The Pax Taishō
Tag: Korea
A League of Their Own
Japan emerges as a major player among world powers as their ambassadors helped finalize the postwar treaties and create a new international body meant to stop large-scale wars before they began: The League of Nations. However, trouble continued brewing on the Korean Peninsula as a new mass movement for national liberation took to the streets.
The Question of Korea
After the Russo-Japanese War, the Meiji government moved quickly to solidify their control of Korea, gradually chipping away at the sovereignty of its government until annexation became the only logical next step.
Losing Korea
Although Japan had seemingly won influence over Korea as a war prize from the Chinese, Joseon itself was still an independent state. Because of the actions of one inexperienced Japanese diplomat, that independence was about to be asserted in an undeniable way.
The First Sino-Japanese War
Mounting tensions over the future of Korea turned violent after the end of the Donghak Rebellion, resulting in a war between Japan and China.
The Hermit Kingdom
By the mid-1800s, the Joseon Kingdom had become an isolated polity which was famously hostile to unwelcome visitors. Nevertheless, imperial powers vied to force the nation to open to international trade, offer paths toward modernization, and jealously eyed the strategic and economic value of Korea’s many ports.
The Joseon Renaissance
Throughout the 1700s, after a series of political purges and national instability, the Joseon kingdom experienced a cultural flowering.
Tumult and Turnover in Joseon
The Kings of Joseon were faced with many difficult decisions throughout the 1600s as their nation faced Manchurian invasion, internal military coups, and a tumultuously factional political class.
The Imjin War, Part 4: Stalemate and Withdrawal
After a few years of uneasy ceasefire, the fighting resumes between the Japanese and the Koreans and their Ming allies. After a massive setback when the new-and-improved Japanese Navy nearly annihilates the Korean fleet at Chilcheollyang, Admiral Yi Sun-sin would once more bring his martial prowess to bear against his foes on the high seas with stunning results.
The Imjin War, Part 3: Scorched Earth
The Imjin War takes on a new dimension as fully-equipped armies from the Ming Dynasty arrive to take on the Japanese invasion. What began as an easy conquest for Toyotomi Hideyoshi soon became an intractable quagmire and gradually settled into a stalemate.
Recent Comments