Wilson and China: A Revised History of the Shandong Question

A Revised History of the Shandong Question

Bruce Elleman

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2015
• Print ISBN: 9780765610508
• eBook ISBN: 9781317451990
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: European History
• Index: History

Drawing on sources in Japanese, Chinese, and American archives and libraries, this book reassesses another facet of Woodrow Wilson's agenda at the 1919 Paris Peace Conference at the end of World War I. Breaking with accepted scholarly opinions, the author argues that Wilson did not "betray" China, as many Chinese and Western scholars have charged; rather, Wilson successfully negotiated a compromise with the Japanese to ensure that China's sovereignty would be respected in Shandong Province. Rejecting the compromise, Chinese negotiators refused to sign the Treaty of Versailles, creating conditions for the Soviet Union's entry into China and its later influence over the course of the Chinese revolution.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• List of Maps
• List of Documents
• Acknowledgments
• Technical Note
• List of Abbreviations
• Introduction
• 1. The Diplomatic Situation Prior to the Paris Peace Conference
• 2. The Chinese Delegation’s Proposals to the Paris Peace Conference
• 3. The Japanese Delegation ’s Proposals to the Paris Peace Conference
• 4. President Wilson’s Compromise Proposal
• 5. The Myth of Woodrow Wilson’s Betrayal
• 6. Wilson’s Failed Attempts to Secure a Japanese Statement of Intent
• 7. Shandong and the Origins of the Chinese Communist Party
• 8. The Myth of Soviet Equal Treatment of China
• Epilogue: The Impact of the Shandong Question
• Appendix A: 27 January 1919 Notes
• Appendix B: 28 January 1919 Notes
• Appendix C: 22 April 1919 Notes
• Bibliography
• Index