1947年2月發生的「二二八事件」，是戰後臺灣史上最慘痛的不幸悲劇。此一事件發生背景，可謂錯綜複雜。本文詞從長官公署體制的特殊化、政治壟斷與接收弊端、經濟統制與民生困苦，以及社會動亂與文化隔閡四方面，對事件背景結構加以分析，得知事件的發生表面上看似為一連串的偶發衝突，但實際為各種遠因與近因累積造成的。事件從最初的導火線－單純的緝煙事件，因相關單位處理不當，而演變成為全省性的抗爭事件，僅短短數月，即在國民政府的鎮壓與安撫中迅速落幕。但此一事件對臺灣的傷害卻至深且鉅，影響深遠，不但打擊臺人心理，導致長期對政治恐懼與冷漠；造成菁英斷層，影響地方政治生態；而且有利國民黨一黨專政，阻礙民主政治發展；加深族群隔閡，不利臺灣文化的發展。

The 2-28 Incident that began in February 1947 is the most painful tragedy over the Taiwanese history. The background and causes of the 2-28 Incident are very complicated. Based on the available references and materials, the article is aimed to analyze the 2-28 Incident from the following four aspects: the special system of Taiwan Provincial Government, the political monopoly and the received corruption, the economic domination and the living poverty and the social disturbance and cultural differences. The 2-28 Incident began with the confiscation of the contraband cigarettes in Taipei and continued to spread out to the island wide anti-government movement. Lasting for only several months, the 2-28 Incident was quickly been repressed by the authorities but the impacts following were long and substantial. The 2-28 Incident shocked the people and caused the fears and unconcern to politics among Taiwanese. The slaughter during the 2-28 Incident also leaded to the shortage of educated Taiwanese, which initiated the environments for the dictatorship of Kuomintang for the following decades. Besides, the 2-28 Incident caused the differences among races, which damaged the development of Taiwanese culture.