The Shandong Problem or Shandong Question (; ) was a dispute over Article 156 of the

Treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles was a peace treaty signed on 28 June 1919. As the most important treaty of World War I, it ended the state of war between Germany and most of the Allies of World War I, Allied Powers. It was signed in the Palace ...

in 1919, which dealt with the concession of the Shandong Peninsula. It was resolved in China's favor in 1922. The

German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...

acquired control over parts of

Shandong Shandong is a coastal Provinces of China, province in East China. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilization along the lower reaches of the Yellow River. It has served as a pivotal cultural ...

following a series of events in the late 19th century. The key moment came in 1897 when two German missionaries were murdered in the province. Using this incident as a pretext, Germany demanded concessions from China. In 1898, China agreed to lease the Kiautschou Bay Leased Territory, which included the port city of

Qingdao Qingdao, Mandarin: , (Qingdao Mandarin: t͡ɕʰiŋ˧˩ tɒ˥) is a prefecture-level city in the eastern Shandong Province of China. Located on China's Yellow Sea coast, Qingdao was long an important fortress. In 1897, the city was ceded to G ...

, to Germany for ninety-nine years. This lease was formalized in the Kiautschou Bay Leased Territory agreement. The agreement granted Germany significant rights and control over the region, allowing them to build infrastructure, such as railways and telegraph lines, and establish a military presence. During the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

(1914–1918), China supported the Allies on condition that the Kiautschou Bay concession on the Shandong peninsula, which had belonged to the German Empire prior to its occupation by Japan in 1914, would be returned to China. In 1915, however, China under President and later self-proclaimed Emperor

Yuan Shikai Yuan Shikai (; 16 September 18596 June 1916) was a Chinese general and statesman who served as the second provisional president and the first official president of the Republic of China, head of the Beiyang government from 1912 to 1916 and ...

reluctantly capitulated to 13 of Japan's original

Twenty-One Demands The Twenty-One Demands (; ) was a set of demands made during the World War I, First World War by the Empire of Japan under Prime Minister of Japan, Prime Minister Ōkuma Shigenobu to the Government of the Chinese Republic, government of the Re ...

which, among other things, acknowledged Japanese control of former German holdings. Britain and France promised Japan it could keep these holdings. In late 1918, China's warlord Premier Duan Qirui secretly reaffirmed the transfer and accepted payments from Japan, causing a massive scandal after its exposure. Article 156 of the Treaty of Versailles transferred the territory of Kiautschou as well as the rights, titles and privileges acquired by virtue of the Sino-German treaty of 1898 to the

Empire of Japan The Empire of Japan, also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was the Japanese nation state that existed from the Meiji Restoration on January 3, 1868, until the Constitution of Japan took effect on May 3, 1947. From Japan–Kor ...

rather than return them to the Chinese administration. The new government of China denounced the transfer of German holdings at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919, with the strong support of President

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was the 28th president of the United States, serving from 1913 to 1921. He was the only History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democrat to serve as president during the Prog ...

of the United States. The Chinese ambassador to the United States,

Wellington Koo Koo Vi Kyuin (; January 29, 1888 – November 14, 1985), better known as V. K. Wellington Koo, was a Chinese diplomat, politician, and statesman of the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China. Born in Shanghai, Koo studied at Colum ...

, stated that China could no more relinquish Shandong, which was the birthplace of

Confucius Confucius (; pinyin: ; ; ), born Kong Qiu (), was a Chinese philosopher of the Spring and Autumn period who is traditionally considered the paragon of Chinese sages. Much of the shared cultural heritage of the Sinosphere originates in the phil ...

, the greatest Chinese philosopher, than could Christians concede

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

. While he demanded the promised return of Shandong, it remained in Japanese control. Chinese popular outrage over Article 156 led to demonstrations on 4 May 1919, in a cultural movement known as the

May Fourth Movement 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 ...

. The widespread protests and boycotts pressured the Chinese government to reconsider its stance on the Treaty of Versailles. Although the treaty was eventually signed, the movement set the stage for further negotiations. As a result, Wellington Koo refused to sign the treaty. The US, finding itself isolated by all Great Powers, agreed to the Japanese, British and French demands. The Chinese public became outraged by the eventual treaty, accusing the Chinese government of selling out, and became disappointed by Wilson's failed promises. China's refusal to sign the Treaty of Versailles necessitated a separate peace treaty with Germany in 1921. The Shandong dispute was mediated by the United States in 1922 during the

Washington Naval Conference The Washington Naval Conference (or the Washington Conference on the Limitation of Armament) was a disarmament conference called by the United States and held in Washington, D.C., from November 12, 1921, to February 6, 1922. It was conducted out ...

. In a victory for China, the Japanese leasehold on Shandong was returned to China in the

Nine-Power Treaty The Nine-Power Treaty () or Nine-Power Agreement () was a 1922 treaty affirming the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic of China as per the Open Door Policy. The Nine-Power Treaty was signed on 6 February 1922 by all of the att ...

. Japan, however, maintained its economic dominance of the railway and the province as a whole. When its dominance in the province was threatened by Chiang Kai-shek's

Northern Expedition The Northern Expedition was a military campaign launched by the National Revolutionary Army (NRA) of the Kuomintang (KMT) against the Beiyang government and other regional warlords in 1926. The purpose of the campaign was to reunify China prop ...

to unite China in 1927–1928, Japan launched a series of military interventions, culminating in the Jinan incident conflict with Chinese Nationalist soldiers. Jinan would remain under Japanese occupation until March 1929, when an agreement to settle the dispute over Jinan was reached. Shandong remained in the sphere of influence of Japan, arguably, until the end of the Japanese occupation of China during the Second World War in 1945.

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