The year 1919 was a significant moment for both imperial and colonized countries. While the imperial countries engaged in hegemonic struggle involving the ownership of the colonial territories, the colonized nations were seeking chances to liberate themselves. Against that backdrop, the Samil(March 1) Independence Movement took the front line in a struggle against attempts to revert to ‘ancien regime’ as well as the invading forces from outside. Due to a wide discrepancy of state power between the colonial and colonized countries, the movement largely failed to achieve its goal, but it was certainly a surprising resistance against the imperial powers. Accordingly, the movement should be understood and assessed from the perspective of the world history, rather than narrow domestic views. The Samil(March 1) Movement has also a significant meaning in Korean history. It is because of the rise of ‘minjung’(masses) as the leading force of history, rather than the conventional controlled class. The masses called for new type of state and government organization and the Republic of Korea was established in response to the call. The ROK Provisional Government was also set up as the first democratic republic in the entire Korean history. Concerning these and others factors, it would be more than rightful to say that the Samil(March 1) Independence Movement and the ROK Provisional Government have secured the historical properness and legitimacy of themselves. The fact that the nation could realize modernization through independence movement deserves high appreciation. The ROK Provisional Government has an outstanding prestige in the world history of anti-colonialism. More than 27-year-long struggle based on an already-established government and state structure has been unprecedented elsewhere in the world. The year 1919 was a starting point for the nation to make such history and for Korean independence fighters to proactively utilize circumstance to change the global trend. Some refuse to recognize the ROK Provisional Government as the root of the Republic of Korea in the sense that it had failed to put the people and territory under its control. But such a claim is mostly based on the perspectives of imperial countries and it is truly short-sighted and improper. We need to deal with the issue from the viewpoints of the colonized countries which actually carried out independence movements. It is improper to view the issues based on the history of some imperial countries while neglecting the historical perspectives of many other oppressed nations. The Western imperial nations underwent civilian revolution in the lead up to the formation of democratic and civic states. The Korean people eventually reaped fruits equivalent to western civilian revolution through the independence movement. The Korean history demonstrated an exemplary model of developing a modern society as well as coping with national issues in the process of carrying out anti-colonial struggle. The ‘Theory of Independence Movement as Modernization’ can thus have persuasive assertiveness. The year of 1919 was a period regarded as a good opportunity for the colonized nations to fight for their freedom. Among the world’s colonized countries, Korea took the front in a struggle for realizing sovereign independence and modernization and demonstrated exemplary process of cultivating modernization via independence movement. This is the reason why we should assess the Samil Independence Movement and the ROK Provisional Government within the context of the world history.

The year 1919 was a significant moment for both imperial and colonized countries. While the imperial countries engaged in hegemonic struggle involving the ownership of the colonial territories, the colonized nations were seeking chances to liberate themselves. Against that backdrop, the Samil(March 1) Independence Movement took the front line in a struggle against attempts to revert to ‘ancien regime’ as well as the invading forces from outside. Due to a wide discrepancy of state power between the colonial and colonized countries, the movement largely failed to achieve its goal, but it was certainly a surprising resistance against the imperial powers. Accordingly, the movement should be understood and assessed from the perspective of the world history, rather than narrow domestic views. The Samil(March 1) Movement has also a significant meaning in Korean history. It is because of the rise of ‘minjung’(masses) as the leading force of history, rather than the conventional controlled class. The masses called for new type of state and government organization and the Republic of Korea was established in response to the call. The ROK Provisional Government was also set up as the first democratic republic in the entire Korean history. Concerning these and others factors, it would be more than rightful to say that the Samil(March 1) Independence Movement and the ROK Provisional Government have secured the historical properness and legitimacy of themselves. The fact that the nation could realize modernization through independence movement deserves high appreciation. The ROK Provisional Government has an outstanding prestige in the world history of anti-colonialism. More than 27-year-long struggle based on an already-established government and state structure has been unprecedented elsewhere in the world. The year 1919 was a starting point for the nation to make such history and for Korean independence fighters to proactively utilize circumstance to change the global trend. Some refuse to recognize the ROK Provisional Government as the root of the Republic of Korea in the sense that it had failed to put the people and territory under its control. But such a claim is mostly based on the perspectives of imperial countries and it is truly short-sighted and improper. We need to deal with the issue from the viewpoints of the colonized countries which actually carried out independence movements. It is improper to view the issues based on the history of some imperial countries while neglecting the historical perspectives of many other oppressed nations. The Western imperial nations underwent civilian revolution in the lead up to the formation of democratic and civic states. The Korean people eventually reaped fruits equivalent to western civilian revolution through the independence movement. The Korean history demonstrated an exemplary model of developing a modern society as well as coping with national issues in the process of carrying out anti-colonial struggle. The ‘Theory of Independence Movement as Modernization’ can thus have persuasive assertiveness. The year of 1919 was a period regarded as a good opportunity for the colonized nations to fight for their freedom. Among the world’s colonized countries, Korea took the front in a struggle for realizing sovereign independence and modernization and demonstrated exemplary process of cultivating modernization via independence movement. This is the reason why we should assess the Samil Independence Movement and the ROK Provisional Government within the context of the world history.

Samil(March 1) Independence Movement, Democratic Republic, ROK Provisional Government, Theory of Independence Movement as Modernization, Theory of Colonial Modernization