How Did The May Thirtieth Movement Influence The Chinese Working Class

Introduction

The May Thirtieth Movement marked a distinct point in time in Chinese History, China was in the midst of turmoil as the Second Zhili-Fengtian war had just ended in 1924, and in the middle of the First United Front. Thousands of people in Shanghai took to the streets on May 30 to show their discontent towards foreign powers, recent events and their current situation. And the events that took place that day ignited nationwide anti-foreign riots and strikes, and sparked international censure. Did the May Thirtieth movement mark the formation of the Chinese working class?

May Thirtieth Movement

I shall start off with a small summary of what constituted to the May Thirtieth Movement and thus the May Thirtieth Incident. On May 30 more than 2000 students took to the streets in reaction to various events, such as the killing of Ku Cheng-hung in Shanghai on May 15 by Japanese textile mill-owners and the killings of 8 workers by the reactionary government in Tsingtao on May 28. As the students rallied more people for their anti-imperialist cause it all came to a climax in front of the British police headquarters, where the police opened fire upon the crowd, killing and wounding many, which subsequently became known as the May Thirtieth Incident. This incited only more strikes and riots, and on June 1 a state of martial law was initiated in Shanghai. Discontent soon spread across the rest of China, bringing even more strikes, boycotts and riots aimed towards foreigners and imperialism.

The Oxford dictionary gives the following