Military Expenditure Of The Meiji Government Before The First Sino-Japanese War

It is an important period of time that is from the establishment of the Meiji government to the break-out of the First Sino-Japanese War for the formation of Japanese militarism, during which the militarist system of politics, economy, military and thought was gradually established and ameliorated. The amelioration of the military system is apparently its core, while Japan's economic power and the governmental financial fund are fundamental conditions for its military development. In this sense, study on Japan's military should not be only confined to those traditional aspects such as military technologies, system, ideological education, and weaponry development, Japan's military finance, that is military expenditure, also serves as a good break-through point, and to say the least, it is beyond any doubt an important aspect.Changes in military expenditure and various kinds of political as well as social contradictions stemming from it can not only outline the development vein of Japan's standing defense power, but what is more important is that as an important content of military development, military expenditure is inextricably connected with the formation of Japan's militarism.With historical materialism as its theoretical basis, cliometrics as its relevant research method, military expenditure as its break-through point, this paper makes an analysis of the contradictions stemming from military expenditure as well as its solutions through expounding on the contents, characteristics, and resources of the military expenditure as well as the relevant political elements, with a view to clarifying the establishment of Japan's militarism and further reflecting the inevitable tendency for Japan'obsessive belief in military power and its setting foot on the militarist invasion road. In terms of research method, this study does not treat military expenditure as a single aspect of military research, but connect it with military development and political aims, with the focal point as reflecting the formation and quintessence of Japan's militarism. The formation of Japan's militarism is a historical process and the development of history is always predictable ahead of time and anticipated according to some portents. This study on Japan's military expenditure can be compared to a small hole through which these portents are to be peeked.