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Y217: Japan 1853–1937

The impact of foreign intrusion on Tokugawa Japan 1853–1868: resistance to the Shogunate and civil war

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  • Unit group 2

Overview

Recall questions on resistance to the Shogunate, civil war, the end of the Shogunate and the restoration of the Emperor Meiji in 1868.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

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Who and when

Why did the imperial side win the civil war of 1868–1869 relatively quickly?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    Translate the slogan sonnō jōi and explain what its supporters wanted.

    Model answer

    It means 'revere the emperor, expel the barbarians', and its supporters resisted the Shogunate in order to drive the foreigners out and restore power to the imperial court.

  2. 2

    What happened to Ii Naosuke in 1860, and why?

    Model answer

    He was assassinated outside a gate of Edo castle by loyalist samurai in revenge for signing the treaties and for the Ansei Purge with which he had crushed his critics.

  3. 3

    What did the bombardments of Kagoshima in 1863 and Shimonoseki in 1864 teach the domains that suffered them?

    Model answer

    Satsuma and Chōshū learned that expelling the foreigners by force was impossible, so both switched to adopting Western weapons and methods in order to overthrow the shogunate instead.

  4. 4

    Why was the secret Satsuma-Chōshū alliance of 1866 so significant?

    Model answer

    It united the two strongest and most bitterly rivalrous anti-Tokugawa domains behind a single aim, giving the opposition the military strength to challenge the shogun directly.

  5. 5

    What did Tokugawa Yoshinobu do in late 1867, and how did his opponents respond?

    Model answer

    The last shogun resigned his office hoping to keep power within a council of lords, but his opponents seized the palace in Kyoto and proclaimed direct imperial rule, stripping him of his lands.

  6. 6

    Name the civil war of 1868–1869 and its opening battle.

    Model answer

    It was the Boshin War, which opened with the imperial forces' victory over the Tokugawa army at Toba-Fushimi near Kyoto in January 1868.

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