japan revolution ???
Answers
Explanation:
The Meiji Restoration, referred to at the time as the Honorable Restoration, and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Reform, or Renewal, was an event that restored practical imperial rule to the Empire of Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji.
Answer:
In 1871, the recently established Meiji government sought to stave off a feared collapse of its nascent authority by abolishing Japan’s domains and replacing them with prefectures subordinate to the center. The 270 or so domains had each had their own military forces and political wills within a decentralized power structure. Removing that structure at a stroke was a form of coup d’état. The Meiji leaders had resolved that their government needed to be the sole political power in the land so it could perform the urgent task of constructing a modern state.
Their deepest concern was that Japan might become a colony under the control of one of the great powers. This had been the fate of much of India and Southeast Asia, while China had been forced to yield Hong Kong to Britain in 1842 after losing the First Opium War. Consequently, they believed that the country needed to modernize as rapidly as possible, building up its economic strength to reinforce its military and protect itself from invasion.
This was why many of Japan’s leaders and other important government officials set off on the Iwakura Mission, a journey of observation and learning to the United States and Europe, just a few months after the revolutionary switch to prefectures. The mission also carried many students, and its participants contributed greatly to the country’s modernization on their return to Japan.
Trains, Ships, and Telegraph Wires
Around the same time, the Meiji government concentrated its efforts on promoting industry and introducing modern forms of enterprise with the aim of fostering capitalism in Japan. One early stage was to sweep away the feudal system of internal checkpoints, post stations, and merchant guilds as barriers to industrial development. New infrastructure included the first telegraph line between Tokyo and Yokohama in 1869. Five years later, the telegraph network stretched from Nagasaki to Hokkaidō, while an undersea line further connected Nagasaki to Shanghai. In 1871, a modern postal service replaced the former courier system, and post offices were established around the country, selling stamps and postcards at set prices. In 1877, Japan joined the Universal Postal Union, linking its postal service to the world. It imported its first telephones the same year.
A rail service started between Tokyo and Yokohama in 1872. This initial route relied greatly on British assistance, as the European power supplied financing, train cars, and even the chief civil engineer Edmund Morel. In 1874, a new line linked Kobe to Osaka, which was connected in turn to Kyoto in 1877. By the turn of the century, the network had spread across the whole of Japan. The government also invested in upgrading the country’s major roads, enabling smoother transportation of goods by carts and other vehicles.
A print depicting the start of Japan’s first rail service, from Tokyo’s Shinbashi to Yokohama, in 1872. Utagawa Hiroshige III, 1872. (Courtesy of the Minato City Local History Museum)
Explanation:
Japan made rapid strides to industrialize after the Meiji Restoration of 1868, boosting its transportation and communication networks and revolutionizing its light industry by the turn of the century.