The Early Republic (1912-1918), The Northern Government Attitude And Policy

How to evaluate the diplomatic policy towards Japan of the Northern Warlords Government has always been a popular issue in academic circles. Yuan Shikai started the negotiation with Japan about the Twenty-One Demands shortly after the Northern Warlords Government came into power. His descendant, Duan Qirui, was also regarded as quisling because of his pro-Japan tendency. Therefore, how should we look on the diplomatic policy of Northern Warlords Government?This paper argues that the fear of Japan was the basic attitude of the Northern Warlords Government towards Japan. Instable domestic politics and lag economic development caused wide gap of China and Japan's comprehensive national power. Due to fear of Japan, the Northern Warlords Government became very suspicious of Japan. Sometimes they would rely on Britain and America to balance Japan for lack of strength. When Japan's ambition infinitely expanded and they couldn't withdraw anymore, the Northern Warlords Government would fight to some extent. However, the prevailing fear of Japan determined that fight was infirm and bound to fail. Furthermore, pro-Japan tendency was another result of fear of Japan. Since the unstable foundation of pro-Japan tendency was based on damage of China's dominion, it could only be an expedient. So this paper thinks that although the early Northern Warlords Government had came through two seemingly different diplomatic polity towards Japan—Yuan Shikai's "using Britain and American to restrict Japan" and Duan Qirui's "pro-Japan", their foundation was the same: fear of Japan.This paper comprises of four parts:The first part introduces the social circumstance when Northern Warlords Government was established, and the author holds the opinion that it is the social circumstance that laid the foundation of the Government's foreign policy towards Japan. And it also will introduce the five thoughts and foreign policies towards Japan.The second part takes the "twenty-one requirements" as an example to analyze the five thoughts and foreign policies towards Japan.The third part analyzes the profound influence of "twenty-one requirements" on Government's foreign policy towards Japan.