A Brief Introduction to the May 4th Youth Movement in China

The anti-imperialist and anti-feudal patriotic movement of China people broke out in Beijing on May 4th, 2009. 19 14 when the first world war broke out, Japan declared war on Germany, captured the entire Qingdao and Ji Jiao railways, took control of Shandong province, and took away all kinds of rights and interests occupied by Germany in Shandong. World War I ended and Germany was defeated. 1919 65438+10/8, the victors held a "peace conference" in Paris. The Beijing government and the Guangzhou military government jointly formed a China delegation to participate in the peace conference as victors, demanding the abolition of the privileges of the great powers in China, the abolition of the "twenty-one" unequal treaty concluded by Japanese imperialism and Yuan Shikai, and the return of all the rights in Shandong that Japan seized from Germany during World War II. Under the control of imperialist powers, the Paris Peace Conference not only rejected China's request, but also stipulated in the peace treaty with Germany that all the privileges of Germany in Shandong should be transferred to Japan. The Beijing government is going to sign a "peace treaty", which has aroused strong opposition from the people of China.

On the afternoon of May 4th, more than 3,000 students from Peking University, Normal University and other 13 schools broke through the obstruction of the military and police to give a speech in front of Tiananmen Square, and then held a demonstration, putting forward slogans such as "fighting for sovereignty outside, eliminating the national thief inside", "canceling Article 21" and "refusing to sign a peace treaty", demanding that pro-Japanese Cao Rulin, He Lu and others be punished. The procession went to Dongjiaomin Lane, but was stopped by the patrol of the embassy and turned to the residence of Cao Rulin in Zhao Jialou Hutong. Students rushed into Cao Zhai, and Cao Rulin quickly hid. Zhang Zongxiang, who was present at that time, was beaten by students and Cao Zhai was burned down. The military police arrested more than 30 students on the spot. Students in Beijing went on strike and electrified the whole country in protest.

The influence of Beijing students' patriotic movement has expanded rapidly. Demonstrations were held in Tianjin, Shanghai, Changsha, Guangzhou and other cities as well as all over the country. China students and overseas Chinese also carried out patriotic activities. Sun Yat-sen who was in Shanghai at that time expressed his deep sympathy and support. The Beijing government was forced to release the arrested students on May 7, but it also issued an order to suppress the student movement. On June 3, students from various schools in Beijing set off in groups and took to the streets to give speeches; On June 4th, more students were sent out for publicity activities, and nearly a thousand students were arrested in two days, which aroused greater anger among the people of the whole country. Shanghai people got up first, students went on strike, workers went on strike, businessmen went on strike, and strongly supported Beijing students. In particular, Shanghai workers have launched a political strike with 60,000 to 70,000 participants since June 5; Workers in Nanjing, Tianjin, Hangzhou, Jinan, Wuhan, Jiujiang and Wuhu also held strikes and demonstrations. The Beijing government was shocked and had to release all the arrested students on June 6. On June 5438+00, Cao, Zhang and Lu were announced to "resign". On 28th, the German delegation refused to sign the peace treaty with China. The May 4th patriotic movement came to a successful conclusion.

The May 4th Movement is also the continuation and development of the New Culture Movement. 19 15, Chen Duxiu founded Youth magazine, and changed its name to New Youth the following year. He held high the banner of "democracy" and "science", attacked the old feudal culture and advocated the new culture. Later, vernacular Chinese was advocated to replace classical Chinese, and new literature was advocated under the slogan of "literary revolution" The victory of Russian October socialist revolution had a great influence on the people of China. China's advanced elements began to regard the proletarian world outlook as a tool to observe the country's destiny. 19181kloc-0/Li Dazhao published Victory of the Common People and Victory of Bolshevism, which represented the new awakening of the advanced elements in China. The New Culture Movement not only made ideological preparations for the May 4th patriotic movement, but with the further development of this movement, the socialist ideological trend gradually replaced the bourgeois ideological trend and became the mainstream of the movement, which made preparations for the establishment of the China * * * production party ideologically and in terms of cadre preparation.

During the May 4th patriotic movement, the working class in China began to enter the historical stage as an independent regime. Intellectuals with preliminary ideology began to infiltrate workers, which promoted the combination of Marxism and China workers' movement and made organizational and ideological preparations for the establishment of China's * * * production party.

The May 4th Movement was the end of the old democratic revolution in China and the beginning of the new democratic revolution, and the China revolution entered a new historical period. After the founding of People's Republic of China (PRC), the State Council, the Central People's Government, officially declared May 4th as China Youth Day in February, 1949.