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China
Tag
(27)
1915
March
23
Chinese-Japanese agreement on Manchuria
On 23 March 1915 in Peking the Chinese and Japanese initialled several articles on South Manchuria, a partial accord in the dispute over the 21 Demands.
April
14
Japan reveals German peace feelers
According to the British chronology, on 14 April 1915 Japan informed London of German attempts to persuade it to make a separate peace.
May
07
Japanese ultimatum to China
On 7 May 1915 Japan gave China 51 hours to accept its demands. It set aside most of the far-reaching fifth group for later.
09
China accepts Japan's demands
On the night of 8–9 May 1915 Yuan Shikai's government accepted the Japanese ultimatum. In China 9 May was named the Day of National Humiliation.
25
Sino-Japanese treaties
On 25 May 1915 in Peking, China and Japan signed treaties on Shantung and on South Manchuria and eastern Inner Mongolia.
June
07
Kyakhta agreement
On 7 June 1915 Russia, China and Mongolia signed an agreement at Kyakhta. Outer Mongolia was granted autonomy but had to recognise Chinese suzerainty.
August
06
Japanese-Chinese agreement on customs at Tsingtao
On 6 August 1915 the reopening of the Chinese customs house at Tsingtao was agreed in Peking. The Japanese took over the privileges the Germans had held there.
09
Takaaki Katō resigns
In August 1915 Foreign Minister Takaaki Katō, author of the Twenty-One Demands on China, left Japan's government over Kanetake Ōura's bribery scandal.
10
Ōkuma becomes acting foreign minister
On 10 August 1915 Japanese Prime Minister Shigenobu Ōkuma reshuffled his cabinet and took the foreign ministry himself. He held it until mid-October.
December
11
Yuan Shikai accepts the throne
On 11 December 1915 China's Council of State announced the vote for monarchy and offered Yuan Shikai the throne. He declined, and accepted it the next day.
1916
March
22
Yuan Shikai renounces the throne
On 22 March 1916, after the southern provinces rebelled and his own generals refused support, Yuan Shikai cancelled the monarchy. He stayed President.
29
General Oka resigns
At the end of March 1916 Japan's war minister Oka Ichinosuke left office through illness. During his tenure Japan entered the war and took Tsingtao.
June
06
Death of Yuan Shikai
On 6 June 1916 the Chinese President Yuan Shikai died in Peking. The next day Vice-President Li Yuanhong took office, recognised also by the rebel south.
July
03
Russo-Japanese agreement on the Far East
On 3 July 1916 in Petrograd Sazonov and Motono signed a public convention on cooperation in the Far East, together with a secret alliance concerning China.
October
09
Terauchi becomes prime minister of Japan
On 9 October 1916 Marshal Masatake Terauchi, Governor-General of Korea, replaced Ōkuma as head of Japan's government. His cabinet did not rest on the parties.
December
30
Chinese labourers in France
At the end of 1916 the British, following the French, turned to labourers from China. By 1918 over 100,000 of them were working behind the front in France.
1917
March
14
China breaks off relations with Germany
On 14 March 1917 China broke off relations with Germany in protest against submarine warfare. The German minister Paul von Hintze was given his passports.
July
01
Manchu restoration in China
On 1 July 1917 General Zhang Xun seized Peking and proclaimed the return of eleven-year-old Puyi to the throne. President Li Yuanhong refused to back the coup.
06
Resignation of President Li Yuanhong
On 6 July 1917 Vice-President Feng Guozhang assumed the duties of President of China in Nanking from Li Yuanhong, who was hiding in the Japanese legation.
12
Abdication of Puyi
On 12 July 1917 republican troops took Peking, Zhang Xun fled to the Dutch legation and Puyi gave up the throne again. The restoration lasted 12 days.
August
14
Key event
China declares war on Germany and Austria-Hungary
At 10 a.m. on 14 August 1917 China proclaimed a state of war with Germany and Austria-Hungary. The proclamation was signed by President Feng Guozhang.
November
02
Lansing–Ishii Agreement
On 2 November 1917 Lansing and Ishii exchanged notes on China in Washington. The US recognised Japan's "special interests"; both upheld the Open Door.
1918
May
16
Sino-Japanese military agreement
On 16 May 1918 China and Japan signed in Peking a secret pact of joint defence against Germany and the Bolsheviks, and on 19 May a naval one. Chinese protested.
July
10
Horvat government
In July 1918 Dmitry Horvat, head of the Chinese Eastern Railway, declared himself Provisional Ruler of Russia at Grodekovo. The Allies told him to withdraw.
September
04
Xu Shichang elected president of China
On 4 September 1918 the Peking parliament, dominated by Duan Qirui's supporters, elected Xu Shichang president of China. The South rejected the vote.
18
The Japanese take Blagoveshchensk
On 18 September 1918 Amur Cossacks and a Japanese detachment crossed the Amur and took Blagoveshchensk without a fight. Soviet power on the Amur collapsed.
October
11
Feng Guozhang steps down
On 10 October 1918 Feng Guozhang handed the presidency of China to Xu Shichang. The same day his rival Duan Qirui stepped down as premier.