体制再統合の試みと「帝国」イデオロギーの形成

Abstract

After the Sino-Japanese war, the schism between nationalism and democracy deepened and split into two different directions. The former expanded into Empire-ism, the latter was absorbed into socialism which grew from the beginning of this century. After the Russo-Japanese war, especially, social contradictions became evident, and antagonisms and so-called “social problems” emerged. Under these circumstances, reintegration policies were sought by many leaders. In this period, the main and common concern of political opinion leaders was to build a “strong and rich state” which was not only militarily powerful but strong industrially and commercially. To achieve these ends, they urged the suppression of socialism and the labor movement, and pushed for policies strengthening “constitutionalism (esp. policial parties)”, “social reform (esp. factory legislation)” and “new education”.To expand markets abroad and enhance international prestige, certain domestic reforms were inevitable. Symbolically speaking, “Empire can exist neither in name nor in reality, if it keeps slums in it”. This was their belief.And thus gradually “great nation” building and “Empire” formation became their main concern.Based on certain domestic reforms, arousing the people's loyality to the Tenno-state, they prepared for expansion of Japan's influence abroad, economically. They named their policy “ethical-” and “constitutional-” or “economic-” and “peaceful-” Empire-ism.Thus the Meiji absolute monarchy was transformed into “Empire-Japan” from the end of the Meiji Era to the beginning of the Taisho Era. Empire-ist Okuma's cabinet and its intervention policy in China symbolized this process.In this article, I will discuss, at first, “the premature imperialistic practice” and ideology of Meiji state, and then analyse the ideology of “economic-” and “constitutional-” Empire-ism, and then, trace the characteristics of, “the theory of social policy school” and its relation to Empire-ism. Finally I will trace the real process of post-Russo-Japanese war policy, and point out that the ideology of “Empire-ism” became dominant gradually and grew from a ideology to the controlling policy abroad and at home, and at the same time, I will show that this process of reintegration was primarilly against the growth of socialism.