In July 1919, a telegram from the distant Soviet Union was placed on the desk of Duan Qirui, the provisional ruler of Beiyang. In the telegram, Lenin said that he would return to China more than 1.5 million square kilometers of territory that Tsarist Russia had occupied.
Duan Qirui was overjoyed after hearing this, and even said that this was a great thing. However, it wasn't long before his smile froze.
Lenin's return of the territory was not done out of charity, but with two conditions attached. When Duan Qirui saw these conditions, his face immediately sank, and he said firmly: "We will not accept the request of **!" ”
Why, then, did Lenin suddenly offer to return the territory to China? What are the two conditions he proposed? All of this starts with the cowardice of the Qing Dynasty, because it was the behavior of the Qing Dynasty that led to all this.
In the middle of the 19th century, due to the decay and incompetence of the Qing Dynasty, China suffered many crushing defeats in anti-aggression wars, and the great powers saw through the weakness of the Qing Dynasty. In 1860, the British and French forces invaded Beijing, and the Xianfeng Emperor fled in disarray, and the allied forces invaded the Old Summer Palace, looted the precious treasures, and finally burned down the famous garden.
This catastrophe became a turning point in China's history, and from then on, the great powers were free to bully and invade China and take everything they wanted. Under these circumstances, the Tsar** threatened to use force to force the Qing to sign a series of unequal treaties, such as the Treaty of Aihui, the Treaty of Tianjin, and the Treaty of Peking.
According to these treaties, the Tsar** ceded more than one hundred and fifty square kilometers of land from the northeastern and northwestern regions of China.
In the long course of history, the Qing Dynasty had to face not only the challenge of internal uprisings, but also the threat of the Tsar. In order to maintain the status quo, Qing ** reluctantly agreed to **'s unreasonable demands.
However, this decision did not end with the fall of the Qing Dynasty. On the contrary, in order to gain the support of the great powers, Beiyang ** continued to sign a series of unequal treaties, although many patriots at that time called for the recovery of the occupied territories, but Beiyang ** did not adopt them.
Fast forward and we are in 1917.
On November 7, the Provisional Wave fell with a cannon shot, and the Bolshevik forces led by Lenin seized power and created Soviet-led communism.
The news shocked China's intellectual circles and raised a question of widespread concern: "Where does China go from here?" "Some people advocate learning from Europe and the United States and taking the path of capitalist reform; While the other part saw in the successes of the Russian Soviets the possibility of a communist line.
In July 1919, Lenin said in the "Declaration of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic to the Chinese People and the North and South of China" that Soviet Russia would give up all its privileges in China and clean up the problems left over from the previous invasion of China, which caused a national boil in the country.
This news gave hope to the advanced Chinese intellectuals who were preparing to build a socialist state in imitation of the Soviet Union. Li Dazhao also said in the magazine "New Youth" that the October Revolution brought Marxism-Leninism to China.
At that time, China was suffering from internal and external troubles, confrontation between the north and the south, political turmoil, and frequent wars. Although he won the First World War as a member of the Entente, he suffered a heavy blow at the Paris Peace Conference, his status plummeted, and he became the target of arbitrary bullying by the Great Powers.
However, when they learned that the Soviet Union was going to abolish the unequal treaties and return the territories, the joy of the people was palpable. In particular, the early communist propagandists Li Dazhao, Chen Duxiu, Qu Qiubai and others were even more happy, and the favorability of the people of the whole country towards the Soviet Union also skyrocketed.
Li Dazhao praised Russia in "The Bright Movement of Asian Youth" for returning the tsar's privileges plundered from China, and the Chinese people expressed their gratitude for this, not only because of the return of territory, but also because Russia ** showed the spirit of humanism in this powerful world.
But the Chinese people and scholars may have rejoiced too soon, because Lenin, while returning 1.5 million square kilometers of territory, made two additional demands.
The first demanded that China recognize the legitimacy of Soviet power in Russia and guarantee not to interfere in its internal affairs with other Entente powers. The second demanded that China renounce the unequal treaties it had signed with the imperialist powers in order to demonstrate China's determination not to be complicit in them.
Although it now seems that there was nothing wrong with these treaties, in the historical context of the time, Lenin's motives seem to be fraught with "conspiracy".
Lenin's"Sinister intentions"In a word, it actually has a deep meaning. Before being a communist, he was at the helm of the country. Will you easily give up a territory of one and a half million square kilometers?
Obviously, Lenin would not have done this either. He returned the territory, with deliberate intentions behind it. All this originated from the birth of Soviet power in Russia.
Long before the birth of the Soviet Union, the people of Paris, France, tried to establish a socialist regime belonging to the people, the famous "Paris Commune". On March 18, 1871, the workers of Paris staged an armed uprising, overthrowing the bourgeois reaction** and establishing the world's first proletarian revolutionary regime.
However, this great attempt lasted only two months before it ended in tragic failure under the combined suppression of capitalism in all countries. Since then, Western capitalist countries have taken strict precautions against communism and carried out multifaceted attacks against communists in an attempt to strangle communism in the cradle.
The birth of Soviet power in Russia shocked the entire Western society. They are afraid of the ability of the communists to subvert the regime and build the state. If Soviet power is allowed to develop, the Red Flag could sweep across Europe.
Therefore, the countries of the West resorted to all sorts of insidious means to strangle the nascent Soviet power, including supporting reactionaries within the Soviet Union, trying to instigate proletarianism, and even directly intervening with troops.
In the face of these challenges, Soviet power was faced with a severe test.
The victory of the October Revolution was short-lived, and Russia's conservative forces remained strong, establishing a base in Ukraine in the west, gaining the support of Western countries, and posing a constant threat to the capital, Moscow.
In addition, some opposition forces fled to the vast expanse of Siberia and formed the "White Guards" with the intention of making a comeback. Conservative and reactionary forces abounded at home and armed intervention from the powerful capitalist regime outside, the nascent Soviet power was facing a severe test.
In this difficult situation at home and abroad, the Soviet Union, under the leadership of Lenin, took various measures. At home, they created the "Red Army", which fought to the death with the "White Guards".
Lenin adopted a strategy of retreating from the First World War and the Entente in exchange for Germany's withdrawal and the intervention of the Western powers.
However, the Central Powers, led by Germany, did not spare the Soviet Union and instead sent additional troops to occupy the Crimean Peninsula and the Caucasus. The Entente camp led by the United States, Britain and France was also worried that the Soviet Union would export the socialist revolution and forcibly interfere in the internal affairs of the Soviet Union.
Although Lenin's tactics played a role, the intervention of the Great Powers did not stop.
Britain sent 100,000 troops to the port of Morsk in the north of the Soviet Union in an attempt to intervene with arms. Faced with internal and external troubles, Lenin was deeply troubled and urgently needed to find a way to attract the attention of the imperialist powers, so that the Soviet Union could concentrate on destroying its enemies at home.
In the process, Lenin discovered a great power in the East - China. Compared to the cold Soviet Union, China's huge market is more attractive. If the attention of the great powers could be shifted to China, the Soviet Union's predicament might be solved.
The Soviet Union inherited the Tsar's territory, including 1.5 million square kilometers ceded from the Qing Dynasty. Taking into account the history of China, the Soviet regime headed by Lenin decided to return this part of the territory, but only if China Beiyang ** had to cancel the treaties with other powers.
Although this may cause the anger of Beiyang**, the Soviet regime believes that only in this way will the great powers turn their attention to China, and may even trigger a new frenzy to carve up China.
At that time, China was in a state of the first in the north and the south, and the country had not yet achieved reunification, and foreign exchanges were even more difficult. Beiyang** has always been seriously threatened by Japanese imperialism and was forced to sign several unequal treaties with Japan.
Japan was the most privileged country in China at that time, directly occupying Taiwan, and also obtained a large number of privileges in the northeast.
When the Soviet Union's public statement reached Japan, the Japanese ambassador to China immediately sent a note to Beiyang**, asking Beiyang** to make an official response as a sign of pressure.
In this case, Beiyang ** can only choose to retreat, saying that it will not make official contact with **, and will not explicitly refuse, intending to put the matter on hold.
Japan expressed satisfaction with Beiyang**'s response, and even praised it as a "wise choice". In the First World War, Beiyang** chose to stand with the imperialist powers and became a member of the Entente, sending 100,000 laborers to Europe to participate in the arduous work of building bridges and paving roads, digging trenches, etc.
However, most of these 100,000 laborers died on the battlefield, which became the price of Beiyang** catering to the imperialist powers. Nevertheless, the "wisdom and sacrifice" of Beiyang ** did not bring the desired results.
At the end of World War I, the Central Powers led by Germany were defeated, and China, as the victorious Allied Powers, thought that they could recover Qingdao and Jiaozhou Bay, which had been leased by Germany.
At the Paris Peace Conference, Japanese diplomatic representatives advocated that Japan should take over German interests in China and demanded the cession of Qingdao and Jiaozhou Bay. This unreasonable request was approved due to Japan's great national power and the desire of the great powers to seek to improve relations with Japan.
When the news reached the country, the people woke up from the joy of the victorious country, causing widespread anger and resentment.
In those days, students and workers in Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin and other big cities, for the weakness and incompetence of Beiyang, resolutely took to the streets, launched a huge strike, class boycott, and market boycott movement, and held demonstrations in the streets.
Their courageous actions were like a bolt of lightning that illuminated the course of Chinese history. In the face of surging domestic public opinion, Beiyang ** was forced to retreat. However, at this critical moment, the Soviet Union, led by Lenin, put forward a demand for the return of the territory for the second time, but Beiyang ** still adhered to the attitude of "no matter what it is".
This sparked an even stronger opposition movement among patriotic student workers, who even stormed their homes in Beiyang *** to declare to the world with their actions that the determination of the Chinese people was unshakable.
At such a critical moment, Beiyang ** did not show its determination to hold on to the territory, but used the military and police to brutally suppress the student labor movement. Under the strong pressure of Beiyang**, although the turmoil was temporarily calmed, it also made the scholars and students at that time completely lose confidence in Beiyang**.
In this environment, the theory of communist revolution quietly took root in China, and finally gave birth to the vigorous tree of New China.
The operation to return the territories was actually an expedient measure for the USSR. They expect Beiyang ** to accept this proposal, but if Beiyang ** refuses, they also have a way to deal with it.
From 1918 to 1920, the Soviet Red Army successfully fought hard battles against reactionary forces at home and prevented the armed intervention of the imperialist powers, thus protecting the nascent Soviet power.
After the domestic situation in the USSR stabilized, Stalin directly rejected the previous declaration and refused to return the territory to China. This decision undoubtedly deprived Beiyang ** of the best opportunity to regain a large territory, however, it also objectively promoted the establishment of the Communist Party of China.
Everything in the world has its own providence, whether it is a blessing or a curse, it seems to be an inevitable connection in the underworld. However, only this one truth lives on: those who lag behind are bound to be bullied.
After decades of rapid development, China has become an important force in the world, and we have the ability to recover what we have lost in the past, rather than relying on the handouts of others.