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History of East Asia > Imperialism and Chaos 1912-1931 > Flashcards

Imperialism and Chaos 1912-1931 Flashcards

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1
Q

Early 20th Century Developments

A
  • Japan’s path: Successful industrialisation of the Meiji State leads to establishment of Japanese Empire as world power
  • Korea’s path: Annexation by Japan begins period of bitter resistance as well as accommodation to new situation
  • China’s path: Establishment of ROC offers possibility of change and regaining dignity. But, structural problems remain massive.
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2
Q

East Asia 1912-1931

A
  • Industrialisation and modernisation led to massive change in daily lives of ordinary people
  • Same for political unrest and instability
  • Awakening of nationalism in all three countries
  • Introduction of liberal and radical ideas (democracy, socialism, feminism)
  • But, also thriving of authoritarianism and rise of militarism
  • Demands for self-determination in China/Korea contrast with increasing desire for imperialism in Japan
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3
Q

The Fall of the Qing: Xinhai Revolution

A
  • Wuchang Uprising 10-10-1911
  • Qing turns to army leader Yuan Shikai, who focuses mostly on establishing his power within the army
  • Qing quickly loses control of large parts of China
  • Republic of China 01-01-1912 (Sun Yat-sen first President)
  • Official abdication of Qing Emperor 12-02-1912
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4
Q

Republic of China (ROC) 01-01-1912

A
  • Beiyang Government 1912-1928
  • Nanjing Decade 1927-1937
  • Ten-Year Civil War KMT-CCP 1928-1937
  • Second Sino-Japanese War 1937-1945
  • (Continuation of) Civil War KMT-CCP 1946-1949
  • 01-10-1949: Establishment of People’s Republic of China (PRC)
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5
Q

Sun Yat-sen 1866-1925

A
  • Before 1911: Republican leader in exile
  • Seen as Father of the Nation in both mainland China (PRC) and Taiwan (ROC) today
  • Actual time in power extremely limited
  • Both Nationalists (KMT) and Communists (CCP) lay claim to Sun legacy after his death
  • Returns to China in 1911 to briefly become President of ROC January-March 1912
  • Then has to flee abroad again after Yuan Shikai establishes power
  • Attempts to establish power base in Guangzhou from 1920
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6
Q

The Three Principles of the People

A
  • Nationalism –> The unity of the “five nationalities” (Han, Mongolian, Tibetan, Manchu, Muslim) and their struggle against imperial oppression.
  • Democracy –> Separation of powers, leading to: a national assembly (parliament) and five government bodies (executive, legislature, control, examination, judicial)
  • Welfare –> Provision of public goods by the government
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7
Q

Yuan Shikai 1859-1916: ROC President 1912-1916

A
  • Power base in late Qing Beiyang army
  • Positions himself decisively for post-Qing power struggle
  • After 1912 increasingly authoritarian
  • 1914: Removed Republican institutions (suspends parliament, provincial assemblies, and basic rights)
  • Declared himself emperor in Dec 1915 and died six months later
  • Leaves fractured nation with military factions vying for control
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8
Q

Founding of the Kuomintang (KMT) 25 August 1912

A
  • Led by Sun Yat-sen
  • Advocates constitutional parliamentary democracy
  • Dec 1912: majority in National Assembly election
  • Try to be a check on Yuan Shikai’s power
  • But soon KMT is suppressed by Yuan Shikai and Beiyang government
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9
Q

Beiyang Government 1912-1928

A
  • Military clique of the modernised Beiyang Army of the late Qing
  • Suppress democratisation efforts of Sun Yat-sen: disband parliament, kill KMT leader Song Jiaoren
  • Fractured after Yuan’s death in 1916: central government practically dissolves
  • Government and country fragments as military leaders fight for control
  • China seems like a failed state
  • But, all this time Beiyang government in Beijing nominally in control and internationally recognised as legitimate government
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10
Q

Warlord Era 1916-1928

A
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11
Q

New Culture Movement 1915-1921

A
  • Movement of intellectuals
  • Call for: use of vernacular Chinese, democratic values, criticism of Confucianism
  • Interest in feminism, anarchism, and marxism
  • Peking University: Cai Yuanpei (chancellor), Chen Duxiu (dean), Li Dazhao (librarian)
  • Magazine “New Youth”: experimental literature and essays on politics
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12
Q

Lu Xun 1881-1936

A
  • Most influential modern Chinese writer
  • “A Madman’s Diary”: traditional Chinese culture (Confucianism) left China weak and vulnerable
  • Wide interest in social issues
  • Influential in New Culture Movement
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13
Q

04-05-1919: May Fourth Movement

A
  • Part of New Culture Movement
  • Protest against Beiyang Government’s inability to protect China’s interests
  • After Versailles Treaty (German concessions ceded to Japan)
  • Outburst of intellectual activity
  • Intellectual turning point: radicalisation of Chinese thought
  • Especially in PRC seen as pivotal moment in revolutionary history
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14
Q

Founding of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) 21 July 1921

A
  • Founders: Li Dazhao and Chen Duxiu
  • Probably 12 people present including a young Mao Zedong
  • Chen Duxiu first General-Secretary CCP 1921-1927
  • At start only 50 members; about 30.000 in 1926
  • Heavily controlled by Comintern/USSR
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15
Q

From 1920: Sun Yat-sen and KMT in Guangzhou

A
  • New rival government opposed to Beiyang government
  • But, no recognition by western powers
  • No military strength: Sun realises this is needed
  • 1923: Turn to USSR
  • Soviet advisors arrive to restructure KMT
  • This means cooperation with the CCP
  • Whampoa Military Academy: to build military strength KMT (and CCP)
  • Rise of military leader: Chiang Kai-Shek
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16
Q

First United Front 1924-1927: KMT and CCP

A
  • To end Warlordism and oppose the Beiyang Government
  • “National Revolutionary Army” but both parties maintain own parties units
  • Major distrust between them
  • 1926-1928: embark on Northern Expedition to topple warlords and Beiyang government
  • 1925: Sun Yat-sen dead
  • New leader: Chiang Kai-Shek
  • 1927: Chiang turns on communists in Shanghai Massacre
17
Q

Chiang Kai-shek 1887-1975

A
  • Gains control of KMT in 1925/6
  • Close to Sun Yat-sen: disciple and brother in law
  • But, much more authoritarian and anti-communist than Sun Yat-sen
  • Leader of China after Northern Expedition
  • Defeats several warlords and conquers Beijing in 1928. Capital in Nanjing.
  • Decentralisation still an issue: Though officially in charge, he struggles to contain warlordism
  • Internationally recognised leader
  • Official title equivalent to President
18
Q

Nanjing Decade 1927-1937

A

The Good:
- Moderately effective central government
- Diplomatic recognition
- Undoing of unequal treaties
- Infrastructure projects and some industrial growth
- Standardisation of Modern Chinese

The Bad:
- Corruption and nepotism widespread
- Aggressive suppression of dissent
- Decentralisation: Country still fractured with Warlods
- Civil War with CCP
- From 1931: Increasing Japanese encroachment in Northeast

19
Q

Annexation of Korea by Japan in 1910

A
20
Q

Colonial Korea 1910-1931

A
  • Korea to be ruled by Japanese Governor-General in Keijo (Seoul)
  • Highly centralised and intrusive rule
  • Agriculture priority: Korea was to be rice producer for industrialising Japan
  • Especially farmers encouraged to emigrate: increase of Japanese colonists; 170.000 in 1910
  • By 1932: 52% arable land owned by Japanese
  • But Korean yangban elites also benefit from land reforms
  • From 1920s: Meiji style industrialisation
21
Q

1910-1920 “The Dark Period”

A
  • Very tense relations between Japan and Korea
  • Tens of thousands of political prisoners
  • No Korean owned newspapers
  • All political meetings banned
  • Economic focus on resource extraction
  • Establishment of strong oppressive police state
  • Disbanded Korean army produces anti-Japanese guerillas
  • Independence activism very fragmented
22
Q

March 1st Movement 1919

A
  • First true nationwide resistance movement
  • Inspired by idea of self-determination
  • Korean Declaration of Independence
  • Months of demonstrations involving about one million Koreans
  • Suppression by army/police: around 7000 killed
  • Beginning of Korean nationalism as a mass movement
23
Q

1920-1931: Korea and “Taisho Democracy”

A
  • Relatively more liberal rule
  • Coincides with relatively liberal trend in Japan: “Taisho Democracy”
  • Civilian police and Korean publications allowed
  • More Korean representation on local level
  • Culture policy: tolerance for Korean cultural activities
  • Thriving of Korean owned magazines and newspapers
  • But, still stringent censorship rules
  • Ubiquitous police presence and oppression of independence activism
24
Q

1920-1931: Industrialisation and Education

A
  • Meiji style industrialisation policies
  • Government support for entrepreneurship: but big industry largely in hands of Japanese
  • Infrastructure investments: railroads and schools
  • Introduction of public education (largely segregated)
  • 1925: Keijo Imperial University
  • Education system focused on Japanese Empire, but did not ignore Korean history/culture
  • Japanese settlers encouraged to learn Korean
  • Resource extraction: coal, iron ore, food
  • Nominal equality masked everyday racism
25
Q

Korean Independence Movement

A

Very varied group:
- Activities in Korea itself: contrast between leftists and moderate nationalists
- Christian groups inside and outside Korea
- Korean students in Japan (often communist)
- Provisional Government in Shanghai: centrist and center-right, some progressive
- Koreans in Manchuria/Russia: largely became part of Chinese communist groups

26
Q

Korean Nationalism: Early Division

A

Seth: “The early 1920s saw a division among Korean nationalists that would profoundly shape Korean history: between the moderate, Western-looking cultural nationalists, and the more radical nationalists who tended to look toward the Soviet Union and Communist movements abroad for inspiration.”

27
Q

Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea 11 April 1919

A
  • Government in exile in Shanghai; though in reality just one of many independence groups
  • Advocates for Republic with presidential system and separation of powers
  • Not recognised internationally at first
  • But, some cooperation with KMT and later Nationalist government
  • Important figures: Syngman Rhee, Kim Gu
  • Government moves to Chongqing in WWII
  • Current ROK government sees this as start of modern Korean state
28
Q

Japan: Taisho Period 1912-1926

A
  • Reign era of Teisha Emperor
  • “Taisho Democracy”: Generational change from Genro “oligarchs” to parliamentary democratic system with politicians and political parties
  • Bitter rivalry between left and right
  • Period of progressive changes as well as reactionary oppression:
    – 1918: first party cabinet
    – 1925: universal male suffrage
    – 1925: strict right-wing law to oppress disagreement
    – Rise of the labour movement
    – Rise of the zaibatsu
29
Q

Zaibatsu: Japan’s Business Conglomerates

A
  • Holding company with a banking subsidiary; with further industrial subsidiaries focused on different sectors
  • Big Four: Sumitomo, Mitsui, Mitsubishi, Yasuda
  • Controlled by specific families
  • Existed from late 19th century but ubiquitous after WWI
  • Today: keiretsu
30
Q

Zaibatsu

A
  • Increasingly unpopular during 1910s and 1920s among left and right
  • Monopolistic control of major industries
  • Currency speculation
  • Efforts to keep down wages
  • In 1930s they try to clean up their image
  • 1930s Expansion into Machuria leads to new Zaibatsu not family owned
31
Q

Zaibatsu: Massive influence on politics and military

A

Mitsui:
- Rikken Seiyukai political party (militarist, advocates expansion into Manchuria)
- Imperial Japanese army

Mitsubishi:
- Rikken Minseito political party (more liberal, with conciliatory foreign policy)
- Imperial Japanese navy

32
Q

Japan 1910-1920: Industrialisation and Urbanisation

A
  • WW1 brought a huge export-led boom to Japan
  • Growth of heavy industry: zaibatsu
  • Tremendous social changes: formation of industrial working class
  • 1918 sudden peak of economic breakdowns: inflation, stagnant wages, doubling of price of rice
  • 1918 Rice Riots –> Major uprising in cities and countryside throughout the summer
  • This economic bubble burst in 1920: recession
33
Q

Reaction to Japan’s Industrialisation: The Rise of Organised Labour

A
  • Throughout 1910s various small labour unions arose: large strikes increasingly common
  • 1921: Japan Federation of Labour (membership: 100.000)
  • Influential in achieving universal male suffrage in 1925 and founding of Social Democratic Party
  • But “cooperative” stance leads to left-wing unions breaking away in 1925
  • 1922: Japanese Communist Party formed; outlawed and forced underground in 1925
  • All this makes conservative elites very uncomfortable
34
Q

Japan’s National Security Debate in 1920s: Further Imperialist Expansionism?

A
  • Liberals and conservatives disagree: fierce struggle throughout 1920s
  • Liberal government: 1922 agreement with Western nations to reduce size of their navies and Japan agrees to halt expansionism into China
  • As a result, military spending and budget is dramatically reduced
  • Japanese conservatives, especially military officials, are outraged by appeasement of Western countries
  • Military officials criticize government corruption, especially politician-zaibatsu connections. Begin to advocate return to traditional Japanese values.
  • Debate: expansion into Manchuria?
35
Q

1920s: The Slow Rise of Ultranationalism

A
  • Aggressive tactics to eliminate opposition: censorship, arrests, assaults, and assassination
  • Many liberal politicians assassinated throughout 1920s
  • Laws suppressing leftist politics and dissent
  • Stimulated by genuine fear of communism and labour unrest
  • Pan-Asianism: critique of racial global order that discriminated Asians
  • All this will increase after 1930s
  • But, liberals try to articulate alternative politics until 1931
36
Q

Great Kanto Earthquake 1 September 1923

A
  • 142.000 dead
  • Devastated Tokyo, Yokohama, Kanagawa, Chiba, Shizuoka

Kanto Massacre:
- Three weeks of assaults on Koreans (as well as some Chinese, Ryukyuans, and Japanese socialists) condoned by the authorities: 6000 dead
- Source of rumours was Interior Ministry: “Koreans are planning terrorism and robbery by arson and bombs”

37
Q

1925: Peace Preservation Law

A
  • Reinforced and tightened similar laws of the early 20th century
  • Specifically designed to suppress leftist activism
  • Deliberately vague: anyone belonging to an organisation that wants to alter the “system of private property” can be imprisoned
  • Leads to massive crackdown on communists from 1928
  • “Thought Police” established all over the country to target “Thought Criminals”
  • Passed before General Election Law for universal male suffrage: so less liberty, but more voting
38
Q

The End of Japanese Liberalism: 1929-1932

A
  • Economic downturn 1929 creates massive unrest around Japan
  • Call for radical solutions grows
  • Military officials and ultranationalists increase criticism of civilian government
  • Main criticism: halting of imperialist expansionism and appeasement of west
  • Militarists call for revival expansionary policy
    – to gain raw materials for economy
    – land for expanding population
  • Continued assassinations of liberal politicians
39
Q

18 September 1931 –> “Mukden Incident”: Militarists make their move

A
  • Japan already very powerful in Manchuria since 1905
  • Now militarists want full control
  • But liberal civilian leadership objects
  • Militarists stage “Mukden Incident” in Manchuria as pretext to justify Japanese invasion
  • Without approval from civilian government
  • Public opinion sides with militarists and days of moderate government are numbered
  • 15 May 1932: Moderate Prime Minister Inukai Tsuyoshi assassinated. Now militarists in charge.

History of East Asia (6 decks)

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