Beginning of the May Fourth Movement

Date: May 4, 1919 • Location: Beijing, China

This milestone marked the outbreak and beginning of this historic period, which spanned 1919–1921.

The May Fourth Movement began in China with large-scale student demonstrations in Tiananmen Square, Beijing.

The May Fourth Movement was a Chinese cultural and anti-imperialist political movement which grew out of student protests in Beijing on May 4, 1919. Students gathered in front of Tiananmen to protest the Chinese government's weak response to the Treaty of Versailles decision to allow the Empire of Japan to retain territories in Shandong that had been surrendered by the German Empire after the Siege of Tsingtao in 1914. The demonstrations sparked nationwide protests and spurred an upsurge in Chinese nationalism, a shift towards political mobilization, away from cultural activities, and a move towards a populist base, away from traditional intellectual and political elites.