Background: Reason
1.
Reaction to western contact
The arrival and pressure
of foreigners in the mid-nineteenth century led to diverse reactions in Japan.
·
Japan's classicists and conservatives
opposed the increasing contact with the West, but their voice was not
effective.
·
Another ideology also appeared which
emphasized on 'coordination of Eastern morality and Western science' and
stressed on adopting the same means to counter the West.
·
There was also a third group of Japanese.
The basic mantra of which was complete westernization and modernization of
Japan. He wanted to completely adopt the western lifestyle. He believed that
Japan would not benefit by clinging to the old traditions and simultaneously
adopting the new culture. Japan must choose one of two paths.
After contact with the
Western world, this ideology prevailed in Japan. The Meiji Restoration of 1868 was the result of this trend.
2. Opposition to Shogun rule
At the time of European
pressure, Japan had a strange type of political system. The Mikado or Emperor
was the head of the state. But he was a nominal ruler. He lived in seclusion in
Kyoto and was considered a pure soul who was detached from the world. The
actual ruler was the Shogun known as the 'Shogun of Yedo'. Although the Shogun
of Yedo was running all the state affairs in the name of Mikado, still he could
not completely bring the other feudal dynasties under his control. The entry of
Europeans into Japan gave these rival feudal lords a golden opportunity to
depose the Tokugawa shogun.
3. Dissatisfaction of feudal lords
All the other feudal
houses of Japan had turned against the Tokugawa shogun. To maintain his control
over the big feudal lords, the Shogun had made various arrangements which
caused immense suffering to them. According to the 'Sankin Kotai' law, feudal
lords were prohibited from building forts, repairing them, building war ships,
minting coins, and marrying without the permission of the Shogun. He had to be
present in the Shogun's capital Yedo for four months every two years. When they
went back to their kingdom from Yedo, they had to leave their wives and
children there as hostages. Due to this, every feudal lord had to keep his
household in the capital itself, which was a burden from the economic point of
view.
4. Discrimination in state appointments
The Shogun was also very
partial in the appointment to high posts of the state. These posts were limited
to the people of the Tokugawa family and other feudal lords were kept away from
them. The feudal lords of Choshu, Satsuma and Tosa clan were very angry with
this discrimination policy of the Shogun and wanted to get rid of him. This
rift was increasing with time.
5. Dissatisfaction among samurai warriors
Under the Shogun rule,
the feudal lords of other families were greatly oppressed from the economic
point of view due to which their economic condition worsened day by day. They
were forced to cut back on their spending and eliminate samurai troops. This
created dissatisfaction among the samurai. They started committing theft and
robbery which caused chaos in the society. The samurai were deeply dissatisfied
with their situation and wanted a change in the prevailing system – that is,
the dominance of the Tokugawa shogun.
6. Dissatisfaction among traders and farmers
In the nineteenth
century, there was considerable progress in Japan's trade and a new business
class emerged which became a very prosperous section of the society. The feudal
lords had to take loans from these traders to meet their needs. Still, the
position of traders in the society was very low compared to the feudal lords.
The feeling of inferiority of the feudal class towards them was very irritating
to the traders due to which they were in favor of social change.
The Japanese peasantry
was also not satisfied with its condition. The entire burden of the feudal
system fell on the farmers. They were being crushed by the burden of taxes and
the strictness of governance. But gradually political awakening was coming
among them and they started rebelling. Their rebellion was against the Shogun
system.
7. Opposition to the Shogun by the feudal lords
Other feudal lords said
that due to the weakness and short-sightedness of the Shogun, Japan's
independence and sovereignty were in danger. He tried to sway public opinion in
his favor regarding the soft policy of the Shogun regime towards foreigners.
They felt that with this pretext they could escape from the clutches of the
Shogun. But there was no harmony among the feudal lords. Therefore, they had to
make the emperor the center of their activity. He raised the slogan of 'drive
out the barbarians', remove the shogun and increase the power of the emperor. Their
real objective was to increase his power under the guise of the emperor and
remove the restrictions imposed on him by the Shogun rule.
8. Increase anti-foreign sentiment
Meanwhile, sentiment
against foreigners continued to intensify in Japan. The feudal lords greatly
instigated this anti-feeling. Emperor Komei had also turned against the
foreigners. Coming under the influence of the Choshu feudal lords, he ordered
the Shogun to decide to expel all foreigners from the country by June 25, 1863. But, the officials of the Shogun
government thought that this work was no longer possible. But, the Choshu
people had exactly the opposite idea. They believed that foreigners
could be easily driven out of Japan and they themself
took the initiative to do so.
§ An
American ship was destroyed by shelling on June 25, 1863 by Choshu feudals.
§ On
September 14, 1862, Richardson was
killed by samurai warriors for insulting the Satsuma feudal lord.
They had to suffer the
consequences of both these incidents.
9. Conflict between Choshu and Shogun: Friendship between Choshu
and Satsuma
The Choshu and Satsuma
feudal lords had to look inferior to the foreigners. Now they started feeling
their weakness. He decided to carry out military reforms and organized a
standing army composed of Choshu samurai and common people.
The Shogun was enraged by
the Choshu people's provocative policy towards foreigners and decided to
suppress them (the Choshus) by taking military action. The Shogun sent a huge
army against them and the Choshu feudal lords were badly crushed. But, at the
same time the Satsuma people opposed it. They did not want the Choshus to be
completely exterminated. This time in the war, Choshu's army badly defeated the
Shogun. After this incident Choshu and Satsuma became very close to each other.
On March 7, 1866, a secret treaty was
signed between them by which it was decided to end the Shogun rule.
End of Shogun rule and Meiji Restoration
Tokugawa Keiki became
shogun in January, 1867. He had progressive views and
wanted to work together with everyone. He made many reforms in the
administrative military system. Seeing the Shogun regaining control, the
leaders of Choshu and Satsuma decided to quickly remove him by force. Emperor
Komei died in February 1867 and Mutsuhito ascended the
throne in his place. The new emperor was only fifteen years old at that time.
Therefore, anti-Shogun chieftains immediately established their influence over
him. On January 3, 1868, the troops
of Satsuma and Choshu captured the imperial palace and announced the
restoration of the emperor's power. The emperor assumed the surname 'Meiji'
(The Magnificent). This event is called 'Meiji Ishin' (Meiji Restoration). Due
to this, the next era was also named 'Meiji period'.
Tokugawa Keiki was a
far-sighted man, so he decided to accept this change and left the capital
peacefully. But other Tokugawa feudal lords did not agree to this. They decided
to fight. But, they could not stand before the royal army and were badly defeated.
The royal army moved towards Yedo. Keiki decided to surrender and sent his
letter of resignation to the Emperor. Some Tokugawa feudal lords still opposed
this change. But, it did not work for him. They were completely crushed and the
emperor's sole rule was established over the entire country. The Shogun rule
that had been going on for centuries ended.
New Constitution:
With the end of the
Shogun rule, there was a need for a new government system. In April, 1868, a 'Legislative Oath' was prepared which had the following
five sections -
1.
Assemblies will be established on a large
scale to consider state affairs and all government actions will be decided on
the basis of public opinion.
2.
All classes, high and low, will unite
among themselves to vigorously implement the plan of the State.
3.
All sections of the public will get an
opportunity to fulfill their legitimate aspirations so that there is no
dissatisfaction.
4.
The uncivilized customs of earlier ages
will be broken and everything will depend on the just and fair principles of
nature.
5.
Knowledge will be
obtained from the entire world so that the welfare of the empire will increase.
On April 7,
1868, all the feudal lords and courtiers supported it and
took oath and put their seals on it. The emperor appointed some advisors to run
the government. All of them were young and determined to work with renewed
enthusiasm. They resolved to rapidly adopt Western knowledge, culture and way
of life. A central organization was formed under the direction of these
persons. It had a plan of supreme administrator, supreme assembly, co-operative
assembly and seven departments. Daimyo and samurai were placed in the councils.
Legislature was divided into three houses. Sa-in (Left House), U-in (South
House) and Sei-in (Middle House) which were responsible for making laws,
running ministries and general maintenance respectively. But, all the power was
in the hands of the emperor and the people of the upper feudal class. Later,
there was a struggle against this system. But, in 1868 AD
the Meiji restoration work was completed.
Importance of
Meiji Restoration
1. End of feudal system
The seeds of Japan's
creation begin with the Meiji Restoration. Many such actions took place during
this period which led to many changes in the political and social sphere of
Japan. The feudal system was abolished in Japan. The history of feudalism in
Japan was very old. As a result, Japan's progress was halted. But, with the end
of feudalism, the path to progress also opened.
2. Development of Japanese nationalism
The Restoration saved
Japan from getting trapped in the clutches of foreign imperialism. Due to the
Restoration, unprecedented nationalism developed in Japan. Due to this, the
people of Japan became alert from the beginning against the intentions of the
foreigners and they saved the country from subjugation.
3. Growth of imperialist sentiment
As a result of the
Restoration, imperialist sentiments developed in Japan. There were many changes
in the internal condition of Japan due to which the rule there became very
strong and efficient. Japan's industrialization took place very rapidly and
Japan's military force increased immensely. Within a few days it became a very powerful
country. Because of this power, they adopted the policy of imperial expansion
and within no time it also transformed into an imperialist country.
4. Reconstruction of Japan
Due to the restoration,
the governance of Japan became organized. Now a parliament was established to
run the government and a new constitution was also made. Many types of rights
were provided to the citizens. Japan's army was also organized in a new way.
From this point of view also, restoration can be given a lot of importance.
5. Westernization of Japan
The Restoration paved the
way for Japan's progress. Contact with foreigners was established and the
Japanese started progressing in various fields by following Western
civilization and culture. Japan had to become equal to the western countries,
hence factories developed rapidly in Japan, new scientific weapons were made,
arrangements were made for higher education and a new army was organized on the
western style.
All these things made
Japan the greatest country in Asia. Japan was completely rejuvenated and the
Restoration gave it a new birth as a nation.
