America and the May Fourth Movement: The Response to Chinese Nationalism, 1917-1921

Abstract

THE QUESTION of how to shape American policy so as to ally the United States with the nationalism of the emerging nations of Africa and Asia is one of the most important facing American policy planners today. It is not an easy question to answer, but there are cogent reasons for making the attempt. First, the United States can no longer avoid influencing other countries. The choice is not between action and inaction, but between conscious, purposeful influence and unconscious, perhaps detrimental influence. Second, the Communist powers have met with not inconsiderable success in their efforts to befriend nationalist movements, and the United States must act or default to its competitors. This article is a study of an instance in which the United States was unsuccessful in its efforts to befriend a burgeoning nationalist movement. It is a study of the background of the first case in which an Asian country, China, despaired of friendship with the West and turned to the revolutionary Communism of the Soviet Union for guidance. The article will not provide a blueprint for winning the allegiance of nations once oppressed by imperialism, but it may indicate why many African and Asian leaders find the offers of the Communists more promising than similar blandishments held out by the United States and its allies.