Taishō Democracy
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Taishō Democracy (大正デモクラシー, Taishō demokurashī) was a period of political and social change in the Empire of Japan that began in the final years of the Meiji period and lasted through the Taishō period. The term typically refers to the years from roughly 1905 to 1932. The period was characterized by a broad movement for greater political participation, the rise of party politics, and the emergence of a vibrant civil society, including significant labor and social movements. This era of "imperial democracy" saw the power of the elected Diet expand and witnessed the establishment of party governments, a major shift from the earlier oligarchic rule of the genrō.
The movement's roots lay in the political framework of the Meiji Constitution, which created an elected lower house, and was fueled by the rise of a literate, urban populace and a growing working class. The era began with a wave of mass urban protests, most notably the 1905 Hibiya riots, which demonstrated a new popular desire to influence government policy. This "political crowd" expressed a nascent ideology that combined support for the emperor and empire with demands that the government respect the popular will. Concurrently, Japan's political parties, led by figures like Hara Kei and Katō Kōmei, transitioned from protest movements to "established parties" competing for control of the government, culminating in the establishment of the first true party cabinet under Hara in 1918.
The high point of the era in the 1920s saw the passage of the 1925 General Election Law, which granted universal male suffrage, expanding the electorate fourfold. This period also saw a "labor offensive", with the proliferation of labor unions and disputes, and the emergence of "proletarian parties" that contested elections. However, the expansion of political rights was accompanied by the repressive Peace Preservation Law, also passed in 1925, which targeted radical ideologies.
The era of Taishō Democracy came to an end in the early 1930s. The social and economic crisis of the Great Depression, coupled with the Manchurian Incident of 1931 and the rise of militarism, created an environment where parliamentary rule was seen as ineffective. After a series of political assassinations, most notably the May 15 Incident in 1932 which killed Prime Minister Inukai Tsuyoshi, party cabinets were replaced by "national unity" cabinets dominated by bureaucrats and military leaders, marking the end of the Taishō Democracy period and the transition to an era of "imperial fascism".