One hundred years ago, students took the streets in Beijing, protesting the terms of the Treaty of Versailles that ended the first world war. Their complaints were twofold: not only had Western powers betrayed their ideals and their ally, but China’s own government had failed to stand up for its territorial integrity.
Today, the May 4 Movement is celebrated in China as a turning point — the manifestation of brewing nationalism that helped push the country towards its modern trajectory. But the history of the United States and the movement that continues to define China’s populist nationalism are inexorably linked. Not only did the ideas expressed by U.S. President Woodrow Wilson underpin the roots of the movement, but the perceived failure to live up to those same values was among the immediate causes that drove students to protest.
