ASC 201 Chapter Notes - Chapter 5: Tokugawa Yoshinobu, Emperor Meiji, Meiji Period
6 May 2015
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Main events: commodore matthew perry sent (1853) Sonno joi: expel the barbarian, revere the emperor movement: anti-bakufu rebellions, choshu rebellion of 1864, choshu (satsuma) rebellion of 1866. 1867 tokugawa yoshinobu appointed shogun: reform initiatives meant to transform bakufu, anti-bakufu forces prevailed, november 1867 yoshinobu abdicates . Emperor meiji: small number of ambitious able, and patriotic young men. 1871 domains (han) were abolished and transformed into prefectures. Modernization: samurai lost their class privileges class equalization, armies of han disbanded, universal conscription created in 1872, national land tax system based on money. Priorities in meiji: domestic reform, government built railway and shipping lines, telegraph and telephone systems, compulsory education, encouraged business through subsidies and incentives. Rise of nationalism: civic idealogy centered on emperor, emperor and shinto brought to prominence, national unity. Social changes: abolition of feudalism, tremendous social change, free public school for at least six years. Economic changes: building infrastructure strained national finances, sold factories to private investors, corporate conglomerates: zaibatsu.
