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Asami
Banned
一. 明治大帝
Chapter One: Meiji the Great
“…the contrast between that which preceded the funeral car and that which followed it was striking indeed. Before it went old Japan; after it came new Japan.”
- New York Times, 1912, after the funeral of the Meiji Emperor
The death of the Emperor Meiji was perhaps the most somber event to have taken Japan in years. The Emperor had watched over the ascent of Japan through the 19th century recursive bakufu governance, and into the modern age of constitutional government, where the storms of war were gathering as Europe armed itself to the hilt, and China fell into a state of anarchy under the guise of republican revolution, lead by men like Yuan Shikai, Sun Yat-sen, and the Kuomintang.
At approximately 1 o’clock in the morning of the same day as the Emperor’s death (30 July 1912), two of the three 'sanshu no jingi' were handed over to the Crown Prince. He received Kusanagi, the sword; and Yasakani no Magatama, the jewel, as well as the formal seal of the state. The new Emperor was not of completely sound mind and body, having spent his entire life with varying levels of neurological issues; however, he still found himself in possession of the items that struck like a bolt from the blue—he was now the Emperor of Japan, and in his hands, he possessed the items that legitimized his rule. He was conferred these honors less than a quarter-hour after the demise of his father. With this done, the Meiji Era had ended, and the Taisho Era had begun.
Two weeks after the death of the Emperor, his body was transferred from his deathbed to the hinkyuu (殯宮, temporary imperial mortuary) which had been put together in the central pavilion of the Imperial Palace. The Emperor’s deceased body had been enclosed in a space boxed in on three sides with white cloths, and the fourth by a shutter. He was placed in this enclosure with his sword, and his coffin decorated with the sakaki (榊), a sacred tree in Shinto. During the procession of his body lying in state, over 50 days, every tenth day, offerings of food and textiles were placed before the coffin, and eulogies to honor the Emperor were given.
On the 29th, the Emperor, whom in his life as Crown Prince had the name Mutsuhito, and as Emperor was merely referred to as ‘His Majesty the Emperor’ (天皇陛下, tennouheika), was given his permanent posthumous name. It was decided that the posthumous Emperor should be known forever more as 明治天皇 (Meiji-tennou). The Crown Prince also decided upon his nengou (era) name. He would take up 大正 (Taishou), which loosely translates to 'great righteousness’.
On the 4th of September, the diplomatic corps of foreign nations were invited to pay a visit to the Emperor’s place of temporary internment and pay their respects. As the de-facto leader of the diplomatic corps in Japan, the Ambassador to Japan from the Court of St. James deposited a silver crown at the Emperor’s grave.
9 days later, a memorial tablet carrying the name of Emperor Meiji was placed in his private chambers, while the funeral was conducted. At 19:00, the body was carried via a golden chariot from the palace towards his eternal resting place. He was accompanied by a funeral parade of 300 people carrying torches, gongs, drums and other material. This procession was also joined by military bands, and a youth group from Yase, northeast of the ancient capital, Kyoto.
At 11:15, the Emperor’s last rites, salutes and offerings were started. General Nogi, a hero of the Russo-Japanese War, and a man of great national renown, committed seppuku with his wife so that he may accompany the Emperor in the afterlife. Whilst the funeral celebrations and other things like it would not stop until 1913, the newly ascended and not-entirely-present Emperor Taishou would have to buckle down and prepare himself for his new role as Emperor of Japan.
It was not long after the last rites were given, that a new political crisis sprang up, testing the new Emperor’s mettle and wit.
- New York Times, 1912, after the funeral of the Meiji Emperor
The death of the Emperor Meiji was perhaps the most somber event to have taken Japan in years. The Emperor had watched over the ascent of Japan through the 19th century recursive bakufu governance, and into the modern age of constitutional government, where the storms of war were gathering as Europe armed itself to the hilt, and China fell into a state of anarchy under the guise of republican revolution, lead by men like Yuan Shikai, Sun Yat-sen, and the Kuomintang.
At approximately 1 o’clock in the morning of the same day as the Emperor’s death (30 July 1912), two of the three 'sanshu no jingi' were handed over to the Crown Prince. He received Kusanagi, the sword; and Yasakani no Magatama, the jewel, as well as the formal seal of the state. The new Emperor was not of completely sound mind and body, having spent his entire life with varying levels of neurological issues; however, he still found himself in possession of the items that struck like a bolt from the blue—he was now the Emperor of Japan, and in his hands, he possessed the items that legitimized his rule. He was conferred these honors less than a quarter-hour after the demise of his father. With this done, the Meiji Era had ended, and the Taisho Era had begun.
Two weeks after the death of the Emperor, his body was transferred from his deathbed to the hinkyuu (殯宮, temporary imperial mortuary) which had been put together in the central pavilion of the Imperial Palace. The Emperor’s deceased body had been enclosed in a space boxed in on three sides with white cloths, and the fourth by a shutter. He was placed in this enclosure with his sword, and his coffin decorated with the sakaki (榊), a sacred tree in Shinto. During the procession of his body lying in state, over 50 days, every tenth day, offerings of food and textiles were placed before the coffin, and eulogies to honor the Emperor were given.
On the 29th, the Emperor, whom in his life as Crown Prince had the name Mutsuhito, and as Emperor was merely referred to as ‘His Majesty the Emperor’ (天皇陛下, tennouheika), was given his permanent posthumous name. It was decided that the posthumous Emperor should be known forever more as 明治天皇 (Meiji-tennou). The Crown Prince also decided upon his nengou (era) name. He would take up 大正 (Taishou), which loosely translates to 'great righteousness’.
On the 4th of September, the diplomatic corps of foreign nations were invited to pay a visit to the Emperor’s place of temporary internment and pay their respects. As the de-facto leader of the diplomatic corps in Japan, the Ambassador to Japan from the Court of St. James deposited a silver crown at the Emperor’s grave.
9 days later, a memorial tablet carrying the name of Emperor Meiji was placed in his private chambers, while the funeral was conducted. At 19:00, the body was carried via a golden chariot from the palace towards his eternal resting place. He was accompanied by a funeral parade of 300 people carrying torches, gongs, drums and other material. This procession was also joined by military bands, and a youth group from Yase, northeast of the ancient capital, Kyoto.
At 11:15, the Emperor’s last rites, salutes and offerings were started. General Nogi, a hero of the Russo-Japanese War, and a man of great national renown, committed seppuku with his wife so that he may accompany the Emperor in the afterlife. Whilst the funeral celebrations and other things like it would not stop until 1913, the newly ascended and not-entirely-present Emperor Taishou would have to buckle down and prepare himself for his new role as Emperor of Japan.
It was not long after the last rites were given, that a new political crisis sprang up, testing the new Emperor’s mettle and wit.
Last edited:
Asami
Banned
二. 大正政変
Chapter Two: Taishou Political Crisis
November 1912 - June 1914
By the end of the year, the Emperor’s first trials would be undertaken. Under the Meiji Emperor, government spending had grown incredibly high, as the Imperial Japanese Army sought to expand. The Meiji Constitution provided a clause in which the military would come to have a level of bargaining power over the civilian government—the constitution required that the office of Army Minister must be filled by an active-service Lieutenant General or General.
In the months following the Emperor’s death, debates and disputes over the military budget for 1913 had continued to escalate. Prime Minister Saionji Kinmochi did not want to further empower the armed forces, whilst the armed forces, largely under the leadership of genrō Field Marshal Yamagata Aritomo, wanted to further expand the budget for the Army to field stronger units to further their expansionist thirst, which had been only briefly satiated with the annexation of Korea in 1910, and the victories over Russia and China in 1905 and 1894, respectively.
In November 1912, General Uehara, the sitting Army Minister, resigned due to the inability for the cabinet to accede to the Army’s demands. Despite the attempts of the Prime Minister, no military officer was willing to take the position out of fear of being ostracized from their own military comrades.
On December 21st, 1912, Prime Minister Saionji was forced to resign, bringing down his civilian government.
The Emperor was initially pressured to appoint Katsura Tarou to the office of Prime Minister. Katsura was a former military officer, and a member of the genrō. However, the Emperor exercised a more neutral option. Inoue Kaoru was appointed to the office of Prime Minister on the same day. Inoue was meant primarily to be a stop-gap measure, and would keep the state on a balanced line between the Army and Navy’s propelling influence.
Almost immediately, the Army and Navy threatened to undermine the Inoue government by refusing to allow the appointment of military ministers within the government. They insisted that the Emperor appointed a man from their two quarreling factions to the office, and spare them the theatrics of a statesman. The Emperor was not very happy with this assertion on their part, and issued an edict, mandating that the Navy and Army were both required to provide to the cabinet appointments to the ministry.
To gather support for him democratically, the Prime Minister managed to cultivate many representatives in the Diet away from the main parties, and called together the formation of the 自由党 (Jiyuuto, ‘Freedom Party’).
While the Jiyuuto was not the majority party in the Diet, it was a marked step in the establishment of a continuity of constitutional politics and the marked attempts by anti-militarists to keep the military from meddling in civilian government affairs. The legislative system of the Taisho era is pointedly remembered as being overly chaotic, with new parties springing up constantly in the name of certain policy or personal advocating. The Jiyuuto was the first party which billed itself as a ‘big-tent party’, encompassing the support for certain freedoms for male populations, and for the state to lend its aid to the developing zaibatsu to expand Japan’s economic power instead of outright subjugating everyone. The party borrowed its name from an early Meiji era political party, the Freedom and People’s Rights Movement (自由民権運動), which sought to establish universal democracy instead of oligarchic democracy. The Jiyuuto was soon joined by other small parties in forming an informal alliance, called the Sakurakai (‘cherry blossom society’) which was dedicated to the empowerment of the civilian government, and the continuation of the balance of Imperial power, and civilian power.
While the public did stage protests aimed against the entrenchment of the genrō over the general authority of the democratic civilian government with his appointment, the Prime Minister managed to silence many of the protests by openly challenging the ‘military appointments’ rule that had undone the previous administration.
He convinced the increasingly annoyed Diet to repeal the rule that required both a Navy Minister and an Army Minister be appointed to the office. The repeal of the rule took place in late January 1913.
With his best efforts put into place, the Prime Minister managed to stave off attempts to unseat him from within and outside of the Diet, and secured his continuous rule, whilst the Emperor dealt with his increasingly infirm mind and body.
In early 1914, Prime Minister Inoue publicized and was the primary force behind what would become the Siemens Scandal. This scandal revealed that the Japanese navy, which was under a rapid expansion program to meet the demands of a potential war in the Pacific, and the need to assert Japanese dominance in the region—was importing necessary materials, such as advanced plans and weaponry. While this was not bad by itself, the details were what mattered—to meet their needs, they were importing from Europe.
Siemens AG, a German company, was enjoying a monopoly over Japanese contracts in exchange for a 15% kickback to the naval authorities responsible for the contracts.
After an attempt by the British company Vickers to take the contracts by offering a 25% kickback and a significant sum of money to the Japanese admiral responsible for anointing them as the primary provider of warship materials, the German headquarters of Siemens fired off a telegram to Tokyo, demanding clarification into matter.
Despite the efforts of Siemens to downplay the situation to their corporate masters, Karl Richter, an employee of Siemens, stole incriminating documents, and through the chain of money passing through the palms of politicians and men, they ended up in the hands of the Prime Minister.
The Prime Minister’s public reveal of the information whipped Japan, and its press corps into a frenzy, particularly when it was revealed that the Navy was going to attempt to force the Cabinet and Diet to approve a tax increase to pay for the rampantly over-budget Navy. By mid-February, most of the naval officers involved in the matter were arrested, and the government had been cleared of being involved with the charges, as the Prime Minister had no prior ties to the Navy.
Dozens of people were arrested in the matter of the procurement scandal, and in March, the Diet passed a heavily amended Naval Budget for 1914, significantly reducing the money that the Navy had to expand their scope. A court martial reduced several men, including Saitou Makoto and one of the genrō, Admiral Yamamoto Gonnohyoe, to a lower rank, although both men avoided imprisonment. As well, the Japanese government banned Vickers and Siemens from further contracts for the Japanese navy.
Once all was said and done, the Prime Minister was resolute to continue the ship of state forward. However, a few weeks after the affair had concluded, and the men were behind bars or discredited, the world was turned upside down…
In the months following the Emperor’s death, debates and disputes over the military budget for 1913 had continued to escalate. Prime Minister Saionji Kinmochi did not want to further empower the armed forces, whilst the armed forces, largely under the leadership of genrō Field Marshal Yamagata Aritomo, wanted to further expand the budget for the Army to field stronger units to further their expansionist thirst, which had been only briefly satiated with the annexation of Korea in 1910, and the victories over Russia and China in 1905 and 1894, respectively.
In November 1912, General Uehara, the sitting Army Minister, resigned due to the inability for the cabinet to accede to the Army’s demands. Despite the attempts of the Prime Minister, no military officer was willing to take the position out of fear of being ostracized from their own military comrades.
On December 21st, 1912, Prime Minister Saionji was forced to resign, bringing down his civilian government.
The Emperor was initially pressured to appoint Katsura Tarou to the office of Prime Minister. Katsura was a former military officer, and a member of the genrō. However, the Emperor exercised a more neutral option. Inoue Kaoru was appointed to the office of Prime Minister on the same day. Inoue was meant primarily to be a stop-gap measure, and would keep the state on a balanced line between the Army and Navy’s propelling influence.
Almost immediately, the Army and Navy threatened to undermine the Inoue government by refusing to allow the appointment of military ministers within the government. They insisted that the Emperor appointed a man from their two quarreling factions to the office, and spare them the theatrics of a statesman. The Emperor was not very happy with this assertion on their part, and issued an edict, mandating that the Navy and Army were both required to provide to the cabinet appointments to the ministry.
To gather support for him democratically, the Prime Minister managed to cultivate many representatives in the Diet away from the main parties, and called together the formation of the 自由党 (Jiyuuto, ‘Freedom Party’).
While the Jiyuuto was not the majority party in the Diet, it was a marked step in the establishment of a continuity of constitutional politics and the marked attempts by anti-militarists to keep the military from meddling in civilian government affairs. The legislative system of the Taisho era is pointedly remembered as being overly chaotic, with new parties springing up constantly in the name of certain policy or personal advocating. The Jiyuuto was the first party which billed itself as a ‘big-tent party’, encompassing the support for certain freedoms for male populations, and for the state to lend its aid to the developing zaibatsu to expand Japan’s economic power instead of outright subjugating everyone. The party borrowed its name from an early Meiji era political party, the Freedom and People’s Rights Movement (自由民権運動), which sought to establish universal democracy instead of oligarchic democracy. The Jiyuuto was soon joined by other small parties in forming an informal alliance, called the Sakurakai (‘cherry blossom society’) which was dedicated to the empowerment of the civilian government, and the continuation of the balance of Imperial power, and civilian power.
While the public did stage protests aimed against the entrenchment of the genrō over the general authority of the democratic civilian government with his appointment, the Prime Minister managed to silence many of the protests by openly challenging the ‘military appointments’ rule that had undone the previous administration.
He convinced the increasingly annoyed Diet to repeal the rule that required both a Navy Minister and an Army Minister be appointed to the office. The repeal of the rule took place in late January 1913.
With his best efforts put into place, the Prime Minister managed to stave off attempts to unseat him from within and outside of the Diet, and secured his continuous rule, whilst the Emperor dealt with his increasingly infirm mind and body.
In early 1914, Prime Minister Inoue publicized and was the primary force behind what would become the Siemens Scandal. This scandal revealed that the Japanese navy, which was under a rapid expansion program to meet the demands of a potential war in the Pacific, and the need to assert Japanese dominance in the region—was importing necessary materials, such as advanced plans and weaponry. While this was not bad by itself, the details were what mattered—to meet their needs, they were importing from Europe.
Siemens AG, a German company, was enjoying a monopoly over Japanese contracts in exchange for a 15% kickback to the naval authorities responsible for the contracts.
After an attempt by the British company Vickers to take the contracts by offering a 25% kickback and a significant sum of money to the Japanese admiral responsible for anointing them as the primary provider of warship materials, the German headquarters of Siemens fired off a telegram to Tokyo, demanding clarification into matter.
Despite the efforts of Siemens to downplay the situation to their corporate masters, Karl Richter, an employee of Siemens, stole incriminating documents, and through the chain of money passing through the palms of politicians and men, they ended up in the hands of the Prime Minister.
The Prime Minister’s public reveal of the information whipped Japan, and its press corps into a frenzy, particularly when it was revealed that the Navy was going to attempt to force the Cabinet and Diet to approve a tax increase to pay for the rampantly over-budget Navy. By mid-February, most of the naval officers involved in the matter were arrested, and the government had been cleared of being involved with the charges, as the Prime Minister had no prior ties to the Navy.
Dozens of people were arrested in the matter of the procurement scandal, and in March, the Diet passed a heavily amended Naval Budget for 1914, significantly reducing the money that the Navy had to expand their scope. A court martial reduced several men, including Saitou Makoto and one of the genrō, Admiral Yamamoto Gonnohyoe, to a lower rank, although both men avoided imprisonment. As well, the Japanese government banned Vickers and Siemens from further contracts for the Japanese navy.
Once all was said and done, the Prime Minister was resolute to continue the ship of state forward. However, a few weeks after the affair had concluded, and the men were behind bars or discredited, the world was turned upside down…
Last edited:
Asami
Banned
三. 第一次世界大戦
Chapter Three: World War I
June 1914—January 1915
On June 28th, 1914, the world was forever changed. Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, was assassinated in Sarajevo during a visit to the newly annexed Bosnian territory. At 10:45 am, Franz Ferdinand and his wife, Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg were shot dead by a Serbian nationalist named Gavrilo Princip.
The assassination of Franz Ferdinand sent waves rocking through the courts of Europe. Anti-Serb riots rocked the city of Sarajevo, in which Croatian and Bosniak people killed ethnic Serbs and destroyed Serbian businesses explicitly to destroy Serbian influence in the province that Vienna had annexed a scant 6 years prior.
After a month of attempts to reach a diplomatic solution—during which time, all efforts had been solidly rebuffed by Serbia and their patron, the Russian Empire, the Austrians turned to coercion to get what they wanted. On 23rd July, the Austrians issued the July Ultimatum, a list of ten demands which were made intentionally unacceptable as so to provoke a war against the Serbian monarchy. The following day, the Russian Tsar, Nicholas II, ordered a general mobilization of the armed forces for two Ukrainian districts, the Kazan district, and the Moscow districts—as well as his navies in the Baltic and Black Sea.
The day after that, July 25th, the Serbs mobilized their armed forces and announced the accepting of 9 of the ten terms of the ultimatum—all except for Article Six, which would have mandated that the Austrians be able to send delegates to personally investigate Serbian participation in assassination of Franz Ferdinand.
After breaking off relations and mobilizing, on July 28th, 1914, the Austro-Hungarian Empire declared war on the Kingdom of Serbia, plunging the world into a war that would take millions of lives before it’s end. The following day, Russia issued mobilization orders against Austria-Hungary, drawing the ire of Germany—whom then demanded Russia stop. On the 30th, Russia then mobilized against Germany. Kaiser Wilhelm II, in an impassioned plea to his cousin Nicholas II, requested he suspend mobilization, an offer which was refused.
On August 1st, 1914, Germany declared war on Russia, which had mobilized against the Austro-Hungarian state already. The first stage of the Great War had taken shape, and the two soon went to blows. However, there was another stage that needed mentioning—the West.
France and Germany were historical enemies, and the two loathed each other so immensely, over the matters of Alsace-Lorraine, and Germany’s brutal defeat of France in the Franco-Prussian War years prior. In the following days, Germany declared war and attempted to invade Luxembourg and France. On August 4th, German forces crossed into Belgium after the Belgians refused to grant the Germans passage.
That same day, Britain declared war on the German Empire, as the Germans had violated the Treaty of London, and had refused British demands to keep Belgium neutral in the war.
Japan’s involvement in World War I largely stemmed from their 1902 alliance with the British Empire. In the first week of the war, the Japanese government decided that the situation afforded to them was too good—even Prime Minister Inoue recognized that by seizing Germany’s territories in China, it would allow for the expansion of Japanese economic power, and allow for Japan to wedge her way into a position of hegemony in Asia, without the need for careless warmongering, particularly against a nation like China, or, Kami forbid, America.
On 7 August, the British replied to Japan’s initial diplomatic suggestion, this time officially asking Japan to help eliminate raiders from the Imperial German Navy’s Ostasienflotte in and around Chinese waters. Japan agreed to this, and dispatched an ultimatum to Germany on 14 August 1914, demanding the immediate handover of all German territory in the Pacific to Japanese control. Berlin did not answer the ultimatum, believing it impossible for Japan to inflict any damage upon them in any manner. Thus, Germany and Japan went to war after the Japanese issued a declaration of war on August 23.
Two days later, Japan declared war on the Austrians after they refused to withdraw the SMS Kaiserin Elizabeth from the Tsingtao concession port.
The Japanese wasted no time in sending troops to dispatch Germany’s colonies in Asia. In early September, Japanese naval forces landed in the Shandong Peninsula, which was only nominally under the control of the Peking government.
Yuan Shikai remained President of the Republic of China, but his power was rapidly collapsing. The man’s ham-fisted efforts to contain people whom disagreed with him was damaging him politically. By 1914, he was ruling with military fiat, banning organizations (including the revolutionary Kuomintang organization), and was disregarding the power of the provinces, preferring to rule entirely from Peking, and Peking alone. However, warlords, and Sun Yat-sen's revolutionary Kuomintang were throwing off his game, and giving him one headache after another.
So, when the Japanese staged their invasion of Qingdao from within Chinese territory, they received no complaints from the Chinese government, as they were completely and utterly subdued and incapable of issuing any type of response to the Japanese violation of their territory.
During the Japanese siege of Qingdao, on 6 September, a seaplane launched from the Wakamiya inflicted damage upon Kaiserin Elizabeth and the German gunboat Jaguar with bombs, but did not sink the ships. As the Japanese forced their way into the settlement, the Jaguar and her three sister ships were scuttled. The Kaiserin Elizabeth soon followed. While Japan did not capture any ships, they did manage to take Qingdao, which was upheld as a triumph back home.
Throughout October 1914, the Imperial Navy, looking to play a risky game and gain more influence domestically, acted without the support of the state, and seized several of Germany’s island colonies in the Pacific Basin on their own. This annoyed the Prime Minister, but he played it off, stating that the civilian leadership had determined these targets to be of use in the long-term, as it would allow Japan’s safety to be assured. He was unsure how to deal with the unruly naval commanders acting outside of the scope of their orders, but did not want to undermine the war effort.
The first months of World War I had afforded for the Empire of Japan an immense ability to expand her power. Prime Minister Inoue was very cautious about how to deal with these issues, and did not want to allow any branch of the armed forces to gain an upper-hand and impose their will on the civilian government. He hoped that more moderate officers would emerge, but he was doubtful this would take place.
In 1915, with the Germans incapable of launching a counter-attack against Japan's seizure of their colonies, Japan's foreign policy matters drew the Prime Minister's attention to China. Yuan Shikai was continuing to wreak havoc in the Chinese political hierarchy, and calls were growing for the Prime Minister and his government to do something to bring China into line. While some wanted to simply lay out an ultimatum to submit to Japanese authority, Prime Minister Inoue was more willing to play a longer game...
The assassination of Franz Ferdinand sent waves rocking through the courts of Europe. Anti-Serb riots rocked the city of Sarajevo, in which Croatian and Bosniak people killed ethnic Serbs and destroyed Serbian businesses explicitly to destroy Serbian influence in the province that Vienna had annexed a scant 6 years prior.
After a month of attempts to reach a diplomatic solution—during which time, all efforts had been solidly rebuffed by Serbia and their patron, the Russian Empire, the Austrians turned to coercion to get what they wanted. On 23rd July, the Austrians issued the July Ultimatum, a list of ten demands which were made intentionally unacceptable as so to provoke a war against the Serbian monarchy. The following day, the Russian Tsar, Nicholas II, ordered a general mobilization of the armed forces for two Ukrainian districts, the Kazan district, and the Moscow districts—as well as his navies in the Baltic and Black Sea.
The day after that, July 25th, the Serbs mobilized their armed forces and announced the accepting of 9 of the ten terms of the ultimatum—all except for Article Six, which would have mandated that the Austrians be able to send delegates to personally investigate Serbian participation in assassination of Franz Ferdinand.
After breaking off relations and mobilizing, on July 28th, 1914, the Austro-Hungarian Empire declared war on the Kingdom of Serbia, plunging the world into a war that would take millions of lives before it’s end. The following day, Russia issued mobilization orders against Austria-Hungary, drawing the ire of Germany—whom then demanded Russia stop. On the 30th, Russia then mobilized against Germany. Kaiser Wilhelm II, in an impassioned plea to his cousin Nicholas II, requested he suspend mobilization, an offer which was refused.
On August 1st, 1914, Germany declared war on Russia, which had mobilized against the Austro-Hungarian state already. The first stage of the Great War had taken shape, and the two soon went to blows. However, there was another stage that needed mentioning—the West.
France and Germany were historical enemies, and the two loathed each other so immensely, over the matters of Alsace-Lorraine, and Germany’s brutal defeat of France in the Franco-Prussian War years prior. In the following days, Germany declared war and attempted to invade Luxembourg and France. On August 4th, German forces crossed into Belgium after the Belgians refused to grant the Germans passage.
That same day, Britain declared war on the German Empire, as the Germans had violated the Treaty of London, and had refused British demands to keep Belgium neutral in the war.
Japan’s involvement in World War I largely stemmed from their 1902 alliance with the British Empire. In the first week of the war, the Japanese government decided that the situation afforded to them was too good—even Prime Minister Inoue recognized that by seizing Germany’s territories in China, it would allow for the expansion of Japanese economic power, and allow for Japan to wedge her way into a position of hegemony in Asia, without the need for careless warmongering, particularly against a nation like China, or, Kami forbid, America.
On 7 August, the British replied to Japan’s initial diplomatic suggestion, this time officially asking Japan to help eliminate raiders from the Imperial German Navy’s Ostasienflotte in and around Chinese waters. Japan agreed to this, and dispatched an ultimatum to Germany on 14 August 1914, demanding the immediate handover of all German territory in the Pacific to Japanese control. Berlin did not answer the ultimatum, believing it impossible for Japan to inflict any damage upon them in any manner. Thus, Germany and Japan went to war after the Japanese issued a declaration of war on August 23.
Two days later, Japan declared war on the Austrians after they refused to withdraw the SMS Kaiserin Elizabeth from the Tsingtao concession port.
The Japanese wasted no time in sending troops to dispatch Germany’s colonies in Asia. In early September, Japanese naval forces landed in the Shandong Peninsula, which was only nominally under the control of the Peking government.
Yuan Shikai remained President of the Republic of China, but his power was rapidly collapsing. The man’s ham-fisted efforts to contain people whom disagreed with him was damaging him politically. By 1914, he was ruling with military fiat, banning organizations (including the revolutionary Kuomintang organization), and was disregarding the power of the provinces, preferring to rule entirely from Peking, and Peking alone. However, warlords, and Sun Yat-sen's revolutionary Kuomintang were throwing off his game, and giving him one headache after another.
So, when the Japanese staged their invasion of Qingdao from within Chinese territory, they received no complaints from the Chinese government, as they were completely and utterly subdued and incapable of issuing any type of response to the Japanese violation of their territory.
During the Japanese siege of Qingdao, on 6 September, a seaplane launched from the Wakamiya inflicted damage upon Kaiserin Elizabeth and the German gunboat Jaguar with bombs, but did not sink the ships. As the Japanese forced their way into the settlement, the Jaguar and her three sister ships were scuttled. The Kaiserin Elizabeth soon followed. While Japan did not capture any ships, they did manage to take Qingdao, which was upheld as a triumph back home.
Throughout October 1914, the Imperial Navy, looking to play a risky game and gain more influence domestically, acted without the support of the state, and seized several of Germany’s island colonies in the Pacific Basin on their own. This annoyed the Prime Minister, but he played it off, stating that the civilian leadership had determined these targets to be of use in the long-term, as it would allow Japan’s safety to be assured. He was unsure how to deal with the unruly naval commanders acting outside of the scope of their orders, but did not want to undermine the war effort.
The first months of World War I had afforded for the Empire of Japan an immense ability to expand her power. Prime Minister Inoue was very cautious about how to deal with these issues, and did not want to allow any branch of the armed forces to gain an upper-hand and impose their will on the civilian government. He hoped that more moderate officers would emerge, but he was doubtful this would take place.
In 1915, with the Germans incapable of launching a counter-attack against Japan's seizure of their colonies, Japan's foreign policy matters drew the Prime Minister's attention to China. Yuan Shikai was continuing to wreak havoc in the Chinese political hierarchy, and calls were growing for the Prime Minister and his government to do something to bring China into line. While some wanted to simply lay out an ultimatum to submit to Japanese authority, Prime Minister Inoue was more willing to play a longer game...
Last edited:
Asami
Banned
四. 反共和党運動
Chapter 4: The Anti-Republican Movement
January 1915—September 1915
In 1908, the Dowager Empress Cixi of China died, leaving the throne to the nearly 3-year-old Aisin-Gioro Pu-yi. The new Emperor was placed under a regency lead by his father, Prince Chun. After a brief four years as Emperor, in 1912, the Xinhai Revolution brought down the Qing Empire, and dissolved it. The absolute power of the Forbidden City began to poison the young prince’s mind, and he soon became a tyrant, ordering the beating of eunuchs for minor transgressions—however, the young Prince was also not without influence, namely in the form of tutors from foreign countries, and a few sensible minds in the court.
Prime Minister Inoue recognized that a divided China, even if not entirely under Japanese authority, was still a better solution than a single, unified, indivisible China. He acquiesced to some of the radicals’ demands, and issued what were then termed as the 対華15ヶ条要求 (en: Fifteen Demands). These demands were nothing Japan had not already demanded of China, but it was a general reaffirmation of Japan’s position as the dominant regional power in China. Yuan Shikai’s government attempted to force Japan to withdraw the demands by publicizing them, sparking a wave of anti-Japanese sentiment in China.
However, in the Fifteen Demands, while Japan demanded a laundry list of things—including preferential treatment, and the ceasing of handing out concession ports to foreign powers, it also demanded a significant number of extensions of Open Door policies that had been in place prior, despite extension of Japanese economic dominance in Manchuria and Shandong. The Fifteen Demands, therefore, received zero complaint from amongst the foreign courts, particularly Britain and America, whom stood to gain from the extension of the Open-Door policy. Russia’s complaints were heard but not listened to—as they were in the middle of fighting a war of horrendous attrition against Germany.
Yuan’s plan backfired, and the President accepted Japan’s demands. Japan’s exports to China took a minor hit, but did not sharply drop, as the attempts by revolutionaries to organize a boycott of Japanese goods failed, as the terms of the treaty were not more than what the Chinese had already been expecting.
With that done, Prime Minister Inoue began to plot to damage the integrity of the Chinese Republic through diplomatic intrigue. With Yuan’s power teetering, Inoue made overtures to the Forbidden City’s rump court, implying Japan’s interest in the restoration of the Qing monarchy under certain… constitutional reforms on the Qing’s part. This drew the attention of some royalists within both Yuan’s government, and the Beiyang Army, whom were interested at the idea of restoring the defunct monarchy.
In secrecy, the Anti-Republican Movement was put together, mostly lead by a cabal of Chinese officers, the Qing monarchy’s rump leadership, and several Japanese advisers whom had an express interest in utilizing a dependency in China to rapidly pump money into the economy. This movement began to consider operations to weaken the power of the Republic, and to set the stage for a restoration, at least in parts of China—they were in it for the long-haul, as the Japanese advisers put it.
The treatise that put the Fifteen Demands into place was finally signed in May 1915, and Yuan could turn internally to start putting into place his plan to end the strife in China—whatever that was.
Inoue’s government then turned their attentions to the interior of Japan, particularly Korea. Korea had been annexed by Japan five years prior with the Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty of 1910. Since then, Terauchi Masatake had been running the peninsula as Governor-General. His policy methods of controlling Korea centered entirely on one goal—assimilation of Korea into Japan, and the eventual demise of Korean culture.
While Inoue and his Cabinet were not die-hard fans of Korea, or of Korean culture, they still understood that the continued militant oppression of Korea would end with something just like the Satsuma Rebellion that he had helped start, in which, unless Japan used military force to quell and kill dissenters, would spiral out of control until Korea was all but independent.
Inoue had to admit, however, that sometimes, Terauchi’s policies had unintended negative effects, but good intentions. Land reform was one of them—the policy had created bitterness and a spike of land efficiency. To make matters worse, Inoue had come to see that the position of Governor-General of Korea was little more than an extension of the Imperial Japanese Army’s attempts to weasel significant power away from the civilian government.
To this end, Inoue looked to figure out what steps could be taken to establish civilian control of the Governor-General’s office, and to prevent the overwhelming militarization of Korea from becoming a reality, more so than just a thought.
In June 1915, the Diet saw the proposal of the Power Reform Act of 1915, an act which would significantly weaken the powers of the Governors-General of Taiwan and Korea—a start which would ‘carry policy’ to other Japanese acquisitions across Asia. The Prime Minister utilized most of his political capital to carry this bill to its completion, claiming that unless the Japanese nation reformed their control of their possessions, they would never be able to instill harmony and peace there—as well, the political power of the Navy and Army was troubling, and this would be a ‘great step towards entrenching constitutional governance of our exterior territories’.
The bill managed to pass through the efforts of the Sakurakai and other ‘pro-Constitution’ politicians and bureaucrats. The armed forces were incredibly displeased, and many nationalists within the system were beginning to set into effect their own methods of dealing with this annoyance that was an anti-military Prime Minister.
With the bill passed, the Prime Minister set into action with appointing new Governors-General. For Taiwan, he was convinced by his Cabinet to appoint Den Kenjirou, a baron of the House of Peers, to the office. Den was a known member of the more conservative levels of society, but still voiced his support for reforms to assimilate Taiwan peacefully, and without the extensive measures of coercion.
In Korea, the process was a little less cut and dry. The Prime Minister, with Imperial assent, relieved Count Terauchi from his post. Terauchi returned to Japan and began to stir up sentiments against the government, claiming that the Prime Minister was playing favorites with Japan’s subjects than with Japan’s citizens, and began to coordinate nationalist sentiments and fervor against the Prime Minister.
In August, the office of Governor-General of Korea was filled, this time by Takahashi Korekiyo, the man whom had introduced a patent system in Japan, and had secured foreign loans during the Russo-Japanese War. The Prime Minister felt that if any man could strengthen Korea’s economic value to the Empire, it would be Takahashi.
Takahashi pledged to reform Korea and bring it up to par with the Empire proper, and proclaimed that by 1920, Korea would have more schools, more trains, and more industry. A side effect of this, was also the quiet ‘moderation’ of education in Korea, as his administration focused less on the forced assimilation of Korea, and more on the ‘assimilation by prosperity’ method that was being used in Taiwan. Korean language and cultural assets were no longer suppressed, and were taught alongside Japanese, with emphasis being placed on the cultural similarity, and fraternity of the Japanese and Korean peoples.
While Korean nationalism had not been stopped by this, Takahashi marked the first steps by a Japanese civilian government to attempt a reconciliation between subject and master, something that some Koreans of academic standing hoped would continue in the future.
With these efforts secured, the nation was struck with shock as Prime Minister Inoue died in September 1915. His appointed replacement was a member of the Sakurakai, this man was Minobe Tatsukichi, a 42-year-old constitutional scholar, whom was immensely unpopular in nationalist and military circles for his assertions that the state needed to take steps to prevent a ‘dual-government’ situation from emerging and the armed forces from dominating the government of Japan.
With Minobe’s empowerment as Prime Minister, the nationalists now felt it was time to act, before it was too late…
Prime Minister Inoue recognized that a divided China, even if not entirely under Japanese authority, was still a better solution than a single, unified, indivisible China. He acquiesced to some of the radicals’ demands, and issued what were then termed as the 対華15ヶ条要求 (en: Fifteen Demands). These demands were nothing Japan had not already demanded of China, but it was a general reaffirmation of Japan’s position as the dominant regional power in China. Yuan Shikai’s government attempted to force Japan to withdraw the demands by publicizing them, sparking a wave of anti-Japanese sentiment in China.
However, in the Fifteen Demands, while Japan demanded a laundry list of things—including preferential treatment, and the ceasing of handing out concession ports to foreign powers, it also demanded a significant number of extensions of Open Door policies that had been in place prior, despite extension of Japanese economic dominance in Manchuria and Shandong. The Fifteen Demands, therefore, received zero complaint from amongst the foreign courts, particularly Britain and America, whom stood to gain from the extension of the Open-Door policy. Russia’s complaints were heard but not listened to—as they were in the middle of fighting a war of horrendous attrition against Germany.
Yuan’s plan backfired, and the President accepted Japan’s demands. Japan’s exports to China took a minor hit, but did not sharply drop, as the attempts by revolutionaries to organize a boycott of Japanese goods failed, as the terms of the treaty were not more than what the Chinese had already been expecting.
With that done, Prime Minister Inoue began to plot to damage the integrity of the Chinese Republic through diplomatic intrigue. With Yuan’s power teetering, Inoue made overtures to the Forbidden City’s rump court, implying Japan’s interest in the restoration of the Qing monarchy under certain… constitutional reforms on the Qing’s part. This drew the attention of some royalists within both Yuan’s government, and the Beiyang Army, whom were interested at the idea of restoring the defunct monarchy.
In secrecy, the Anti-Republican Movement was put together, mostly lead by a cabal of Chinese officers, the Qing monarchy’s rump leadership, and several Japanese advisers whom had an express interest in utilizing a dependency in China to rapidly pump money into the economy. This movement began to consider operations to weaken the power of the Republic, and to set the stage for a restoration, at least in parts of China—they were in it for the long-haul, as the Japanese advisers put it.
The treatise that put the Fifteen Demands into place was finally signed in May 1915, and Yuan could turn internally to start putting into place his plan to end the strife in China—whatever that was.
Inoue’s government then turned their attentions to the interior of Japan, particularly Korea. Korea had been annexed by Japan five years prior with the Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty of 1910. Since then, Terauchi Masatake had been running the peninsula as Governor-General. His policy methods of controlling Korea centered entirely on one goal—assimilation of Korea into Japan, and the eventual demise of Korean culture.
While Inoue and his Cabinet were not die-hard fans of Korea, or of Korean culture, they still understood that the continued militant oppression of Korea would end with something just like the Satsuma Rebellion that he had helped start, in which, unless Japan used military force to quell and kill dissenters, would spiral out of control until Korea was all but independent.
Inoue had to admit, however, that sometimes, Terauchi’s policies had unintended negative effects, but good intentions. Land reform was one of them—the policy had created bitterness and a spike of land efficiency. To make matters worse, Inoue had come to see that the position of Governor-General of Korea was little more than an extension of the Imperial Japanese Army’s attempts to weasel significant power away from the civilian government.
To this end, Inoue looked to figure out what steps could be taken to establish civilian control of the Governor-General’s office, and to prevent the overwhelming militarization of Korea from becoming a reality, more so than just a thought.
In June 1915, the Diet saw the proposal of the Power Reform Act of 1915, an act which would significantly weaken the powers of the Governors-General of Taiwan and Korea—a start which would ‘carry policy’ to other Japanese acquisitions across Asia. The Prime Minister utilized most of his political capital to carry this bill to its completion, claiming that unless the Japanese nation reformed their control of their possessions, they would never be able to instill harmony and peace there—as well, the political power of the Navy and Army was troubling, and this would be a ‘great step towards entrenching constitutional governance of our exterior territories’.
The bill managed to pass through the efforts of the Sakurakai and other ‘pro-Constitution’ politicians and bureaucrats. The armed forces were incredibly displeased, and many nationalists within the system were beginning to set into effect their own methods of dealing with this annoyance that was an anti-military Prime Minister.
With the bill passed, the Prime Minister set into action with appointing new Governors-General. For Taiwan, he was convinced by his Cabinet to appoint Den Kenjirou, a baron of the House of Peers, to the office. Den was a known member of the more conservative levels of society, but still voiced his support for reforms to assimilate Taiwan peacefully, and without the extensive measures of coercion.
In Korea, the process was a little less cut and dry. The Prime Minister, with Imperial assent, relieved Count Terauchi from his post. Terauchi returned to Japan and began to stir up sentiments against the government, claiming that the Prime Minister was playing favorites with Japan’s subjects than with Japan’s citizens, and began to coordinate nationalist sentiments and fervor against the Prime Minister.
In August, the office of Governor-General of Korea was filled, this time by Takahashi Korekiyo, the man whom had introduced a patent system in Japan, and had secured foreign loans during the Russo-Japanese War. The Prime Minister felt that if any man could strengthen Korea’s economic value to the Empire, it would be Takahashi.
Takahashi pledged to reform Korea and bring it up to par with the Empire proper, and proclaimed that by 1920, Korea would have more schools, more trains, and more industry. A side effect of this, was also the quiet ‘moderation’ of education in Korea, as his administration focused less on the forced assimilation of Korea, and more on the ‘assimilation by prosperity’ method that was being used in Taiwan. Korean language and cultural assets were no longer suppressed, and were taught alongside Japanese, with emphasis being placed on the cultural similarity, and fraternity of the Japanese and Korean peoples.
While Korean nationalism had not been stopped by this, Takahashi marked the first steps by a Japanese civilian government to attempt a reconciliation between subject and master, something that some Koreans of academic standing hoped would continue in the future.
With these efforts secured, the nation was struck with shock as Prime Minister Inoue died in September 1915. His appointed replacement was a member of the Sakurakai, this man was Minobe Tatsukichi, a 42-year-old constitutional scholar, whom was immensely unpopular in nationalist and military circles for his assertions that the state needed to take steps to prevent a ‘dual-government’ situation from emerging and the armed forces from dominating the government of Japan.
With Minobe’s empowerment as Prime Minister, the nationalists now felt it was time to act, before it was too late…
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Asami
Banned
This is what the world looks like in September 1915.
The Central Powers are doing alright--Austria is beating Serbia, but is losing ground in Galicia-Lodomeria to the Russians. Germany is advancing in both theatres, and has cut off a large number of Belgian and French troops near Calais, but the French are fighting robust, and attempting to break the German salient. In Afro-Asia, the Ottomans have occupied Kuwait and have made advances in the Sinai, Iran and Russia. Germany's African colonies are almost all gone, as the Entente wreck havoc across the territory. France's lackluster African warfare has lead to Britain taking the lead in seizing German colonies, though Belgium is beginning an invasion of Tangikniya in order to get some of the spoils at the end of the war.
China is in an unstable state. The Kuomintang is active once more in the South, whilst the Japanese have expanded their influence in the Shandong region, and in Manchuria. Yuan's rule is as precarious as ever.
Germany has completely flopped in Asia, as Japan has occupied all their holdings, save New Guinea, which Australia rapidly occupied at the outbreak of war.
Asami
Banned
五. 十・六事件
Chapter Five: October 6 Incident
The morning of October 6, 1915 marked a significant evolution in the Japanese Empire’s politics, military, and national integrity. For months, the civilian government had been chipping away at the temporal power of the armed forces—through the reformation of how the Korean and Taiwanese Governor-Generals worked, and through the refusal to allow for the appointment of an active military officer to the office of Prime Minister—the new Prime Minister, Minobe Tatsukichi, was a known enemy of the Imperial war-machine’s influence.
The nationalists had been leading outbursts of violence in the months of the governance of Prime Minister Inoue and now, Prime Minister Minobe. With Minobe’s appointment, they felt ready to act. In the days before the October 6th incident, several high-ranking Japanese officers in the Army planned to focus on a few key items
First, the assassination of enemies of the Empire and those who stand in the way of kokutai. This meant that the Prime Minister, whom was a major proponent that the Emperor was an organ of the state, was the prime target.
Secondly, the reversion of all major reforms put into play since the ascent of the Taisho Emperor in 1912; this included the reforms to the Korean and Taiwanese colonies, which would be placed under direct military rule, as they were de facto before.
Thirdly, the dissolution of the Diet, and the full empowering of the Emperor as the sole embodiment of the state and the people. They felt that, should the Emperor not be willing to assume this role, they may be forced to replace the Emperor with a regency under one of his sons—his eldest, Prince Michi, seemed a viable candidate to replace the Emperor, but they also looked at Prince Chichibu as a potential replacement for the Emperor as well.
In the morning of October 6th, the plot went into action. The Army staged a coup d’etat in Taipei, Gyeongseong and in Tokyo. In Gyeongseong, they seized the Governor-General’s mansion—the Governor-General, fortunately, had been in the Northern Korean countryside at the time, and escaped death. Upon hearing of the seizure of power in Gyeongseong, Governor Takahashi did not return to Gyeongseong, but instead remained where he was with loyalist military forces.
In Taipei, the Governor-General managed to barely escape with his life. The small civilian boat he was on managed to slip through the early morning, and he arrived on Okinawa safe—the Army thereafter occupied the Governor-General’s office in Taipei as well. It was not long after that the office came under siege from loyalists.
In Tokyo, the largest concentration of Army traitors seized the Ministry of War, arresting scores of officers whom did not join their coup d’etat—they hoped to purge the Army of any dissenting officers, and convince the Navy to join them to force the Emperor to capitulate to their demands.
They attempted an encirclement of the Prime Minister’s house, but failed, as the Prime Minister had already fled after early news of the rebellion in Gyeongseong and Taipei had become clear. Overzealous members of the rebellion attempted to assault and force their way into the Imperial Palace to deliver their ultimatum to Emperor Taisho. However, upon entry, they were fired upon by several police-officers. One overzealous officer launched a small firebomb at the group of police officers and started a fire within the Imperial Palace. The quick spread of the fire eliminated the ability for the Emperor to reach safety. In the chaos, the Emperor attempted to affect his own escape from the burning Palace by climbing out of a second story window. However, the window-sill, still wet from a previous night’s rain, caused the Emperor to slip. The Emperor fell out of the window and fell on his head, knocking His Imperial Majesty out cold.
The rebellious soldiers were driven out of the Imperial grounds, and the Emperor was discovered shortly afterwards. News of what had happened to the Imperial Palace (now half-burned out) and the Emperor spread across Japan thanks to telegraph, and soon, members of the rebellious soldiers’ ranks were turning on themselves, and fighting soon broke out between those whom were reluctant accomplices, and those whom were die-hard militarists.
The turning point was when the rebels attempted to seize the Diet building and arrest those inside. Taking up weapons, many police officers, loyalist soldiers, and others, gathered at the Diet, and traded fire with the rebels from their barricades. Soon, more loyalist officers arrived and started attacking from the flank.
The Navy, which had been just as insulted by the civilian government’s actions, put down any attempts to join the rebellion. More moderate officers prevailed, and managed to prevent any major mutinies from erupting. More than 180 naval officers were arrested and handed over to the civilian government for trial.
The military coup d’etat failed after the Ministry of War was reclaimed by the Loyalists. The ring-leaders of the coup were arrested, tried, and sentenced to death in the same day. That same afternoon, Prime Minister Minobe ordered an investigation into both branches of the Armed Forces to verify that there were no more plotters and conspirators in their ranks.
Public trust in the armed forces was significantly damaged by their foolish venture that day, and hundreds of soldiers, officers and people with militarist and nationalist sentiment were arrested and imprisoned, or even executed. Yamamoto Gonnohyoue was named the ring-leader of the plot, and was executed on October 10th. The Emperor slipped into a coma induced by severe neurological trauma and pre-existing condition. With a regency needed, and none of his sons of age, someone new had to be found.
They enlisted the aid of Ōyama Iwao, an elder statesman and, ironically, one of the founders of the Imperial Japanese Army, to serve as Sesshou. While he was supportive of the genrō and against democratic politics, he was also very reserved, and did not put his interests before that of the state, and therefore pledged to serve as Regent and do his job with impartiality.
Whilst the Emperor’s children had not been involved in the coup, a great amount of public suspicion encircled both Michi and Chichibu, as they had been listed in the rebel’s demands as ‘replacements’ for the Emperor, should he have refused their demands.
While Michi would still inherit the Chrysanthemum Throne upon his father’s death, there was little to no enthusiasm for the Emperor to die any time soon.
The regency of Ōyama Iwao lasted a brief two months. On 2 December 1915, the Regent died of a heart attack. The council then convened, and anointed Hirata Tosuke as Sesshou, which is where he would stay until the Regency dissolved in 1919.
The nationalists had been leading outbursts of violence in the months of the governance of Prime Minister Inoue and now, Prime Minister Minobe. With Minobe’s appointment, they felt ready to act. In the days before the October 6th incident, several high-ranking Japanese officers in the Army planned to focus on a few key items
First, the assassination of enemies of the Empire and those who stand in the way of kokutai. This meant that the Prime Minister, whom was a major proponent that the Emperor was an organ of the state, was the prime target.
Secondly, the reversion of all major reforms put into play since the ascent of the Taisho Emperor in 1912; this included the reforms to the Korean and Taiwanese colonies, which would be placed under direct military rule, as they were de facto before.
Thirdly, the dissolution of the Diet, and the full empowering of the Emperor as the sole embodiment of the state and the people. They felt that, should the Emperor not be willing to assume this role, they may be forced to replace the Emperor with a regency under one of his sons—his eldest, Prince Michi, seemed a viable candidate to replace the Emperor, but they also looked at Prince Chichibu as a potential replacement for the Emperor as well.
In the morning of October 6th, the plot went into action. The Army staged a coup d’etat in Taipei, Gyeongseong and in Tokyo. In Gyeongseong, they seized the Governor-General’s mansion—the Governor-General, fortunately, had been in the Northern Korean countryside at the time, and escaped death. Upon hearing of the seizure of power in Gyeongseong, Governor Takahashi did not return to Gyeongseong, but instead remained where he was with loyalist military forces.
In Taipei, the Governor-General managed to barely escape with his life. The small civilian boat he was on managed to slip through the early morning, and he arrived on Okinawa safe—the Army thereafter occupied the Governor-General’s office in Taipei as well. It was not long after that the office came under siege from loyalists.
In Tokyo, the largest concentration of Army traitors seized the Ministry of War, arresting scores of officers whom did not join their coup d’etat—they hoped to purge the Army of any dissenting officers, and convince the Navy to join them to force the Emperor to capitulate to their demands.
They attempted an encirclement of the Prime Minister’s house, but failed, as the Prime Minister had already fled after early news of the rebellion in Gyeongseong and Taipei had become clear. Overzealous members of the rebellion attempted to assault and force their way into the Imperial Palace to deliver their ultimatum to Emperor Taisho. However, upon entry, they were fired upon by several police-officers. One overzealous officer launched a small firebomb at the group of police officers and started a fire within the Imperial Palace. The quick spread of the fire eliminated the ability for the Emperor to reach safety. In the chaos, the Emperor attempted to affect his own escape from the burning Palace by climbing out of a second story window. However, the window-sill, still wet from a previous night’s rain, caused the Emperor to slip. The Emperor fell out of the window and fell on his head, knocking His Imperial Majesty out cold.
The rebellious soldiers were driven out of the Imperial grounds, and the Emperor was discovered shortly afterwards. News of what had happened to the Imperial Palace (now half-burned out) and the Emperor spread across Japan thanks to telegraph, and soon, members of the rebellious soldiers’ ranks were turning on themselves, and fighting soon broke out between those whom were reluctant accomplices, and those whom were die-hard militarists.
The turning point was when the rebels attempted to seize the Diet building and arrest those inside. Taking up weapons, many police officers, loyalist soldiers, and others, gathered at the Diet, and traded fire with the rebels from their barricades. Soon, more loyalist officers arrived and started attacking from the flank.
The Navy, which had been just as insulted by the civilian government’s actions, put down any attempts to join the rebellion. More moderate officers prevailed, and managed to prevent any major mutinies from erupting. More than 180 naval officers were arrested and handed over to the civilian government for trial.
The military coup d’etat failed after the Ministry of War was reclaimed by the Loyalists. The ring-leaders of the coup were arrested, tried, and sentenced to death in the same day. That same afternoon, Prime Minister Minobe ordered an investigation into both branches of the Armed Forces to verify that there were no more plotters and conspirators in their ranks.
Public trust in the armed forces was significantly damaged by their foolish venture that day, and hundreds of soldiers, officers and people with militarist and nationalist sentiment were arrested and imprisoned, or even executed. Yamamoto Gonnohyoue was named the ring-leader of the plot, and was executed on October 10th. The Emperor slipped into a coma induced by severe neurological trauma and pre-existing condition. With a regency needed, and none of his sons of age, someone new had to be found.
They enlisted the aid of Ōyama Iwao, an elder statesman and, ironically, one of the founders of the Imperial Japanese Army, to serve as Sesshou. While he was supportive of the genrō and against democratic politics, he was also very reserved, and did not put his interests before that of the state, and therefore pledged to serve as Regent and do his job with impartiality.
Whilst the Emperor’s children had not been involved in the coup, a great amount of public suspicion encircled both Michi and Chichibu, as they had been listed in the rebel’s demands as ‘replacements’ for the Emperor, should he have refused their demands.
While Michi would still inherit the Chrysanthemum Throne upon his father’s death, there was little to no enthusiasm for the Emperor to die any time soon.
The regency of Ōyama Iwao lasted a brief two months. On 2 December 1915, the Regent died of a heart attack. The council then convened, and anointed Hirata Tosuke as Sesshou, which is where he would stay until the Regency dissolved in 1919.
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Asami
Banned
六. 塹壕
Chapter Six: Entrenchment
The war in Europe was going nowhere fast.
By the start of 1916, the Western front was a grinding mess of unmovable trenches, with neither side managing to get the leg up on the other. While Germany had the natural upper-hand going into the year, her salient to the seat which had cut off supplies to Calais and Western Belgium had done very little to help the situation as the Kaiserliche Marine had not been able to prevent Britain from delivering supplies to the small pocket.
The Eastern Front was, in fact, very fluid. In September 1915, German forces were still slogging east through Congress Poland, however, by the time of the winter setting in a few scant months later, German forces had made it as far as Riga and Minsk, and settled in for Mother Winter’s steely bitterness.
For Austria, their fortunes against all their adversaries had been less than successful in the grand scheme of things—while Serbia had fallen in fall 1915, Italy had entered the war on the side of the Entente, and was causing issues for the Austrians. As well, they had failed to capture back most of their land from Russia, causing for Germany to ‘de-facto’ occupy chunks of Galicia-Lodomeria.
Bulgaria, which had joined the Central Powers in 1915, had been given a lion’s share of Southern Serbia for their contributions. However, the final ersatz ally of the Central Powers, the once glorious Ottoman Empire was suffering an unbelievable number of set-backs in their efforts to conquer Britain’s territories in Africa and Arabia. The British had reversed the Ottoman invasions of Egypt and Kuwait, and had made great strides in beating back the Turks—by the start of 1916, the British were in the Levant, Hejaz and Iraq causing significant issues for the Turks.
The Russians, despite their numerous defeats by the Central Powers, had managed to turn things around in the Caucasian Mountains, where they drove the Turks back across their own border, and had advanced into Trebizond, south to Lake Van. Their advancements into Turkish territory would be reversed by January 1917, and the border would go back to being static.
The Lusitania, an American cargo ship, was sank by the German Navy in 1915, sparking outrage amongst Americans whom felt that their rights as a nation were violated. Within weeks of that, false allegations of British diplomats attempting to bribe U.S. government officials enflamed anti-British sentiment in the United States as well—Irish-Americans, German-Americans and Jewish-Americans all patently disliked the British Empire. The Irish-Americans were largely expatriates whose families had been forced out of Ireland during the Potato Famine 70 years prior; the German-Americans and Jewish-Americans either had great ties back to Germany, or felt that Britain did not sufficiently represent their interests as groups.
Theodore Roosevelt, former President, and major political operative, gave a speech in 1916 crucifying these groups for ‘anti-American behaviour’, lambasting ‘hyphenated Americans’, claiming that the U.S. had no use for such people. While the patriotic sentiment was there, it just enflamed anti-Anglo sentiments, as many people felt that Teddy Roosevelt was implying that Anglos were the only acceptable form of Americans. Despite attempts by the governments of states and the federal government itself, the anti-English sentiment did not falter through 1916.
In the 1916 election, the Republicans decided to gamble with the isolationist wing of the party. William Borah, a incorrigible Senator, and a firebrand isolationist, was nominated for their candidacy. Borah’s campaign focused on keeping America out of European affairs, and embracing the ‘Nation with Two Oceanic Walls’ ideals that had been celebrated for years prior. He believed that America should keep to America’s region of the world, and that by building efforts here at home to focus on home, America’s prosperity would be unending.
Wilson attacked Borah for his ‘cowardly stance’ in the face of ‘German aggression’, but Borah hit back saying that both alliances were playing America like a fiddle, and that America was above getting involved in Europe’s petty wars over nobility and imperialism. With threats at home, including ‘the specter of Socialism’, and other ‘domestic threats to American prosperity’, Borah believed that America ought to be treated as a world within itself.
The American public seemed to agree, as William Borah was elected to the office of the President of the United States in November 1916, soundly defeating President Woodrow Wilson, whose growing interventionist ideas were soundly refuted by the American public. They wanted no part of a foreign war.
Thus, Borah announced his intentions to begin to move to rescind the availability of loans and materiel to the Entente. While Japan needed no American loans, and was, at the time of the war, a creditor nation, Britain was concerned that if America ‘turned off the tap’, it would be a catastrophic set-back for the war effort. Add in the growing casualties of the war, Britain began to look for an exit to keep their Empire together, and prevent revolution that seemed ever the more likely in Russia by the day.
Japan and the United Kingdom both made clear that they were willing to withdraw from the war against Germany in exchange for certain concessions by late November 1916. The Anglo-Japanese Alliance implied to Germany in late November 1916 that they would seek peace with Germany on the condition that they recognized the territorial seizures undertaken by both Empires, and that Germany pledge not to take any territory from Belgium in a peace treaty.
The Germans were interested in the proposal. The Western Front was a static bloodbath, and even if France was uninterested in ending the war (blood of the German must flow, in their minds), Germany could lessen a significant naval thorn in the form of Japan and the United Kingdom. The Belgian clause of the peace agreement was a bitter pill to swallow for Berlin, but it was admitted in higher level circles in both the military and civilian elements that seeking a separate peace and acquiescing to the demands given were the better solution than fighting to exhaustion.
Sanity reigned, and the British and Japanese exited World War I on December 3rd, 1916, with Britain’s dominions following three days later. All the territorial acquisitions of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance were recognized by the German Empire. While Germany had made peace with Britain and Japan, none of the other Central Powers had. Germany’s decision alienated her in the courts of Vienna and Istanbul, while Tokyo and London’s actions deeply alienated them in Paris and Rome.
Britain’s withdrawal lead to the rapid collapse of the Calais pocket as British troops left France en masse. With a lack of British naval support, the French were required to reorganize their war effort, realizing that now they were on the naval back-foot, as the Kaiserliche Marine had an incredibly narrow margin over them, enough to annoy the French.
By the start of 1917, the Ottomans were teetering on collapse, the British having advanced almost into Anatolia, armed to the hilt and ready to bring down the Ottoman Sultanate. Russia was teetering on the brink of revolution; her armies weary and ready to lay down their arms and find peace. Vladimir Lenin and his cadre of Bolsheviks were stirring up a storm, and Russia was ready to break. France was on the ropes herself, her fields bloodied with the bodies of youth, and with her officers unsure of how to proceed against the Hun menace after the British betrayal.
Britain licked her wounds, and steeled herself in the face of growing Irish nationalism. The Easter Rising of April 1916 had been a major factor in Britain seeking to exit the war, so that she may deal with the issues growing at home. However, the now threat of an unchallenged Germany caused a significant rise of alarm in Britain, and the move for a rapid naval expansion. Britain’s attentions there-after became two-fold—deal with the rise in nationalism in India and Ireland; and built an untouchable navy.
For Japan, their attentions had not lingered on the war for quite some time, as affairs in Asia had grown into a serious situation must faster than originally anticipated…
By the start of 1916, the Western front was a grinding mess of unmovable trenches, with neither side managing to get the leg up on the other. While Germany had the natural upper-hand going into the year, her salient to the seat which had cut off supplies to Calais and Western Belgium had done very little to help the situation as the Kaiserliche Marine had not been able to prevent Britain from delivering supplies to the small pocket.
The Eastern Front was, in fact, very fluid. In September 1915, German forces were still slogging east through Congress Poland, however, by the time of the winter setting in a few scant months later, German forces had made it as far as Riga and Minsk, and settled in for Mother Winter’s steely bitterness.
For Austria, their fortunes against all their adversaries had been less than successful in the grand scheme of things—while Serbia had fallen in fall 1915, Italy had entered the war on the side of the Entente, and was causing issues for the Austrians. As well, they had failed to capture back most of their land from Russia, causing for Germany to ‘de-facto’ occupy chunks of Galicia-Lodomeria.
Bulgaria, which had joined the Central Powers in 1915, had been given a lion’s share of Southern Serbia for their contributions. However, the final ersatz ally of the Central Powers, the once glorious Ottoman Empire was suffering an unbelievable number of set-backs in their efforts to conquer Britain’s territories in Africa and Arabia. The British had reversed the Ottoman invasions of Egypt and Kuwait, and had made great strides in beating back the Turks—by the start of 1916, the British were in the Levant, Hejaz and Iraq causing significant issues for the Turks.
The Russians, despite their numerous defeats by the Central Powers, had managed to turn things around in the Caucasian Mountains, where they drove the Turks back across their own border, and had advanced into Trebizond, south to Lake Van. Their advancements into Turkish territory would be reversed by January 1917, and the border would go back to being static.
…
In the United States, the Presidential Election of 1916 was in full-swing. President Woodrow Wilson was campaigning on the platform of ‘He Kept Us Out of the War’, and was appealing to the sense of American exceptionalism at its finest—the United States was having an increasingly complex relationship with both the Entente and the Central Powers.
The Lusitania, an American cargo ship, was sank by the German Navy in 1915, sparking outrage amongst Americans whom felt that their rights as a nation were violated. Within weeks of that, false allegations of British diplomats attempting to bribe U.S. government officials enflamed anti-British sentiment in the United States as well—Irish-Americans, German-Americans and Jewish-Americans all patently disliked the British Empire. The Irish-Americans were largely expatriates whose families had been forced out of Ireland during the Potato Famine 70 years prior; the German-Americans and Jewish-Americans either had great ties back to Germany, or felt that Britain did not sufficiently represent their interests as groups.
Theodore Roosevelt, former President, and major political operative, gave a speech in 1916 crucifying these groups for ‘anti-American behaviour’, lambasting ‘hyphenated Americans’, claiming that the U.S. had no use for such people. While the patriotic sentiment was there, it just enflamed anti-Anglo sentiments, as many people felt that Teddy Roosevelt was implying that Anglos were the only acceptable form of Americans. Despite attempts by the governments of states and the federal government itself, the anti-English sentiment did not falter through 1916.
In the 1916 election, the Republicans decided to gamble with the isolationist wing of the party. William Borah, a incorrigible Senator, and a firebrand isolationist, was nominated for their candidacy. Borah’s campaign focused on keeping America out of European affairs, and embracing the ‘Nation with Two Oceanic Walls’ ideals that had been celebrated for years prior. He believed that America should keep to America’s region of the world, and that by building efforts here at home to focus on home, America’s prosperity would be unending.
Wilson attacked Borah for his ‘cowardly stance’ in the face of ‘German aggression’, but Borah hit back saying that both alliances were playing America like a fiddle, and that America was above getting involved in Europe’s petty wars over nobility and imperialism. With threats at home, including ‘the specter of Socialism’, and other ‘domestic threats to American prosperity’, Borah believed that America ought to be treated as a world within itself.
The American public seemed to agree, as William Borah was elected to the office of the President of the United States in November 1916, soundly defeating President Woodrow Wilson, whose growing interventionist ideas were soundly refuted by the American public. They wanted no part of a foreign war.
Thus, Borah announced his intentions to begin to move to rescind the availability of loans and materiel to the Entente. While Japan needed no American loans, and was, at the time of the war, a creditor nation, Britain was concerned that if America ‘turned off the tap’, it would be a catastrophic set-back for the war effort. Add in the growing casualties of the war, Britain began to look for an exit to keep their Empire together, and prevent revolution that seemed ever the more likely in Russia by the day.
…
Japan and the United Kingdom both made clear that they were willing to withdraw from the war against Germany in exchange for certain concessions by late November 1916. The Anglo-Japanese Alliance implied to Germany in late November 1916 that they would seek peace with Germany on the condition that they recognized the territorial seizures undertaken by both Empires, and that Germany pledge not to take any territory from Belgium in a peace treaty.
The Germans were interested in the proposal. The Western Front was a static bloodbath, and even if France was uninterested in ending the war (blood of the German must flow, in their minds), Germany could lessen a significant naval thorn in the form of Japan and the United Kingdom. The Belgian clause of the peace agreement was a bitter pill to swallow for Berlin, but it was admitted in higher level circles in both the military and civilian elements that seeking a separate peace and acquiescing to the demands given were the better solution than fighting to exhaustion.
Sanity reigned, and the British and Japanese exited World War I on December 3rd, 1916, with Britain’s dominions following three days later. All the territorial acquisitions of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance were recognized by the German Empire. While Germany had made peace with Britain and Japan, none of the other Central Powers had. Germany’s decision alienated her in the courts of Vienna and Istanbul, while Tokyo and London’s actions deeply alienated them in Paris and Rome.
Britain’s withdrawal lead to the rapid collapse of the Calais pocket as British troops left France en masse. With a lack of British naval support, the French were required to reorganize their war effort, realizing that now they were on the naval back-foot, as the Kaiserliche Marine had an incredibly narrow margin over them, enough to annoy the French.
By the start of 1917, the Ottomans were teetering on collapse, the British having advanced almost into Anatolia, armed to the hilt and ready to bring down the Ottoman Sultanate. Russia was teetering on the brink of revolution; her armies weary and ready to lay down their arms and find peace. Vladimir Lenin and his cadre of Bolsheviks were stirring up a storm, and Russia was ready to break. France was on the ropes herself, her fields bloodied with the bodies of youth, and with her officers unsure of how to proceed against the Hun menace after the British betrayal.
Britain licked her wounds, and steeled herself in the face of growing Irish nationalism. The Easter Rising of April 1916 had been a major factor in Britain seeking to exit the war, so that she may deal with the issues growing at home. However, the now threat of an unchallenged Germany caused a significant rise of alarm in Britain, and the move for a rapid naval expansion. Britain’s attentions there-after became two-fold—deal with the rise in nationalism in India and Ireland; and built an untouchable navy.
For Japan, their attentions had not lingered on the war for quite some time, as affairs in Asia had grown into a serious situation must faster than originally anticipated…
Asami
Banned
七. 袁世凱
Chapter Seven: Yuan Shikai
August 1915 - January 1917
Yuan Shikai’s power was slipping. The activity of the Kuomintang in the South, the growing Japanese influence in the Shandong region and Manchuria, and the ever-growing threat of encroachment against the Republic required a strong response. In August 1915, he ordered Yang Du to begin canvassing support domestically for the return of the Chinese monarchy.
On December 11th, 1915, after months of considering the matter, the Chinese legislative assembly unanimously elected Yuan as ‘Emperor of China’. Yuan initially declined (as was customary), but accepted later that same day after the National Assembly proposed again. Supported by his son Yuan Keding, he declared the Empire of China, with himself as “Great Emperor of the Chinese Empire”, taking up the era name Hongxian. To quell unrest, he declared he would not be inaugurated until January 1st, 1916.
When the news of the President’s abandonment of the Republic spread, chaos erupted throughout China. Unrest intensified, and the new Emperor found himself without backing in many parts of society. The Aisin-Gioro clan, whom were living in exile in the Forbidden City, reluctantly gave their approval to Hongxian’s ascent, despite the Anti-Republican Alliance’s hatred of Yuan Shikai.
It turned out that, for the Qing dynasty, it was the perfect situation to find themselves in. After Yuan’s inauguration as Emperor on January 1st, province after province began to rise in rebellion against the Empire. The first to leave was Yunnan, led by Cai E, whom called for a constitutional restoration and the end of Yuan’s Empire. He proclaimed his movement the National Protection Alliance, and claimed to be the rightful Republic of China. However, the situation soon grew complicated.
In the Guangdong and Guangxi regions, the Kuomintang maneuvered to seize power from the domestic governors and impose their own rule in full. From Guangzhou, Sun Yat-sen proclaimed the restoration of the Republic of China, this time under Kuomintang rule. Many generals under the Beiyang Army did not put up a major resistance to the KMT and the NPA’s advances, and instead were beaten back in numerous areas.
In February 1916, Yuan fled Beijing during a period of unrest. Taking advantage of the situation, several officers under the Anti-Republican Alliance seized the city and the neighboring country-side, and proclaimed the restoration of the rightful Chinese Empire—Puyi was restored as Emperor of China on February 18, 1916. However, the newly appointed ‘Prime Minister’, Zhang Xun, decreed several constitutional reforms and the establishment of the National Assembly for the Empire. He claimed that the ‘pretender Yuan has fled, and the Republic has faltered—allow the true Empire to rise once more!’
The 10-year-old Emperor was placed under a new Regency Council consisting of his father, Prince Chun; the Prime Minister, Zhang Xun; and the new Foreign Minister, Tsuneo Matsudaira. Moving quick, the rapidly reorganizing Imperial Army moved and expanded south, taking as far as just south of the Shandong Peninsula, which fell under their rule—and the full influence of Japan’s economic power.
As 1916 waned on, Yuan’s power further collapsed. While the NPA and Kuomintang fought amongst themselves, several anti-Yuan, anti-KMT Republicans seized power in Nanjing and sent out their own loyalists to secure the countryside. Several provincial governors did not heed their demands, and instead established their own warlord states.
Duan Qirui became the President of China—at least, of the China commonly referred to in foreign press as “China-Nanjing”, countering the Republic of China-Guangzhou (under Sun Yat-sen), Republic of China-Yunnan (under Cai E), the Empire of China-Chengdu (under the ailing Yuan), and the Empire of China-Peking (under the young Puyi).
Japan utilized the collapse of central Chinese authority to further extend their political power in Manchuria, effectively taking control of the lion’s share of the region economically. While they had no de jure boots on the ground, and Manchuria was occupied by local warlords, Japan’s influence was not minor, and had a great effect on the state and economic prosperity of the region.
In June 1916, the Hongxian Emperor ceased to be, willing that his son take the throne from him. His son ascended to the throne of the Sichuan government, and proclaimed his era name to be 乾興 (Qiánxīng), making him the Qianxing Emperor. Remaining resolute with his territories of the Chinese steppe, he refused to submit to Nanjing, Beijing or Yunnan’s authority, and managed to stave off numerous incursions into his territory, keeping the borders static.
The Chinese Civil War would remain static as the sides were too weak to do much of anything, and all the regimes began to entrench in preparation for the coming conflict. By January 1917, the region was ready to once again plunge into the thick of it, with the nascent Kuomintang ready to prove that they were not a weakling in the grand scheme of things...
When the news of the President’s abandonment of the Republic spread, chaos erupted throughout China. Unrest intensified, and the new Emperor found himself without backing in many parts of society. The Aisin-Gioro clan, whom were living in exile in the Forbidden City, reluctantly gave their approval to Hongxian’s ascent, despite the Anti-Republican Alliance’s hatred of Yuan Shikai.
It turned out that, for the Qing dynasty, it was the perfect situation to find themselves in. After Yuan’s inauguration as Emperor on January 1st, province after province began to rise in rebellion against the Empire. The first to leave was Yunnan, led by Cai E, whom called for a constitutional restoration and the end of Yuan’s Empire. He proclaimed his movement the National Protection Alliance, and claimed to be the rightful Republic of China. However, the situation soon grew complicated.
In the Guangdong and Guangxi regions, the Kuomintang maneuvered to seize power from the domestic governors and impose their own rule in full. From Guangzhou, Sun Yat-sen proclaimed the restoration of the Republic of China, this time under Kuomintang rule. Many generals under the Beiyang Army did not put up a major resistance to the KMT and the NPA’s advances, and instead were beaten back in numerous areas.
In February 1916, Yuan fled Beijing during a period of unrest. Taking advantage of the situation, several officers under the Anti-Republican Alliance seized the city and the neighboring country-side, and proclaimed the restoration of the rightful Chinese Empire—Puyi was restored as Emperor of China on February 18, 1916. However, the newly appointed ‘Prime Minister’, Zhang Xun, decreed several constitutional reforms and the establishment of the National Assembly for the Empire. He claimed that the ‘pretender Yuan has fled, and the Republic has faltered—allow the true Empire to rise once more!’
The 10-year-old Emperor was placed under a new Regency Council consisting of his father, Prince Chun; the Prime Minister, Zhang Xun; and the new Foreign Minister, Tsuneo Matsudaira. Moving quick, the rapidly reorganizing Imperial Army moved and expanded south, taking as far as just south of the Shandong Peninsula, which fell under their rule—and the full influence of Japan’s economic power.
As 1916 waned on, Yuan’s power further collapsed. While the NPA and Kuomintang fought amongst themselves, several anti-Yuan, anti-KMT Republicans seized power in Nanjing and sent out their own loyalists to secure the countryside. Several provincial governors did not heed their demands, and instead established their own warlord states.
Duan Qirui became the President of China—at least, of the China commonly referred to in foreign press as “China-Nanjing”, countering the Republic of China-Guangzhou (under Sun Yat-sen), Republic of China-Yunnan (under Cai E), the Empire of China-Chengdu (under the ailing Yuan), and the Empire of China-Peking (under the young Puyi).
Japan utilized the collapse of central Chinese authority to further extend their political power in Manchuria, effectively taking control of the lion’s share of the region economically. While they had no de jure boots on the ground, and Manchuria was occupied by local warlords, Japan’s influence was not minor, and had a great effect on the state and economic prosperity of the region.
In June 1916, the Hongxian Emperor ceased to be, willing that his son take the throne from him. His son ascended to the throne of the Sichuan government, and proclaimed his era name to be 乾興 (Qiánxīng), making him the Qianxing Emperor. Remaining resolute with his territories of the Chinese steppe, he refused to submit to Nanjing, Beijing or Yunnan’s authority, and managed to stave off numerous incursions into his territory, keeping the borders static.
The Chinese Civil War would remain static as the sides were too weak to do much of anything, and all the regimes began to entrench in preparation for the coming conflict. By January 1917, the region was ready to once again plunge into the thick of it, with the nascent Kuomintang ready to prove that they were not a weakling in the grand scheme of things...
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Asami
Banned
Capital: Chengdu
Head of State: Emperor Niujin of the Second Yuan Dynasty (son of Yuan Shikai)
In compared to OTL, in ATL, Yuan Shikai does not cancel or abolish his attempt to restore the monarchy. After he realizes that he is under threat in Beijing, he evacuates west into the steppe, where he sets up a provisional war-time capital in the Sichuan town of Chengdu. The Empire is relatively popular amongst the Xinjiang, Qinghai and western provinces as the Emperor has pledged to give them land, entitlements, and power should they remain loyal to him. As such, it is a difficult slog for any of the rival factions to move west into the Imperial lands. It is relatively strong, but due to the mass defection of generals, it has a very poorly composed officer corps, and is incapable of striking deep into China right now, but that may change.
2. Tibet
Capital: Lhasa
Head of State: Thubten Gyatso. 13th Dalai Lama
Tibet is the same as it has always been. It is an authoritarian theocratic state under the rule of the Dalai Lama. It is uninvolved in the chaos in China, but the Yuan Empire is looking to use Tibet as a test of it's military power, and to eliminate a threat to their ambition whom holds claims on their lands. However, with the bad terrain and winter, invading Tibet has been ruled an incredibly bad idea... at least for now.
3. Provisional Government for the Republic of China ("China-Nanjing")
Capital: Nanjing
Head of State: Duan Qirui, President of the Provisional Government for the Republic of China
Resembling that of Yuan-era Republican China, this Republic is interested in keeping stability in a core area of China, and not allowing it to fall to warlordism. There is no real democracy, and Duan rules by decree and military rule, but it is relatively stable. There are growing leftist sentiments in the state, and many believe that Duan is a servant of British industrial interests, as the British influence along the Yangtze River is key to keeping Duan's power together. He is bitterly poised against the KMT, and has allowed three major provincial warlords to exist outside of the purvey of his regime as a buffer to the KMT. One of which has fallen to Japanese influence.
4. Heavenly Empire of China ("China-Peking" or "Second Qing Empire")
Capital: Peking
Head of State: Xuantong Emperor of the Aisin-Gioro Dynasty (Puyi)
The Manchu Restoration is earlier, and a success, compared to OTL. Puyi is now the Emperor of China once again, but his powers have been limited at the insistence of not only the Chinese constitutionalists in the court, but also the very powerful Japanese advisers, whom have a heavy hand in matters of state. There is some resentment there, but Japan is one of the only reasons that the Qing Empire is capable of being as large as it is right now. Their armies are very weak, but can hold their own against the other demoralized Chinese warlords and successor regimes. At the insistence of the Prime Minister, the Empire is undergoing constitutional reforms to introduce parliamentary democracy and British-style rule to the country, which has ingratiated the Qing to many in Beijing, Tianjin and other towns across their territory.
5. Revolutionary Provisional Government of the Republic of China ("China-Guangzhou")
Capital: Guangzhou
Head of State: Sun Yat-sen, President of the Republic of China
Sun Yat-sen's so called Third Revolution has succeeded. After his defeat in 1913, he had absconded to Japan, but had returned in short order to stir up more trouble, particularly once Japan switched their interests away from the Kuomintang, and to the Anti-Republican Alliance they helped create. Now, Sun Yat-sen's Kuomintang controls swaths of China's wealthy southern regions, and has won the grace of France and Britain for their continued support for their mercantile measures. However, the Kuomintang's power is also hampered by these concessions, and they seek to break them, or push against their enemies soon, before their power base wanes. Sun believes that once he advances, China will be united in short order.
6. National Protection Alliance ("China-Yunnan")
Capital: Kunming
Head of State; Cai E, President of the Republic of China
Cai E's rival Republic is similar to that of Duan Qirui, however, Cai E does intend on restoring the original Chinese government as soon as he possibly can--with the Assembly and all things. He also wants to shatter the revolutionary Kuomintang (whom he feels have outlived their usefulness) and the Nanjing republic and their corrupt generals (whom he feels care not for China, and only for their wallets), as such, he is poised against almost every other faction. The only benefit that exists for him, is his mountainous state's natural defense against invasion. However, he and the KMT are giving each other sideways looks, wondering whom will strike first.
Minor Warlord States/Exterior Groups
a. Hunan clique -- pro-Nanjing, anti-KMT
b. Jiangxi clique -- pro-Nanjing, anti-KMT, anti-Japan
c. Fujian clique -- pro-Japan, anti-Nanjing, neutral to KMT
d. Shaanxi clique -- pro-Nanjing, anti-Yuan, anti-Qing
e. Chahar clique -- pro-Japan, pro-Qing, anti-Yuan, anti-Nanjing
f. Shanxi clique -- pro-Nanjing, pro-Qing, anti-Yuan
g. Xing'an clique -- pro-Japan, anti-Russia, pro-Qing, anti-Yuan
h. Mongolia, Russian client state, now independent.
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Asami
Banned
八. 故郷
Homeland
After the October 6 Incident, and the current vegetable state of the Emperor, Japan was plunged into a time of great peril. The assault and near death of His Majesty triggered waves of protests, directed at both the military’s attempts to strong-arm the democratic and constitutional aspects of society, and against socialists whom continued to agitate against the Emperor’s position in the state, whilst the man was recuperating from his injuries and neurological trauma in the hospital.
Prime Minister Minobe successfully managed to get the Diet to pass the National Security Act in November 1915, aimed directly at suppressing ‘radicals whom are aligned against the Empire’—aimed directly at radical socialists and radical militarists whom were poised against constitutionalism. The nascent communist and socialist movements had yet to find themselves a party that managed to ‘hitch’ on with leftist-sympathetic peoples, and thus managed to avoid the brunt of the constitutional purge.
This act focused less on legitimate political organization, and more on societies and extra-political associations of radicals. This garnered leftist and militarist protests, but it was silenced as the Sakurakai used the near-death of the Emperor to castigate them for their carelessness. With the Emperor in a vegetative state and unable to execute the duties of state, the Prime Minister’s office began to work the machinations of the state in his favor—while none of his allies within the Sakurakai would tolerate him stripping powers from the Emperor, he did believe that by leveraging the Emperor’s position as one of the impartial statesman, the constitutional powers invested in the imperial holder could be utilized for the good of all Japan, rather than certain interests.
The Sakurakai’s leadership, consisting of Prime Minister Minobe, Saitou Makoto, and Hara Takashi, began to openly push for Japan’s economic consolidation in Northeast Asia, as opposed to outright invasion. Manchuria was largely under the control of the Xing’an Clique, a large coalition of anti-ROC forces, whom were sympathetic to Emperor Puyi and the Japanese cause. While Japan was not willing to allow the Qing to unify China, they began to slowly draw the Manchurian clique under their influence, hoping to leverage another item of power over the Chinese mainland. Prime Minister Minobe, while being staunchly opposed to militarism, was not foolish. China was a beast that, if left unified, would outpace Japan’s economy within a century.
In 1916, the Minobe ministry suffered a public relations issue as the Diet approved a few fiscal policies, including a small increase in tax across the Empire. This tax increase was stated as to ‘help develop exterior prefectures into full territories’—largely meaning that tax money was leaving Japan and heading to Korea and Formosa.
Nationalists demonstrated against the Minobe government’s use of funds to build up Korea and Formosa, fearing their own strains of nationalism would force Japan to leave. However, Minobe defended his tax increase, stating that if Japan was to create pan-Asian peace and unity, it would need to give attention to her colonies as well. An attempt by enemies of the Sakurakai to coordinate a motion of no-confidence was defeated narrowly. However, as time passed, Minobe found the economy beginning to sag as money didn’t circulate nearly as well as it did before—with the War in Europe still raging, and the specter of isolationism spreading across the West, Japan found herself at a crossroads—and with firm control of the state, Minobe guessed that Japan could ascend to power over the Pacific without a shot fired.
The militarists and nationalists disagreed—with the United States ensconced in the isolationist fever, with William Borah as their President now, why not start acting more aggressive and push the envelope of the Asian order and reshape it?
Minobe felt they were short-sighted—Japan was sandwiched between two sleeping giants. If she acted too firm in China, and antagonized America, she would be crushed between them.
In December 1916, the boiling point was reached in Russia. Inside the crumbling Russian Empire, there existed many factions, each with a different plan for things. The Mensheviks, lead by Julius Martov, Irakli Tsereteli and Leon Trotsky, were a faction of more moderate communists, whom wanted 'peace without annexations' and were a little lighter in approach than their bolshevik counterparts. However, this made them unpopular as most Russians by 1917 had accepted that they would have to give something up to Germany for peace.
The Bolsheviks, however, were far more radical in their pro-peace approaches--they wanted the complete devolution of power to the workers councils, and unconditional peace, even if it meant swallowing some less than acceptable terms. The Mensheviks and Bolsheviks agreed on the part of revolution, but not on the matters of peace.
Within the radical left, and a far less militant group on that, the Socialist Revolutionary group, were pro-democratic and amicable to reforming the system from inside. They were lead by men such as Alexander Kerensky and Viktor Chernov. Their ambitions were to win over the people in democracy, and use their mandate to push reforms through the Duma to enhance the standing of the Russian people--which would then mean more votes for them. They contrasted heavily to the Bolsheviks and Mensheviks, whom felt that revolution was the only solution.
The assassination of Vladimir Lenin on 18 October 1916 drastically changed the fate of the Russian state, according to many historians. The man whom had the ambition and political theoretical knowledge to unite the Russian left against the bourgeois, was shot and killed by anti-communists in Switzerland. The bullet, shot from a short distance, struck an artery, and lodged itself in his lung. He bled to death in minutes, and expired on the sidewalk of Zurich. With Lenin dead, Nikolai Bukharin and Joseph Stalin took lead in the Bolshevik party, from their respective exiles. Bukharin became the leader of the political apparatus, while Stalin became the leader of the press appratus--namely, the Pravda publication. They differed on some issues, but generally saw the same means to an end, even if a little more radical in theoretical approach than Lenin.
In an unrelated circumstance, Grigori Rasputin, the 'mad-monk' of Russia, and the major influence over the German Tsarina Alexandrina, was assassinated by nobles in an attempt to break the power of the mad monk over the state. Many conservative nobles felt that Rasputin's dark magic was bringing a spell over Russia that lead to her defeat in the War. With this bitterness, multiple attempts were made on his life through December 1916, but it came to a boiling point on 17 December, when he was accosted and shot by the nobility. His body was dumped in a river floe, and his possessions were burned in response.
13 days following the assassination of Rasputin, in an unrelated circumstance, a growing faction of people began to agitate for peace with Germany. While they had all supported the war when it began, the reversal of fortune, and the constant defeats on the front-line, in no small part due to the Tsar's interference thereat, drove many to be pro-peace. Taking to the streets, anti-government demonstrators flooded Petrograd that day, agitating against government rationing, and against the collapse of the basic functions of state in the face of the Tsar's incompetence. They demanded the Tsar's replacement, they demanded peace, and they demanded the return of security, justice and peace--what little existed in Russia to start with.
After two weeks of violent protests, and the incapability of the Russian military to deal with it, a large faction of people moved to submit an ultimatum to the Tsar. Lead by factions whom lead the zemstvo, and many factions from within the Duma, the ultimatum was presented to Tsar Nicholas II-- demanding his abdication to his daughter Tatiana (whom was chosen due to her more progressive and leadership-oriented outlook on life), and the Russian withdrawal from the war, plus the establishment of a Provisional Government pending elections in 1918.
Nicholas II accepted, and Grand Duchess Tatiana was named Empress of Russia three days later. The new Provisional Government was assembled from amongst leaders of the more moderate factions. Instead of establishing an immediate government, the Provisional Government was set up as a council of leaders. While Georgy Lvov took the position as the de facto head of the government, being the leader of the zemstvo; he was joined by Anton Denikin, Alexander Kerensky, Viktor Chernov, Grand Prince Mikhail (the former Tsar's brother), and, surprisingly, Joseph Stalin. Stalin's loyalties to the Bolsheviks was weak, particularly after the fall of Lenin, and the strengthening of the Mensheviks, whom were gaining heavy traction amongst the Russian peasants. Stalin was brought on to the Administrative Council as one of the representatives of the left, whom were the strongest factions in the post-Nicholas Russia. Denikin, Lvov and Mikhail represented the moderate to right-organizations, and Chernov, Kerensky and Stalin the left. After Trotsky criticized Stalin in a publication circulating through out Petrograd in January 1917, Stalin severed all ties to the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, and struck out on his own, hoping to gain power from within the Russian Provisional Government.
The Pravda, thereafter, took a more alarmed note and began to speak for the Provisional Government's benefit; which influenced many people in Russia to take a brief wait, and consider the merits of a new, more progressive Imperial state--particularly under the new, young 19-year-old Empress.
However, this did not last. Admiral Alexander Kolchak and General Pyotr Wrangel were not friendly towards the new regime--and lead Siberia in a revolt against the new Empress' authority, declaring that the abdication of Nicholas II to her was illegal and invalid, and claimed that they represented the true Tsar, Nicholas II, or if Nicholas refused, Alexei. Nicholas II would never take up residence in the provisional "Russian Empire-in-Exile", as he would remain confined to the Winter Palace in Petrograd as a ward of the Provisional Government.
After Kolchak and Wrangel wrestled away control of the Far East from the Provisional Government, Trotsky and Bukharin set aside their ideological differences and announced an alliance against the Provisional Government, calling for a general uprising against it. The uprising seized large portions of the more European Russian areas--namely, Petrograd and Moscow. The Provisional Government and the Empress were forced to retreat from Petrograd, and fled far to the southeast, taking up position in Tsaritsyn, which became the new provisional capital for Russia until the end of hostilities. The Russian provisional government made quick peace with Germany, agreeing to a number of Berlin's demands, and resolving to focus their attentions on the war against the Kolchak-Wrangel government, and against the soviets to the northwest.
As Russia broke out into civil war, Japan’s attentions sharply drew northward, as the securities of the Orient now seemed so unsure. After the January 1917 revolution, the Japanese had begun to crowd out Russian economic interests in Manchuria, replacing them with their own. By the time the Civil War had begun, Japan had come to dominate Manchuria’s economy with their own railroads and factories, but to secure peace, they would need to act.
On the western shore of Lake Baikal, a legion of volunteers whom had been backing Russia and had been serving as garrisons on the Trans-Siberian Railroad, revolted against all leadership they had subjected themselves to. The Czechoslovak Legion established their own provisional state on the western shore of Lake Baikal, calling it the Revolutionary Government of the Federation of Czechs and Slovaks. While attacked frequently by the angry Siberian tsardom, the Czechoslovak state managed to dig their heels in, and stay together during the first few rough months.
Japan, interested in this concept, soon began to plot their own efforts in Northern Asia. Particularly as the Kolchak-Wrangel government seemed keen to keep Japan from doing anything in particular...
Prime Minister Minobe successfully managed to get the Diet to pass the National Security Act in November 1915, aimed directly at suppressing ‘radicals whom are aligned against the Empire’—aimed directly at radical socialists and radical militarists whom were poised against constitutionalism. The nascent communist and socialist movements had yet to find themselves a party that managed to ‘hitch’ on with leftist-sympathetic peoples, and thus managed to avoid the brunt of the constitutional purge.
This act focused less on legitimate political organization, and more on societies and extra-political associations of radicals. This garnered leftist and militarist protests, but it was silenced as the Sakurakai used the near-death of the Emperor to castigate them for their carelessness. With the Emperor in a vegetative state and unable to execute the duties of state, the Prime Minister’s office began to work the machinations of the state in his favor—while none of his allies within the Sakurakai would tolerate him stripping powers from the Emperor, he did believe that by leveraging the Emperor’s position as one of the impartial statesman, the constitutional powers invested in the imperial holder could be utilized for the good of all Japan, rather than certain interests.
The Sakurakai’s leadership, consisting of Prime Minister Minobe, Saitou Makoto, and Hara Takashi, began to openly push for Japan’s economic consolidation in Northeast Asia, as opposed to outright invasion. Manchuria was largely under the control of the Xing’an Clique, a large coalition of anti-ROC forces, whom were sympathetic to Emperor Puyi and the Japanese cause. While Japan was not willing to allow the Qing to unify China, they began to slowly draw the Manchurian clique under their influence, hoping to leverage another item of power over the Chinese mainland. Prime Minister Minobe, while being staunchly opposed to militarism, was not foolish. China was a beast that, if left unified, would outpace Japan’s economy within a century.
In 1916, the Minobe ministry suffered a public relations issue as the Diet approved a few fiscal policies, including a small increase in tax across the Empire. This tax increase was stated as to ‘help develop exterior prefectures into full territories’—largely meaning that tax money was leaving Japan and heading to Korea and Formosa.
Nationalists demonstrated against the Minobe government’s use of funds to build up Korea and Formosa, fearing their own strains of nationalism would force Japan to leave. However, Minobe defended his tax increase, stating that if Japan was to create pan-Asian peace and unity, it would need to give attention to her colonies as well. An attempt by enemies of the Sakurakai to coordinate a motion of no-confidence was defeated narrowly. However, as time passed, Minobe found the economy beginning to sag as money didn’t circulate nearly as well as it did before—with the War in Europe still raging, and the specter of isolationism spreading across the West, Japan found herself at a crossroads—and with firm control of the state, Minobe guessed that Japan could ascend to power over the Pacific without a shot fired.
The militarists and nationalists disagreed—with the United States ensconced in the isolationist fever, with William Borah as their President now, why not start acting more aggressive and push the envelope of the Asian order and reshape it?
Minobe felt they were short-sighted—Japan was sandwiched between two sleeping giants. If she acted too firm in China, and antagonized America, she would be crushed between them.
In December 1916, the boiling point was reached in Russia. Inside the crumbling Russian Empire, there existed many factions, each with a different plan for things. The Mensheviks, lead by Julius Martov, Irakli Tsereteli and Leon Trotsky, were a faction of more moderate communists, whom wanted 'peace without annexations' and were a little lighter in approach than their bolshevik counterparts. However, this made them unpopular as most Russians by 1917 had accepted that they would have to give something up to Germany for peace.
The Bolsheviks, however, were far more radical in their pro-peace approaches--they wanted the complete devolution of power to the workers councils, and unconditional peace, even if it meant swallowing some less than acceptable terms. The Mensheviks and Bolsheviks agreed on the part of revolution, but not on the matters of peace.
Within the radical left, and a far less militant group on that, the Socialist Revolutionary group, were pro-democratic and amicable to reforming the system from inside. They were lead by men such as Alexander Kerensky and Viktor Chernov. Their ambitions were to win over the people in democracy, and use their mandate to push reforms through the Duma to enhance the standing of the Russian people--which would then mean more votes for them. They contrasted heavily to the Bolsheviks and Mensheviks, whom felt that revolution was the only solution.
The assassination of Vladimir Lenin on 18 October 1916 drastically changed the fate of the Russian state, according to many historians. The man whom had the ambition and political theoretical knowledge to unite the Russian left against the bourgeois, was shot and killed by anti-communists in Switzerland. The bullet, shot from a short distance, struck an artery, and lodged itself in his lung. He bled to death in minutes, and expired on the sidewalk of Zurich. With Lenin dead, Nikolai Bukharin and Joseph Stalin took lead in the Bolshevik party, from their respective exiles. Bukharin became the leader of the political apparatus, while Stalin became the leader of the press appratus--namely, the Pravda publication. They differed on some issues, but generally saw the same means to an end, even if a little more radical in theoretical approach than Lenin.
In an unrelated circumstance, Grigori Rasputin, the 'mad-monk' of Russia, and the major influence over the German Tsarina Alexandrina, was assassinated by nobles in an attempt to break the power of the mad monk over the state. Many conservative nobles felt that Rasputin's dark magic was bringing a spell over Russia that lead to her defeat in the War. With this bitterness, multiple attempts were made on his life through December 1916, but it came to a boiling point on 17 December, when he was accosted and shot by the nobility. His body was dumped in a river floe, and his possessions were burned in response.
13 days following the assassination of Rasputin, in an unrelated circumstance, a growing faction of people began to agitate for peace with Germany. While they had all supported the war when it began, the reversal of fortune, and the constant defeats on the front-line, in no small part due to the Tsar's interference thereat, drove many to be pro-peace. Taking to the streets, anti-government demonstrators flooded Petrograd that day, agitating against government rationing, and against the collapse of the basic functions of state in the face of the Tsar's incompetence. They demanded the Tsar's replacement, they demanded peace, and they demanded the return of security, justice and peace--what little existed in Russia to start with.
After two weeks of violent protests, and the incapability of the Russian military to deal with it, a large faction of people moved to submit an ultimatum to the Tsar. Lead by factions whom lead the zemstvo, and many factions from within the Duma, the ultimatum was presented to Tsar Nicholas II-- demanding his abdication to his daughter Tatiana (whom was chosen due to her more progressive and leadership-oriented outlook on life), and the Russian withdrawal from the war, plus the establishment of a Provisional Government pending elections in 1918.
Nicholas II accepted, and Grand Duchess Tatiana was named Empress of Russia three days later. The new Provisional Government was assembled from amongst leaders of the more moderate factions. Instead of establishing an immediate government, the Provisional Government was set up as a council of leaders. While Georgy Lvov took the position as the de facto head of the government, being the leader of the zemstvo; he was joined by Anton Denikin, Alexander Kerensky, Viktor Chernov, Grand Prince Mikhail (the former Tsar's brother), and, surprisingly, Joseph Stalin. Stalin's loyalties to the Bolsheviks was weak, particularly after the fall of Lenin, and the strengthening of the Mensheviks, whom were gaining heavy traction amongst the Russian peasants. Stalin was brought on to the Administrative Council as one of the representatives of the left, whom were the strongest factions in the post-Nicholas Russia. Denikin, Lvov and Mikhail represented the moderate to right-organizations, and Chernov, Kerensky and Stalin the left. After Trotsky criticized Stalin in a publication circulating through out Petrograd in January 1917, Stalin severed all ties to the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, and struck out on his own, hoping to gain power from within the Russian Provisional Government.
The Pravda, thereafter, took a more alarmed note and began to speak for the Provisional Government's benefit; which influenced many people in Russia to take a brief wait, and consider the merits of a new, more progressive Imperial state--particularly under the new, young 19-year-old Empress.
However, this did not last. Admiral Alexander Kolchak and General Pyotr Wrangel were not friendly towards the new regime--and lead Siberia in a revolt against the new Empress' authority, declaring that the abdication of Nicholas II to her was illegal and invalid, and claimed that they represented the true Tsar, Nicholas II, or if Nicholas refused, Alexei. Nicholas II would never take up residence in the provisional "Russian Empire-in-Exile", as he would remain confined to the Winter Palace in Petrograd as a ward of the Provisional Government.
After Kolchak and Wrangel wrestled away control of the Far East from the Provisional Government, Trotsky and Bukharin set aside their ideological differences and announced an alliance against the Provisional Government, calling for a general uprising against it. The uprising seized large portions of the more European Russian areas--namely, Petrograd and Moscow. The Provisional Government and the Empress were forced to retreat from Petrograd, and fled far to the southeast, taking up position in Tsaritsyn, which became the new provisional capital for Russia until the end of hostilities. The Russian provisional government made quick peace with Germany, agreeing to a number of Berlin's demands, and resolving to focus their attentions on the war against the Kolchak-Wrangel government, and against the soviets to the northwest.
As Russia broke out into civil war, Japan’s attentions sharply drew northward, as the securities of the Orient now seemed so unsure. After the January 1917 revolution, the Japanese had begun to crowd out Russian economic interests in Manchuria, replacing them with their own. By the time the Civil War had begun, Japan had come to dominate Manchuria’s economy with their own railroads and factories, but to secure peace, they would need to act.
On the western shore of Lake Baikal, a legion of volunteers whom had been backing Russia and had been serving as garrisons on the Trans-Siberian Railroad, revolted against all leadership they had subjected themselves to. The Czechoslovak Legion established their own provisional state on the western shore of Lake Baikal, calling it the Revolutionary Government of the Federation of Czechs and Slovaks. While attacked frequently by the angry Siberian tsardom, the Czechoslovak state managed to dig their heels in, and stay together during the first few rough months.
Japan, interested in this concept, soon began to plot their own efforts in Northern Asia. Particularly as the Kolchak-Wrangel government seemed keen to keep Japan from doing anything in particular...
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Asami
Banned
九. 新規注文
New Order
This came in the form of the Kingdom of Poland, whose constitution was put together starting in 1915. The Regency Council was the de facto Head of State, in the place of a yet unelected King. Poland was deeply expected to elect someone from amongst some of the German royal families to sit upon their throne in their position as a German client state. The Regency had taken shape after the collapse of the Council of State in 1916, and was largely headed by Archbishop Alexander Kakowski. In November 1917, after the outbreak of the Russian Civil War, the German government pressured the Polish enough that they decided to elect a king. The Regency Council decided to opt with the safest option, and anointed Friedrich Christian, Margrave of Meissen, the second son of King Friedrich Augustus III of Saxony. The young, 24-year-old German prince accepted the regnant name Augustus IV, after the last legitimate King of Poland in his family tree.
Upon taking the throne, Augustus IV began to organize Poland as a stronger, more independent member of the fledgling Mitteleuropa order. The young man took the new power invested in him very seriously, and began to consider ways to improve Poland. The first conflicts between Berlin and Warsaw came less than sixteen days after his anointment as King, as he refused Berlin's appointee to the office of Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Poland. Instead, he appointed the nationalistic Józef Piłsudski, to the office. The alliance between Augustus IV and General Pilsudski alarmed Berlin, but with no desire to start another war, particularly in the re-pacification of Poland, Berlin turned a blind eye, and bit their tongue.
However, as punishment, Berlin accelerated their timetable, and enforced the border revisions in Germany's favour, leading to the annexation of the Plock territory, which did not ingratiate themselves towards the Poles, particularly Augustus IV, whom complained to Berlin that their actions were 'undermining' his rule.
By the time of the Troubles in 1918, Poland had weathered turmoil, and was returning to peace.
...
In Ukraine, the state had originally been demarcated to be handed over to the Austrians in battle, but with the Austrians contributing minute and almost no forces to the Eastern Front after their crippling defeat in the Galicia-Lodomeria region, the Germans had instead opted to full control over the Ukraine, which they established in mid-1917 as the Hetmanate of the Ukraine. While the Austrians had originally supported the installment of Pavlo Skoropadskyi, a Ukrainian conservative, as leader, the Germans decided to exercise a more personal option, and appointed a minor member of the German aristocracy to the office. Maximillian Wilhelm Gustav Herman zu Waldeck und Pyrmont was anointed to the office. This came as a large surprise to many members of the Ukrainian state, whom were expecting Skoropadskyi, or a member of the Hohenzollern family.
Maximillian accepted the crown, and assumed the name Maximillian I of Ukraine. He too, began to slowly work the feelers of his state to start instituting his own ideas outside of Berlin's views. Wilhelm II was an increasingly unpopular Kaiser, and many of his nobles began to work against the idea of the Prussian state dominating all others.
Due to the growing concern of a Bolshevik coup d'etat within the country, Maximillian called together a Council of State to help govern, similar to the nascent Russian provisional government. On the right was the other claimant to the Hetmanate, Pavlo Skoropadskyi. On the left, surprisingly, was a young Ukrainian named Nikita Khrushchev; Khrushchev had been a supporter of Lenin, but had eventually sided with Stalinist Bolsheviks after Lenin's assassination and Stalin's support of the provisional government.
Nikita was unsure about working with monarchists, but had been convinced so after seeing some of the atrocities committed by Trotskyite forces in Eastern Ukraine. Arriving in the (provisional) capital city of Ternopil, he accepted the position and began to work with some of the leftists in the Western Ukraine and Eastern Ukraine to represent their interests before the Hetman and the Duma.
By June 1918, Ukraine had stabilized their position, and was making overtures to the nationalist government in central-eastern Ukraine that was locked in a war with Stalin and Trotsky's individual regimes.
...
Lithuania was a more 'loyal' regime to Berlin. They accepted the candidate given to them -- Wilhelm Karl, the Duke of Urach, was installed as Mindaugas II of Lithuania. The initial pacification of Byelorussia and the establishment of a concrete government in Wilno lead to a large suppression of leftists, and the creation of a hard centrist-conservative government under the new King. German military forces remained in the country, like all others, and were more involved in policing and administrative efforts than in the other German client states, except maybe the one lying just to the north. The Germans decided against previously expected border revisions with Lithuania, preferring to keep the Lithuanians loyal as could be, particularly with the bubblings of anti-Berlin sentiment in Poland and Ukraine.
The United Baltic Duchy was perhaps the most 'one step from annexation' regime in Germany's new client states. The Kaiser did not appoint any monarch to rule the region, he instead named himself the controller of the Duchy, and forced it into a personal union with Prussia. German governors, administrators and military officers dominated the state, and the native Balts had very little say in the day-to-day activities. While in Ukraine, Poland and Lithuania, a large degree of local rule was a given-- the UBD got none. Germany was in full control of everything, and the Kaiser did his best to rig it up to focus more on loyalty to Prussia, rather than Germany as a state, knowing that his throne was in jeopardy with the growing concern over the power of the General Staff, and the lack of civilian control of the state by early 1918. While the UBD was effectively under German control as a protectorate, there was a distinct difference in that the UBD was a separate entity governed by German governors under the control of Wilhelm II... which would come into use for him later.
The new Eastern States were not secure completely, but they were putting in the best efforts to stabilize the situation.
Asami
Banned
十. 日没
10. Sunset
The situation in Europe was plunged into greater uncertainty in early the spring of 1918. While Russia tore herself to smithereens under the premise of bidding for the superior state--with the Russian Soviet Republic under Trotsky poising for global revolution, and the Russian Provisional Government under the Administrative Council and the Empress Tatiana vigilantly fighting for their ideas, Germany was not far behind, and neither was France. The two rival powers had been waging war now for four years, and neither side could get a decisive victory. Germany's attrition rate was astronomical, even after the withdrawal of Britain from the front-line.
The damage of the British embargo had been healing for the last two years, but popular discontent against the war was continuing to escalate anyway. Germany's economy was collapsing, and communist sentiments were at an all-time high. The 'end' came in March 1918 when a food riots erupted in Hamburg, and quickly escalated into a situation not unlike Petrograd. The military was called in to quell the popular uprising, but the army was humiliated in that the revolting people were able to drive them off and seize Hamburg's city government. The Hamburg Raeterstaat did not last very long, as military reinforcements crushed them like a bug. However, the spark they created a wave of violence in Germany.
The Räterstaat proclamation spread through out the coast of Germany, with Imperial Navy sailors refusing to heed orders to sortie to the sea in a final bid to crush the French will. This soon lead to most of western Germany erupting into open revolution. By early April 1918, the sentiments had spread into Bavaria, with a large number of councils and workers groups in Munich forcing the King, Ludwig III, to abdicate his throne, and flee. The Bayernische Räterepublik (Bavarian Soviet Republic) was proclaimed in Munich, lead by Trotskyites. A large faction of Stalinists opposed them, and resorted to violence against the BSR.
Wilhelm II was not that surprised when the leftist riots erupted in Berlin, and he was approached by Prinz Maximillian von Baden to abdicate to quell the violence. The Kaiser pointedly refused to abdicate, and instead fled Berlin without being noticed, and winged his way northeast, to the United Baltic Duchy. It did not take long for the news of the Kaiser's flight to reach the groups around Berlin. Attempting to stave off a communist revolution en masse, Philipp Scheidemann, an SPD politician, announced the Kaiser's flight, and the establishment of the German Republic as the Kaiser had abrogated his duties to the state, and to the people. This did not stop pro-Kaiser revolutionaries from springing up in Pomerania and Mecklenburg, threatening Berlin.
The new German Republic (often called Weimar Republic) began to set into motion the constitutional reforms to entrench their new idea in the face of communist and monarchist opposition. But it was noted that while some right-wingers muttered abou Dolchstoßlegende, there was no such wide-spread support for the idea, as Germany had left the war with no territorial losses except for Posen and outer Silesia. Even that was not guaranteed, as Germany would be back to reckon the territory back from Poland, eventually.
A similar situation had emerged in France, but more along the lines of a stronger communist reaction. Large numbers of communists, outraged at the growing scarcity of food and basic amenties, took to the countryside and seized large portions of France near the front-lines. Joined by tired and hungry soldiers, the revolution soon spread into a large issue for the French. The French military, scared about the uprising, and even more annoyed at the fact that Germany's revolution made them vulnerable, decided to put a kibosh on it. A number of military officers moved into Paris and attempted to arrest the democratic government of France. The democratic government fled south, and winged their way to Algiers, joined by a significant number of officers from the navy and army whom did not align their interests to that if the new militaristic regime under Field Marshal Foch. This did not stop the quick and rapid reassertion of independence for Morocco, whom refused to follow the new exiled French government. Similarly, Italy occupied Tunisia as an 'insurance' policy, mostly under Rome's desire to expand her borders. By July, Britain would have occupied the French Congo under the concern that France's instability did not warrant the ability to control their affairs.
The two completely collapsing states realized the situation at hand, and Scheidemann and Foch organized a ceasefire to take effect immediately, but the effects were rather immediate, and the European order collapsed as soon as it had arrived. With Berlin in chaos, Poland utilized the situation and usurped control of Silesia east of the Oder River, and took over the Posen province from their former masters, along with the Plock territory. Augustus IV's bid paid off, as German soldiers simply retreated away, and fled the battle. However, attempts to seize the Danzig Corridor were solidly rebuffed, and the Poles were driven back from the coast; but Poland had succeeded in getting much stronger territory, and their independence.
The collapse of Berlin's authority meant that all of her Eastern client states broke free--even the loyalist Lithuania, whom, realizing that their Kaiser was now the weak leader of the unstable "Kingdom of Livonia" (as it had been renamed by Wilhelm II upon his arrival in Riga), broke off and Mindaugas II began to exercise full control with the help of German military units whom defected over to him, or locals whom were part of the regime.
In the Middle East, the ink on the Treaty of Alexandria had dried. Britain had gotten the dictate she had wanted out of it. The Ottoman Empire was reduced to a rump republic in Anatolia, her attempts to stop the peace treaty failing after the death of the usurping revolutionary (whose name is lost to history). As a result, new states have been carved out of the ruins. Armenia has been given it's own independent state, in contrast to the pro-Trotsky 'Transcaucasian Soviet Republic' that continues to agitate the Provisional Government in Tsaritsyn. Assyria has been carved out, spanning from Aleppo to the border with Iran. It is a Sunni-majority state, and is primarily dominated by Kurds, more so than any other ethnic group. To the south, is Iraq, a new monarchy carved out with the express intent of being utilized as a British resource for naval dominance in the Arabian Sea, particularly in junction with Kuwait.
To the west, is the Hashemite Kingdom. With control of Palestine, Jordan and Hedjaz, the Hashemites are a powerful vassal of the British Empire, and are expected to be the stewards of the Holy Land, and keep British interests in mind where the Red Sea are concerned, as well as the Arab interior.
Britain directly annexed Cilicia, as a directly administered colony--this is similar to Greece and Italy, whom got spoils in the Anatolian region, with Greece annexing Ionia and Lycia, and Italy annexing Pamphylia; with the former being a direct territory, and the latter being a protectorate. The only Central Power to emerge from World War I with net gains after the fact, was Bulgaria, whom withdrew from the war once Britain beat back the Turks. That is not to say there won't be conflict later, as Bulgaria is now the most hated regime in the Balkan region--but time will decide if Bulgaria's victory was a one-time deal, or the start of a new lion of the South.
Back in Asia, During early 1918, Japan intervened in the Russian Civil War, and occupied Vladivostok and the Amur in the name of securing border peace. While a small part of this region was directly administered, the rest was spun off into the Republic of Green Ukraine, lead by a number of Ukrainians whom wanted their own state. Using Green Ukraine as a springboard, Japan has also occupied a chunk of the Trans-Siberian Railway, and is working on diplomatic overtures with the secessionist Buryat Republic, lead by a large number of rebellious Buryats on the eastern coast of Lake Baikal, and are working closely to get the support of the Federation of Czechs and Slovaks on the other-side of the lake.
The damage of the British embargo had been healing for the last two years, but popular discontent against the war was continuing to escalate anyway. Germany's economy was collapsing, and communist sentiments were at an all-time high. The 'end' came in March 1918 when a food riots erupted in Hamburg, and quickly escalated into a situation not unlike Petrograd. The military was called in to quell the popular uprising, but the army was humiliated in that the revolting people were able to drive them off and seize Hamburg's city government. The Hamburg Raeterstaat did not last very long, as military reinforcements crushed them like a bug. However, the spark they created a wave of violence in Germany.
The Räterstaat proclamation spread through out the coast of Germany, with Imperial Navy sailors refusing to heed orders to sortie to the sea in a final bid to crush the French will. This soon lead to most of western Germany erupting into open revolution. By early April 1918, the sentiments had spread into Bavaria, with a large number of councils and workers groups in Munich forcing the King, Ludwig III, to abdicate his throne, and flee. The Bayernische Räterepublik (Bavarian Soviet Republic) was proclaimed in Munich, lead by Trotskyites. A large faction of Stalinists opposed them, and resorted to violence against the BSR.
Wilhelm II was not that surprised when the leftist riots erupted in Berlin, and he was approached by Prinz Maximillian von Baden to abdicate to quell the violence. The Kaiser pointedly refused to abdicate, and instead fled Berlin without being noticed, and winged his way northeast, to the United Baltic Duchy. It did not take long for the news of the Kaiser's flight to reach the groups around Berlin. Attempting to stave off a communist revolution en masse, Philipp Scheidemann, an SPD politician, announced the Kaiser's flight, and the establishment of the German Republic as the Kaiser had abrogated his duties to the state, and to the people. This did not stop pro-Kaiser revolutionaries from springing up in Pomerania and Mecklenburg, threatening Berlin.
The new German Republic (often called Weimar Republic) began to set into motion the constitutional reforms to entrench their new idea in the face of communist and monarchist opposition. But it was noted that while some right-wingers muttered abou Dolchstoßlegende, there was no such wide-spread support for the idea, as Germany had left the war with no territorial losses except for Posen and outer Silesia. Even that was not guaranteed, as Germany would be back to reckon the territory back from Poland, eventually.
A similar situation had emerged in France, but more along the lines of a stronger communist reaction. Large numbers of communists, outraged at the growing scarcity of food and basic amenties, took to the countryside and seized large portions of France near the front-lines. Joined by tired and hungry soldiers, the revolution soon spread into a large issue for the French. The French military, scared about the uprising, and even more annoyed at the fact that Germany's revolution made them vulnerable, decided to put a kibosh on it. A number of military officers moved into Paris and attempted to arrest the democratic government of France. The democratic government fled south, and winged their way to Algiers, joined by a significant number of officers from the navy and army whom did not align their interests to that if the new militaristic regime under Field Marshal Foch. This did not stop the quick and rapid reassertion of independence for Morocco, whom refused to follow the new exiled French government. Similarly, Italy occupied Tunisia as an 'insurance' policy, mostly under Rome's desire to expand her borders. By July, Britain would have occupied the French Congo under the concern that France's instability did not warrant the ability to control their affairs.
The two completely collapsing states realized the situation at hand, and Scheidemann and Foch organized a ceasefire to take effect immediately, but the effects were rather immediate, and the European order collapsed as soon as it had arrived. With Berlin in chaos, Poland utilized the situation and usurped control of Silesia east of the Oder River, and took over the Posen province from their former masters, along with the Plock territory. Augustus IV's bid paid off, as German soldiers simply retreated away, and fled the battle. However, attempts to seize the Danzig Corridor were solidly rebuffed, and the Poles were driven back from the coast; but Poland had succeeded in getting much stronger territory, and their independence.
The collapse of Berlin's authority meant that all of her Eastern client states broke free--even the loyalist Lithuania, whom, realizing that their Kaiser was now the weak leader of the unstable "Kingdom of Livonia" (as it had been renamed by Wilhelm II upon his arrival in Riga), broke off and Mindaugas II began to exercise full control with the help of German military units whom defected over to him, or locals whom were part of the regime.
In the Middle East, the ink on the Treaty of Alexandria had dried. Britain had gotten the dictate she had wanted out of it. The Ottoman Empire was reduced to a rump republic in Anatolia, her attempts to stop the peace treaty failing after the death of the usurping revolutionary (whose name is lost to history). As a result, new states have been carved out of the ruins. Armenia has been given it's own independent state, in contrast to the pro-Trotsky 'Transcaucasian Soviet Republic' that continues to agitate the Provisional Government in Tsaritsyn. Assyria has been carved out, spanning from Aleppo to the border with Iran. It is a Sunni-majority state, and is primarily dominated by Kurds, more so than any other ethnic group. To the south, is Iraq, a new monarchy carved out with the express intent of being utilized as a British resource for naval dominance in the Arabian Sea, particularly in junction with Kuwait.
To the west, is the Hashemite Kingdom. With control of Palestine, Jordan and Hedjaz, the Hashemites are a powerful vassal of the British Empire, and are expected to be the stewards of the Holy Land, and keep British interests in mind where the Red Sea are concerned, as well as the Arab interior.
Britain directly annexed Cilicia, as a directly administered colony--this is similar to Greece and Italy, whom got spoils in the Anatolian region, with Greece annexing Ionia and Lycia, and Italy annexing Pamphylia; with the former being a direct territory, and the latter being a protectorate. The only Central Power to emerge from World War I with net gains after the fact, was Bulgaria, whom withdrew from the war once Britain beat back the Turks. That is not to say there won't be conflict later, as Bulgaria is now the most hated regime in the Balkan region--but time will decide if Bulgaria's victory was a one-time deal, or the start of a new lion of the South.
Back in Asia, During early 1918, Japan intervened in the Russian Civil War, and occupied Vladivostok and the Amur in the name of securing border peace. While a small part of this region was directly administered, the rest was spun off into the Republic of Green Ukraine, lead by a number of Ukrainians whom wanted their own state. Using Green Ukraine as a springboard, Japan has also occupied a chunk of the Trans-Siberian Railway, and is working on diplomatic overtures with the secessionist Buryat Republic, lead by a large number of rebellious Buryats on the eastern coast of Lake Baikal, and are working closely to get the support of the Federation of Czechs and Slovaks on the other-side of the lake.
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Asami
Banned
Gott erhalte, Gott beschütze
Unsern Kaiser, unser Land!
Mächtig durch des Glaubens Stütze,
Führt er uns mit weiser Hand!
十一. ハプスブルク帝国の終わり
11. End of the Habsburg Empire
Thank you to @Magyarország for suggestions in the creation of this chapter.
The de-facto end of the Habsburg Empire as it stood in the test of the aftermath of the Congress of Vienna is often attributed to the course of events in the Great War. While the Dual Monarchy enjoyed early victories, largely attributed to their superior manpower and tactics to that of the Kingdom of Serbia, the entrance of the Kingdom of Italy into the war on the side of the Entente in 1915, and the failure of the K.u.K. armies to land victories against Russia through the summer and spring of 1914 and 1915, largely weakened her morale.
By 1917, Austria-Hungary's role in the war was largely 'second fiddle' to that of Germany. Germany had largely subverted the pre-existing agreements of partition with regards to Poland and Ukraine. After the death of Franz Joseph in November 1916, Germany's interest in retaining the Austrians as an ally hit rock bottom--to Berlin, the chance of influence was not worth Vienna's friendship, particularly as Vienna was a teetering mass of ethnicities ready to implode at a moment's notice.
The war with Italy concluded in March 1917 with the complete defeat of the Habsburg Empire. The provisional peace terms, signed between Italy and Austria-Hungary, placed most of the war-guilt on Austria, with Italy extracting the South Tyrol and Istria regions as territorial concessions. While the imperial elite in Austria are outraged at the betrayal of the war effort by the cowardly civilian government, the majority of Austria's soldiers and workers are relieved that peace has finally come, and that Austria may now start rebuilding her interior; particularly as Serbia remains under the foothold of Vienna.
Almost immediately after the war, as soldiers of the Honvéd return home from war, political strife ignites in the Transleithania crown-land. Many Magyars feel that their political interests are not represented to their fullest in the central government, which largely favors the domestic Cisleithania crownland (Austria). These protests soon grow as the scope expands from 'extended sufferage', to universal sufferage, and the extension of labour and political rights across the Empire. Ethnic protests soon double up, as many minorities began to complain of similar discriminatory policies in Vienna. By the end of the summer of 1917, Austria-Hungary is boiling with rife discontent.
The Hungarian government and political parties are reluctant to implement reforms which will weaken their power. However, mounting pressure from the demonstrators and reformists within the Imperial Hungarian Diet, lead to the spectre of reforms taking shape. However, the piecemeal offerings of the imperial government to the people are not taken well--the nationalists complain about empowering minorities with Hungary, the leftists complain about it being a bourgeois 'attempt to mislead', and the soldiers complain about the need for immediate enfranchisement of all men, especially ones whom died for the Crown.
Within Austria, Karl puts into motion his own measures of reform--namely where Bohemia-Moravia is concerned. By Imperial edict, he merges the crownlands of Bohemia, Moravia and the small piece of Silesia under Austrian control, into one large crownland. While it is not the 'third' monarchy within the Empire, it is a largely autonomous part of the Austrian crownlands.
German nationalists immediately began to cry out against this decision, calling for the reunification of the Sudetenland with the rest of German Austria. The Czechs are placated, and back Karl's reforms to the hilt. Karl then looks south to the Slavs of Carinthia, Croatia, Dalmatia and Bosnia-- he begins to resolve to look into creating a consolidated South Slavic state within the Empire capable of satiating the nationalistic desires of the Slavs.
However, Hungary's leaders and protesters are vehemently opposed to Hungary losing control of Croatia, and are especially opposed to losing Slavic lands to Serbia or any other South Slav state. In early 1918, things accelerate as Hungarian nationalists join into the fray, fearing that increasing reform from Vienna, and left-wing sentiment at home, will ultimately lead to the dismantling of the Hungarian crown-lands into a rump state. The Honved, and ultimately, the Austrians too, are called into quell riots in cities such as Pressburg, which have not only Hungarians rioting, but natives as well.
After months of pressure by Germany, in February 1918, Karl formally cedes control of Galicia-Lodomeria to the two German client states of Ukraine and Poland. This marks the end of Austria's bid to gain anything from the Eastern Front, and the loss of face damages the Emperor's standing in Vienna further, giving more fuel to the Austrian militants whom oppose the Emperor's peaceful reform policy.
The frustrated Sudeten-Germans begin to riot as well in late February, forming the Freikorps Sudetenland with the help of their Silesian brethren, and volunteers from the collapsing German Empire, namely the Royal Saxon Volunteers, and the Silesian People's Regiment. The Austrian army moves into Bohemia to restore order, and clashes with the natives, as well as Czech nationalists whom oppose the army camping out in their realm.
In March 1918, the Emperor Karl and his wife are killed by left-wing attackers during a riot in Vienna, after a bomb went off underneath their carriage. The death of the Emperor has left power to the 6 year old Otto von Habsburg-Lorraine, thus requiring a regency. With the Empire destabilizing, no clear faction emerges to dominate the fledgling regency for the young Emperor.
With the Emperor's death, the imperial military and right-wing factions have had enough--the erosion of power has gone on for too long, and democracy has done nothing but weaken the state. With riots and revolution engulfing Hungary, Bohemia and Austria, the military acts. Franz Conrad von Hötzendorf, and a number of military units attempt to seize control of the government of Austria-Hungary, with help from Honved units, whom attempt to seize Budapest.
While he is successful in seizing Vienna, the attempt by the Honved to seize Budapest fails, as the communist revolutionaries whom are thrashing their way through the countryside stop the Honved from acting. Hötzendorf, oblivious to the danger of the situation, declares himself the sole regent, and suspends the diets of Bohemia-Moravia, Austria and Hungary, in an attempt to 'stop the madness'--this does not go over well.
A full on revolution erupts in Austria as the leftists feel the time is now to strike against the unpopular monarchy, which has brought ruin to Austria in a matter of four years. While Hotzendorf remains in Vienna to fight off the revolutionaries, the Emperor is escorted to Budapest by the Army.
Within days of the Emperor's arrival in Budapest, the communists take control of Vienna, and capture Hötzendorf. He is summarily executed without trial, and they use the opportunity to declare the establishment of the Austrian Soviet Republic, a temporary measure as the revolutionaries buckle in. A coalition of Czech nationalists and former K.u.K. military officers align with the technically-suspended Diet of Czechia, and declare their independence as the Provisional Government of the State of Czechs and Slovaks.
Similarly, South Slavic nationalists usurp power across the Balkans away from Vienna and Budapest, and declare their own states; the Republic of Slovenia, Republic of Croatia, and Republic of Bosnia are all proclaimed by the end of May 1918, with Serbia overthrowing their Austrian-enforced King, and proclaiming a Republic too.
Hungary, still teetering and reeling, utilizes the situation to bring about an end to Vienna's control over them, declaring the formation of the Kingdom of Hungary, with King Otto remaining on the throne as their sovereign. However, with not enough army power, and horrific exhaustion after the defeat of the Hungarian communists, Budapest has little choice but to agree to the demands of the Slovak and Serbian nationalists rampaging through the country--Slovakia gains her independence, and Serbia gains control of Vojvodina. Slovakia, while independent, is in deep talks with Prague to unite to form Czechoslovakia, but there are many whom do not want to surrender power to another ethnic group -- again. The remainder of Croatia also joins the Dalmatian rump-state that had been formed in reaction to Austria's fall to communism-- after Hungary was convinced to let them go.
The Czechoslovak League in Siberia celebrates the re-establishment of a free Czech and Slovak state, but many choose to remain in Siberia for the time being, feeling their duties are not yet complete, or deciding to build a free society there instead of returning to their homeland.
The dust settles across Austria-Hungary, as the once great Empire has shattered, and the nations that once made her up, pick up the pieces. Hungary harbors some resentment, but is too broken and fractured to care right now--maybe they will be back, someday. But that day is not today.
By 1917, Austria-Hungary's role in the war was largely 'second fiddle' to that of Germany. Germany had largely subverted the pre-existing agreements of partition with regards to Poland and Ukraine. After the death of Franz Joseph in November 1916, Germany's interest in retaining the Austrians as an ally hit rock bottom--to Berlin, the chance of influence was not worth Vienna's friendship, particularly as Vienna was a teetering mass of ethnicities ready to implode at a moment's notice.
The war with Italy concluded in March 1917 with the complete defeat of the Habsburg Empire. The provisional peace terms, signed between Italy and Austria-Hungary, placed most of the war-guilt on Austria, with Italy extracting the South Tyrol and Istria regions as territorial concessions. While the imperial elite in Austria are outraged at the betrayal of the war effort by the cowardly civilian government, the majority of Austria's soldiers and workers are relieved that peace has finally come, and that Austria may now start rebuilding her interior; particularly as Serbia remains under the foothold of Vienna.
Almost immediately after the war, as soldiers of the Honvéd return home from war, political strife ignites in the Transleithania crown-land. Many Magyars feel that their political interests are not represented to their fullest in the central government, which largely favors the domestic Cisleithania crownland (Austria). These protests soon grow as the scope expands from 'extended sufferage', to universal sufferage, and the extension of labour and political rights across the Empire. Ethnic protests soon double up, as many minorities began to complain of similar discriminatory policies in Vienna. By the end of the summer of 1917, Austria-Hungary is boiling with rife discontent.
The Hungarian government and political parties are reluctant to implement reforms which will weaken their power. However, mounting pressure from the demonstrators and reformists within the Imperial Hungarian Diet, lead to the spectre of reforms taking shape. However, the piecemeal offerings of the imperial government to the people are not taken well--the nationalists complain about empowering minorities with Hungary, the leftists complain about it being a bourgeois 'attempt to mislead', and the soldiers complain about the need for immediate enfranchisement of all men, especially ones whom died for the Crown.
Within Austria, Karl puts into motion his own measures of reform--namely where Bohemia-Moravia is concerned. By Imperial edict, he merges the crownlands of Bohemia, Moravia and the small piece of Silesia under Austrian control, into one large crownland. While it is not the 'third' monarchy within the Empire, it is a largely autonomous part of the Austrian crownlands.
German nationalists immediately began to cry out against this decision, calling for the reunification of the Sudetenland with the rest of German Austria. The Czechs are placated, and back Karl's reforms to the hilt. Karl then looks south to the Slavs of Carinthia, Croatia, Dalmatia and Bosnia-- he begins to resolve to look into creating a consolidated South Slavic state within the Empire capable of satiating the nationalistic desires of the Slavs.
However, Hungary's leaders and protesters are vehemently opposed to Hungary losing control of Croatia, and are especially opposed to losing Slavic lands to Serbia or any other South Slav state. In early 1918, things accelerate as Hungarian nationalists join into the fray, fearing that increasing reform from Vienna, and left-wing sentiment at home, will ultimately lead to the dismantling of the Hungarian crown-lands into a rump state. The Honved, and ultimately, the Austrians too, are called into quell riots in cities such as Pressburg, which have not only Hungarians rioting, but natives as well.
After months of pressure by Germany, in February 1918, Karl formally cedes control of Galicia-Lodomeria to the two German client states of Ukraine and Poland. This marks the end of Austria's bid to gain anything from the Eastern Front, and the loss of face damages the Emperor's standing in Vienna further, giving more fuel to the Austrian militants whom oppose the Emperor's peaceful reform policy.
The frustrated Sudeten-Germans begin to riot as well in late February, forming the Freikorps Sudetenland with the help of their Silesian brethren, and volunteers from the collapsing German Empire, namely the Royal Saxon Volunteers, and the Silesian People's Regiment. The Austrian army moves into Bohemia to restore order, and clashes with the natives, as well as Czech nationalists whom oppose the army camping out in their realm.
In March 1918, the Emperor Karl and his wife are killed by left-wing attackers during a riot in Vienna, after a bomb went off underneath their carriage. The death of the Emperor has left power to the 6 year old Otto von Habsburg-Lorraine, thus requiring a regency. With the Empire destabilizing, no clear faction emerges to dominate the fledgling regency for the young Emperor.
With the Emperor's death, the imperial military and right-wing factions have had enough--the erosion of power has gone on for too long, and democracy has done nothing but weaken the state. With riots and revolution engulfing Hungary, Bohemia and Austria, the military acts. Franz Conrad von Hötzendorf, and a number of military units attempt to seize control of the government of Austria-Hungary, with help from Honved units, whom attempt to seize Budapest.
While he is successful in seizing Vienna, the attempt by the Honved to seize Budapest fails, as the communist revolutionaries whom are thrashing their way through the countryside stop the Honved from acting. Hötzendorf, oblivious to the danger of the situation, declares himself the sole regent, and suspends the diets of Bohemia-Moravia, Austria and Hungary, in an attempt to 'stop the madness'--this does not go over well.
A full on revolution erupts in Austria as the leftists feel the time is now to strike against the unpopular monarchy, which has brought ruin to Austria in a matter of four years. While Hotzendorf remains in Vienna to fight off the revolutionaries, the Emperor is escorted to Budapest by the Army.
Within days of the Emperor's arrival in Budapest, the communists take control of Vienna, and capture Hötzendorf. He is summarily executed without trial, and they use the opportunity to declare the establishment of the Austrian Soviet Republic, a temporary measure as the revolutionaries buckle in. A coalition of Czech nationalists and former K.u.K. military officers align with the technically-suspended Diet of Czechia, and declare their independence as the Provisional Government of the State of Czechs and Slovaks.
Similarly, South Slavic nationalists usurp power across the Balkans away from Vienna and Budapest, and declare their own states; the Republic of Slovenia, Republic of Croatia, and Republic of Bosnia are all proclaimed by the end of May 1918, with Serbia overthrowing their Austrian-enforced King, and proclaiming a Republic too.
Hungary, still teetering and reeling, utilizes the situation to bring about an end to Vienna's control over them, declaring the formation of the Kingdom of Hungary, with King Otto remaining on the throne as their sovereign. However, with not enough army power, and horrific exhaustion after the defeat of the Hungarian communists, Budapest has little choice but to agree to the demands of the Slovak and Serbian nationalists rampaging through the country--Slovakia gains her independence, and Serbia gains control of Vojvodina. Slovakia, while independent, is in deep talks with Prague to unite to form Czechoslovakia, but there are many whom do not want to surrender power to another ethnic group -- again. The remainder of Croatia also joins the Dalmatian rump-state that had been formed in reaction to Austria's fall to communism-- after Hungary was convinced to let them go.
The Czechoslovak League in Siberia celebrates the re-establishment of a free Czech and Slovak state, but many choose to remain in Siberia for the time being, feeling their duties are not yet complete, or deciding to build a free society there instead of returning to their homeland.
The dust settles across Austria-Hungary, as the once great Empire has shattered, and the nations that once made her up, pick up the pieces. Hungary harbors some resentment, but is too broken and fractured to care right now--maybe they will be back, someday. But that day is not today.
Asami
Banned
十二. 国家の闘い
12. The Struggle of the Nation
In the summer of 1918, Japan's destiny lay at a crossroads. While the constitutional order had been largely entrenched thanks to the passive regency that the Emperor was under after the October 6th Incident, there was always the bubbling essence of a discontent militaristic spirit haunting the state. Crown Prince Hirohito played an interesting role in that regard. Now almost to the age of adulthood at 17, the Crown Prince was taking on more affairs of state from the Regency as his father's condition deteriorated. While he could not be sesshou [regent] as he was not at age of majority (age 20), he was given more responsibilities in the form of accompanying the Regent and/or Prime Minister on domestic trips.
Hirohito had a strong background of association with the Army, but was almost ambivalent towards their annoyance and their arguments against constitutionalism. Unlike his younger brother, Yasuhito, whom held great sympathy towards the militarists whom were antagonizing against the constitutional government, and the limitation of their ability to expand. Hirohito was in many ways like his grandfather, a very firm believer in the power of the imperial crown in matters of state, and a pragmatist in the way of not allowing military forces to gain an upper-hand in the way the state was ran. The right to govern began and ended with his words. Add in the fact that the young man was largely shaped by the struggles between the militarists, whom often resorted to violence, and the constitutionalists, whom resorted to demonstrations and publications to back themselves up, with only sporadic instances of violence.
The start of a time of struggle came in September 1918, when Hirohito was nearly assassinated by members of the 日本国民解放協会 (Nihonkokumin kaihō kyōkai; Society for the Emancipation of the Japanese Nation), a group of self-professed communists whom sought to emulate the victory of the Austrian Revolution to bring down the Japanese monarchy and establish a 'Pan-Asian communist state' bonded in fraternity. The gunman was tackled to the ground before he could get shots off at the Crown Prince. After the fact, Prime Minister Minobe used the attempt on the Crown Prince's life to further suppress radicalism--extending the policies implemented in the various 'national security' acts in 1915 and 1916, and cracking down even harder on paramilitaries and 'societies' with common ideological causes that involved violence.
Hirohito, at the face-level, remained apolitical. He was not expected to dredge deep into the shit-slinging of Japanese politics, and was advised to stay above it. However, in private, he was an ardent supporter of Prime Minister Minobe, and deeply wanted to avoid an 'imperial cult'--while he did support the principle of the Emperor's divinity, as was expected of the time, he privately stated that the Emperor's own ability to serve the nation and govern the nation was not possible if everything they did was infallible. The sentiments expressed by the Emperor were shared by his brother, Nobuhito. The Crown Prince brought the 13 year old Nobuhito into his own personal affairs, helping teach the younger boy about life as a Prince and possibly an Emperor--the attempted assassination did much to shake up the Crown Prince's fears for the future, particularly where the possibility of his radical militarist brother ascending to power and undoing the efforts to keep Japan stable and at peace with itself.
In that same summer of 1918, the Sakurakai became more than just an alliance of similar parties. The various democratic political factions brought themselves together under a single roof, forming a unified political party. The opposition to them was a political party consisting of militarists and hard-line anti-democratic conservatives, whom often called themselves the Imperial Alliance (帝国同盟, teikoku doumei); the two factions often clashed against each other with the common goal of discrediting the other. Despite a standing alliance with the Social Democratic Party (社会民主党), the Sakurakai outlawed the party, mostly as a small sop to the Imperial Alliance, and to prevent further arguing and fighting.
It was in that summer of 1918 that things went pear-shaped, at least on the short-term. Japan's intervention into Siberia against the Kolchak-Wrangel rebels to secure the Trans-Siberian Railroad had lead to the Japanese government purchasing large amounts of rice to help feed the troops in the frosty north. However, the government's mass purchase of rice caused an odd shortage, and, when combined with inflation causing general upward price movement, rice prices increased significantly going into the autumn of 1918, triggering anger across Japan. Riots erupted as people could not get some of their basic staples. With troubles at home, the Japanese began to withdraw en masse from Siberia, leaving only enough troops to do simple garrison work, and to repel White incursions from the Siberian state. Much of the garrison work was assumed by the provisional Republican Army of the Far Eastern Republic, which Japan had propped up as a client state in the Amur.
In order to satiate the growing discontent, the Korean diet and Formosan diet both approved legislative efforts to increase rice farming in their regions to help satiate the Empire-wide need for rice.
As 1919 arrived and dragged through her first months, on March 1st, 1919, demonstrations erupted in Korea against Japanese rule, as, despite the attempts by the Prime Minister to reform the rule over Korea to that of a fair one, there were still some grievances to air. Demonstrators took the public grounds in Gyeongseong to shout their declarations and anger at Japanese occupation. The Koreans had assembled to declare their freedom from Japan, and made clear their grievances.
This move to empower the Korean nationalists did not endear the Prime Minister to the militarists, whom demonstrated against the treatment of Koreans as citizens, as they weren't. They were colonials. Some academics criticized the militarist response, reminding them that their big American neighbors were once a colony of Britain--while it was unlikely for Korea to do the same, it wasn't impossible.
Prime Minister Minobe was forced to walk a fine line between accepting all the conditions of the Korean demonstrators, and denying them all. He proposed reforms in the Diet called the Korea Act of 1919, which, while not fulfilling all of the Korean nationalists' demands, did set an outline to strengthen the rule of law in Korea and give the Koreans their own breathing space. Forced labor was abolished except as a punishment for a crime (mirroring America's 13th Amendment), more power was placed in the hands of the Governor-General, whom would be answerable to certain rules and regulations as enforced by Tokyo, and taxes were lessened across Korea, with the attempt to help empower a small Korean middle class. Minobe reasoned that if the Koreans could be won over with economic opportunities, then perhaps Korean independence could be suppressed without the need for fighting.
The reforms went through narrowly, thanks to the slight Sakurakai majority in the Diet, and the Korean nationalists were temporarily assuaged. While many wanted a free and independent Korea, the lessening of the Japanese jackboot was a good first step--particularly since it did not necessitate violence and uprisings. Press restrictions and speech restrictions were lessened as the Governor-General implemented the reforms as passed by the Diet. Further land reforms were implemented, and many Koreans became first-time landowners after the Japanese furthered the immense crackdown on absentee landlordism.
In April 1919, Emperor Yoshihito died, finally succumbing to complications from the attack on the Imperial Palace nearly 4 years prior. As Emperor Taishou was moved on to his eternal resting place, Emperor Hirohito took the throne, and prepared to lead Japan on into a new era. While things were civil, the economy strong, and the nation prosperous, it became apparent that the tremors of communism, the malevolence of China, and the uncertainty of global economics would make this a trying time for the young Emperor. Japan would have to remain vigilant and prepared for anything.
Hirohito had a strong background of association with the Army, but was almost ambivalent towards their annoyance and their arguments against constitutionalism. Unlike his younger brother, Yasuhito, whom held great sympathy towards the militarists whom were antagonizing against the constitutional government, and the limitation of their ability to expand. Hirohito was in many ways like his grandfather, a very firm believer in the power of the imperial crown in matters of state, and a pragmatist in the way of not allowing military forces to gain an upper-hand in the way the state was ran. The right to govern began and ended with his words. Add in the fact that the young man was largely shaped by the struggles between the militarists, whom often resorted to violence, and the constitutionalists, whom resorted to demonstrations and publications to back themselves up, with only sporadic instances of violence.
The start of a time of struggle came in September 1918, when Hirohito was nearly assassinated by members of the 日本国民解放協会 (Nihonkokumin kaihō kyōkai; Society for the Emancipation of the Japanese Nation), a group of self-professed communists whom sought to emulate the victory of the Austrian Revolution to bring down the Japanese monarchy and establish a 'Pan-Asian communist state' bonded in fraternity. The gunman was tackled to the ground before he could get shots off at the Crown Prince. After the fact, Prime Minister Minobe used the attempt on the Crown Prince's life to further suppress radicalism--extending the policies implemented in the various 'national security' acts in 1915 and 1916, and cracking down even harder on paramilitaries and 'societies' with common ideological causes that involved violence.
Hirohito, at the face-level, remained apolitical. He was not expected to dredge deep into the shit-slinging of Japanese politics, and was advised to stay above it. However, in private, he was an ardent supporter of Prime Minister Minobe, and deeply wanted to avoid an 'imperial cult'--while he did support the principle of the Emperor's divinity, as was expected of the time, he privately stated that the Emperor's own ability to serve the nation and govern the nation was not possible if everything they did was infallible. The sentiments expressed by the Emperor were shared by his brother, Nobuhito. The Crown Prince brought the 13 year old Nobuhito into his own personal affairs, helping teach the younger boy about life as a Prince and possibly an Emperor--the attempted assassination did much to shake up the Crown Prince's fears for the future, particularly where the possibility of his radical militarist brother ascending to power and undoing the efforts to keep Japan stable and at peace with itself.
In that same summer of 1918, the Sakurakai became more than just an alliance of similar parties. The various democratic political factions brought themselves together under a single roof, forming a unified political party. The opposition to them was a political party consisting of militarists and hard-line anti-democratic conservatives, whom often called themselves the Imperial Alliance (帝国同盟, teikoku doumei); the two factions often clashed against each other with the common goal of discrediting the other. Despite a standing alliance with the Social Democratic Party (社会民主党), the Sakurakai outlawed the party, mostly as a small sop to the Imperial Alliance, and to prevent further arguing and fighting.
It was in that summer of 1918 that things went pear-shaped, at least on the short-term. Japan's intervention into Siberia against the Kolchak-Wrangel rebels to secure the Trans-Siberian Railroad had lead to the Japanese government purchasing large amounts of rice to help feed the troops in the frosty north. However, the government's mass purchase of rice caused an odd shortage, and, when combined with inflation causing general upward price movement, rice prices increased significantly going into the autumn of 1918, triggering anger across Japan. Riots erupted as people could not get some of their basic staples. With troubles at home, the Japanese began to withdraw en masse from Siberia, leaving only enough troops to do simple garrison work, and to repel White incursions from the Siberian state. Much of the garrison work was assumed by the provisional Republican Army of the Far Eastern Republic, which Japan had propped up as a client state in the Amur.
In order to satiate the growing discontent, the Korean diet and Formosan diet both approved legislative efforts to increase rice farming in their regions to help satiate the Empire-wide need for rice.
As 1919 arrived and dragged through her first months, on March 1st, 1919, demonstrations erupted in Korea against Japanese rule, as, despite the attempts by the Prime Minister to reform the rule over Korea to that of a fair one, there were still some grievances to air. Demonstrators took the public grounds in Gyeongseong to shout their declarations and anger at Japanese occupation. The Koreans had assembled to declare their freedom from Japan, and made clear their grievances.
- The belief that the government would discriminate when employing Koreans versus Japanese people; they claimed that no Koreans held important positions in the government.
- The existence of a disparity in education being offered to Korean and Japanese people.
- The Japanese despised and mistreated Koreans in general.
- Political officials, both Korean and Japanese, were arrogant.
- There was no special treatment for the upper class or scholars.
- The administrative processes were too complicated and laws were being made too frequently for the general public to follow.
- There was too much forced labor that was not desired by the public.
- Taxes were too heavy and the Korean people were paying more than before, while getting the same amount of services.
- Land continued to be confiscated by the Japanese people for personal reasons.
- Korean village teachers were being forced out of their jobs because the Japanese people were trying to suppress their heritage and teachings.
- The development of Korea had been for the benefit for the Japanese. They argued that while Koreans were working towards development, they did not reap the benefits of their own work.
This move to empower the Korean nationalists did not endear the Prime Minister to the militarists, whom demonstrated against the treatment of Koreans as citizens, as they weren't. They were colonials. Some academics criticized the militarist response, reminding them that their big American neighbors were once a colony of Britain--while it was unlikely for Korea to do the same, it wasn't impossible.
Prime Minister Minobe was forced to walk a fine line between accepting all the conditions of the Korean demonstrators, and denying them all. He proposed reforms in the Diet called the Korea Act of 1919, which, while not fulfilling all of the Korean nationalists' demands, did set an outline to strengthen the rule of law in Korea and give the Koreans their own breathing space. Forced labor was abolished except as a punishment for a crime (mirroring America's 13th Amendment), more power was placed in the hands of the Governor-General, whom would be answerable to certain rules and regulations as enforced by Tokyo, and taxes were lessened across Korea, with the attempt to help empower a small Korean middle class. Minobe reasoned that if the Koreans could be won over with economic opportunities, then perhaps Korean independence could be suppressed without the need for fighting.
The reforms went through narrowly, thanks to the slight Sakurakai majority in the Diet, and the Korean nationalists were temporarily assuaged. While many wanted a free and independent Korea, the lessening of the Japanese jackboot was a good first step--particularly since it did not necessitate violence and uprisings. Press restrictions and speech restrictions were lessened as the Governor-General implemented the reforms as passed by the Diet. Further land reforms were implemented, and many Koreans became first-time landowners after the Japanese furthered the immense crackdown on absentee landlordism.
In April 1919, Emperor Yoshihito died, finally succumbing to complications from the attack on the Imperial Palace nearly 4 years prior. As Emperor Taishou was moved on to his eternal resting place, Emperor Hirohito took the throne, and prepared to lead Japan on into a new era. While things were civil, the economy strong, and the nation prosperous, it became apparent that the tremors of communism, the malevolence of China, and the uncertainty of global economics would make this a trying time for the young Emperor. Japan would have to remain vigilant and prepared for anything.
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Asami
Banned
Gotō Shinpei, Mayor of Tokyo (1917-1918); architect of the Prefectural Reform of 1918
Gotō would later serve as the First Governor of Tokyo (1918-1924).
十三. 県改革
13. Prefecture Reforms
One of the first standing actions of the new Shōwa era, was the Prefectural Reform of 1918. While Japan's prefectural system had largely been unchanged since the later Meiji era, there were some reforms that many thought necessary to facilitate a stronger Imperial system. This came in the form of manipulation of municipal administrations, and the consolidation of the colonial prefectures into actual administrative provinces that would lead to the ability to include them into the Imperial state.
The reform had a few focuses:
Tokyo City, as it existed, was abolished, and was merged with the Tokyo Prefecture. The newly merged prefecture was replaced by a special prefecture of itself, covering the former municipality of Tokyo, and extending into the nearby countryside as a 'framework' for expanding the capital city; called 'Tokyo Metropolis'. Within the prefecture, there would exist 23 special wards (特別区; tokubetsu-ku), which were the core of the original city, such as Nerima, Akihabara, Minato, Shibuya, et al; and the 'outer wards' which consisted of smaller villages and communities close enough to Tokyo to make up a working population in the city, but far enough away to not warrant their inclusion in the special wards. The establishment of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government (東京都庁; Tōkyōto-chō) marked an extension of the powers of the constitutional democracy, as it was a fully democratic government that would run the Tokyo Prefecture.
Osaka, as well, was restructured in a similar way, with the original core city consolidated into tokubetsu-ku, and the outlying villages consolidated into smaller wards and townships, with one central Metropolitan government serving as the head of it. The concept was to ensure the proper governance of the major cities in Japan. This opened the door of interest to extend similar policies to smaller cities in Korea and Taiwan, as well as the Kwantung Leased Territory--all of which were of interest to expand the prefecture power of the democratic state against militarism.
The colonial prefectures, in Korea and Formosa, were overhauled to strengthen the ability to effectively administrate. While the lessening of Japanese authoritarianism in Korea and Formosa had improved relations between their colonies and the master, the prefecture reforms were an attempt to create proper administrative zones so that 'uplifting' and 'civilizing' could be done in a proper manner without the need for archaic bureaucratic measures; prior to the reforms, Korea was governed by the thirteen provinces of the Korean Empire, as it had existed before the annexation of 1910. The new reforms redrew the borders, and, after the fact, there were 20 provinces in Korea, allowing for closer administration of the outremer.
The 1918 reforms are considered as to having a net positive effect in the governance of the Japanese Empire, and helped strengthen the early Shōwa era.
The reform had a few focuses:
Tokyo City, as it existed, was abolished, and was merged with the Tokyo Prefecture. The newly merged prefecture was replaced by a special prefecture of itself, covering the former municipality of Tokyo, and extending into the nearby countryside as a 'framework' for expanding the capital city; called 'Tokyo Metropolis'. Within the prefecture, there would exist 23 special wards (特別区; tokubetsu-ku), which were the core of the original city, such as Nerima, Akihabara, Minato, Shibuya, et al; and the 'outer wards' which consisted of smaller villages and communities close enough to Tokyo to make up a working population in the city, but far enough away to not warrant their inclusion in the special wards. The establishment of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government (東京都庁; Tōkyōto-chō) marked an extension of the powers of the constitutional democracy, as it was a fully democratic government that would run the Tokyo Prefecture.
Osaka, as well, was restructured in a similar way, with the original core city consolidated into tokubetsu-ku, and the outlying villages consolidated into smaller wards and townships, with one central Metropolitan government serving as the head of it. The concept was to ensure the proper governance of the major cities in Japan. This opened the door of interest to extend similar policies to smaller cities in Korea and Taiwan, as well as the Kwantung Leased Territory--all of which were of interest to expand the prefecture power of the democratic state against militarism.
The colonial prefectures, in Korea and Formosa, were overhauled to strengthen the ability to effectively administrate. While the lessening of Japanese authoritarianism in Korea and Formosa had improved relations between their colonies and the master, the prefecture reforms were an attempt to create proper administrative zones so that 'uplifting' and 'civilizing' could be done in a proper manner without the need for archaic bureaucratic measures; prior to the reforms, Korea was governed by the thirteen provinces of the Korean Empire, as it had existed before the annexation of 1910. The new reforms redrew the borders, and, after the fact, there were 20 provinces in Korea, allowing for closer administration of the outremer.
The 1918 reforms are considered as to having a net positive effect in the governance of the Japanese Empire, and helped strengthen the early Shōwa era.
Asami
Banned
And I now have good news--this thread is now threadmarked! You can peruse through my threadmarks to find each Chapter and major Map update since we've begun. This is a little clunkier than I would have liked, but I won't poopoo it. 
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