Historical Studies (Chinese Edition)

No.3, 2018

 

Wu Dingchang and the 1919 North-South Peace Talks (Abstract)

 

Lin Xuwu and Wang Xingang

 

In the 1919 North-South peace talks, Wu Dingchang was elected the representative of the North due to the support and recognition he had gained from the Anhui Clique, the Anfu Clique, and Xu Shichang. As one of the decision-makers on the Northern delegation, Wu Dingchang assiduously cultivated the different sides, striving for compromise between them, in an attempt to advance preparations for the talks. In 1919, he tried to lobby for the North’s offer of certain compromises to the South on public debt, a legislative assembly and other issues, but when this was opposed by the Anhui Clique, he took a tough stance and tried unsuccessfully to force the South to make concessions. In the end he opted for the negative step of ending the negotiations. The main reason the peace talks failed was that the many factors in their favor did not cohere into a dominant central force that could drive the negotiations. Ultimately, the talks failed because the various participants had irreconcilable differences. Not only did the 1919 NorthSouth peace talks affect the power structure of China’s old warlords; they were also an important catalyst for the transition of Chinese society from the old democratic revolution to the new democratic revolution.