Public Opinion,Military And Diplomatic Strategies Of Japan's Invasion Of Taiwan In 1874

As the first battle for its expansion,Japan's invasion of Taiwan in 1874 was claimed as "the opening play of the Great Japanese Empire" by some Japanese scholars.It was also the start of the modern hostile Sino-Japan relationship.By extensively referencing historical materials,including the official records from the relevant countries(China,Japan,England and America),journals and documents written by the relevant officials from the involved countries,news reports during the period,etc.,the thesis researches on Japan's invasion of Taiwan in 1874 mainly from the following three aspects:the public opinion,the military and the diplomatic strategies,and attempts to analyze its far-reaching influence.The thesis begins with a brief overview of the whole process of the invasion,which covers from the background of this invasion,how the military action was lauched in a flagrant manner,to the confrontation and negotiation between China and Japan,and how it ended up in the signing of Beijing Special Article under the mediation of the United Kingdom.From the perspectives of "Public Opinion Manipulation","Military Deployment",and "Diplomatic Tactics",the thesis specifically discusses the guiding ideology and specific measures adopted by the Meiji government.In the aspect of "Public Opinion Manipulation",it is found that the Japanese government reversed the passive situation in publicity and successfully controlled the domestic and overseas public opinion for its invasion by "courting the international media" and "controlling the domestic propaganda".In the aspect of "Military Deployment",the Japanese government actively implemented the military deployments through measures such as "restructuring the military system","innovating the military security system" and "establishing an intelligence system",etc.In the field of diplomatic tactics,the Japanese government actively studied international laws and employed international experts in order to obtain diplomatic victory.They challenged the China-led patriarchal-vassal system in East Asia by the Western-dominated modern international order;tried to justify their phony excuse under the guise of international law and made full use of the international contradictions between China and the western countries.The thesis concludes by discussing the far-reaching impact of the public opinion manipulation,military deployment,and diplomatic tactics adopted by Meiji government.These despicable strategies have repeatedly appeared in,as well as affected,the expansion operations of Japan in the later history since its invasion of Taiwan in 1874.