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| - In the aftermath of 1924's Second Zhili–Fengtian War China found itself in the midst of one of the most destructive periods of turmoil since 1911. The war had involved every major urban area in China, and badly damaged the rural infrastructure. As a result of the conflict the Zhili-controlled government, backed by varied Anglo-American business interests, was ousted from power by the pro-Japanese warlord Zhang Zuolin, who installed a government led by the generally unpopular statesman Duan Qirui in November 1924. Though victorious, the war left Zhang's central government bankrupt and Duan exercised little authority outside Beijing. Authority in the north of the country was divided between Zhang and Feng Yuxiang, a Soviet Union-backed warlord, and public support for the northern militarists
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| abstract
| - In the aftermath of 1924's Second Zhili–Fengtian War China found itself in the midst of one of the most destructive periods of turmoil since 1911. The war had involved every major urban area in China, and badly damaged the rural infrastructure. As a result of the conflict the Zhili-controlled government, backed by varied Anglo-American business interests, was ousted from power by the pro-Japanese warlord Zhang Zuolin, who installed a government led by the generally unpopular statesman Duan Qirui in November 1924. Though victorious, the war left Zhang's central government bankrupt and Duan exercised little authority outside Beijing. Authority in the north of the country was divided between Zhang and Feng Yuxiang, a Soviet Union-backed warlord, and public support for the northern militarists soon hit an all-time low, with southerners openly disparaging provincial governors as junfa (warlords). With his monarchist leanings and strong base in conservative Manchuria, Zhang represented the far right in Chinese politics and could claim few supporters. Meanwhile, the KMT (Nationalist) and Communist parties (allied as the First United Front) were running a diplomatically unrecognized Soviet-backed administration in the southern province of Guangdong. Alongside public grief at the recent death of China's Republican hero Sun Yat-sen (12 March), the KMT sought to foment pro-Chinese, anti-imperial and anti-western organizations and propaganda within major Chinese cities. Chinese Communist Party groups were particularly involved in sowing dissent in Shanghai through the far-left Shanghai University. Shanghai's native Chinese were strongly unionised compared to other cities and better educated, and recognised their plight as involving lack of legal factory inspection, recourse for worker grievances, or equal rights. Many Chinese families were also aggrieved by an upcoming Child Employment Bill proposed by the Shanghai Municipal Council, that would have stopped children under the age of 12 working in mills and factories (many working-class homes relied on wages brought in by children). Educated Chinese were also offended by the Council's plan to introduce a new censorship law, forcing all publications in the Settlement to use the publisher's true name and address. In the early months of 1925 conflicts and strikes on these matters intensified. Japanese owned cotton mills were a source of contention, and fights and demonstrations between Japanese and Chinese employees around the No. 8 Cotton Mill became regular occurrences. In February a group of Japanese managers were attacked while leaving work and one of them was killed. In response Japanese foremen took to carrying pistols while on duty. The escalation of ill-feeling culminated on May 15, when during a violent Neo-Luddite-style riot inside the mill, a Japanese foreman shot a demonstrator named Ku Chen-Hung dead. Over the following weeks Ku Chen-Hung became viewed as a martyr by Chinese unions and student groups (though not by the Chinese authorities or the middle-class who noted his political affiliations and close family membership to a prominent criminal gang). Numerous protests and strikes subsequently began against Japanese-run industries. A week later a group of Chinese students, heading for Ku's public "state" funeral and carrying banners, were arrested while traveling through the International Settlement. With their trial set for May 30, various student organisations convened in the days before and decided to hold mass-demonstrations across the International Settlement and outside the Mixed Court.
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