Forgotten voices from the Great War

The one hundredth anniversary of the Great War is prompting a renewed effort at both the popular and academic levels to ensure that the different units and countries involved are not forgotten. While not supplying combat troops, China entered the First World War on the side of the Allies, furnishing much-needed labourers, 140,000 by conservative estimates and possibly more, who played an essential role on the Western Front and other theatres, taking responsibility for a wide range of tasks. Among others, unloading military supplies and handling ammunitions, building barracks and other military facilities, digging trenches, and even agriculture and forest management. While their essential contribution was recognized in British documents, both Paris and London saw them as a temporary expedient, to be ended as soon as the war was over. Furthermore, their deployment gave rise to all sorts of culture and language clashes, in addition to the dangers of travelling to Europe and surviving in close proximity to the battle field. However, beyond these travails, the Chinese Labour Corps left a significant legacy, with members seeing the world, experiencing other nations, and often becoming literate. More widely, despite being on the winning side, China's failure to secure any gains at Versailles prompted the May 4th Movement and can be seen as a key juncture in the long and winding road from empire to nation-state. It is an important reminder of the global nature of the Great War, whose impact extended far from the battle field to all corners of the world

China · Economic history · Political science · Canadian Identity and History · History · Labor Movements and Unions · Law · Vietnamese History and Culture Studies

• Deng Xiaoping

  Open Access•Nora Wang•The China Quarterly•1982

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• The Chinese Work—Study Movement in France

  Open Access•Paul Bailey•The China Quarterly•1988

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• Race and Recruitment in World War I

  Open Access•James W St G Walker•Canadian Historical Review•1989

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• Strangers on the Western Front

  Guoqi Xu, Xu Guoqi•Strangers on the Western Front•2011

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• The Chinese Language. Fact and Fantasy

  Stephen Wadley, John Defrancis•Pacific Affairs•1986

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