Japanese Colonial Empire and Taiwan Quest for Representative Government
Describe the different phases of Japanese colonial rule. How and why did the Taiwanese identity and quest for representative government develop during the period of Japanese rule (1895-1945)?
The 15th, 16th, 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries were centuries full of colonialism. The major European and great Asian nations scrambled for the partition of various territories in the world. They aimed to acquire colonies. One of such countries. Japan acquired colonies from various parts and established a colonial empire between the region 1895 and 1945. The Japanese colonial empire involved the colonial rule or colonial empire of countries such as Taiwan, mainland china, hong Kong, Thailand, Korea, south Sakhalin, south seas mandate, among other areas. These were just some of the Japanese imperial colonies.[1]
The colonial empire of japan was obtained in stages. The initial stage of the Japanese colonial rule was the Cessation of Taiwan. This first step occurred in the year 1895. By the year 1890, approximately 45% of the Taiwan community was under the rue if china. The aboriginal control reigned the remaining section of lightly populated regions. A Sino-Japanese war occurred between china and japan due to a conflict over the sovereignty of Korea. China was defeated and handed over the territory of Taiwan to Japan.[2] In 1895, the two parties, China, and Japan signed a treaty to hand over the territory to the rule of Japan. As a result, the country followed a period of rule under Japanese authority. This period was referred to as the colonial rule of Taiwan by the Japanese culture.
The Japanese rule of Taiwan was a harsh period. The people of Taiwan were said to be in officious. They were also described as not passionate either. During the establishment of the Japanese colonial rule, the Japanese established a government. They gave the people of Taiwan a grace period of two years to choose whether to accept their new government of the colony of either leaves the territory.. Don't use plagiarised sources.Get your custom essay just from $11/page
The second phase of Japanese colonial rule was the early years between 1895 and 1915. This was said to be the period between the time when Japanese forces landed in Taiwan in 1895 and the Ta-pa-ni occurrence, which occurred in the year 1915. The years close to 1915 were marked with the resistance of Japanese army rule by the Taiwan people.[3] It was a period when japan empire faced the strongest force of Taiwan resistance on its colonial rule. As a result of the pressure that was being experienced, many other nations such as Britain, the United States, France, Belgium, Germany, and Portugal questioned the capability of japan to have a colony. These were countries that had already established colonies and were effectively running them. To handle the pressure of resistance, the Japanese government places the Taiwan colony under the rule of military general to be the governor-general of Taiwan.
In the year 1898, it marked the formation of the colonial government to take control of the military government that was controlling the Taiwan nation. [4] To enhance the process, the Meiji government-appointed Count Kodoma to be the governor-general of Taiwan. He was to be assisted by a civilian politician known as Goto Shinpei. [5] Two perspectives guided the main intention of ruling Taiwan as a colony. Goto supported the initial perception. According to Goto, the locals of Taiwan were not easy ones to be assimilated. Hence, the only option was to use the British colonialism strategy. However, the future prime minister had a different opinion to that of the present leaders. According to Hara Takashi, Taiwan’s and Koreans had similar features that enabled them to be easily assimilated and become a Japanese community.
The early years of Taiwan’s colonial rule were full of colonial policy. The pioneer of such policies was Goto. However, his tenure lasted after a short time, and Takashi took over. Under Takashi colonial rule from 1918, the colonial government had the powers and indeed used the power to enact special laws as well as amendments. It also wielded the executive, legislature, and military influence. With such a colonial government, the empire transition to becoming one of the strongest and was able to maintain social stability while suppressing all possible resistance.
The third phase of Japanese colonial rule was the integration phase. The phase lasted between the year 1915 to 1937. The phase is also described as the Tapani incident and the Marco polo bridge phase. During this period, japan started to be involved in various activities that later become world war I. The activities of the world war I affected the colonial governments across the world, not only japan colonial empire. It gave rise to resistance movements and nationalism. Many people who were involved in war obtained the ideas of self-determination, which changed their perception towards colonial regimes. As a result, Japanese colonial rule was under threat. However, the resistance was mild.
Japan, as a nation, was changing its political climate. There was the democratization of their political system. Power was also distributed evenly to the lower house. In the year 1919, Den kenjiro become the first governor-general of Taiwan who was a civilian of Taiwan. He collaborated with the Japanese to execute the policies of enhancing assimilation. The assimilation policy functioned in the Taiwan colony for the next twenty years.
The fourth phase of Japanese colonial rule was the Kominka phase, which runned from 1973 to 1945. It was also referred to as the subjects of the emperor. The period was characterized by the eruption of the second Sino Japanese war in 1937, which lasted until the 1945 war. At the same time, Japan was still a major participant in the first world war. The Japanese political environment was now under the regime of the military, and the Taiwan colonialism was again turned into a military colony. The main intention of converting Taiwan into military colonialism was to effectively obtain resources and materials from the Taiwan natural sites to utilize in the war. Besides, the colonial government under the military opted to enhance the assimilation of Taiwan by force. It ensured the death of all social movements and devotion of full support to the Kominka Movement.
To ensure full force assimilation, the Japanese colonial government forced the locals to use the Japanese language as the official language, embrace Japanese attire, and other cultural practices. Japanese youths were now being involved in the pacific war as imperial Japanese army officers as well as navy. In the year 1945, the Japanese enacted a law to allow Taiwan’s membership into the Japanese political climate. The pacific war made many Taiwan’s to lose their lives. The country also suffered economic challenges experienced with the reduced production in agriculture and industries.
The colonial government of japan tried all it could do to establish a colonial government that accommodated all people of Taiwan. This was done to assimilate the Taiwanese into the Japanese culture. As mentioned earlier, the Japanese colonial government enacted laws to enhance the assimilation of Taiwanese into Japanese culture. The Taiwanese were now forced to embrace Japanese culture. However, this was not as successful as the Taiwanese struggled to keep their identity. As a result, the quest for representative government develops between the years 1890 and 1945.
The first factor that contributed to the quest for the representative government was the perception of the colonial government towards the people of Taiwan. They believed that they could assimilate the Taiwanese into the Japanese culture and involved them in their political regime. The period of 1918 under General Takashi also witnessed upcoming resistance to the colonial form of government.[6] However, they were not successful in their quest for representative government. The Japanese colonial rule established a government that enacted laws and edits. As said earlier, it wielded complete executive, the legislature as well as the military influence.
The period of integration was significant the enhanced the quest for a representative form of government. Japan was actively participating in the first world war. It was also in using the locals, Taiwan’s in various events of the world war. As a result of the experience Taiwan’s had in war, it changed their perception towards colonialism and the colonial forms of government under which they subjected. Many of them realized their potential and self-determination. As a result, colonialism faced the challenge of resistance and quest for the formation of a representative form of government.[7] This gave rise to a growing aspect of nationalism and resistance movement. Besides, the Taiwanese people were not happy with the forceful assimilation of their culture into Japanese society.
Another factor that also led to the quest for a representative form of government was the change of political climate in Japan. The country was undergoing political changes as well as democratization. This period was known as the Taisho Period. During the democratization, it involved changes in a political rule where now the power was centered in the lower house of the Japanese imperial diet. This was meant to include all the adult males in the political scene. As a result, in the year 1919, the first civilian, Den Kenjiro, become the Governor-General of Taiwan. With such movements, it greatly influenced the quest for representative government.
Moreover, there were other factors as to why Taiwan pushed for a representative government. The chinse diplomacy between 1931 and 1945 also influenced the quest formation of a representative form of government. There was the embracing of democracy that completely transitioned Taiwan into a representative regime. With democracy at work during the integration period, Taiwan people were appointed into the house of peers. Some of the early appointees were Koo Hsien Jung and Lin Hsieng- tang.[8] They were among the few Taiwan locals who were now appointed into the Legislative arm of the Japanese colonial government. Also, local assemblies were set up towards the end of 1935.
In conclusion, the Japanese colonial empire comprised of various colonies. Although it was a challenging period for the colonies, there was massive progress. The challenging period was only faced during the early periods of the colonialism. As time went by, there was the assimilation of Taiwan into the Japanese culture. This enabled Japan to enhance various social, economic, and political progress. The growth and developments include the enactment of furious social policies, transport development, education, and economy.
Bibliography
Corcuff, S. (2016). Memories of the Future: National Identity Issues and the Search for a New Taiwan: National Identity Issues and the Search for a New Taiwan. Routledge.
Gold, Thomas B. “Colonial origins of Taiwanese capitalism.” In Contending approaches to the political economy of Taiwan, pp. 117-134. Routledge, 2016.
Tsai, Stefan B. “The transcendence of Taiwanese identity: A study of Hou Hsiao-Hsien’s films.” PhD diss., University of Southern California, 2016.
Tsurumi, Kazuko. Social change and the individual: Japan before and after defeat in World War II. Princeton University Press, 2015.
Wang, T. S. (2017). The legal development of Taiwan in the 20th century: toward a liberal and democratic country. In Public Law in East Asia (pp. 125-153). Routledge.
[1] Tsurumi, Kazuko. Social change and the individual: Japan before and after defeat in World War II. Princeton University Press, 2015.
[2] Gold, Thomas B. “Colonial origins of Taiwanese capitalism.” In Contending approaches to the political economy of Taiwan, pp. 117-134. Routledge, 2016.
[3] Wang, T. S. (2017). The legal development of Taiwan in the 20th century: toward a liberal and democratic country. In Public Law in East Asia (pp. 125-153). Routledge.
[4] Wang, T. S. (2017). The legal development of Taiwan in the 20th century: toward a liberal and democratic country. In Public Law in East Asia (pp. 125-153). Routledge.
[5] Tsai, Stefan B. “The transcendence of Taiwanese identity: A study of Hou Hsiao-Hsien’s films.” PhD diss., University of Southern California, 2016.
[6] Corcuff, S. (2016). Memories of the Future: National Identity Issues and the Search for a New Taiwan: National Identity Issues and the Search for a New Taiwan. Routledge.
Wang, T. S. (2017). The legal development of Taiwan in the 20th century: toward a liberal and democratic country. In Public Law in East Asia (pp. 125-153). Routledge.
[8] Tsai, Stefan B. “The transcendence of Taiwanese identity: A study of Hou Hsiao-Hsien’s films.” PhD diss., University of Southern California, 2016.