Japanese invasion of Taiwan (1895)

This article relies excessively on references to primary sources. Please improve this article by adding secondary or tertiary sources. Find sources: "Japanese invasion of Taiwan" 1895 – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (September 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Japanese Invasion of Taiwan (1895)
Japanese operations in Taiwan, 1895
Date 29 May – 21 October 1895 Location Taiwan and the Penghu Islands Result Japanese victory Collapse of the Republic of Formosa 7-year insurgency Territorial changes Annexation of Taiwan by Japan
Belligerents
Empire of Japan	Republic of Formosa Local militias
Commanders and leaders
Kabayama Sukenori Arichi Shinanojo Nogi Maresuke Prince Kitashirakawa Yoshihisa (DOW) Prince Fushimi Sadanaru Hishijima Yoshiteru	Tang Jingsong   Liu Yongfu
Strength
7,000, rising to 37,000 by October 1895 around a dozen warships	75,000 (ex-Qing regulars, local volunteers and Hakka militia)
Casualties and losses
Killed: 333 Wounded: 687 Died from disease: 6,903[1]	Killed: 14,000 including civilian casualties

The Japanese invasion of Taiwan, also known as Yiwei War in Chinese (Japanese: 台湾平定, Chinese: 乙未戰爭; May–October 1895), was a conflict between the Empire of Japan and the armed forces of the short-lived Republic of Formosa following the Qing dynasty's cession of Taiwan to Japan in April 1895 at the end of the First Sino-Japanese War. The Japanese sought to take control of their new possession, while the Republican forces fought to resist Japanese occupation. The Japanese landed near Keelung on the northern coast of Taiwan on 29 May 1895, and in a five-month campaign swept southwards to Tainan. Although their advance was slowed by guerrilla activity, the Japanese defeated the Formosan forces (a mixture of regular Chinese units and local Hakka militias) whenever they attempted to make a stand. The Japanese victory at Baguashan on 27 August, the largest battle ever fought on Taiwanese soil, doomed the Formosan resistance to an early defeat. The fall of Tainan on 21 October ended organised resistance to Japanese occupation, and inaugurated five decades of Japanese rule in Taiwan.