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Chapter 374 A weak country has no diplomacy

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    During the Russian Civil War, China was not idle either.  However, with the support of Japanese imperialism, the Beiyang government of the Anhui clique, Duan Qirui, tried its best to expand its armed forces.  Duan Qirui put forward the slogan of "unification by force" in an attempt to use the Zhili clique army to eliminate Sun Yixian's law-protecting military government and achieve the purpose of weakening the Zhili clique.

    Politically speaking, Duan Qirui manipulated the "illegal" Anfu Congress (this was the common understanding of Sun Yat-sen, the Zhili clique, and the Feng clique) and elected Xu Shichang as president instead of Feng Guozhang, the leader of the Zhili clique.

    This move made the Anhui clique very satisfied: now, there is no more dispute between the government and the court, the political arena is clean, and everyone is their own people. Although Xu Shichang is an old man from Beiyang, he has always stood as a mediator.  The center had no military power, so he was "obedient and obedient" to Duan Qirui's actions.  It was great, and the seeds of immediate anger were planted.

    In terms of military affairs, after misappropriating part of the "Nishihara loan", he finally replenished the arms that had been robbed twice by the Feng clan. In January 1919, he successfully established the so-called "participating army" with three divisions and four mixed brigades.  "For his direct line¡ª¡ªthe First World War is over, he still established it under this name, I am really speechless.

    These armies have hired Japanese officers as consultants.  Because of the hesitant relationship between the two sides, Japan has made real efforts to arm and train the Anhui army. Therefore, the Duan government has a tolerant and compromised attitude towards Japan's policy.

    But there are also capable people in the Zhili clique. At least Wu Peifu is not willing to be fooled by him and sees the expansion of the Anhui clique. He does not work hard on the front line, so the military progress has been tepid.  Under his leadership, the Zhili clique proposed "peaceful reunification" and confronted Duan with the support of British and American imperialism.  The Feng clique, with the mentality of keeping a low profile and biding its time, based itself outside the border, ignored the political arena in Beijing, and was happy to see the conflict between the two sides come to fruition.

    But a major event happened not long after, which forced Zhang Hanqing to temporarily give up this single-minded development process, and devote himself to the subsequent great changes with a broader perspective.  After suffering decades of humiliation, the Chinese nation finally issued its strongest voice since the Opium War: the May Fourth Movement.

    Sometimes Zhang Hanqing also secretly thinks that his emergence has accelerated the strength of the Northeast (Feng) clique and advanced the economic and military capabilities of the Northeast by more than 2 to 3 years.  But why does history continue to follow its original trajectory?  Do we have to do it again?  one eight?  A July 7th Incident?  An eight-year war of resistance?  And¡ª¡ªa Nanjing Massacre?

    But later he figured it out: his strength was too small, so small that he could only play a limited role in the Northeast.  As for the international general trend, he has no ability to influence or change it. He can only be like ordinary people. The only difference is that he can open his eyes and watch history take its original path.  But is this the result he wants?

    The First World War ended in 1918 and Germany was defeated.  On January 18, 1919, the victorious countries held a "Peace Conference" in Paris.  The Beijing government and the Guangzhou military government jointly formed a Chinese delegation to participate in the peace conference as a victorious country. They proposed to cancel the various privileges of the great powers in China and to cancel the "Twenty-one" unequal treaty signed between Japanese imperialism and Yuan Shikai.  , the return of various rights in Shandong that Japan took from Germany during the war and other demands.

    This is the natural glory and right of the victorious country.

    As for the privileges of Qingdao and Shandong, which were formerly occupied by Germany, because of Germany's defeat, they should return to China as the victorious country. This was also the small calculation of a group of central think tanks who set up to participate in the war.

    Although they failed to send troops, more than 400,000 Chinese workers were sent out to work in France, Russia and other Allied countries. This objectively strengthened the power of the Allied Powers and accelerated the end of World War I. It also logically allowed the  China became the "victorious nation".  So when the news of victory in World War I came, Cai Yuanpei could not restrain his excitement and raised his arms and shouted: "Labour is sacred!" and "Long live labor!"

    But the facts are telling: at the beginning of the Paris Peace Conference, the Western powers violated their commitment to treat China equally before entering the war. They only gave China two representative seats on the grounds that China's contribution was small, while Britain, the United States, France, Italy, and  Japan each has five representative seats.  Not to mention, the highest body of the peace conference is known as the "Conference of Ten". Each of the above-mentioned five countries has two representatives, and China is excluded.

    What¡¯s even more annoying is that Japanese representative Makino actually claimed that the Jiaozhou Bay Concession, the railway and all German rights in Shandong should be transferred to Japan unconditionally!  The reason is that China did not send a single soldier to participate in the war, which is a typical "declaration" but not "war". Why does it enjoy these rights?

    More than 20,000 Chinese laborers died on the battlefield, aren¡¯t they human beings?  The only Chinese officer who actively requested to participate in the war, Ma Yubao from the Kunming Lecture Hall, died on the battlefield of the Franco-German War on the eve of victory. How can it be said that no one participated in the war?  !

    Ma Yubao¡¯s legacy? He was buried in the French Army Cemetery. A grand public memorial was held for him in his hometown of Kunming while the ink was still wet on the "Glory of Huang Zhou" written by Sun Yat-sen and "Light of the Nation" written by Li Yuanhong. Chen Rongchang wrote it himself.  The biography is still being recited for thousands of people. On the plaque sent from the martyrs' hometown, there are clearly written four characters: "There are people in China!" How to say that there are no people in China to participate in the war?  !

    Gu Weijun, known as the "first diplomat of the Republic of China", prepared "Shandong Issues" for this purpose, urging China to regain Shandong. He said: "China cannot give up Shandong, the birthplace of Confucius, just like Christians cannot give up."  "Like the Holy Land Jerusalem" shocked European and American representatives, reversed the situation of public opinion and won the sympathy of the great powers.  U.S. Secretary of State Lansing later wrote: "Gu Weijun's speech was very convincing, and his arguments 'completely overwhelmed the Japanese.'"

    But weak countries have no diplomacy, and this advantage based on sympathy is quickly defeated by political interests.  After Italy withdrew from the peace conference due to a dispute over interests, Britain, France and the United States were afraid that Japan's withdrawal threat would take effect and cause the peace conference to abort, so they instead put pressure on Chinese representatives.

    British Prime Minister Lloyd George and Gu Weijun said: "We all really want to help you, but since China signed the treaty with Japan first, we should respect the treaty."

    U.S. President Wilson asked Lu Zhengxiang, then Minister of Foreign Affairs: "Why did China sign the Four Civil Treaties with Japan in 1915? Since the treaty has been signed, the seriousness of the treaty must be maintained!"

    On April 30, the peace conference decided that "Germany's rights, privileges, railways, mines, submarine wires, state-owned movable and immovable properties in Shandong will be transferred to Japan."  At this time, the head of the Chinese delegation, Lu Zhengxiang, left Paris, so Gu Weijun actually temporarily assumed the authority of the head of the delegation. Under his auspices, the Chinese delegation refused to sign the Treaty of Versailles.  Seeing that the situation was deadlocked, British Prime Minister Louis George proposed that the matter be submitted to a special committee of Britain, France, and the United States for review.

    On May 1, Chinese negotiator and Foreign Minister Lu Zhengxiang telegraphed the matter to the Beijing government, saying that failure to sign the contract would be detrimental to the abolition of consular jurisdiction, cancellation of the Boxer Indemnity, tariff autonomy, compensation for losses, etc.  .

    The Foreign Affairs Commission of the Beijing Government (a presidential think tank) held an emergency meeting and decided not to sign a contract.  "Beijing News" of Shanghai's "Mainland News": "The government received a call from the Chinese delegation in Paris, saying that the diplomatic war with Japan regarding the return of the Jiaozhou lease has failed."

    But because the Duan government wanted to seek help from Japan, on May 2, the Beijing government sent a secret message to Chinese representatives to sign the contract.  (Remember the website address: www.hlnovel.com
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