五卅運動到三一八運動,拉開國民大革命的序幕。二者都不僅僅是單純的學生運動,而是國民廣泛參與的社會政治運動,其中于中國社會深具影響力的知識界,主要包括新聞界與教育界的加盟,舉足輕重。新聞界在經歷了從驚恐漠然到憤然而起短暫的轉變過程后,全力以赴投身運動,為國人的抗爭提供至關重要的輿論陣地。知識界在學識素養、社會地位、組織能力、人脈關系及應世經驗諸方面,均非尚不成熟的學生界能比,故在運動中起到了獨特和重要的作用;在聯合戰線瓦解、時移勢異的三一八運動中,這一點愈加突顯。而其時知識界內部的分裂,則表明歷史場景正發生由對外交涉向對內政拷問的深刻轉換,原有黨派系別不同政治訴求間之鴻溝,因之再現;換言之,三一八運動將國民革命這一時代的課題,以急迫的形式進一步提到了國人的面前。

The period between the May Thirtieth Movement of 1925 and the March Eighteenth Movement of1926 formed the prelude to the Chinese National Revolution.These movements involved not just students but a broad swathe of the Chinese population in social and political activity.The intelligentsia—mainly made up of the press and educational circles—were highly influential in Chinese society,and their role was decisive.Briefly stunned into passivity,the press rapidly moved to a fervor of indignation,throwing itself behind the movements and providing a key forum for public opinion on the Chinese struggle.The immature students were no match for the intelligentsia in terms of level of cultivation,social position,organizational skills,personal connections and experience of the world,so the latter played a uniquely important role in these movements.This was especially evident in the changing environment of the March Eighteenth Movement following the disintegration of the united front.The internal divisions within the intelligentsia at the time indicate that the historical scene was undergoing aprofound transformation from external concerns to domestic inquisitions,leading to thereappearance of the original gulf between the political demands of the different party factions.In other words,the March Eighteenth Movement brought the National Revolution sharply before the nation as the task of the times.