Why did Japan allow Chinese students to enter Japanese military academies after the First Sino-Japanese War?
In fact, after the First Sino-Japanese War, there was no immediate wave of students studying in Japan.
Because the strategy of the Qing government at that time was to "unite with Russia and reject Japan".
That is, to cooperate with Tsarist Russia and suppress the new rise of Japan.
Therefore, in 1895~1897, the Qing government had almost no actual official exchanges with Japan.
It was not until 1898 that this impasse was broken.
In 1898, the Qing government carried out the reform of the law, and Japan was one of the templates for the reform of the law, and the relationship between the two sides was relaxed.
That is, during this period, the Japanese minister Fumio Yano reached an exchange agreement with the Qing government: the Japanese government could sponsor 200 Chinese students every year in exchange for Japan's rights to build a railway in Fujian.
This was the beginning of the study of Chinese in Japan.
For example, after this (1899), Cai E was able to study at the Daido High School in Tokyo.
However, 1898~1900 was only the beginning. At that time, there was no wave of studying abroad.
After the signing of the Treaty of Xincho, a wave of Chinese students came to Japan.
For example, the celebrities of the Republic of China that we are familiar with now:
Chen Duxiu, Wang Guowei (studied at Tokyo Normal School and Tokyo Physics School respectively in 1901)
Liao Zhongkai (went to Japan to study in 1902 and entered Waseda University and Chuo University successively)
Jiang Baili, Xu Chongzhi, Wu Guangxin, Zhang Calibration (Cai E, who studied at the Japanese Non-commissioned Officer School in 1903 and studied abroad for the second time during the same period)
Lu Xun (went to Japan to study medicine in 1904, and later gave up medicine to pursue literature)
Chiang Kai-shek (studied at Tsinghua School in Tokyo in 1906, then transferred to Zhenwu School, and after graduation, interned in the 19th Wing of the 13th Division of the Japanese Army as a non-commissioned officer candidate)
Yan Xishan, Jiang Dengxuan, Han Linchun, Sun Chuanfang, Tang Jiyao, Zhao Hengjing, Li Liejun, Cheng Qian (studied at the Japanese Non-commissioned Officer School in 1907)
Xu Shuzheng (studied at the Japanese Non-commissioned Officer School in 1908)
Yang Yuting, Fang Dingying, Zhang Huizan (studied at the Japanese Non-commissioned Officer School in 1909)
Li Dazhao (studied at Waseda University in Tokyo in 1913)
Zhang Qun, He Yingqin, and Zhu Shaoliang (studied at the Japanese Non-commissioned Officer School in 1914) went to Japan to study.
So why was Japan willing to accept so many Chinese students after 1901?
There are three main reasons.
First, the contradictions between Japan and Russia have intensified, and Japan hopes to achieve the goal of "uniting China to resist Russia" by improving its relations with the Qing government.
As everyone knows. During the invasion of China by the Eight-Nation Alliance, Tsarist Russia not only sent troops to participate in the battles against Tianjin and Beijing, but also independently sent troops to occupy the three eastern provinces of China.
After the signing of the Treaty of Xincho, the coalition forces withdrew one after another, but the Russian troops occupying the three eastern provinces did not withdraw.
In this regard, not only the Qing government protested, but also Japan. The Russian army's occupation of the three eastern provinces threatens both Beijing and Japan's interests on the Korean Peninsula.
However, Tsarist Russia ignored the Japanese protests. High-ranking officials of Tsarist Russia, represented by the former Imperial Minister Bezobrazov, Minister of Internal Affairs Plevy, and Far Eastern Governor Aleksayev, believed that Japan was the smallest country, fragile, and not at all a formidable opponent of the Russian Empire.
These people advocated that Tsarist Russia should be tough on Japan, win the Korean Peninsula first, and then colonize Japan.
Later, Japan had no illusions about protests and negotiations, so it turned to the direction of armed confrontation.
The situation at that time was that Tsarist Russia was strong and Japan was weak. Although Japan has the support of Britain and the United States behind it, Britain and the United States do not send troops and only provide secret support behind the scenes. Therefore, at this time, Japan wanted to establish good relations with the Qing government.
After all, Japan can only win, not lose.
Once you lose, you lose. The achievements of the Meiji Restoration in the past 30 years will become a bubble. The Russo-Japanese War was fought again on Chinese territory. Sino-Japanese relations are not good, and this war is very difficult to fight.
Second, Japan hopes to cultivate pro-Japanese factions in China through study abroad education, and then control China.
After the First Sino-Japanese War, and even after the Russo-Japanese War, Japan's position in the world was not high.
At that time, although the Western powers recognized Japan as a non-white country and a civilized country, they did not recognize Japan as a "great power". (The West recognized Japan as a great power after World War I)
Due to the disapproval of the West and the weak Japanese economy, all industries are trapped by Western countries. This made Japan hostile to the white world before World War II. I hope to get out of this situation as soon as possible.
So how should Japan get out of this predicament?
The answer, of course, is to work hard in China.
China is a vast country with abundant resources and a population of more than 400 million. If Japan controls China, it will naturally get rid of the shackles of the great powers.
But on the issue of controlling China, the great powers had preconceived ideas and had already controlled the Qing government.
Therefore, Japan can only work on young Chinese.
An idea called "Greater Asianism" was popular in Japan at the time.
To put it simply, this idea is to confront Japan against the white world through alliances with the Qing government, Korea, Vietnam, and other countries in the traditional Chinese cultural circle.
In the dark, countries such as China and North Korea slowly came under influence, making Japan the hegemon of the region.
As we all know, the Qing government and later the government of the Republic of China did not compensate Gengzi in full.
After 1908, the United States, Britain and other countries returned part of the Geng money in the name of sponsoring Chinese children to study abroad, and cultivated Chinese pro-American and pro-British factions through study abroad education.
However, Japan has long played this trick.
For example, when Chiang Kai-shek was studying at the Zhenwu Military Academy in Japan, he had a monthly living allowance of 13 yen, of which 10 yen was subsidized by the Qing government and the other 3 yen was subsidized by the Japanese government.
Take the money of the Chinese and subsidize Chinese students. This book is not a clever trick. Many countries have played. Nowadays many countries are also playing.
Now that some people mention "Gengqian student aid", they are so moved that they don't want the United States. It's really funny.
In Japan, the effect is very obvious.
It invaded China 60 years later than the Western powers, but until the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War, Japan's influence in China was not much weaker than that of Britain and the United States. It has more influence than Russia and France. It can be called a latecomer, infiltrating all levels of the Republic of China.
Third, Japan does not allow Chinese students to enter key universities such as the Etajima Naval Academy and the Army University. Chinese students are unable to learn core technologies.
Since 1901, when the wave of studying abroad in Japan began, most Chinese students have studied in accelerated schools in Japan. This accelerated school is the equivalent of today's public technical school. Students only learn one skill, but cannot learn advanced knowledge.
Even at an institution of higher learning like Waseda University, it's not a big deal.
Scientific knowledge is the same. Japan can be studied, Europe and the United States can also be studied. These Japanese fast schools and universities take advantage of Japan's geographical advantage (proximity to China) to poach students from Europe and the United States, earn money from the Chinese, and promote the development of Japan's training industry, rather than imparting knowledge to Chinese students.
The situation is similar for Chinese students studying military affairs in Japan.
Students who study military affairs in Japan are called "mubeisheng".
After going to Japan, they had to first enter Seijo School for preparatory education (later renamed Zhenwu School). After graduating, they underwent a one-year internship in various Japanese wings as "non-commissioned officer candidates".
After the completion of the internship period, he entered the non-commissioned officer school and studied for a year and a half in the post-secondary education. After graduation, the wing worked as a "trainee non-commissioned officer" for half a year.
At the end of the internship period, students will officially graduate.
Why did you go around in a big circle, and it took so long to graduate, at least at the level of captain and company commander?
Thinking too much, just a second lieutenant platoon leader.
Think about it, what military core knowledge can Chinese students learn, just platoon commander education courses?
If you want to study core military theory, you must go to the Japanese Army University for further study.
But unfortunately, after graduating from the Japanese Army Non-commissioned Officer School, Chinese students could no longer finish their studies.
At that time, the Qing government negotiated with the Japanese government, hoping that Japan would train some high-level command personnel for China. However, the result of the negotiations was only to agree to the admission of Chinese students to the Toyama School of the Japanese Army.
It is true that the Army Toyama School is higher than the Army Non-commissioned Officer School, but this so-called higher education institution cultivates some detailed knowledge such as physical education, kendo, and other subjects. The real technical content, such as strategy, tactics and other subjects, is of average level and lags far behind the land.
At that time, there were many international students who were also naval students and wanted to enter the naval academy on Etajima.
As a result, Japan did not agree. In the end, all Chinese students attend the Merchant Marine School for three years. After graduation, they will study for another six months and enter junior non-commissioned officer schools such as the Naval Artillery School, the Organ Science School, and the Engineering and Machinery School.
At that time, Japanese military academies also stipulated that all secrets related to the Japanese military, such as China strategy, Chinese students would be denied lectures or had to temporarily withdraw from the classroom.
Chinese students can't learn anything, and Japan naturally doesn't care about a large number of Chinese students going to Japanese military academies to study.
As a result, students do not learn dry goods. As a result, during the Republican period, the number of international students studying in Japan decreased significantly compared to the end of the Qing Dynasty.
To learn the navy, you still have to go to England and the United States.
If you want to learn the Army, it is better to go to the USSR and Germany.