The May Fourth Movement started in Beijing when thousands of students demonstrated in Tiananmen Square against China's treatment at the 1919 Paris peace conference.
On April 30 that year, major powers at the conference agreed to accept Tokyo's demands to transfer all German interests in Shandong province to Japan under the Versailles Treaty.
The students demanded that the government reject the treaty. They stormed the Beijing residence of government officials. Thirty-two leaders were arrested.
For three days beginning from June 3, thousands of students took to the streets.
The crackdown triggered a national uproar. Two days later, the students were freed.
The movement marked a watershed in China's political development. Students, activists and intellectuals began to call for the advancement of democracy and science.