Why did the Japanese annex Korea in 1910?
             The subject of Japanese-Korean relations in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century is extremely controversial and potentially volatile, evoking powerful emotional reactions in both countries today. Consequently, the reasons for Japan's eventual annexation of Korea remain highly debatable, exemplified by the contention surrounding the remark made by the Japanese Prime Minister Moriyama Tomiichi suggesting that Japan's annexation of Korea was based on a 'legally valid' agreement between the two countries. Indeed, finding a degree of 'truth' in such a subject is by no means easy and this essay will try to be aware of the potential pitfalls that pro-Korean or pro-Japanese sentiment gives to the discipline. Nevertheless, most historians are in agreement that Japan's annexation was not directed at ensuring 'the common wealth of the two nations' but rather predominantly the wealth and security of the larger power. Similarly, the annexation probably represents the culmination of an evolution over several years where Korea was 'swallowed up in stages' , rather than anything dramatic or unexpected. Arguably Japan never originally intended to take control of her Korean neighbours but instead reacted to changing circumstances and environments. All this will theoretically be addressed in this essay, which will hope to arouse some contention while commanding a degree of objectivity.
             It may be argued that the annexation of Korea by Japan in 1910 was an effect of the growing Japanese imperialism that was itself formulated as a response to the intrusion of the Western imperialists into East Asia. In the eyes of professor Eto, Meiji Japan was 'weak and puny' compared to her European neighbours before she embarked on her colonial mission. Consequently, Japan became obsessed with finding what it called its 'proper place&...