Treaty Of Shimonoseki Essay

The Treaty of Shimonoseki / The Triple Intervention

The Treaty of Shimonoseki was signed on April 27, 1895, bringing an end to the Sino-Japanese War. The terms and conditions of the treaty included that two-hundred million taels in war indemnity be paid to Japan over seven years, China cede the island of Taiwan, Pescadores, and the Liaodong Peninsula to Japanese control, as well as open several treaty ports along the Chinese coast. Under the treaty, China would also recognize the independence of Korea terminate Korea’s tribute status. The events of the Sino-Japanese War showed the might of the Japanese military. Following the Western example, Japan looked to exploit resources in both China and Korea in order to compete with Western powers.

Previously, Korea had been a tributary of China; however, Japan saw the potential economic benefits of the peninsula. Korea was agriculturally rich and its coal and iron ore could be used for Japan’s growing industry. In 1876, after several confrontations between the Koreans and Japanese, Japan forced Korea to open up to Japanese trade under the Japan-Korea Treaty. Furthermore, the events of First and Second Opium Wars had exposed China’s weakness. Japan decided to seize the Korean Peninsula as tensions ran high. On June 4, 1894, King Gojong of Korea requested Qing aid in putting down the Tonghak peasant rebellion. Despite the uprising not being as severe as initially thought, the Chinese government sent reinforcements, causing Japan to accuse China of not informing the Japanese government of its decision to send troops and thus violating the terms of the Convention of Tientsin. Japan dispatched their own forces to protect Japanese interest. By June 25, Japan had occupied the capitol of Seoul and replaced the existing government with a pro-Japanese faction. This new government was rejected as illegitimate by the Chinese and war over Korea

The Wuchang Uprising of 1911 served as the catalyst to the Xinhai Revolution, which ended the Qing Dynasty. It began with the dissatisfaction of the handling of a railway crisis. The crisis then escalated to an uprising where the revolutionaries, assisted by the New Army, went up against Qing government officials. Although Sun Yat-Sen, the Father of Modern China, played no direct part in the uprising in Wuchang, having been overseas at the time, he would return to China in December and be elected provisional president of the Republic of China after its official founding on January 1, 1912 However, Sun would cede the presidency to Yuan Shikai. Yuan helped pressure Puyi, the last emperor of the Qing dynasty, to abdicate the throne. In February 1912, he officially stepped down, bringing an end to the 268 year