Explain the reasons for the popularity of ‘Go-East Movement’.
In the first decade of the 20th century, ‘Go-East Movement’ was launched. In 1907-08, some 300 Vietnamese nationalist students went to Japan to acquire modern education.
For many of them, the primary objective was to drive out the French from Vietnam. They wanted to overthrow the puppet emperor and tried to re-establish the Nguyen dynasty that had been deposed by the French.
These nationalists looked for foreign arms and help. They appealed to the Japanese Government as fellow Asians. They established a branch of the Restoration Society in Tokyo, but after 1908, the Japanese Ministry of Interior clamped down on them.