The society and the information 45: news media has fought 2

社会と情報　４５：　戦った報道　２

＜　1. First World War, 1914-1918　＞

＜　１．　第一次世界大戦、１９１４～１９１８年　＞

This time, we look at an overview of the final period that journalists braced themselves up.

今回は、報道が最後の頑張りを見せた時代を概観します。

＜　2.  the change from Edo Period to Meiji Period　＞

＜　２．　江戸時代から明治時代への変化　＞

Upper two photos: the houses along a main road and farmhouse of local at about the end of Edo Period.

Lower two photos: Yokohama landing bridge and Ginza Tokyo in Meiji Period.

上２枚：　江戸時代末期と思われる地方の街道町と農家。

下２枚：　明治時代の横浜桟橋と東京銀座。

What happened during 1910s and 1920s?

The Imperial Diet was initiated, but qualified voter was only 450000 of a wealthy class in the nation due to the limited election.

Veteran statesmen of the Meiji Restoration still held the initiative of the politics, before long, it would be held by the army and navy of two political factions that resulted from them.

This situation led up to political sleaze and gigantic war expenditures.

The government had repeated the huge issuance of the paper currency and a tax increase to serve the huge cost by repeated war.

The development of trade and munitions industry made national power increase, but it caused an unbalance among industries, and a birth of company syndicate.

Farmers and low-income workers became poor because of an accelerated inflation due to an improper financial policy additionally, on the other hand much upstarts were born.

Thus, the gap in income between rich and poor increased remarkably, and the people’s complaint increased.

On the other hand, urbanization advanced, and a livelihood of city inhabitants very improved.

Thus, literary arts and labor movement became popular in the urban area.

However, because the government assumed this movement the principal cause of uprising, the government oppressed it thoroughly, and executed the many leaders in 1916.

In this situation, Taisho democracy that aimed at the enforcement of universal suffrage and the establishment of party politics began from about 1916.

１９１０年から１９２０年代に、何が起きたのか？

帝国議会は開催されたが、制限選挙により投票の有権者は全国で裕福層４５万人に過ぎなかった。

政治の主導権はまだ維新の元勲が握り、やがて薩長閥の陸軍と海軍に握られて行くことになる。

これが政治の腐敗と軍事費の巨大化に繋がって行く。

政府は相次ぐ巨大戦費をまかなう為に既に貨幣増発と増税を繰り返していた。

貿易と軍需産業の発展は国力を増大させたが、産業間のアンバランスと財閥誕生を招いた。

不適切な金融政策も加わりインフレが亢進し、農民と低所得層が困窮する一方で成金が誕生した。

こうして貧富の差が著しく高まり、国民の不平不満は増大した。

一方で、都市化が進み、都市住民の生活は向上した。

こうして都市部で文芸や労働運動が盛んになった。

しかし政府はこれら運動を社会騒乱の元凶とし、１９１０年の大逆事件で徹底的に弾圧を加え、運動家の処刑を行った。

この状況下、普通選挙の実施と政党政治の確立を求める大正デモクラシー（１９１６年頃から）が花開くことになった。

＜　3.  this two films describes the harshness of worker at the time　　＞

＜　３．この時代の労働者の過酷さを描いた映画　＞

＜　4．area of influence by Japan in about 1910 is red parts　＞

＜　４．１９１０年頃の日本の勢力範囲、赤色部　＞

Overseas circumstances

At last, World War I (1914 -1918) happened because of one bullet.

After this, Japan entered a war boom, and easily obtained a Chinese part (a brown part of this map).

Japan already had possessed Taiwan, Korean Peninsula and northeastern China, and had got the foothold toward the continent.

This gave people economical benefit and hope, but made people bear each other a grudge and created an explosive situation.

The abandonment of Liaodong Peninsula due to The Triple Intervention in 1895 made Japan people very angry.

Because the people strongly were eager to get the territory that had been gotten by bloodshed, people became to diminish opposition to continuing war.

On the other hand, revolutions happened in succession in the world, in China of 1912, in Russia of 1917, and in Germany of 1918.

This heightened the motivation of reformation in Japan, but the government that was afraid of it came to aggrandize the oppression.

海外の状況

ついに、一発の銃弾から第一次世界大戦（１９１４～１８年）が勃発した。

これを機に、日本は軍需景気に沸き、また中国の一部（山東半島、地図の茶色部）を苦もなく手に入れることになった。

既に日本は台湾、朝鮮半島、満州を掌中に納め大陸への足がかりを得ていた。

これは国民に経済的恩恵と希望を与えたが、相互に遺恨を深めさせ一触即発を招くことになる。

三国干渉（１８９５年）による遼東半島の放棄は国民を憤慨させ、国民は血であがなった領土への執念を高め、続く戦争への抵抗を無くしていった。

一方、１９１２年中国、１７年ロシア、１８年ドイツと世界で相次いで革命が起きた。

これは国内に改革への希望を与えたが、恐れた政府は弾圧を強化していくことになる。

弾圧は残念ながら国民が選んだ政党内閣でも強化された。

＜　5.  the Great Kanto Earthquake in 1923　＞

＜　５．　関東大震災、１９２３年　＞

As the result, what happened?

Japan experience some critical moments in succession, rice riots in 1918, the Great Kanto Earthquake in 1923, the financial crisis in 1927, and the Great Depression in 1929.

Thus, Japan deepened economic aggravation and political uncertainty.

In this situation, the movement to ask for the democracy gained steam from about 1921.

Newspapers and the press supported this movement, then Universal Manhood Suffrage Act was proclaimed in 1925, and the qualified voters became 12,400,000.

However, the enforcement of the universal Manhood suffrage caused corruption due to plutocracy than establishment of party politics.

Thus, Japan had suffered the great depression and the political corruption, and before long assassination and oppression came to rage.

Japan has come to find a little brightness for overseas invasion.

Turning point of the press was caused by a proclamation of the Public Order and Police Law.

This law had been proclaimed at the same time as the universal Manhood suffrage Act, after that it was extended, and it perfectly suppressed the press and newspapers.

Thus, the newspapers finished the activity of half a century since the Meiji period, and the revival had to wait for our defeat in war.

This continues next time.

その結果、何が起きたのか

日本は、１９１８年の米騒動、１９２３年の関東大震災、１９２７年の金融恐慌、１９２９年の世界大恐慌に相次いで見舞われ、経済悪化と政情不安を深めて行くことになった。

こうした中、民主主義を求める運動（１９２１年頃から）が盛り上がった。

この運動を新聞や言論界が援護し、やがて１９２５年の普通選挙法公布へと結実させ、有権者は１２４０万人となった。

但し、女性が選挙権を得るのは、太平洋戦争後のGHQの命令を待たなければならなかった。

しかし、この普通選挙実施は政党政治の確立よりも金権政治による腐敗を招いた。

こうして恐慌と政治腐敗が日本を覆い、やがて暗殺と弾圧が吹き荒れた。

日本は海外侵攻に数少ない明るさを見出していくことになる。

報道の転換点は治安維持法でした。

これは普通選挙法と抱き合わせで成立し、後に拡大適用され報道と言論を封殺した。

こうして新聞は明治以来半世紀にわたる活躍に終止符を打ち、復活は敗戦を待たなければならなかった。

次回に続きます。