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The Meiji Restoration

William Gerald Beasley
3.88/5 (52 ratings)
Read Now Download Now
For Japan the Meiji Restoration of 1868 has something of the significance that the French Revolution has for France: it is the point form which modern history begins. Also like the French Revolution it was a complicated affair, difficult to understand at the time and subject to controversy ever since.

Was the Restoration essentially a matter of throwing off Tokugawa rule and reuniting Japan under the Emperor? Was it simply the political form taken by the rationalization of Japan's outmoded economic system along modern industrial lines? Or did it reflect an unholy alliance between a declining feudal class and a growing bourgeoisie at the expense of the Japanese people? Which was the key ingredient—social ferment from within, economic and diplomatic pressure from without, a desire to redistribute the nation's wealth and power, or an eagerness to marshal Japan's strength more effectively against the threat of Western domination?

This book, the first modern, full-scale account of the origins, development, and immediate aftermath of the Meiji Restoration in any Western language, sees its origins not in any economic distress or class struggle, but in a growing sense of national danger and national pride spurred by Japan's contacts with the West. Nationalism provided the impetus for overthrowing the Tokugawa. Only when the Tokugawa were gone did their successors turn of necessity to the making of modern Japan, seeking strength and stability in new social patterns.
Format:
Pages:
pages
Publication:
Publisher:
Edition:
1
Language:
ISBN10:
0804708150
ISBN13:
9780804708159
kindle Asin:
B0073Y20JU

The Meiji Restoration

William Gerald Beasley
3.88/5 (52 ratings)
Read Download
For Japan the Meiji Restoration of 1868 has something of the significance that the French Revolution has for France: it is the point form which modern history begins. Also like the French Revolution it was a complicated affair, difficult to understand at the time and subject to controversy ever since.

Was the Restoration essentially a matter of throwing off Tokugawa rule and reuniting Japan under the Emperor? Was it simply the political form taken by the rationalization of Japan's outmoded economic system along modern industrial lines? Or did it reflect an unholy alliance between a declining feudal class and a growing bourgeoisie at the expense of the Japanese people? Which was the key ingredient—social ferment from within, economic and diplomatic pressure from without, a desire to redistribute the nation's wealth and power, or an eagerness to marshal Japan's strength more effectively against the threat of Western domination?

This book, the first modern, full-scale account of the origins, development, and immediate aftermath of the Meiji Restoration in any Western language, sees its origins not in any economic distress or class struggle, but in a growing sense of national danger and national pride spurred by Japan's contacts with the West. Nationalism provided the impetus for overthrowing the Tokugawa. Only when the Tokugawa were gone did their successors turn of necessity to the making of modern Japan, seeking strength and stability in new social patterns.
Format:
Pages:
pages
Publication:
Publisher:
Edition:
1
Language:
ISBN10:
0804708150
ISBN13:
9780804708159
kindle Asin:
B0073Y20JU

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