“Japan’s demand for the transfer of German concessions in Shandong is a direct threat to China's sovereignty. The Peace Conference in Paris has failed to uphold the principle of self-determination for non-Western nations, choosing instead to appease imperialist demands. China did not send over one hundred thousand laborers to support the Allied war effort in Europe only to have its sovereign territory partitioned at the negotiation table. If we do not rise and protest now, our nation will be lost.”
— Manifesto of the Beijing Students' Union, May 1919
The sentiments expressed in the passage most directly reflect which of the following developments in the immediate aftermath of the First World War?
- AThe immediate granting of national independence to all former German concessions and Ottoman territories by the Allied powers.
- The growing disillusionment of non-European nationalists with Western-led peace negotiations and the selective application of self-determination.Cevap
- CThe successful execution of the League of Nations mandate system in transitioning former colonies to sovereign self-rule.
- DThe formal transition of all foreign concessions in China into League of Nations mandates that guaranteed Chinese sovereignty.
Cevap
The growing disillusionment of non-European nationalists with Western-led peace negotiations and the selective application of self-determination.
The correct answer is correct because the decision of the Paris Peace Conference to transfer German concessions in Shandong to Japan rather than return them to China demonstrated that the Allied powers applied the principle of self-determination selectively, favoring imperialist interests over the sovereignty of non-European nations. This led to widespread disillusionment and fueled nationalist protests such as the May Fourth Movement.
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Anahtar Kavram
Unresolved Tensions After World War I