Japanese Colonial Rule and Independence Movement
What this domain tests
Questions cover the 1910 annexation, colonial policies, the March First Movement, the Provisional Government, armed resistance, and wartime mobilization.
Core facts
- Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty: 1910; colonial rule lasted to 1945.
- March First Movement: 1919, triggered by Woodrow Wilson's self-determination language and Korean grievances; it did not achieve independence.
- Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea was established in Shanghai in 1919.
- Battle of Cheongsanri (1920) was a Korean independence army victory in Manchuria.
- Cultural rule in the 1920s replaced overt military rule but did not end repression.
- From the 1930s: Soshi-kaimei (name change), conscription, and resource extraction.
Worked example
Stem: "What was a direct result of the March First Movement?" Reason: the movement was suppressed, but it led to the Provisional Government and to a shift in Japanese rule labeled cultural rule. It did not produce immediate independence, so avoid that option.
Traps
- "Cultural rule" is a policy label, not evidence of liberal colonial governance.
- The Provisional Government was in exile, not in Seoul.
- 1919 is not the annexation date; 1910 is.
- Wartime mobilization in the 1930s-1940s is distinct from earlier colonial rule.