Meiji Restoration in Japan - a set of government events held in 1868-1889. She is associated with the formation of a new system of government. The events allowed to break the traditional way of life of the population and to accelerate the implementation of the achievements of the West. Let us further consider how the Meiji restoration took place.
The formation of a new government
After the shogun Tokugawa Yoshinobu returned power to the emperor, a new government was formed. In early January 1868, he proclaimed a decree on the beginning of administrative changes. According to the document, the Tokugawa shogunate ceased to exist. Thus, state administration passed to the emperor and his government. At the meetings, it was decided to strip the former shogun of most of the land, titles and ranks. Supporters of the previous government opposed such a decision. As a result, the state split into two parts. The country started a civil war.
Resistance
At the end of January, supporters of the former shogunate attempted to capture Kyoto in order to restore their rule. Against them came a few, but modernized forces of the emperor. On January 27-30, 1868, the rebels were defeated at the battle of Toba Fushimi. The imperial army moved to the northeast. In May 1868, Edo capitulated. Throughout the summer and fall, troops fought in the northern part of the state against the Northern Union, which also sided with the former shogunate. But in November, the resistance army was finally defeated with the surrender of Aizu-Wakamatsu castle.
After the overthrow of Yoshinobu, most of the state recognized imperial power. However, the core of supporters of the former shogunate, led by the Aizu clan, continued active resistance. A battle took place, which lasted a month. As a result, on September 23, 1868, Aizu admitted defeat, after which most of the young White Tiger detachment committed suicide. A month later, Edo was renamed to Tokyo. From that moment, the Meiji story began.
Government structure
In the course of civil resistance, imperial power established its own political standards. In February 1868, the government declared its legitimacy to representatives of foreign countries. The emperor acted as head of the country, respectively. He had the right to carry out foreign policy activities, to establish diplomatic relations. An oath of Five Points was issued in early April. It laid out the basic principles by which the Meiji restoration in Japan was to go through. These five points provided for:
- Collegiality of government.
- Participation in the development of decisions of representatives of all classes.
- Refusal of xenophobia.
- Compliance with international law.
- The openness of the state to the world in order to obtain the knowledge necessary to strengthen governance.
In June 1868, a new government structure was approved by decree on state organization. It became known as the House of the Great State Council. From the United States Constitution, the government borrowed the principle of a formal separation of powers into representative, judicial, and executive branches. Officials were obliged to re-elect to their posts every 4 years. In the structure of the central office, senior services were approved. They performed the tasks of the ministries. In the regions, junior services were formed, representing the central government in the administrative-territorial units. After capturing Edo and renaming it in Tokyo in October, they adopted the new Meiji motto. Japan received a new capital.
Ads for the public
Despite the fact that the management system was significantly updated, the government was in no hurry to carry out socio-economic reforms. At the beginning of April 1868, 5 public announcements were published for citizens. They set forth the principles traditional for the previous era of government. They were based on Confucian morality. The government called on citizens to obey their superiors, be faithful spouses, and respect their elders and parents. Along with this, restrictions were also provided. So, rallies and protests, public organizations, and the practice of Christianity were not allowed.
Administrative changes
As one of the conditions for the formation of a unitary state, the liquidation of the previous structure was made. The administrative-territorial units were autonomous principalities, which were governed by the daimyo. During the civil war, the government confiscated the shogunate’s possessions and divided them into prefectures. Along with this, territories remained that were not directly controlled by the emperor.
Meiji rule suggested that the monarch reassign the four principalities of the khan. Daimyo from Satsuma, Hizen, Choshu and Tosa agreed to this. They returned their lands with people to the state. Now the emperor owned them. The Meiji Government ordered other principalities to do the same. In most cases, the transfer of ownership to the state took place quickly and voluntarily. Resistance was rendered only by 12 princes. However, they were forced to transfer land registers and population by order. In exchange for this, the daimyo became heads of regional offices and began to receive state salaries.
Despite the formal transfer of land to the government, the khans themselves were not liquidated. Their daimyo retained the right to collect taxes and form troops in the territories entrusted to them. Thus, these administrative territories remained semi-autonomous.
However, such half-hearted Meiji reforms caused discontent among the people. For the final transition to the unitary form of the device at the end of August 1871, the government proclaimed the universal liquidation of the khans and the establishment of prefectures. Former daimyo were transferred to Tokyo. In their place, the government appointed governors of the prefectures, dependent on the center. Until 1888, the number of regions was reduced from 306 to 47. Hokkaido was designated as a special district. Large cities were equated with the prefectures: Osaka, Kyoto and Tokyo.
Changes in government
The management structure of the 8th century was the foundation of the executive branch. As a result of Meiji reform, the government was divided into three chambers: right, left and main. The latter played the role of the cabinet. It was composed of state, right and left ministers, as well as advisers. The left chamber acted as the legislature. The right branch included 8 ministries, the leadership of which was carried out by ministers and deputies. Most of the posts in the government were occupied by natives of pre-existing principalities. They formed the "Khan factions." The main posts belonged to metropolitan aristocrats.
Army modernization
This was one of the key tasks of the government during the Meiji period. The troops of the pre-existing principalities consisted of samurai. However, these territories were liquidated, and the armies became subordinate to the War Ministry. In January 1873, on the initiative of Yamagata Aritomo and Omura Masujiro, the government introduced universal military service. From that moment on, all men over the age of twenty were to serve in the army, regardless of their social status. Heads and heirs of families, students, government officials, and individuals who paid a ransom of 270 yen were exempted from military duty. The new army was predominantly peasants.
The Meiji revolution was not only accompanied by changes in state forces. Separately from the army, police units were formed. They were subordinate to the Ministry of Justice until 1872, and from the next they passed into the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Metropolitan law enforcement units were organized into a separate Tokyo Police Department.
Estates
The Meiji revolution also affected the population of the state. By the end of June 1869, the government formed 2 privileged nobility classes: kazoku (titled) and shizoku (untitled). The first included directly the aristocrats of the capital, together with the daimyo of the liquidated khanate principalities. The untitled nobility included small and medium samurai. Meiji's refined restoration was aimed at eliminating the eternal confrontation between aristocrats and samurai. The government sought to eliminate division in society and to eliminate the medieval model of building relations "master - servant." At the same time, the Meiji estate restoration was accompanied by the proclamation of the equality of peasants, merchants and artisans, regardless of their position and occupation. All of them began to be called Haiming (common people). In the same estate in 1871 pariahs were included, who were discriminated against during the Edo period. All the common people should have surnames (before they were worn only by samurai). Untitled and titled nobles received the right to inter-marriage. Meiji restoration also provided for the abolition of restrictions on the change of profession and travel. In early April 1871, the government issued a law on registration of citizens. The following year they were entered in the family register books in accordance with the estate.
Problems of the country's economy
The nobility was on full state support. Representatives of this class annually received a pension, which amounted to 30% of all budget funds. To ease this state burden, in 1873 the government passed a law by which pensions were returned to the monarch. According to its provisions, the nobility was to abandon previously established payments in favor of a one-time bonus. This, however, did not solve the existing problem. The national debt on pension payments has been constantly increasing.
In this regard, in 1876 the government finally abandoned this practice. From the same year, samurai were forbidden to wear katanas. As a result, the Meiji restoration led to the disappearance of legal inequality between the samurai and the common people. To ensure their lives, part of the privileged class went to the civil service. Citizens became teachers, police officers, and government clerks. Many began to engage in agricultural activities. Most of the estate went into entrepreneurship. However, many of them quickly went bankrupt because they did not have commercial experience. The government allocated subsidies to support the samurai. The authorities also encouraged them to master the half-wild Hokkaido. But the measures taken by the government did not bring the desired effect, which served as a prerequisite for future unrest.
Education
School education has also undergone dramatic changes. In 1871, the central institution responsible for education policy was formed. The following year, 1872, this ministry adopted a decree approving school education following the French example. In accordance with the established system, eight university districts were formed. In each of them there could be 32 schools and 1 university. In the middle link, separate areas were created. In each of them 210 primary educational institutions should function.
The implementation of this decision in practice was fraught with a number of problems. Mostly, the ministry did not take into account the real capabilities of citizens and teachers. In this regard, in 1879 a decree was issued according to which the system of districts was canceled. At the same time, primary education was limited to a German-style school. For the first time, educational institutions began to appear in which boys and girls studied together.
Universities
The state made great efforts for their development. So, in 1877, Tokyo University was formed . Many foreign specialists worked in it, who were invited by the government. Pedagogical institutes and universities for women were formed in the prefectures. Public figures actively supported the state initiative in the field of education. For example, Fukuzawa Yukichi established a private Keio school and a future university. In the 1880s, separate government decisions were adopted regarding university, higher, primary and secondary education.
Cultural transformation
The government was aimed at modernizing the state in all spheres of life. The authorities actively contributed to the implementation of innovative Western ideas and models. Most representatives of the intellectual part of the population positively perceived these changes. Thanks to the efforts of journalists, new ideas were widely promoted among the public. In the country there was a fashion for everything Western, progressive and fashionable. Dramatic changes have occurred in the traditional way of life of the population. The most progressive centers were Kobe, Tokyo, Osaka, Yokohama and other large cities. The modernization of culture by borrowing the achievements of Europe began to be called by the then popular slogan "Civilization and Enlightenment."
Philosophy
In this area, Western individualism and liberalism began to appear as the dominant ideologies. The traditional moral and ethical principles based on Confucianism began to be considered obsolete. Translations of the works of Darwin, Spencer, Rousseau, Hegel began to appear in the literature. Based on these works, Japanese thinkers began to develop the concept of natural rights to happiness, freedom, and equality. These ideas were disseminated by Nakamura Masanao and Fukuzawa Yukichi. The works created by these authors have become bestsellers. Their work contributed to the destruction of the traditional worldview and the formation of a new national consciousness.
Religion
After the course on the restoration of ancient statehood was proclaimed in 1868, the government decided to make the local pagan religion Shinto state. In that year, a decree demarcating Buddhism and Shinto was approved. Pagan sanctuaries were separated from the monasteries. At the same time, many Buddhist temples were eliminated. An anti-Buddhist movement has formed in the circles of officials, burghers and intellectuals. In 1870, a declaration was proclaimed, according to which, Shinto became the official state religion. All pagan shrines were united in a single organization. Its head was the emperor as a Shinto high priest. As public holidays, the birthday of the monarch and the date of foundation of the new state were announced.
Life
General modernization has greatly changed the traditional way of life of the population. In cities, they began to wear short hairstyles and western clothes. Initially, this fashion spread among the military and officials. However, over time, it entered the broad masses of the population. Gradually equalized prices in Japan for various products. In Yokohama and Tokyo began to build the first brick houses, build gas lanterns. A new vehicle has appeared - a rickshaw. The development of industries began. Western technologies began to be introduced into production. This made it possible to make prices in Japan affordable not only for the privileged layers, but also for the common people. Actively improved transport and publishing. With their development, the fashion for Western goods entered the province.
However, despite significant positive changes, the modernization carried out caused serious damage to the traditional spiritual values of the population. Many cultural monuments were exported as trash outside the state. They settled in museums and private collections in the UK, France, USA.
Value
The economic development of Japan took place at a rapid pace. The state has actually entered New Time. Dramatic changes affected not only the army and law enforcement agencies. The country began the creation of a full-fledged fleet. Changes in the management system, in public, economic life, the rejection of self-isolation formed a favorable soil for the creation of a competitive state. All this, on the one hand, made it possible to eliminate the danger of becoming politically dependent on the United States or European powers. Of the latter, Russia is the closest to Japan. However, her government did not use colonial foreign policy methods. On the other hand, Japan, having joined the race with Europe, was able to go far ahead in comparison with other Eastern European states.
Conclusion
Meiji restoration was a transition from a samurai management regime represented by the shogunate to a direct monarchical system represented by Mutsuhito and his government. This policy had a significant impact on the legislation, the state system, and the structure of the court. The changes affected the provincial administration, financial system, diplomacy, industry, religion, education and other areas. The complex of measures taken by the government destroyed the traditional worldview that had existed for a long time and removed the state from isolation. As a result of this activity, a radically new national state was formed. The accelerated introduction of innovations from the West allowed to stabilize the financial and economic sphere, to begin their expansion and improvement. The reform period was a unique time for the state. He allowed not only to stabilize the internal state of almost all spheres of life, but also successfully enter the world stage and fight for the championship with other advanced powers.