Editing Second Sino-Japanese War (section)

===Twenty-One Demands===
{{Main|Twenty-One Demands}}

In 1915, Japan issued the [[Twenty-One Demands]] to extort further political and commercial privilege from China, which was accepted by the regime of Yuan Shikai.<ref>Hoyt, Edwin P., Japan's War: The Great Pacific Conflict, p. 45</ref> Following [[World War I]], Japan acquired the [[German Empire]]'s [[sphere of influence]] in [[Shandong]] province,<ref>Palmer and Colton, A History of Modern World, p. 725</ref> leading to nationwide anti-Japanese [[May Fourth Movement|protests and mass demonstrations]] in China. The country remained fragmented under the [[Beiyang Government]] and was unable to resist foreign incursions.{{sfn|Taylor|page=33}} For the purpose of unifying China and defeating the regional warlords, the [[Kuomintang]] (KMT) in [[Guangzhou]] launched the [[Northern Expedition]] from 1926 to 1928 with limited assistance from the [[Soviet Union]].{{sfn|Taylor|page=57}}