The Sino-Japanese Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895 was an unjust war of aggression launched by Japan. The nine years from the end of the Sino-French War to the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895 was the best period in China in the second half of the19th century. During this period, there was no chaos in China, the international environment in the Far East eased, and China was at peace with western countries. After 30 years, the Westernization Movement with the goal of "enriching Qiang Bing" has achieved remarkable results. This is manifested in: Left's victory in the campaign to recover Xinjiang; Feng Zicai defeated the French in the battles of Nanguan and lang son; Liu Yongfu's black flag army has repeatedly created the French army; Japanese soldiers failed to cooperate with the Korean Hua Kai Party to create a coup. At that time, China was not weaker than Japanese. The British authorities commented: "Asia is now in the hands of three great powers-Russia, Britain and China." /kloc-In the second half of the 9th century, China launched five foreign wars, and the Sino-French peace treaty was the only one that didn't cede land for compensation. The environment at that time should be said to be quite conducive to China's self-improvement. Before the Sino-Japanese War, Russia and Britain were basically fighting for hegemony in the Far East. Although the situation of China and Japan is different, they are both restricted by unequal treaties. The victory of the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895 made Japan a powerful Asian country and completely got rid of its semi-colonial status. However, China's international status has plummeted, with a large outflow of wealth and weak national strength. The failure of the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895 shocked China society as never before. The "enemy" who has always been looked down upon by China adowa Beiyang Navy, demanding huge sums of money and cutting off the land. Up and down, thus losing confidence. At this point, the Qing government's independent finance went bankrupt and lived by borrowing from western powers. Sino-Japanese War Museum
During the Sino-Japanese War, Japan became the upstart in Asia. War reparations: 230 million kuping silver; The value of trophies such as ships is also above 1 100 million yen. At that time, the annual fiscal revenue of the Japanese government was only 80 million yen. At that time, the Japanese Foreign Minister said happily: "Before this compensation, I didn't expect that there would be hundreds of millions, and the total income was only 80 million yen. Therefore, when I think that there are now 350 million yuan rolling in, both the government and the people feel extremely rich. " After the occupation of Korea and Taiwan Province Province, it posed a direct threat to northeast and east China strategically and became a springboard to attack Chinese mainland. Japan tasted the sweetness of aggression for the first time, which greatly stimulated their desire to expand the territory of aggression.
Edit this passage before the war
As early as 1868, at the beginning of Meiji Emperor Mu Ren's accession to the throne, he issued an imperial edict, declaring that "ten thousand miles of waves spread, and national prestige spread in all directions", aiming at expanding overseas. 1868 After the Meiji Restoration, China and Japan signed the first modern treaty, the Sino-Japanese Reconciliation Treaty. The first paragraph says: "Later, the Great Qing Dynasty became friends with Japan, and it was boundless. That is, the States and territories to which the two countries belong should also be treated with courtesy, and permanent security cannot be obtained with a slight violation. " This is an equal treaty. However, while the treaty was waiting for ratification, the Ryukyu boat people were killed. 187 1, 65438+ In February, Ryukyu boat people drifted to Taiwan Province Province because of the wind, among them, 54 people were killed by the aborigines of Taiwan Province Province, and the rest were escorted back to China by the Qing government. At that time, Ryukyu was a vassal state of the Qing Dynasty, and there was no objection to this. The incident subsided and the Japanese government did not know. The following year, the Japanese emissary went to China to change the contract and read about it in the Mansion Newspaper of the Qing government. So, while reporting to China, he made representations to the Prime Minister's yamen to test the Qing government's attitude towards Ryukyu and Taiwan Province Province. The Prime Minister's yamen replied: "The two islands (Ryukyu and Taiwan Province Province) belong to the soil, and the people who belong to the soil kill each other. The ruling is mine. Why bother to ask questions about your country? " This statement was originally very good, but it was added to the superfluous words: "The killers are all unfamiliar, so it is appropriate to release them outside, and there is no cure until they are finished." This made the Japanese seize a handle and make a big fuss about the word "externalization", saying that the aborigines in Taiwan Province Province did not live in China territory, and used this as an excuse to attack Taiwan Province Province. 1874 65438+ 10, the Japanese army landed in Langya, Taiwan Province Province, and began to attack Taiwan Province Province. For Japan, this action was quite risky, not only because of the disparity in national strength between China and Japan at that time, but also because international public opinion did not support it. By the end of the war in August, the number of Japanese troops had increased to 3600, but the attack was still unfavorable and morale was low. At this time, the Japanese saw that the odds were too small, so they sent a special envoy to Beijing to try to end the war with dignity. After the Japanese minister came to China in September, he first bluffed, then expressed his "sincerity" to end the war, saying that Japan had spent a lot of money to send troops to Taiwan Province Province, and China could not let the Japanese army return empty-handed. He should pay for some soldiers, and then Japan will withdraw its troops, so that both sides will be passed. The Qing government felt that it was in an advantage in the war and it was unreasonable to end the war by losing money, but it didn't want to spend too much energy on making a fuss and wanted to make peace, which meant that it could consider "compensation" for the "victims" in Taiwan Province Province as appropriate, which was equivalent to acknowledging the principle of compensation. In the Beijing Special Agreement signed on June 365438 +3654381October +0, the killing of Ryukyu people was written as "Japanese nationals were killed", Japan's attack on Taiwan Province Province was written as "a righteous act to protect the people", and China compensated 502,000 silver in the name of "pension". The Beijing Special Treaty provided a basis for Japan to annex Ryukyu. 1In April of 879, Japan occupied Ryukyu and changed its name to Okinawa Prefecture. After fiddling with Taiwan Province Province, I began to fiddle with North Korea. At that time, Korea was still under the control of the closed feudal dynasty, with backward productivity and crumbling domestic political situation, which was supported by the Qing Dynasty for a while. After the Meiji Restoration, Japan began to strengthen its influence in North Korea, and strived to make North Korea break away from the control of the Qing government and become an "independent country" through diplomatic means. Diplomatic efforts were not very successful because there was not enough power to support them. 1882, there was a "mutiny at noon" in North Korea, and Japan took the opportunity to send troops to North Korea, forcing the North Korean government to agree to the Japanese garrison in North Korea. 1884, while China was busy with the Sino-French war, Zhu Tian, the Japanese ambassador to North Korea, instigated the pro-Japanese "Hua Kai Party" coup and overthrew the conservative regime overnight on 12.4. The next day, the king issued an imperial edict to reform politics and established the Hua Kai Party Government. Conservatives hurriedly requested support from the South China army, so Yuan Shikai led 2,000 troops to denounce the disorderly party in the name of protecting the North Korean government and broke into the palace on February 6, 65438. Bamboo Tim was outnumbered, set himself on fire at the embassy and fled overnight. The prime minister, ministers and more than 30 Japanese of Huakai Party were killed in the riots. The Japanese government immediately sent a foreign minister to lead a large number of troops into the DPRK, and the Qing government also sent imperial envoys to take troops and warships to the DPRK. In the confrontation, Japan felt that its military preparation was insufficient, so it did not take military action and turned to diplomatic means. At that time, many people in Japan advocated using the Sino-French war to launch a war against China quickly. However, the faction headed by Ito Bowen, considering Japan's national strength, especially the lack of military strength, advocates "saving money quickly, building more railways, catching up with the navy" and accumulating strength. Ito bowen
1In the spring of 885, Japan sent Hirofumi Ito as the plenipotentiary ambassador to China to negotiate the North Korean issue. During the negotiation, Ito often threatened to return to China. Later, Li Hongzhang was furious: "China didn't do anything wrong in North Korea, and the mistakes were all in Zhu Tian; If you break up like this, I'm only going to fight! " Nevertheless, in the Tianjin Treaty signed after many days of entanglement, Japan gained the right to send troops to North Korea. After the signing of the treaty, the Qing government appointed Yuan Shikai to take charge of North Korea affairs and tightened its control over North Korea. Japan, on the other hand, has strengthened its economic penetration, stepped up its military expansion and prepared for war, waiting for an opportunity. In the next nine years, it was calm on the surface, but the situation was quietly changing ... Japan has been paying attention to China. 1880, Yamagata Aritomo, the Japanese chief of staff, submitted an investigation report on China's army to Emperor Meiji, pointing out that the Qing government was reforming its military system. If we follow the example of Europe, it can recruit 4.25 million soldiers in peacetime and 8.5 million soldiers in wartime. Therefore, he believes that "the stronger the soldiers in neighboring countries, the more indispensable the soldiers in this country." After 1890, Japan used 60% of the national fiscal revenue to develop its navy and army. Starting from 1893, Emperor Meiji decided to allocate 300,000 yuan from his own court funds every year, and then draw one-tenth of the salary of Wenwu Baiguan to supplement the shipbuilding expenses. The morale of the whole country is high, aiming to catch up with and surpass China, and preparing to fight a war of "gambling on national luck". 1890, there were 7 Beiyang navy warships with a capacity of over 2,000 tons, totaling over 27,000 tons; The Japanese navy has only five warships of more than 2,000 tons, totaling17,000 tons. 1892, Japan completed its ten-year expansion plan from 1885 ahead of schedule. On the eve of the Sino-Japanese War, Japan had established an army with 63,000 standing soldiers and 230,000 reserve soldiers, and a navy with a displacement of 72,000 tons, surpassing the Beiyang Navy. During this period, the Qing government saw that after decades of Westernization Movement, in a series of military confrontations, unlike during the Opium War, foreigners' gunboats could not cope at all and were inevitably on cloud nine. In the process of dealing with western countries, I realized that westerners have no intention of annexing countries, but just want to take advantage of trade, so I relaxed my arms consciousness even more. Although some actions of Japan, an eastern neighbor, in recent years make people vaguely feel that it will be a trouble in the future. Beiyang Navy has not added any ships since it was formally established in 1888, and its age is gradually aging. Compared with the newly added warships in Japan, the firepower is weak and the action is slow. After 189 1, even guns and ammunition were not bought. This is not because the arms industry is localized-the money was used by Cixi to repair the Summer Palace. Empress Dowager Cixi said: "Guangxu 1875 was young when he ascended the throne, and he had to listen to politics. From 1886 to "training politics", 1889 to "returning to politics". I don't ask anything, can't I repair the garden for the old man? " Compared with Emperor Meiji, Cixi is in sharp contrast. 1in the spring of 894, the peasant uprising of the East Learning Party broke out in North Korea, and the North Korean government requested the Qing government to send troops to help suppress it. At the same time, the Japanese government also induced the Qing government to send troops to create an excuse for sending troops to North Korea. After receiving the request from the North Korean government, the Qing government sent Ye Zhichao, governor of Zhili, and Nie Shicheng, commander-in-chief of Taiyuan Town, to North Korea in batches according to the Sino-Japanese Tianjin Treaty 1885, and sent a telegram to Wang Fengzao, ambassador to Japan, to inform the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. At that time, the Japanese cabinet, seeing the plot succeed, sent troops into the DPRK to occupy various strategic locations near Seoul, and set up a base camp attended by the chief of staff, deputy chief of staff, war chief and naval operations minister as the highest leading organ to direct the war of aggression. Japanese Foreign Minister Luo Ozongguang instructed Keisuke, the ambassador to the DPRK, to "take temporary measures as deemed appropriate" and authorized Keisuke to stir up trouble and launch a war of aggression. When China and Japan sent troops to Korea, the North Korean government had accepted the request put forward by the Eastern Learning Party Uprising Army. The two sides signed an armistice agreement and the Uprising Army withdrew from the whole state. The Korean civil war has actually stopped, and the Qing army has not fought with the Dongxue Party Uprising Army. In order to eliminate the excuse of Japanese invasion, the North Korean government requested China to withdraw its troops on June 13. Ye Zhichao is going to cross the river from Yashan within the scheduled time limit, and the Qing government requires the Japanese army to withdraw at the same time. Although Japan lost the excuse of sending troops to North Korea, it still insisted on expanding the incident and brought about the breakdown of Sino-Japanese relations. It not only refused to withdraw its troops, but continued to send more troops to North Korea, and put forward a so-called plan to jointly "reform" North Korea's internal affairs in order to achieve the dual purpose of keeping the Japanese army in North China and delaying it. On July 12, Lu Ao sent a telegram to Big Bird: "It is necessary to take decisive measures at present", "You might as well start practical action immediately under any excuse". After receiving the instructions, Big Bird made a series of tough demands on 19 and 20, coercing the DPRK government to abolish the Sino-DPRK Trade Treaty and expelling the Korean army from the country. On 23rd, the Japanese army captured the Korean Palace, detained King Li Xi, and set up a puppet government headed by Li Yunying, the grand courtyard monarch. On the 25th, Big Bird ordered Dayuan Army to announce the abolition of all commercial agreements between China and North Korea, and "authorized" the Japanese army to expel the Qing army stationed in Yashan. On the same day, the Japanese launched a surprise attack on China's navy near Akio Toyoda and sank the China troop carrier "Goldman Sachs"; At the same time, the Japanese army launched an attack on China's troops stationed in Yashan, which finally provoked a war of aggression. /kloc-in August (the first day of July), the Chinese and Japanese governments declared war at the same time. The Sino-Japanese War began.