100 Historical Stories That Unlock Teenage Wisdom

Chapter 36 7 Paris Peace Conference China Refuses to Sign

Chapter 47 Paris Peace Conference China Refuses to Sign
——When fate is controlled more by ourselves, each of us should rely on our own strength to speak out our own voice. The courage to not be afraid of power is itself a kind of success!
"Severely punish traitors!" "Down with imperialism!" On May 1919, 5, students from Peking University and many other schools flocked to the streets of Beijing, holding slogans and shouting slogans, and started a mighty demonstration.This was in opposition to the clauses aimed at China at the "Paris Peace Conference" held in Paris at that time.

After the end of the First World War, on January 1919, 1, the victorious countries held a peace conference at the Palace of Versailles near Paris.More than 18 people participated in the peace meeting, including representatives from the victorious countries, newly established countries and "social groups".Soviet Russia was not invited to the peace conference, and the defeated Allied countries were not allowed to attend the conference.

British Prime Minister Lloyd?Georges, French Prime Minister Clemenceau and US President Wilson were the de facto masters of the Paris Peace Conference.The peace meeting fell into quarrels from the very beginning.Wilson insisted on discussing the League of Nations first, and declared that the League of Nations should form a whole with the peace treaty and be binding on all countries.

Clemenceau disagreed with what Wilson said.The two sides couldn't argue.As a result, the "Ten-member Conference" composed of the heads of state and foreign ministers of Britain, the United States, France, Japan, and Italy conducted discussions for as long as four days and reached a compromise. The issue of the League of Nations was handed over to a special committee for discussion, with Wilson as the committee chairman.

At the end of January, Wilson proposed that the League of Nations should establish a mandate system in the German and Austrian colonies and the Turkish territories.Britain and France carved up and occupied the colonies of Germany, Austria, Turkey and other countries, so they firmly opposed the mandate rule.In the end, Britain and France made concessions and accepted the principle of mandate.

With regard to German territory, France demanded the establishment of a Greater Poland including Poznan and Danzig on the eastern border of Germany.France demanded the return of Alsace and Lorraine, determined the Rhine River as the natural border of France and Germany, and established a Rhine Republic in the German provinces in the Rhine River Basin.

Britain and the United States firmly opposed the French plan, because they did not want to weaken Germany too much and strengthen France.Clemenceau agreed to make concessions on the Rhine, but demanded that the left bank of the Rhine be temporarily separated from Germany and occupied by the Allied Forces, and that Germany should not be allowed to fortify the 50 kilometers of the right bank of the Rhine.As compensation for the concession, he demanded that Saar be handed over to France.

After repeated quarrels and bargaining, in mid-April Clemenceau agreed with the United States to include the "Monroe Doctrine" principle in the League of Nations Treaty, in exchange for the United States to make concessions to France's territorial claims.Britain supported the United States to make concessions to France, but demanded that the United States give up the naval arms competition.As a result, the parties finally reached a compromise on the German border issue.

At the meeting, the Japanese representative cited the "1915 Articles" of 21 and the secret understanding of Britain, France, Italy, and Russia in 1917, and demanded that all "rights" of Germany in Shandong be transferred to Japan.Their reason was that Shandong had in fact been occupied by Japan after Japan declared war on Germany.The Chinese representative formally proposed to the peace conference to return Shandong, requesting the cancellation of "Article 21" and taking back all the rights and interests of Germany in Shandong.

The representative of China pointed out that China, as one of the victorious countries, has the right to take back all the rights and interests of Germany in China. Because China declares war on Germany, all treaties between China and Germany will automatically fail.But under the pressure of Japan, Britain, France, and the United States decided to sacrifice China and meet Japan's demands.The Chinese people were excited, and the May [-]th Movement broke out. In the end, the Chinese representative refused to sign the peace treaty.

Wisdom Interpretation:

Placing one's destiny on others not only reflects a kind of self-esteem, but also a kind of practical consideration.After reading this story, can't we understand this truth?

(End of this chapter)