日露戰爭と韓國民族主義の龜裂

Abstract

For modern Korea, the Russo-Japanese War was a major event which determined the fate of the nation. Regardless of this significance of the Russo-Japanese War, Korean researchers have not subjected the war to intense scrutiny. Upon the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War, many proposals regarding political reform emerged in Korea. Their primary objective was to transform the absolute monarchy into a constitutional monarchy, and to create a modern nation state. They surfaced again during the Russo-Japanese War because the reformers wished to use the war as an opportunity for reforming Korea. Broadly speaking, the reforms had two objectives. One was to effect domestic reforms, led by the Constitutional Reform Association Both effects ultimately failed. However, it is important to note that an optimistic view of Japan, based on racial and cultural homogeneity and a mutual fear or Russia, formed the background which enabled those movements to emerge during, or because of, the Russo-Japanese War. In other words, Korea attempted to modernize politically and attain independence internationally by using the opportunity created by Japan's effects to expand though war. With the benefit of hindsight, the Russo-Japanese War the last opportunity for Koreans to create a modern nation state. That opportunity, however, became lost in the optimism felt towards Japan, which itself was based upon ethnicity. The result was the self-induced closing of the window of opportunity for the creation of a modern nation state.