『大東亜戦争への道』（展転社）
中村 粲
その１３ 第三章 第六節 日露戦争：日露戦争の世界史的意義
日露戦争の重大意義は、アジア及び世界の抑圧された民族に希望と自信を与え、その民族独立運動を促したことです。
地理上の発見以降、アジアは年を追い、世紀を追って勢力東漸の波に洗われ、白人国家の圧迫と支配を受けるに至りました。１９世紀末から２０世紀初頭にかけて、アジア太平洋地域の諸国は西洋列強の植民地になるか、領土の一部を侵奪されるかの運命に於かれていました。その唯一の例外が日本でした。
日露戦争は有色人種の白色人種に対する勝利であり、また立憲国家の専制国家に対する勝利の戦いでもありました。
「大きな興奮がインド全土を駆け巡った。片田舎の村でさえ、インド人たちは車座になって、また夜は水煙草の壺の周りに集まって日本の勝利について語りあっている」とインドを旅行した英国人が書いています。
もっとも衝撃の大きかったのは中国でした。日清戦争以後、中国人の日本留学生は漸増しましたが、日露戦争中からその数は激増し、戦争の終わった明治３９（1906）年、東京在留の中国人留学生の数は1万5千にも達したのです。
日清戦争での清の敗北は中国の知識階級に「日本はなぜ強いのか」との疑問を投げかけましたが、今や中国人留学生は直接日本の社会に触れ、日本が維新によって外圧を克服し、立憲君主制と富国強兵を通じて近代国家に躍進した歴史の道筋を理解したのです。
ロンドンに在った孫文が、東京の同志の要請で再び日本に戻ったのは、明治38（1905）年、日本の決定的勝利によって東洋が感激と興奮に包まれているときでした。同年東京で『中国革命同盟会』が成立し、日本は中国革命運動の本部となったのでした。
魯迅の弟の周作人は書いています。
「私が初めて東京へ行ったのは明治39年、ちょうど日露戦争の終わった翌年のことである。…そのころの日本は私どもに二つの大きな影響を与えたなだった。一つは明治維新、一つは日露戦争である。当時中国の知識階級は祖国の危機を痛切に感じ、いかにすれば国を救い西洋各国の侵略を免れ得るか、ということに最も腐心していた。そこで日本が明治維新を成功させ、変法自強の道を発見したのを見て大いに奮起し、ロシアに勝利したのを見て少なからず勇気づけられ、西洋に抵抗して東亜の保全を図るのは不可能ないことを思い知った。」
日本の勝利が独立運動家に勇気と希望を与え、民族主義の機運を見り上げたのは、フィリピン、ベトナム、ビルマ、インドネシア他多数に及びました。
・その１３，第３章６節 日本語原文：http://hassin.org/01/wp-content/uploads/Road13.pdf
・ 〃 第３章６節 英訳文：https://www.sdh-fact.com/CL/Road13E.pdf
令和５年５月８日
「史実を世界に発信する会」 会長 茂木弘道
協力者代表：神奈川大学教授 小山和伸
＊拡散大歓迎
THE ROAD TO THE GREATER EAST ASIAN WAR
Nakamura Akira, Dokkyo University Professor Emeritus
(English Translation: Society for the Dissemination of Historical Fact)
Part 13, Chapter 3: The Russo-Japanese War-6
Consequential effects of the Japanese victory in the Russo-Japanese War were the confidence and hope it provided to the people of Asian and to oppressed people in other parts of the world, and the encouragement it gave to independence movements.
Asia was plagued for years, for centuries even, since the Western world discovered it, by Western encroachment, and became the victim of exploitation and subjugation by the white race. Between the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the nations of the Asia-Pacific region suffered the fate of either being colonized by Western powers or losing portions of their territory to Western usurpation. The one exception to this rule was Japan.
The Russo-Japanese War was a conflict in which people of color defeated the white race, and a constitutional state defeated a despotic one.
An Englishman travelling in India made the following observation: “Excitement spread through all of India. Even in remote villages Indians sat in circles, or at night gathered around a hookah to talk about the Japanese victory.”
But the most shocked of all were the Chinese. Since the 1st Sino-Japanese War, the number of Chinese exchange students in Japan had steadily increased, but after the Russo-Japanese War it ballooned. In 1906, the year after the war ended, there were 15,000 Chinese exchange students in Tokyo.
After China’s defeat in the 1st Sino-Japanese War, Chinese intellectuals were at a loss to understand how Japan had become so powerful. But after the Russo-Japanese War, Chinese students were able to come into direct contact with Japanese society, they began to understand the path of Japanese history by learning how Japan had overcome foreign pressure by initiating the Meiji Renovation, and made a giant leap to modern-nation status by establishing a constitutional monarchy and adopting a slogan: Revere the Emperor, expel the Barbarians!
Encouraged by like-minded Chinese in Tokyo, Sun Yat-sen returned to Japan from London in July 1905, a time when Asia was enveloped in gratitude and excitement because of the decisive Japanese victory. In August 1905, the Chinese Revolutionary Alliance was born. Japan became the center of the Chinese revolutionary movement.
Zhou Zuoren, younger brother of the distinguished writer Lu Xun, later reminisced about how the Japanese victory inspired him.
“The first time I went to Tokyo was in 1906, the year after Japan won the Russo-Japanese War. … I was greatly impressed by two Japanese achievements of that era: the Meiji Renovation and the Russo-Japanese War. At that time Chinese intellectuals were painfully aware of the crisis that confronted our country. They were struggling desperately to think of a way to protect China from Western encroachment. When they learned that the Meiji Renovation had been a success and that the Japanese had discovered a path to strengthening their nation through widespread reforms, they were greatly encouraged. When Japan defeated Russia, they were even more heartened, realizing it might just be possible to find a way to preserve Asian integrity and resist the Western powers.”
URL: https://www.sdh-fact.com/book-article/2063/
PDF: https://www.sdh-fact.com/CL/Road13E.pdf
MOTEKI Hiromichi, Chairman
Society for the Dissemination of Historical Fact