The Taisho democratic movement means that from 1905Russo Japanese WarFrom the later anti Japanese Russian peace making movement to the formulation of the general election law in 1925 (mainly inEmperor TaishoWhile in office), atJapanIn the fields of social politics, culture and art, the general term of bourgeois democratic movement and ideological trend which mainly requires parliamentary politics and universal suffrage.
Chinese name
Taisho Democratic Movement
Events
Opposition to the Japanese Russian Treaty after the Russo Japanese War
Nature
Bourgeois democratic movement and ideological trend
The Taisho Democratic Movement, also known as Taisho Demokrasi.Since modern JapanFree civil rights movementThe second climax of the democratic movement after that was an important historical development stage of Japan's political modernization.
In 1913 (the second year of Dazheng), the first constitutional movement mobilized the masses to oppose the rule of warlords and warlords, which became the starting point of Dazheng democratic movement.The main goal of the Taisho Democratic Movement is to narrowSeniors、privy councilThe rights of such privileged classes as the House of Lords and the military headquarters make political parties and parliaments the political center;Realize the right to universal suffrage and women's right to participate in politics, and expand the scope of people's participation in politics.Theoretical pillars includeSakuzo Yoshino Of“democracy”AndTatsukichi Minobe Of“The Emperor's organ said”。The central practical requirements are that political parties lead the general election movement, reduce the military and reform the House of Lords.But these are after allEmperor systemandConstitution of the Great Japanese EmpireThe reasonable requirements within the scope have no intention to go beyond this scope.In terms of culture“Birch pie”, individualism and others advocate the establishment of self and personality, which has the meaning corresponding to the above requirements.The upsurge of the peasant movement, the workers' movement and the socialist movement after the First World War also formed part of the Taisho democratic movement. However, with the emergence of the revolutionary movement and the revolutionary tendency, various movements split internally, and the whole Taisho democratic movement also collapsed.During the second constitutional protection movement, the political parties were not enthusiastic about organizing the masses. The formulation of the Common Election Law and the Law on the Maintenance of Public Security in 1925 symbolized the collapse of the democratic movement.The characteristics of the Taisho democratic movement are various democratic requirements and the democratic movement is in a mixed but undifferentiated state.Later, political parties that were increasingly divorced from the massesFascismWe met with failure.
Background
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The emergence of the Taisho Democratic Movement is not accidental, but mainly has the following backgrounds:
1. After the Meiji Restoration, the Meiji governmentPolitics. The economic system has been constantly reformed and adjusted, and the political power with a certain bourgeois nature has been establisheddemocracyAn important step has been taken.However, the political power was controlled and monopolized by the big bourgeoisie and the feudal Chinese landlords.Due to the rapid development of Japanese capitalismBig bourgeoisieandChinese peopleThe landlords had sharp contradictions with the middle and small bourgeoisie and the lower class.
2. Promoted by the free civil rights movement, the Japanese government issued theThe Constitution of the Great Japanese EmpireThe Congress was opened the following year.However, the imperial power was still monopolized by a few vassal states.With the rapid development of capitalism, this kind of regime is more and more against the development of the times.
3. After the Sino Japanese WarRusso Japanese WarandWorld War IIt has developed rapidly.But what followed was the strengthening of Japan's bourgeoisie, working class and urban middle class.The strengthening of these forces has laid a solid class foundation for the Taisho democratic movement.
4. ThroughMeiji RestorationThe education level of Japanese people has improved significantly,National qualityThe enthusiasm for political activities has also increased, which provides a source of power for the emergence of the Taisho Democracy Movement.
guiding ideology
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The theoretical guidance of the Taisho democratic movement is“The Emperor's organ said”And "people-oriented theory".
In 1907, a famous Japanese constitutionalistTatsukichi Minobe In its Japanese Law“State legal person theory”And "the Mikado organ said" that the ruling power of the country should belong to the people "whose sovereignty belongs to the people",emperor of JapanAs the highest organ of the state, he thenNational institutionsIt is divided into two categories: direct and indirect organs.Direct organs are equivalent to legislative and administrative organs.amongparliamentThe power of the emperor is given by the people, so there is no need to obey the order of the emperor.In 1912, theConstitutional SpeechIt was widely welcomed by the Japanese society, and the "Mikado Organ Theory" was also accepted by the general people.
The "people-oriented doctrine" is another theoretical guidance of the Dazheng Democratic Movement.Professor from Tokyo UniversitySakuzo Yoshino Propose.Yoshino“democracy”Avoided Japan since the Meiji RestorationsovereigntyThe attribution of.No direct confrontationEmperor system, but by explaining that "the state belongs to the people in legal principle" and "the basic goal of state sovereignty activities belongs to the people in politics"“democracy”。
The first constitutional protection
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In December 1912, the military headquarters abused its privileges and brought down the Political Friends AssociationPublic View of Xiyuan TempleCabinetKatsurangLeadedMilitary headquartersWhen the cabinet took the opportunity to take office, the warlord bureaucrats' "unconstitutional action" aroused the great indignation of the general public.Led by journalists, lawyers and bourgeois democratscabinetThe movement of protecting the constitution.They put forward the slogan of "getting rid of the warlords and supporting constitutionalism".Among them, "people-oriented" is the main political proposition of this movement.This political proposition and the struggle goal of the Taisho democratic movement——Universal suffrageAndparty politicsThe establishment of conformity and acceptance by the masses has become the main ideological weapon guiding this movement.The first movement to protect the constitution was won by the bourgeoisie through the mass movementVassal valveCabinet provides conditions for political parties to expand their influence in the government, and also opens the way for the establishment of party politics.
Rice commotion
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Rice commotion, also known as the rice riots, refers to the mass riots caused by the rise in rice prices.In 1890 and 1897, there were riots in North Vietnam and other places.A typical example is a nationwide rice riots from July to September 1918.At that time, due to the economic boom after the First World War, the inflation trend appeared, and the real wages declined, but the rice price rose sharply, reaching four times the pre war level in August 1918.The root cause of the rise in rice prices is the contradiction between the stagnation of agricultural production under the parasitic landlord system and the rapid development of capitalism's demand for rice.The direct reason is that the government decided to send troops to Siberia, and rice merchants and landlords speculated, which led to the rise of rice prices.On July 23, the wives and daughters of fishermen in Yujin cho, Toyama County refused to ship rice out of the county, which was the beginningVillage Town OfficeHe demanded to reduce the price of rice and relieve the poor.This incident has been reported in the newspaper. Immediately from August 10 to 15, a series of mass demonstrations demanding lower rice prices and riots attacking speculators in major cities across the country were aroused.After the middle of August, it affected rural areas, local towns and coal mining areas, and labor disputes occurred in succession.With Outer Japan from the south of Guanzhong to Kitakyushu as the center, there were riots in more than 300 places.The government dispatched not only police, but also troops to suppress the riot on September 17.The total number of people who participated in the riots reached more than 700000, tens of thousands of people were arrested, and more than 7700 people were prosecuted.Although the uprising was spontaneous, it became the basis for the development of a series of mass movements later.Due to this incident, it was attacked as unconstitutionalTemple CabinetFinally, he resigned and replaced it withHarakiThe party cabinet headed by.
Protecting the Constitution for the Second Time
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HarakiandTakahashi Korekiyo Two sessionsPolitical Friends AssociationThe cabinet has been in power for only four years.From 1922 to 1924,SeniorsRecommend naval generals successivelyKato Tomosaburo 、Yamamoto Gonnohyōe andKiyoura Keigo The formation of a cabinet has interrupted the normal development of party politics.This shows that the clan elders are still unwilling to lose their political dominance and attempt to continue to maintain autocratic rule against party politics.This kind of perversion aroused people's indignation and social discontent, and believed that "this kind of cabinet is not consistent with constitutionalism"“nobleA declaration of war against the people ".The constitutional political friends' association of bourgeois political parties, which has been excluded from the cabinet for three consecutive timesConstitutional CouncilandInnovation ClubUnite and launchThe Second Constitutional MovementThe goal is to "eliminate the despotism of the nobility and overthrow the Qingpu Cabinet" and "establish a political party cabinet".Three ConstitutionalistsThey fought together and finally forced the Qingpu Cabinet to request the dissolution of the House of Representatives and the holding of general elections. The three constitutionalists wonHouse of RepresentativesThe head of the Constitutional Council who won the most seatsKato Takaaki Form a joint cabinet of three constitutionalist groups for the Prime Minister.The second constitutional protection movement is the continuation of the ever rising mass democratic movement since the era of Taisho, and it declared the end of the autocratic rule stage of the feudalism under the Meiji constitutional system.In March 1925, the Parliament successively passedPublic Security Maintenance LawandOrdinary Electoral LawThis is the end of the Taisho Democratic Movement.
General election campaign
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General election campaign
In 1892, based on the Toyo Liberal Party led by Shintaro Ohi, the General Election League was organized and established.With this as a starting point, the Social Democratic Party (1901), the Japanese People's Party (1906), the League formed in the general election period, and the Socialist League elected in Japan
(1920) and other labor and organizational groups actively promoted the democratic political movement outside the hospital.This is calledGeneral election campaign。After the Russo Japanese War, the Japanese government pursued a fiscal and economic policy centered on increasing taxes and expanding armaments, which violated the interests of the general industrial bourgeoisie and the middle class.In order to safeguard their own interests and achieve the goal of economic development, the industrial bourgeoisie is in urgent need of universal suffrage politically, and the intellectuals and the citizen class also have the same requirements.Especially during the rice riots in 1918, students, workers, staff and other civic groups widely joined the general election movement, and the mass democracy movement was mobilized.Since the First World War, the nature of the general election movement in Japan has changed significantly.With the end of the war, Japan's economy has made great progress driven by the wartime boom. Various new professions have emerged, and the social structure has undergone profound changes.The emergence of new jobs, the cultural popularization brought about by the national education system, and the nationalism caused by the conscription system have made Japan a mass society, and new class interests and group interests have begun to separate.With the change of the social foundation, the universal suffrage movement gradually broke away from the stage of ideas and principles, with the color of class struggle.Since 1919, the general election movement has reached a white hot degree. All sectors of society have actively participated, and Japanese workers' groups have also participated for the first time.However, with the 1920 Congress vetoed the bill on the implementation of universal suffrage and the subsequent general election of Congress, the popularity of universal suffrage movement also dropped.From then on, the general election movement began to change, with large-scale universalityMass movementWas replaced by parliamentary struggle.
The universal suffrage bill was first proposed in the 16th Parliament in 1901, but it was vetoed by the House of Lords. Later, it was proposed many times, but all of them were vetoed.Until 1924, the "three constitutionalists" cabinet was established. In order to fulfill their commitment to firmly realize universal suffrage during the election campaign, the three constitutionalists negotiated hard with the conservatives in the parliament, and finally passed the universal suffrage bill on the basis of making major concessions and compromises.It has drawn an imperfect end to the general election campaign for many years.
General Election Law
The General Election Law here refers to the General Election Law of 1925.Compared with the previous election law, the provisions on the candidates for members of parliament, the contents of election campaigns, election campaign expenses and other related items have been added.The whole law is composed of 150 articles in 13 chapters, and the content and number of articles have been expanded. In addition to the determination of universal suffrage for men, the most important modification is the introduction of Japan's unique electoral system for the first time.Its main contents include:The right to voteThe tax conditions of were abolished, and all male imperial subjects over 25 years old had the right to vote.Right to be electedThe age of is still 30.
Middle selection system
In the amendment of the election law in 1925, Japan's unique central constituency system was introduced for the first time, that is, the quota of members in each constituency was 3-5, one member was elected for every 120000 people, and the total quota of members was 466. The voting method continued to be the single record non transferable type of general election districts formulated in 1900.The introduction of the electoral system has nothing to do with the development of democratic elections, and it is entirely out of practical needs.
Historical position
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The Taisho democratic movement is the inevitable outcome of the development of the Japanese bourgeoisie after the free civil rights movement and the political requirements of its developmentJapan nowDynastic historyAnother bourgeois democratic movement on the.It is also JapanPolitical modernizationIs an important historical development stage.Its achievements lie in: it ended the autocratic rule of Japanese vassal states, formulated the universal suffrage law, and established the political party cabinet system;It breeds and grows democracytraditionIt has become a valuable spiritual wealth in the Japanese democratic movement, and it has greatly promoted the development of Japanese bourgeois democratization. In this sense, it has created historical preconditions and possibilities for the post-war democratic movement.Therefore, it is an important part of Japan's political modernization processmilepost。However, the party cabinet established by the Dazheng Democratic Movement is not bourgeois democracy in the full sense.This makes party politics incomplete and incomparable compared with that of capitalist countries in Europe and the United States.It has not fundamentally eliminatedAbsolutismFactor, this party cabinet system is still the party cabinet system under the Mikado system, which has not been able to prevent the Japanese military headquartersfascistThe emergence of dictatorship, on the contrary, its survival is still seriously threatened by the military and other privileged autocratic forces.On the other hand, it is the product of the compromise between the bourgeois political parties and the bureaucratic forces of the feudalism.These incomplete factors have laid hidden dangers for the collapse of party politics before World War II and the establishment of the fascist dictatorship of the Japanese military headquarters.However, this cannot obliterate the historical position and role of the Taisho Democratic Movement in the history of Japanese political development.
