Xu Guoqi, China and The Great War. China’s Pursuit of a New National Identity and Internationalization

This work changes somewhat the vision that historians have provided to this day of China’s participation in the First World War. The sending to Europe by the fragile government of Duan Qirui of around 140,000 Chinese coolies, two-thirds of whom were recruited by the British army and the rest by the French army, has always appeared as the result of dealings between Peking and the Allies in search of a workforce in service of their military logistics in the rear and at the front. Xu Guoqi demon..