How Did The Effect Of The March First Movement

The March 1st Movement did little to repel the Japanese, as the suppression of the demonstration by the Japanese officers was still present, as said by Bang Ji-il, Survivor of March 1st Movement “I still remember the younger men who had actively participated in the movement getting beat up by the Japanese soldiers with their guns.” This shows that the repression of the Japanese Government was still in place, which implied that Japan had the military power to retain its colony. It was successful in replacing the military police by a civilian force but besides this, a drastic change in policy wasn’t visible.

Nearly thirty different publications were printed and distributed in 1919, stimulated by the movement. The circumstances were however,

In March-April, 1919, there were 24 strikes and a total of 102 for the entire year. 11,000 workers participated, in an industrial labor force of approximately 50,000. This compares with an average of 4 or 5 strikes per year involving an average of 300-400 workers from 1913 to 1918, which clearly indicates the effect of the March 1st Movement and the fact that more workers were now involved in regaining Korea. This therefore, conveys how the movement was able to stimulate nationalism to workers and

The first response came from the Korean Nationalist Association based in Hawaii. They planned to send a delegation to the Peace Conference and to petition President Wilson to recognise the independence of Korea after the War. Unfortunately their plans did not come to fruition and they ended up petitioning the President through the New York Times. The New Korea Youth Association based in Shanghai however, were successful in their endeavour to send a delegate to the Paris Peace Conference with a petition for Korean independence. Two copies of a petition for Korean independence were prepared, with one copy addressed to President Wilson, and the other to the Peace Conference. At the same time Kim Kyu-Sik was sent from Beijing to carry out propaganda activities for Korea at the Conference. Additionally response also came from an unlikely source - Japan. The Korean students studying in Tokyo organised a committee which recommended that a `Declaration of Korean Independence' be sent to the Japanese