some Chinese reformers wanted to learn from the West and use that knowledge to end foreign domination. Looked to democracy and nationalism to solve China’s problems.

Soviet Influence Some Chinese turned to the revolutionary ideas of Marx and Lenin. Russian Revolution offered a model of how a strong, well-organized party could transform a nation. Soviet Russia offered to train Chinese students and military officials to become the leaders of a communist revolution. By the 1920s, a small group of Chinese communists had formed their own political party.