Taisho Political Crisis

Taisho Political Crisis

The nihongo|Taishō Political Crisis|大正政変|Taishō Seihen was a popular protest movement which overthrew the administration of Prime Minister Katsura Tarō in 1913.

In December 1912, the administration of Prime Minister Saionji Kinmochi was forced to resign due to the refusal of the Imperial Japanese Army to replace former Army Minister Uehara Yusaku. General Katsura Tarō was then selected to become Prime Minister for a 3rd term, although his authoritarian manner was very unpopular with the public. When the Imperial Japanese Navy threatened to withhold appointing a Navy Minister unless its demands for an increased budget for new battleships was met, Katsura had an Imperial Edict issued ordering the Navy to furnish a minister.

The opposition political parties (particularly the "Rikken Seiyukai" and "Rikken Kokuminto") saw this as proof of Katsura's lack of commitment to constitutional government, and joined forces with journalists and businessmen to form the ‘Movement to Protect Constitutional Government’. Katsura responded by suspending the Diet on three occasions, and by forming his own political party, the "Rikken Doshikai." However, popular protest spread, and on 10 February 1913 thousands of protesters rioted in Tokyo, threatening the Diet building, setting fire to police stations and vandalizing pro-government newspaper offices. Katsura resigned the following day, marking the first time a popular movement had toppled a government in Japan.

Ironically, it was the ability of the military to withhold appointment of Army or Navy ministers that was the greatest Achilles heel of the Meiji Constitution, and it was this power, more than any single other issue, which led to military domination over civilian government in the 1930s and 1940s.

References

*cite book
last = Sims
first = Richard
authorlink =
year = 2001
title = Japanese Political History Since the Meiji Renovation 1868-2000
publisher = Palgrave Macmillan
location =
id = ISBN 0312239157
*cite book
last = Wilson
first = Sandra
authorlink =
year = 2002
title = Nation and Nationalism in Japan
publisher = Routledge Curzon
location =
id = ISBN 0700716394


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