UCLA Asia Institute
Today in Asian History
March 1
1919 Beginning of the March First or Samil
Independence movement, an uprising in Korea against Japanese colonial rule. Korean
students in Japan had demonstrated against the Japanese occupation of Korea and in Seoul a
small group of 33 issued a "Proclamation of Independence." Christian and
nationalist groups led protests against the Japanese. Initially, Japanese forces sought to
surpress the movement and thousands were arrested or killed. Eventually, however, Japanese
officials responded by loosening its rein on Korea for most of the 1920s, a decade now
noted for its significant economic, social, and intellectual developments. Click here to
see how the South
Korean government describes the movement. 1938 USSR loaned US$50 million to China for its
war with Japan. 1950 Chiang Kai-shek (1887-1975) resumed the
presidency of the Nationalist Chinese government on Taiwan. He had resigned the presidency
while still on the Chinese mainland in January 1949. Lycos's Infoplease
offers a brief biography of Chiang, who would remain president of the Nationalist regime
on Taiwan until his 1975 death. Compton's Encyclopedia
Online offers a biography and photographs of Chiang. Henry Luce, founder of the Time-Life empire, was a
long-time admirer and champion of Chiang and his Nationalist government. In 1937, Time
Magazine named Chiang and his wife, Soong Mei-ling, "International
Man and Wife of the Year." See the magazine cover. Following the defeat of Japan in 1945, China
regained control over Taiwan. In 1947, Chiang's Nationalist forces violently suppressed
demonstration against the government's policies and practices. In 1949, following his
defeat on the Chinese mainland, Chiang moved his state and military apparatus to Taiwan. A pro-Taiwanese independence site
offers pages devoted to this suppression and the "Chiang dynasty." According to a 1997 Fox News summary
of a China Times report, after establishing the Nationalist regime in
Taiwan in 1949, Chiang worked to maintain American support via payments to United States
politicians and political parties. Chiang died in 1975. His successors erected a massive memorial hall in his
honor. 1954 The United States announced it successfully
exploded a hydrogen bomb on Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean. The Republic of the Marshall Islands
website includes a chronology of weapons testing there and a map of the affected area.
Bikini Atoll has its own website with
pictures of the crater left by the explosion and information about calls for reparations
and clean-up of the damage left by the nuclear weapons program. The PBS series "The
American Experience" program "Race for the Superbomb"
website includes a map of nuclear test sites all over the world. Click
here to see a photo of the explosion. It is part of an on-line gallery created by
Charles Overbeck called "Cold War, Hot Nukes." The AI "Today in Asian History" page was compiled by Clayton Dube.
He welcomes your comments and suggestions. Send them to <cdube@isop.ucla.edu>. Copyright 1998-2001 by the UCLA Center for East
Asian Studies.
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