Especially in politically unstable countries, when a regime changes, the philosophy of education changes. Politicians use education as a tool for conditioning the citizens to adopt a particular political ideology. In Taiwan, over the past 100 years, different regimes with different political agendas have used education for political indoctrinations during four periods of elementary schooling. The first period was from 1895 to 1945, when the Japanese ruled Taiwan and "becoming Japanese" was at the core of the educational system. After the Japanese lost Taiwan during World War II, the second period started in 1945 as the Republic of China (ROC) retreated to Taiwan after the civil war in China. The ROC government launched an education campaign that was based on "becoming Chinese" (Wilson 1970). The third period started in 1987, when democratic movements forced political and cultural changes. The fourth period began in 2000, when the Taiwanese elected their own Taiwan-born president. Educators then called for "Taiwanese consciousness" and an education reform curriculum that emphasized becoming Taiwanese. Each period of education reflects the political objectives of the regime in power.