![]() Events of 1916 Īs China was initially not a belligerent nation, her citizens were not allowed by the Chinese government to participate in the fighting. The final form of the treaty was signed by both parties on. Shikai, competing with other local warlords to become the ruler of all China, was not in a position to risk war with Japan, and accepted appeasement. After China rejected Japan's initial proposal, a reduced set of "Thirteen Demands" was transmitted in May, with a two-day deadline for response. They included Japanese control of former German rights, 99-year leases in southern Manchuria, an interest in steel mills, and concessions regarding railways. In January 1915, Japan issued an ultimatum called the Twenty-One Demands to the Chinese government. Japan went on to capture Qingdao and occupy portions of Shandong Province. Shikai secretly offered British diplomat John Jordan 50,000 troops to retake the German military colony in Qingdao, but he was refused. ![]() In 1914, Japanese and British military forces liquidated some of Germany's holdings in China. Shikai attempted to hold China’s neutrality in the war, an idea that was favored by the German chargé d'affaires in Peking, Adolf Georg von Maltzan. Ĭhina was neutral at the start of the war, as the country was financially chaotic, unstable politically, and militarily weak. ![]() Shikai became the president of the Republic of China while he sought to reinforce the central government. In April 1912, the Chinese military official Yuan Shikai gained power and ended the rule of the Qing dynasty. World War I began at the time when China entered a new period after the end of feudalism. Damaged building after the Siege of Qingdao
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