Calm before the Storm

After the war, the Taiwanese joyously welcomed their counterparts from the ‘motherland' in expectation of a new prosperous era. However, after fifty years of Japanese rule, Taiwan had already grown far apart from China, with obvious differences in thinking and standard of living. These differences caused various cultural conflicts and tensions between the Taiwanese and the mainland Chinese, and planted the seeds for the 2-28 Incident.

The Taiwanese welcomed the Nationalist government, but found that it was a throwback to corrupt regimes found in Chinese history. The Nationalist government brought turbulence to Taiwan with poor public security, high prices on essential commodities, severe unemployment, and disease. The high hopes of the Taiwanese gradually faded, and eventually turned into anger and indignation. This downward turn played a major role in the 2-28 Incident.