According to Manela, the failure of Wilson's dream helped
eventually to radicalize China and move it away from liberalism and towards
Marxism.
Manela argues that Wilson's ideas were embraced by
nationalists such as Sun Yat-Sen and Chiang Kai-Shek. These men wanted China to become
stronger, but to do so along more or less liberal lines. Their credibility was damaged,
however, by the failure of Wilsonianism. When it failed, many in countries like China
started to lose hope in the ability of liberalism and the West to give them the freedom
they wanted. Instead, they turned more (as Mao Zedong did) towards Marxism. This more
radicalized group of activists, of course, ended up on the winning side, which is why
China is now nominally communist.
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