Last time, I talked about the late Ming Dynasty in a different time and space, when Japan implemented "closing the country to the outside world" and set an "example" for the Qing Dynasty and Korea, and later invaded each other on a large scale.

The Treaty of Kanagawa, also known as the Japan-Miyako Peace Treaty, was the first treaty concluded between the "Edo Shogunate" (Tokugawa Shogunate) and the commander of the U.S. East India Fleet, Matthew Karpes Perry, before Japan's "Meiji Restoration", and the first "unequal treaty" that Japan was forced to conclude in history.

In 1853, a year before Perry led the arrival of the American fleet, Millard Fillmore, the thirteenth "Grand President" of the United States, wrote a letter to the "Tokugawa Shogunate" of Japan, asking it to open the country and open trade. However, after receiving the request, the shogunate hesitated for a year and did not move.

For a time, the United States also dismissed the demand that the Japanese shogunate "open up the country to trade." However, the United States was, after all, a "democratic country," so on February 13 of the following year, it sent its navy's "Commodore General" Matthew Perry to lead a large number of warships directly into Japan's "Edo Bay Estuary" and visit Japan again.

In Japan, a consultation meeting was held on the establishment of a "guest house" in the area where the Yokohama Open Port Museum was located. The agreement lasted about a month from start to finish, but the Treaty of Kanagawa, the first "unequal treaty" in Japanese history, was finally concluded.

After the treaty was signed, some of the negotiations were moved to Shimoda City, Shizuoka Prefecture, and on May 25 of the same year, the relevant rules of the Kanagawa Treaty were determined, and it is said that the relevant provisions of the Shimoda Treaty were as many as 13 articles were concluded.

Later, on June 1 of the same year, Perry's fleet also set sail south from Shimoda, Japan, to prepare for home. In addition, on the way home, the U.S. fleet stopped at the Ryukyus and concluded a "trade treaty" with the Ryukyu state. In this way, Japan, under the threat of American force, finally signed the "Kanagawa Treaty" with the representatives of the American side. Although this is an "unequal treaty", it has also brought some "unexpected" benefits to Japanese society.

The Treaty of Kanagawa, also known as the Japan-Miyako Peace Treaty, was signed on March 31, 1854 between the Japanese "Edo Shogunate" and the U.S. "Naval Fleet".

The treaty stipulated that Japan must open the ports of Shimoda and Hakodate and trade with the United States, and that the safety of American soldiers who were killed should be guaranteed. This may seem simple, but it is actually complicated, because it involves a variety of operations between the contracting parties, both inside and out.

First, from the chaotic period at the end of the Tokugawa shogunate to the beginning of the Meiji Restoration, the Treaty of Kanagawa was only one of many unequal treaties that Japan inevitably concluded with the Western powers. Since there is "inequality", we can see that the most beneficial side is the United States.

It is not difficult to see the purpose of the American side, because the Americans at that time often carried out whaling activities in the Pacific Ocean, which required a lot of fuel. As a result, the United States needed Japan, the closest to the fishing grounds, to refuel, but the cost of fuel was raised by the Japanese.

In fact, on the other hand, the biggest purpose of the United States is to supply food and fresh water. Perhaps because Japan was unwilling to replenish supplies, it deliberately raised prices, but in the end, the United States could only reach an agreement through the threat of force. It is said that the specific content of this treaty includes the following points:

First, the supply of materials needed by the American ships was in the two places of "Shimoda" and "Hakodate" after the opening of the port; Second, it is necessary to rescue and extradite American drifters; Third, the possible scope of American activities is within a 7-mile radius of Shimoda and 5 miles from Hakodate, and it is also forbidden for Americans to enter the sphere of influence of the samurai and the town.

Fourth, for the temporary resting places of Americans, they are set up in the "Immortal Temple" and "Yuquan Temple", and the tombs of Americans are set up in the "Yuquan Temple"; Fifth, Americans are prohibited from hunting birds and animals. This is the general content of the Kanagawa Treaty.

Although it was an "absolute shame" for Japan to sign the Treaty of Kanagawa with the United States in the middle of the 18th century, because it was the first "unequal treaty" ever signed by Japan, it was not necessarily a bad thing for Japan from a long-term perspective.

First of all, at that time, Japan was still in the late period of the rule of the "Tokugawa shogunate", and its "rulers" were mainly the "staff" of the Tokugawa Ieyasu family, and the "Japanese emperor" (Japanese emperor) at that time had already existed in name only, and did not have much power, at most he appeared in front of the world as the "leader" of "Fuso Shintoism".

At that time, Japanese society was mainly composed of different classes such as "samurai", "daimyo", and "peasants", and there was a large gap between the rich and the poor.

Among them, the Japanese army is also mainly controlled by the descendants of the "Tokugawa Ieyasu" family. At that time, their "foreign policy" towards Japan, almost the same as during the Qing Dynasty in China, was to play by themselves behind closed doors, not allowed to do business with foreign countries, and fearing infiltration by Western religious forces.

However, because the United States sent warships to directly invade Japan's territorial waters, the staff of the Japanese "Edo shogunate" immediately became frightened when they saw such a powerful United States. As a result, the "Tokugawa shogunate" signed the "Kanagawa Treaty" with the American representative Perry, and two ports were opened.

The signing of a series of unequal treaties in the following years caused the European and American powers to come to Japan one after another to trade, taking advantage of Japan's innate advantage of "gold and silver price ratio" being too low, dumping a large number of their respective industrial products in exchange for Japan's massive silver, and then using silver to extract Japanese gold, causing inflation and soaring prices, so that the vast number of peasants living at the bottom of society went bankrupt and fell into a desperate situation. The "daimyos" in various localities took the opportunity to incite peasant revolts against the government.

At that time, the Japanese generally believed that the "shogunate regime" was too weak and incompetent, so they united to launch the "Shogunate Movement" to bring the imperial power back onto the political stage. In this way, the Emperor of the Meiji Era once again took power, which led to the development of Japan's economy, military, education, and technology.

In fact, this is the direct impact of the Kanagawa Treaty. Therefore, in terms of "benefits", the "founding conditions" in the "Kanagawa Treaty" are indeed much more than those of the United States, and even in the era of "civilization and enlightenment" after that, the Japanese side is still the party that benefits the most. After all, since then, Japan has embarked on the road of "militarism" and developed national capital through foreign expansion.

Generally speaking, the signing of the Treaty of Kanagawa had a great impact on Japan and even Asia, both negatively and positively. This is a good thing for Japan itself, but for its Asian neighbors, it is the beginning of a series of nightmares.

This is because once the Japanese have the conditions and the corresponding strength, they will be driven by the "historical gene" to launch a war of aggression to the outside world in order to feed the development of their own capitalist industry and commerce. This is also confirmed by German "fascism", after all, robbery is the shortcut to riches!

Not long after, under the coercion of Japan, Korea was forced to sign the "Ganghwa Treaty" with it. Greedy, brutal, ruthless! The Ganghwa Treaty is spelled 강화도조약 in Korean, and T in English

eaty of Ga

ghwa or Japa

-Ko

ea T

eaty of 1876。 It can be seen that the original name of this treaty is the "Japan-DPRK Reconciliation Regulations", also known as the "C-Child Reconciliation Treaty".

This was an "unequal treaty" signed between Japan and Korea on February 27, 1876 (the third day of the second month of the second lunar year, the text of the treaty is recorded as February 26) on the west coast of the Korean Peninsula. The signing of this treaty marked the forced opening of the "national gate" by foreign forces, and just like its "suzerain" - the "Manchu Dynasty", it officially entered a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society, paving the way for the complete reduction of Japan into a colony 34 years later.

As early as the 18th and 19th centuries, it was the middle and late Qing Dynasty in China. The crisis of the Joseon Dynasty's rule continued to deepen, because peasant uprisings were raging in various places, the "budding capitalism" in Korea was in the ascendant, and the European "Catholicism" spread underground was rapidly developing, and the "enlightenment thought" evolved from the "practical thought" also came into being, which brought unprecedented challenges to the authoritarian centralized politics of Korea.

In the face of various changes at home and abroad, the Korean government, like the Qing Dynasty of China and the shogunate of Japan, adhered to the policy of "closing the country to the outside world", and at the same time strengthened the centralized rule of absolutism at home, suppressed peasant uprisings in various places, and suppressed "Catholics" who were "bewitching the people" and "inciting hatred" everywhere.

In 1866, France sent warships to invade "Ganghwa Island" on the grounds that Korea had killed a French priest, but was repelled by the North Korean army. In 1871, U.S. warships also invaded "Ganghwa Island" and were forced to withdraw their troops soon after.

After two "foreign disturbances" incidents, the DPRK Government reaffirmed the "national closure order" and erected "peace monuments" throughout the DPRK to further close the "national gate." For this reason, Korea was also called the "hermit kingdom" by the European and American powers. However, Japan, Korea's neighbor, has also embarked on the path of capitalist development since the Meiji Restoration began in 1868, and its overall strength has increased rapidly, and it is urgent to demonstrate its innate aggressive nature.

Because Japan has a long and narrow territory, a shortage of resources, a narrow market, and impetuousness, as well as the sharp contradictions in the period of social transition, it can only alleviate all kinds of contradictions in Japan in a short period of time by making every effort to expand and plunder resources and wealth outward, and the nearest neighbor, Korea, is the first to bear the brunt.

However, Japan has coveted the Korean Peninsula since ancient times, and as early as more than 1,000 years ago during the reign of Emperor Gaozong of the Tang Dynasty, it had already sent troops to invade Korea. In the millennium, Japan invaded Korea on a large scale during both the Ming and Qing dynasties.

In the late Ming Dynasty, the "Satsuma Domain" provoked the "Imjin War" in Japan, which prompted the "shogunate" of "Toyotomi Hideyoshi" to launch a large-scale war of aggression against the Korean Peninsula. Later, in the late Qing Dynasty, after the "Meiji Restoration", Japan was more eager to expand outward by force to plunder resources and wealth, after all, the consequences of dumping industrial products in Japan through a series of unequal treaties by Western powers and earning a huge amount of gold and silver were very serious!

Therefore, quite a number of "reformers" in Japan have even vigorously advocated the "theory of conquest of Korea" in an attempt to turn Korea into a source of raw materials (mainly agricultural products) and a dumping market for commodities in Japan, and then annex Korea, and finally use the Korean Peninsula as a "springboard" to continue to invade China and conquer the world when it becomes stronger!

The forced opening of the Korean national gate is a necessary condition for aggression against the DPRK. Therefore, after his accession to the throne, Emperor Wa (Meiji Emperor) repeatedly sent letters of state to Joseon and asked the Korean government to establish new diplomatic relations with him. However, because Japan referred to itself as "Great Japan" in its letters of state, and had the words "Emperor" and "Edict", Korea, as a traditional vassal state of China, was very angry and ordered that all letters of state should be refused. In this way, the matter is serious.

By 1873, the political situation in Japan and Korea had undergone major changes. In October of that year, under the ruling of Emperor Wa (Emperor Meiji), the "Seihan faction" led by Saigo Takamori lost power, and the "Uchiji faction" led by Okubo Ritsu took power. In December of the same year, the Korean princess Min staged a "palace coup", successfully squeezing out the previous ruler "Heungseondaewonjun" and taking power alone, heralding the "moderates" coming to power.

With the resignation of the hardliners of both countries, relations between the DPRK and Japan have also turned to relaxation for a time, allowing peace talks to move forward rapidly. However, the conservative faction in Korea is still strong, and they oppose not only the words "Great Japan" and "Emperor" in the Japanese national letter, but also the "welcome banquet" set up by the Korean court in which Japanese envoys wear "suits and leather shoes" (Western-style tuxedos and flat black leather shoes) and Western-style haircuts (Dazhongfen).

This was also helpless for the Min Concubine clique, which had not been in power for a long time and had no stable foundation, resulting in a deadlock in the negotiations between the DPRK and Japan, which had just been in power.

At the same time, there were also many contradictions in Japan, such as the "Korean Expedition faction" that had just left the opposition, and even provoked a rebellion (the "Saga Rebellion"), and the "Restoration Government" system was also full of factions and open and secret fights, so that the "Okubo Administration" had to use the Korean issue to divert attention.

In this way, we will be able to consolidate our position in resolving the outstanding diplomatic issues between Japan and the DPRK. In addition, the Meiji government has always been committed to revising the "unequal treaties" at the end of the "Edo Shogunate", and does not intend to continue to allow European and American powers to dump products and enjoy privileges, and forcing Korea to sign "modern treaties" will also help to achieve this.

As the British Minister to Japan, Pashali, commented on the significance of Japan's move: "Not only did it increase its prestige as a thriving nation in the East and a champion of modern civilization, but it also succeeded in gaining the favor of the nobles and diverting attention from thorny domestic problems." ”

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