Could another country in the 19th or 20th c. have annexed Korea besides Japan?

Could another country in the 19th or 20th c. have annexed Korea besides Japan?

  • yes

    Votes: 60 89.6%
  • no

    Votes: 7 10.4%

  • Total voters
    67

raharris1973

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And I mean could another country have really done so much as the Japanese to not only annex Korea politically, but also to try to change its culture and language so much?

Prime candidates I suspect would be Russia or an alternate, much stronger China.

Could any of them tried to integrate Korea as tightly into their own empire as Japan did? With aggressive Russification or Sinification campaigns for example?


Your thoughts?
 
Depends on your PoD. With an early enough one any of the European Great Powers or the US or even some other New World state could it, physically speaking. Just depends on the broader context.
 
The UK, France and the US all had some contact with Korea from the 1860s onwards. Any of them could have annexed Korea with a slightly different POD.
 
Russia: Korea was kind of on the far end of Russia's already sparsely held Far Eastern holdings. Its possible, certainly, but Russification would have been difficult to pull off. The Koreans are just too culturally solidified and centers of Russian influence too far away. I assume this would also involve the annexation of Manchuria (to make a land connection), which also runs the risk of such an annexation creating problems with Britian and France (Who see Russia even further disrupting the balance off power), leading to them either backing the Japanese or Chinese to check Russian expansion.

China: Considering how long China had dominance over the peninsula and didn't annex it, I doubt they'd do more than just leave Korea as a client state. The political motivations just don't seem to be there.

France: Seems like a likely candidate, as they would have a motivation to expand into the Sea of Japan/Central Pacific area for commercial and strategic reasons. If they push for greater influence in China, annexing Korea could be a good "springboard", or a sop offered by the British to compensate them for growing Anglo dominance or accepting the British-backed Emperor's victory over the pro-French Shogun in the Boston Wars (French-friendly Korea to counterbalance the British-friendly Japan). Considering how the French operated in Africa and Indochina, they seem the most likely to adopt a policy of Frenchification over their new subjects... though the results wouldn't likely be as impressive as hoped.

Britain: If Japan doesn't align with British, Korea could be seen as a useful bastion for G.B to balance French influence in the Pacific and as a step to further creep into the Chinese economy. It could also come in as part of the Great Game as an effort to counter Russian "creep" down from Siberia and nibbling at the edges of Chinese territory. Anglofication is up in the air... the British usually preferred a less culturally intrusive policy in their Second-wave colonial holdings. But its possible.

Spain: The empire had run out of steam by the 19th century. Baring major butterflies, they aren't going to be annexing Korea anytime soon unless they have a few decades of Imperial reform

Dutch: Commerce>political control. Not likely

USA: ... no. Imperial feelings aside I doubt such a war would be popular in the slightest, as unlike the Spainish-American war it would be entirely Asian-focused rather than Carribean-focused (with a Phillipene afterthought) affair. Try selling the idea of American boys dying no closer than halfway across the world to annex a kingdom half the country probably never heard of.
 
Russia: Korea was kind of on the far end of Russia's already sparsely held Far Eastern holdings. Its possible, certainly, but Russification would have been difficult to pull off. The Koreans are just too culturally solidified and centers of Russian influence too far away. I assume this would also involve the annexation of Manchuria (to make a land connection), which also runs the risk of such an annexation creating problems with Britian and France (Who see Russia even further disrupting the balance off power), leading to them either backing the Japanese or Chinese to check Russian expansion.

China: Considering how long China had dominance over the peninsula and didn't annex it, I doubt they'd do more than just leave Korea as a client state. The political motivations just don't seem to be there.

France: Seems like a likely candidate, as they would have a motivation to expand into the Sea of Japan/Central Pacific area for commercial and strategic reasons. If they push for greater influence in China, annexing Korea could be a good "springboard", or a sop offered by the British to compensate them for growing Anglo dominance or accepting the British-backed Emperor's victory over the pro-French Shogun in the Boston Wars (French-friendly Korea to counterbalance the British-friendly Japan). Considering how the French operated in Africa and Indochina, they seem the most likely to adopt a policy of Frenchification over their new subjects... though the results wouldn't likely be as impressive as hoped.

Britain: If Japan doesn't align with British, Korea could be seen as a useful bastion for G.B to balance French influence in the Pacific and as a step to further creep into the Chinese economy. It could also come in as part of the Great Game as an effort to counter Russian "creep" down from Siberia and nibbling at the edges of Chinese territory. Anglofication is up in the air... the British usually preferred a less culturally intrusive policy in their Second-wave colonial holdings. But its possible.

Spain: The empire had run out of steam by the 19th century. Baring major butterflies, they aren't going to be annexing Korea anytime soon unless they have a few decades of Imperial reform

Dutch: Commerce>political control. Not likely

USA: ... no. Imperial feelings aside I doubt such a war would be popular in the slightest, as unlike the Spainish-American war it would be entirely Asian-focused rather than Carribean-focused (with a Phillipene afterthought) affair. Try selling the idea of American boys dying no closer than halfway across the world to annex a kingdom half the country probably never heard of.
This and I want to add Germany was looking in the region, and did send missionaries into Korea
 
The United States and Korea fought a small engagement in 1871 but the US was never interested in annexing the country just opening political and trade relations
 
I don't think so. To colonize Korea, they'd have to get through Japan first, and none of the potential colonial powers capable of beating Japan had enough interest in going to war against them.
 
Russia: China: France: Britain: USA:

I second these. Russia is the most likely. They had the largest faction aside from the Japanese before annexation. Qing China would have to avoid all of the unpleasantness of the 19th Century to be in a position to annex the Peninsula (maybe they get nervous about growing imperialism, or perhaps the Joseon court pisses them off...). And then we'd probably see Britain or France first. Edge to France since Russia would do a lot to avoid Britain on their doorstep.

America might try and get a protectorate over Korea. Perhaps offering a guarantee of neutrality or independence for Korea. Maybe if they didn't get the Philippines.
 
Frace took a few pokes at Korea and looted some royal properties and ran into problems like gunboats running aground in the Han River.

France also gets French missionaries getting executed so that could ne a good excuse if it happened at the right time.
 
Rusia and germany are the top candidates, even marine officers sold to bismarck to get it as a way to get into far east policies and a way to keep eyes in japan and russia and pretty valuable to an alliance witht he latter.
 
I don't think so. To colonize Korea, they'd have to get through Japan first, and none of the potential colonial powers capable of beating Japan had enough interest in going to war against them.

It depends on the time period. From the 1860s to 1880s, Britain, France, China, Russia and the US were all capable of annexing Korea and there was nothing Japan could do about it.

After the mid 1890s, as Japan grew in strength and came to dominate the region, China was out of the question (after losing the Sino-Japanese War), and the most likely candidate other than Japan to annex Korea was Russia.

After Russia's loss to Japan in the 1905 Russo-Japanese War, nobody apart from Japan was going to get their hands on Korea.

But with an earlier POD in the 1860s it is not difficult to imagine any of the UK, France, China, Russia or the US attempting to colonise Korea.
 
I believe there was a point when French soldiers attacked Joseon because of reasons. I may be thinking of something else though.
Protection of the Catholic faith if I recall, so an expedition from the Napoleonic empire

There was a short lived expedition that left before it did any long term damage as they were not prepared for the winter conditions and couldn't really be bothered to come back

They even besieged Seoul without serious opposition
 
Protection of the Catholic faith if I recall, so an expedition from the Napoleonic empire

There was a short lived expedition that left before it did any long term damage as they were not prepared for the winter conditions and couldn't really be bothered to come back

They even besieged Seoul without serious opposition

Hmm, you think they could have been more successful? Maybe installing a Catholic King in Joseon and using it as a puppet state for trade with China and perhaps influence with Japan.
 
IMO, only Russia has any chance other than Japan. Push back the date and China has a shot.

A Russian victory in the war against Japan would put Korea at risk. The Russian base at Port Arthur (Dalian) is very close to Korea.

North-Korea.png


Meanwhile, Vladivostok is also very close to Korea. Once the Trans-Siberian railway reaches the port, it's not a huge leap to the Korean border.

trans-siberian-map1.png
 
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Hmm, you think they could have been more successful? Maybe installing a Catholic King in Joseon and using it as a puppet state for trade with China and perhaps influence with Japan.
They'd probably do the same as in Cochinchina.
Napoleon III wasn't big on direct administration (see the Arab Kingdom project of Algeria).
So I can see them getting concessions, a bit of territory for France, special concessions at the court, maybe extra territoriality (although I think it only comes later as a concept)

You'd still have a nominally independent Korea with heavy ties to France, a light protectorate of sort.

Napoleon wouldn't change the dynasty, touching the legitimacy of a monarch might give some bad ideas to the folks at home
 
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