The direct costs of the Qing government's fiasco in the Sino-Japanese Sino-Japanese War of 18951894-/KLOC-0 included signing the treaty of shimonoseki and paying the ransom to Liao. The treaty of shimonoseki stipulated that the Japanese military expenditure should be compensated by 200 million taels of silver, and allowed to set up a factory in China, which formally recognized the legitimate right of foreign capital to directly invest in China, because all the great powers have the privilege of "sharing benefits". The implementation of this regulation directly led to the losses of private westernization enterprises: after the war, the Qing government's finances were at the end of their tether because of the huge war reparations. Not only can it not continue to build large-scale westernization enterprises, but it also implements the policy of "abandoning the helmet and unloading the armor" for private enterprises. 1in June, 895, the Qing government issued an imperial edict, deciding to "change the plan as soon as possible and invite investment to undertake" private enterprises. Mainly sold to domestic bureaucrats, landlords and businessmen. Among the sold enterprises, some suffered serious losses due to poor management, and foreign capital with legal status was lured in China by means of "Sino-foreign joint ventures" and loans, thus being controlled by foreign powers or directly reduced to foreign capital in China. Kaiping Mining Bureau, the largest coal mining enterprise at that time, was cheated by British capital in the form of "Sino-foreign joint venture" at 1900. The rest are generally transformed into domestic national capitalist enterprises. Non-governmental westernization enterprises are the material basis and core of the "seeking wealth" of the Westernization Movement, and their loss in succession indicates the bankruptcy of the "seeking wealth" of the Westernization Movement to a great extent.
After the war, the Qing government, unwilling to be corrupt, held a big sale on private enterprises and at the same time carried out new "seeking money" activities. But at this time, the "seeking wealth" activities were mainly limited to the opening of banks. The bank established at this time does not exist as a lever to promote army building and economic development. Its main function is to "collect private capital to replace foreign debts". Because the "seeking wealth" activity after the war not only became a sport because of its scale, but also lost its positive connotation, it is said that the "seeking wealth" activity after the war has shrunk greatly.
After the Sino-Japanese War, the losses of private westernization enterprises and the great contraction of the Qing government's "seeking wealth" activities indicated that the Sino-Japanese War declared the bankruptcy of the Westernization Movement.
Second, the Sino-Japanese War declared the Westernization Movement "self-improvement" bankrupt militarily.
The new army and military facilities established in the Westernization Movement are the material basis and focus of "self-improvement". Among them, military facilities serve the army building, and the new army is the core of "self-improvement". Beiyang navy is the essence of the new army. It was established by Li Hongzhang, the leader of the Westernization Movement, under the principle of "purchasing western military equipment first" for decades, and it was the first "powerful country" in China at that time. As far as the navy is concerned, there are many new iron ships, clippers and mosquito ships, and its military capabilities are far from those of Nanyang and Fujian navies. As far as the army is concerned, there are about 2 1000 elite soldiers. In terms of training and equipment, it lags far behind the garrisons in various provinces, green camp and even the Xiang Army. In the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1894, this "powerhouse" was bound by Li Hongzhang's compromise and concession policy and was doomed to failure: from the perspective of the army, it was defeated from the Korean battlefield to the domestic battlefield in July 1894, and it was completely defeated; From the naval point of view, beiyang fleet was the first to bear the brunt in the two battles of 1894 from July to September. Later, in the battle of ahava in February 1895, it suffered heavy losses. Later, the navy prefect Ding was forced to commit suicide by taking poison. Some traitorous officers and men took the opportunity to go down to Japan and gave all the remaining warships 1 1 and Liu Gongdao battery ordnance to the enemy. By April 1895, the Beiyang navy was completely annihilated. Its demise, to a certain extent, declared the bankruptcy of the Westernization Movement "self-improvement".
After the war, the "self-improvement" activities organized by the Qing government continued. However, due to the loss of government financial support and the nourishment of private enterprise resources, the scale of "self-improvement" activities is not as good as before. For example, the construction of the navy has basically been abandoned. The construction of military enterprises has also stopped. Some former military enterprises are struggling to survive. The "self-improvement" activity organized by the Qing government after the war was a spent force, and it was not a movement in scale.
During the Sino-Japanese War, the Beiyang Navy was completely annihilated, and the post-war "self-improvement" activities shrank sharply, indicating that the Sino-Japanese War declared the Westernization Movement bankrupt.
Third, the Sino-Japanese War declared the bankruptcy of the Westernization Movement politically.
After the war, the Westernization School was divided, opposed and changed, and it was difficult to form a consistent political force. Influenced by the defeat of the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, Li Hongzhang, the actual organizer of the Westernization Movement, fell into a situation of group crusade, saying that "everyone in China can kill". Soon, the court transferred him from the position of governor of Zhili and minister of Beiyang to the cabinet to weaken his power. In this case, he turned to self-protection and never recovered. Another key figure of the Westernization School, Prince Gong Yixin, who advocated "self-improvement", turned into a diehard loyalty. Although Zhang Zhidong, a rising star of the Westernization School, was ambitious, he was ultimately isolated. In addition, he opposed the cession of land during the peaceful war and was at odds with Li Hongzhang. After the war, the call for further reform came not only from the bourgeois reformists, but also from the powerful figures of the Westernization School, such as Zhang Zhidong, Liu Kunyi, Wang Wenshao and Sheng Xuanhuai. Li Hongzhang also said that "as for the fundamental plan, we should strengthen ourselves through reform." Before the war, the Westernization School was powerful and had rich political experience, which made the Westernization Movement break through many obstacles and develop. After the war, its differentiation, opposition and variation also predicted the bankruptcy of the Westernization Movement. In addition, the national crisis brought about by the defeat of the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895 directly stimulated the emergence of the bourgeois reform movement aimed at saving the nation, advocating "civil rights" and "establishing parliament". The development of this movement shows that the social trend and the focus of the times have changed, and the Westernization Movement has become a thing of the past.
To sum up, the Sino-Japanese War declared the bankruptcy of the Westernization Movement. Although the Westernization Movement went bankrupt, its historical contribution to China's modernization is undeniable.