March Incident

The March Incident (三月事件, Sangatsu Jiken) was an abortive coup d'état attempt in Japan, in March 1931, launched by the radical Sakurakai secret society within the Imperial Japanese Army, aided by civilian ultranationalist groups.

Background and History

The start of the March Incident of 1931 may be traced back to the autumn of 1930, when the foundation of the Sakurakai (Cherry Society) by Imperial Japanese Army Lieutenant Colonel Kingoro Hashimoto and Captain Isamu Chō. The cherry blossom was symbolic of self-sacrifice, and was a symbol used by the military to symbolize the fleeting life of a soldier. The avowed goal of the Sakurakai was political reform through elimination of corrupt party politics and the establishment of a totalitarian state socialist government run by the military. The new government would rid the country of corrupt politics, unfair distribution of wealth in the zaibatsu and perceived degenerative influences corrupting Japan's public morals.

After the attempted assassination of Prime Minister Osachi Hamaguchi, Prince Kinmochi Saionji (the last genrō ) and Lord Privy Seal Makino Nobuaki considered recommending General Kazushige Ugaki to the post of prime minister. However, they later decided that a civilian nominee would be best for Japan at the time. This change incensed the militarist party within the Imperial Japanese Army, and several leading generals called on Hashimoto and his Sakurakai to plan a coup d'etat to bring Ugaki into power.

March 15 incident

March 15 incident (三・一五事件, San ichi-gō jiken) was a crackdown on socialists and communists by the Japanese government in 1928. Among those who were arrested in the incident was Marxist economist Kawakami Hajime.

Background

Although the Japan Communist Party had been outlawed and forced underground immediately after its foundation in 1922, it continued to gather strength and membership in the volatile social and economic climate of Japan in the 1920s. During the February 1928 General Election, which was the first held in Japan following the passage of universal male suffrage, the Japan Communist Party was very visible in its support of the legal socialist and labor-oriented political parties. Alarmed by gains these parties made in the Diet of Japan, the conservative government of Prime Minister Giichi Tanaka (which had retained its majority by only one seat) evoked the provisions of the 1925 Peace Preservation Laws and ordered the mass arrest of known communists and suspected communist sympathizers. The arrests occurred throughout Japan, and a total of 1652 people were apprehended.

31 March Incident

The 31 March Incident (Turkish: 31 Mart Vakası or 31 Mart Olayı or 31 Mart Hadisesi or 31 Mart İsyanı) was the put down of the Ottoman countercoup of 1909 by the Hareket Ordusu ("Army of Action"), which was the 11th Salonika Reserve Infantry Division of the Third Army (Ottoman Empire) stationed in the Balkans commanded by Mahmud Shevket Pasha on 24 April 1909. The counter coup began on 31 March on the Rumi calendar, which was the official calendar of the Ottoman Empire, but 13 April 1909 in the Gregorian Calendar. What was referred as rebellion (some rebellious Ottoman soldiers) from the point of view of Constitutionals began 13 April 1909 and put down on (by some other Ottoman soldiers) on 24 April are two different events 11 days apart. Ottoman historiography link two events under the name 31 March Incident but refers to the Hareket Ordusu, the consequences of restoration of constitution one more time (that is the third time; 1876, 1908 and 1909) with the deposition of Abdul Hamid II with his younger brother Mehmed V.