ABSTRACT
T W ENTY-O N E DEMANDS Japanese demands presented to the Chinese President, Yuan Shikai on January 18 1915. They called for Japanese control of Shandong, Manchuria, Inner Mongolia, parts of China’s south-east coast and the Yangzi valley and these were accepted by Yuan Shikai on May19. A separate group of demands called for the employment of Japanese political, economic, military and police advisers and for China to buy half her armaments from Japan. Even Yuan Shikai was not prepared to accept these. The resentment at these demands and their acceptance created the climate of opinion which would erupt into nationalist passions in the May Fourth Movement.
