1March, 886, he was promoted to the second-class officer of the army and later served as the director of military affairs because of his meritorious reform. By 1890, the Japanese army had 7 divisions, with 52,000 people in active service and 256,000 in reserve. He is not satisfied. In the same year, the first imperial parliament, running in many ways and lobbying extensively, adopted a huge military budget by combining hard and soft measures. At the 1902 17 parliament, because the opposition party was unwilling to increase taxes for the expansion of the navy, he became the prime minister and took great political risks and brazenly ordered the dissolution of the parliament. Because of his tough attitude, he was touted by militarists. Tokutomi once said: "Yamagata Aritomo should take the lead in rebuilding the imperial army, but after 1885 and 1890 and 189 1 year, Guigong should take the lead in reforming the military system of the imperial army, reorganizing the administrative organs and improving the functions of the army." 1in may, 874, the Japanese army invaded and occupied Taiwan Province province on the grounds of attacking Taiwan Province province. In this war, Keitaro served as a "spy" and was responsible for recruiting volunteers. He received a telegram from his dying mother, saying that he could not abandon his post for his mother on the grounds that loyalty and filial piety could not be satisfactory, and missed the great cause of the country for a hundred years until his mother died.
In order to spy on and master the military and political situation in China, Kyotaro suggested to Yamagata Aritomo, chief of staff, to send an investigation team to China in 1879. In the autumn of the same year, more than a dozen officers, including Kyotaro himself, went to Beijing, Tianjin and North China to investigate and drafted the operational guidelines for China. China's armament situation and Japanese policy of aggression against China are demonstrated in detail in A Brief Introduction to Neighbouring Soldiers, which is a collection of survey results.
During the second cabinet meeting of Ito Bowen, Japan launched the Nissin War for the control of North Korea (1894- 1895). As the head of the Third Division, Keitaro was the depth bomb of this war. As soon as he received the mobilization order, he said happily; "A gentleman is happier than this, serving the country in one fell swoop." His men rushed into China through the Yalu River, and defeated Huai Army and Xiang Army in several fierce battles in Liaodong Peninsula, such as Haicheng Campaign and Niuzhuang Campaign. Therefore, in wartime, Emperor Meiji ordered the notification of awards, and won the third-class Hsi Chin Medal after the war, making him a viscount. The war has greatly changed the political consciousness of the Japanese people, and the economy has also ushered in a period of establishing industrial capital. Previously, Qiang Bing citizens complained bitterly about the government's policy of enriching the people. However, due to the Japanese victory in the Japanese-Qing War, the Qing Dynasty was forced to cede Taiwan Province Province and Penghu Islands, and a large number of war reparations were obtained, which made people think that the government's policies so far were correct and the theory of war affirmation rose. On the other hand, as described in Ozaki Hongye's novel "Golden Hag", money is paramount among young people. At the same time, young people like Abe Isoo, Gao Qiao Muxia and Qiu Shui Yukio who are determined to eliminate social contradictions have emerged.
/kloc-After the Boxer Rebellion broke out in 0/900, Russia took the opportunity to send troops to Manchuria, which aroused Japan's dissatisfaction. Originally, the Boxer Rebellion was aimed at the West and had nothing to do with Japan, but Yamagata Aritomo's cabinet not only sent troops to Beijing, but also dispatched 12000 people to become the absolute main force of Eight-Nation Alliance. In this war, Keitaro, as the secretary of the army, was responsible for coordinating the government and the army.
1in August, 900, Shan County instructed the governors of Michitaro and Taiwan Province to send troops to Xiamen, opposite Taiwan Province Province, in an attempt to bring Fujian into the Japanese sphere of influence. On August 24th, Japanese monks set fire to Donghongji Temple in Xiamen. The cruiser "He Quan" moored in Xiamen sent a Marine Corps, and the Taiwan Province Provincial Governor's Office also sent troops to Xiamen. Due to British opposition, the plan was forced to terminate, Yamagata's cabinet resigned in June+10, 5438, and then Ito Bowen became prime minister for five months.
Although Yamagata Aritomo ceded the Premiership to his political opponents, he didn't lose anything. Because not only the position of Minister Lu Haijun remained in the hands of Keitaro and Yamamoto Gonnohyō e sent by Yamagata, but also the Japanese army did not have the strength to expel the Russians from Manchuria by force, Yamagata happily threw the hot potato of "Manchuria problem" to Ito. Ito found it impossible to solve the Manchuria issue peacefully through diplomatic channels that he had always advocated, and he also resigned in May of 190 1. Four elders, Yamagata Aritomo, Masayoshi Matsuzawa, Saigou Jyuudou and Noue Kaoru, and the President of the Privy Council, Saionji Kinmochi, who served as interim prime minister, held high-level consultations on who would take over. As a result, they failed to find a suitable candidate among the elders, and finally decided to pass on the mantle of the Prime Minister to Noue Kaoru. Inoue tried to form a cabinet, but Shibusawa Eiichi and Keitaro refused Inoue's invitation to join the cabinet, and Inoue turned to be the main cabinet member of Ito's cabinet, hoping that they would stay in office, which was also rejected. Inoue, who could not get the cooperation of the elders, gave up the idea of forming a cabinet, and Keitaro, a disciple of Yamagata Prefecture and a hawk against Russia, formed a cabinet. On June 2nd, Keitaro's Cabinet was established. 1902 Only four months after the general election was held in August, Keitaro dissolved its parliament and held a general election in March 1903. As a result of the election, the opposition party won a great victory, and Keitaro's cabinet was facing the end of the road. Keitaro went to work as the president of the Political Friendship Association, Ito Bowen. Ito Bowen expressed support for the expansion of the naval plan, but opposed to continuing to increase government rent and rectify administration. Keitaro made unremitting efforts for Ito. In the end, the two sides reached a compromise and agreed to expand the navy by rectifying administration, postponing public utility projects and raising public debt, while the political friends restrained their criticism of Keitaro's cabinet. This incident showed Kyotaro's political flexibility, which made him the longest-serving prime minister.
Keitaro's cabinet is the first cabinet with a non-elder as prime minister. Although vilified and ridiculed as "the cabinet that listens to politics behind the scenes", "Xiaoshan County Cabinet", "Second-rate Cabinet" and "Second-ranking Cabinet", Kyotaro formed the cabinet three times in a row, which lasted for 2,886 days, setting a record for the longest prime minister's reign (Eisaku Satō's cabinet maintained a record of 2,798 days in a row). For Keitaro, this cabinet formation means the arrival of the new and old political transition period. The topics facing this cabinet mainly include foreign policy and financial issues, which are intertwined. In foreign policy, although the Qing dynasty ruled out the rule of Korea through the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, another topic was how to prevent Russia from going south. As a countermeasure, Japan-Russia coordination theory and Japan-Britain alliance theory are opposite. The theory of Japan-Russia coordination advocates that Japan recognizes Russia's sovereignty over Manchuria (Northeast China). In exchange, Russia recognizes Japan's rule over Korea, which is the so-called "Manchu-DPRK exchange theory". Ito Bowen, Noue Kaoru, Lu Aozongguang and others hold this view. Yamagata Aritomo, Kyutaro, Keitaro and others hold the theory of Japan-Britain alliance and advocate Japan-Britain alliance to jointly fight against Russia. At that time, Britain confronted Russia in the Middle East, Central Asia and other regions, but there was basically no conflict of interest between Japan and Britain. In the end, the coordination between Japan and Russia did not make any progress, but Japan and Britain signed the Japan-Britain alliance agreement on June 30, 1902. Japan can form an alliance with the most powerful country in the world, which makes the people extremely surprised.
Russia actually occupied the northeast of China and sought to expand its rights and interests in the Qing Dynasty. 1902 in April, Russia signed a withdrawal agreement with the Qing Dynasty, promising to withdraw from Manchuria three times. However, Russia only withdrew its troops once, and then put Manchuria under Russian control, which shows its intention to invade North Korea. Emperor Meiji, elders, Prime Minister Keitaro, Foreign Ministers Hisataro Komura, Masayoshi Matsuzaka, Terauchi Masatake, Yamamoto Gonnohyō e and others entered the palace and held a command meeting. After a heated debate, the policy of immediate war against Russia was finally decided. The Russo-Japanese War broke out in February 1904. From Japan's point of view, the purpose of this war is to ensure North Korea's dominant position, and then push Russian forces out of Manchuria. Opponents of this war include Keizo Obuchi and Yukio Qiushui, but the vast majority of Japanese nationals support the war. Japan won at a heavy price, but it also lost its ability to continue the war. Under the mediation of American President theodore roosevelt, Japan and Russia concluded a peace treaty in September 1905.
At the beginning of the Russo-Japanese War, Japan and South Korea concluded the Japan-South Korea Agreement (1August 22, 904), and then forced South Korea to sign the first Japan-South Korea Agreement in1June/October 17, depriving South Korea of its financial and diplomatic rights. 1February 22, 905, 1905 signed an agreement with the Qing government to deal with the aftermath of Manchuria, forcing the Qing government to agree to transfer Russia's lease right in Kanto County, Changchun Lushun Railway (Nanman Railway) and all its ancillary rights to Japan. In this regard, neither the elders nor the parliament raised any objection and unanimously recognized it.
Kyotaro's cabinet is in financial trouble. Japan's economy did grow after the Russo-Japanese War, but it was reactionary in 1897, and there was an economic panic between 1900 and190. In order to stimulate economic development, Keitaro's cabinet adopted the policy of strengthening the development of heavy industry and communication industry, requiring financial institutions to invest a lot of money, and the government to invest a lot of money. At the same time, it is inevitable to increase the budget for expanding the navy. Keitaro's cabinet failed to plan to raise foreign debts in the United States, so it tried to solve the problem by rectifying administration, delaying public utility projects, and including compensation for the Northern Qing Incident in the general accounting. Parliament thinks that compensation income is unstable and strongly opposes its inclusion in the budget. It also strongly opposes the land rent increase and administrative rectification implemented by the government in the past five years.
After four and a half years as prime minister, Kyotaro revised the Japan-Britain alliance in August 1905. Britain recognized Japan's right to "guide, supervise and protect" South Korea, and forced Russia to recognize the same content in the Portsmouth Treaty. On this basis, Japan and South Korea signed the second Japan-South Korea agreement.
After the victory of the Russo-Japanese War, although the government publicized "Victory! Victory! " Without the expected compensation, the territory only got the southern half of Huatai (Sakhalin Island). The Asahi Shimbun in Osaka commented on the Portsmouth Treaty between Japan and Russia, saying that the conditions proposed by Japan in making peace with Russia cannot be called "peace conditions", but only "peace conditions". Angry people "burned down the residence of the minister of the interior, the residence of the minister of foreign affairs, the national news agency and the police station near the park." Keitaro was also threatened with assassination, so much so that his pleasure in the concubine's outhouse was escorted by the army. The Japanese government was forced to declare martial law in Tokyo and impose news control, which is known in history as the "Hibiya City Burning Incident". The target of the attack also spread from Japanese politicians to businessmen in Britain, France and the United States, because they reportedly threatened that "if you don't sign a contract, you can't borrow foreign debts in the future." On September 6th, four American churches and a French church were burned down. The riots also spread from Tokyo to Osaka, Kobe and Yokohama. This political storm finally ended with the fall of Kyotaro's cabinet in February 1905. As a veteran, Ito Bowen is also the leader of the Constitutional Friendship Association. In order to weaken the power supported by these two pillars, 1903 Ito Bowen was promoted to the position of Speaker of the Privy Council, and Saionji Kinmochi took over as President of the Political Friendship Association. 107, Keitaro recommended Saionji Kinmochi as prime minister. Previously, in order to quell people's anger over the Portsmouth Treaty, Keitaro and Saionji Kinmochi joined hands to support each other under the impetus of jing yuan, and the so-called "Return to the Yuan Dynasty" lasted 12 years.
1908 in July, Saionji Kinmochi's cabinet resigned due to financial difficulties and the ban against socialists, and Kaitaro became prime minister again. As soon as he took office, he formulated a resolution on "foreign policy" on September 25, which stipulated: "Foster China's forces in China so as to ensure China's dominant position in the event of an accident in that country, and at the same time take necessary measures to maintain the status quo of Manchuria forever."
On the surface, Keitaro is "impartial and without party affiliation", but in fact, if he doesn't compromise with his political friends, he won't pass the parliament. 1 911June1day, Kyotaro held direct talks with the president of the political friendship association, Siong Ji, and the two sides hit it off. As a result, the Meiji 14 budget proposed by the government was passed after a slight revision in the 27th Congress. Kyotaro resigned after signing the third Japanese alliance agreement (1911July13). On his recommendation, the second Saionji Kinmochi Cabinet was established on August 30th. For the second time, Kaitaro's cabinet concluded the "Gaoping-Lode Agreement" with the United States diplomatically, the main content of which was to maintain the status quo in the Pacific Ocean and preserve the territorial integrity and equal business opportunities of the Qing Dynasty; Conclude the second Japan-Russia agreement with Russia (19 10 July); 19 10 signed the Japan-Korea merger treaty in August, and turned Korea into a Japanese colony without justifiable reasons.
As a defender of the emperor's autocracy, Keitaro could not tolerate the existence of democratic politics. 19 10, Japanese socialists and anarchists launched a wide-ranging movement against the emperor's autocracy. Kono Sukehiko did point out that the Emperor was "the leader of economic plunder, the source of political evil and the source of ideological superstition." In this regard, Keitaro took extremely severe repressive measures, raided socialists on trumped-up charges such as "plotting to assassinate the emperor", and sentenced 24 people to death, including Xingde Qiushui, Guan Ye Xu He Zi, etc. 12 who were hanged successively in 1965 and 438+0 1 year, and other 65,438 people. In August, following Keitaro of the second cabinet, the second cabinet of Saionji Kinmochi was established. The Political Friends Association led by Saionji Kinmochi won an overwhelming victory in the 19 12 general election. The government is ready to start to rectify the administration and finance, but the army demands to increase the strength of two divisions on the grounds of safeguarding the special rights and interests of Manchuria and Mongolia and maintaining colonial public order, and its attitude is tough. Prime Minister Saionji Kinmochi and Ryutaro Yamamoto rejected the Army's request on the grounds of financial difficulties, so Prime Minister Seiji Maehara used the privilege of playing on the curtain to submit his resignation directly to the Emperor, which led to the collapse of the cabinet. This incident was criticized as "warlord poisoning cabinet".
Saionji Kinmochi's successor is not so easy to determine. The Senate meeting first urged Saionji Kinmochi to remain in office, and then successively explored the possibility of forming a cabinet by Masayoshi Matsuzaka, Junfu Hirata and Yamamoto Gonnohyō e, all of which were rejected, and finally decided to be succeeded by Keitaro, the Minister of the Interior. 191265438+221,the third Keitaro cabinet was established. It turns out that since the death of Emperor Meiji, Yamagata has let Keitaro enter the palace as the Minister of the Interior and court attendants. Emperor Taishi suffered from encephalopathy since he was a child, and his condition was good and bad, so he was completely at the mercy of Keitaro, so Keitaro was called "the man hiding behind the dragon sleeves". He became prime minister after only four months as a minister.
The biggest problem of the new cabinet is the choice of the secretary of the navy. Because Keitaro's coming to power is bound to harm the interests of the navy, the navy refused to put forward a new naval candidate. Finally, appointed by the emperor himself, Saito promised to stay on the condition of increasing the naval expansion fee by 6 million yen. The criticism of "the palace hall (government) is not divided from the government" has risen sharply, which has triggered a constitutional movement. In this movement, industrialists and journalists in the "consultation meeting" stood out first, and political friends' associations and some constitutional Kuomintang people also rose to respond. They played the slogan of "maintaining constitutionalism and overthrowing the valve family" in the movement. Kyotaro wants to pass the parliament by forming a new party, and announced the plan of forming a new party in 19 13. However, among the members of the Constitutional Nationalist Party (50 out of 965,438+0), the Central News Agency (30 out of 33) and the Political Friends Association (4), only over half of them indicated that they would join the Keitaro New Party, and there were 9 members without party affiliation, with a total of only 93 members. The 30th Parliament was originally scheduled to be held on191365438+1October 20th after the recess at the beginning of the year. After being ordered to suspend the meeting 15 days, the meeting finally took place on February 5. On the day of the resumption of the meeting, 234 members headed by Prime Minister Ozaki proposed a resolution to impeach Keitaro, strongly criticizing that "Keitaro, as Prime Minister and Duke of Cabinet, should have shouldered heavy responsibilities, but repeatedly disturbed the imperial edict, disrupted the separation of Gzero, and used power for personal gain to form a clique". When explaining the motion of confrontation, Ozaki pointed out: "They use the emperor as a shield and the imperial edict as a bullet to attack political enemies."
On the day the resolution was proposed, Parliament was again ordered to adjourn for five days. 1913 February 10 After the resumption of the meeting, people who could not restrain their anger surrounded the parliament. The constitutionalists, wearing white rose badges, entered the parliament hall amid the cheers of the people. Enthusiastic people attacked newspapers and police, and the government sent troops to suppress them. The movement intensified and then spread to major local cities. On the surface, Yamamoto Gonnohyō e's outspoken warning was the direct cause of the collapse of Keitaro's cabinet. In fact, it is no exaggeration to say that Kyotaro's cabinet was the first cabinet overthrown by the people in Japanese history.