Mr.
Bengford
English
II WWH5
16
February 2006
Imagine the early twentieth century, when communism,
poverty, and isolationism plagued most nations in Eastern Europe and Asia.
Russia, China, Vietnam, and even North Korea suffered greatly from stagnation
in their development. However, Japan, a small and vulnerable country, managed
to pull itself together and achieve great power in only thirty yearsÕ time --
power that took centuries for the major European countries to obtain. What
factor could have fueled such an achievement? In 1867, the Meiji restoration in
feudal Japan started a series of reforms, just before they adopted capitalism
(Allison). The Meiji restoration revolutionized Japan more than any other cause
in history through political reformation, national motivation, and
modernization.
The Japanese revolution politically reformed the entire nation by breaking down social classes, establishing a written constitution, and overcoming political resistance. Under the oligarchy of the shogunate, the nation had been a feudal state of society for many centuries until the Meiji government took its place. Reforms altered the entire internal political structure by breaking down social classes. HW Poon, a secondary-school history teacher, refers to the series of events on his school website. ÒClan governments and clan armies were ordered to dismiss. Whereas these clans had been politically autonomous, the Central Government now divided Japan into 75 prefectures governed by centrally appointed officials,Ó (Poon). This particular reform demonstrates a major transformation of the Japanese society; with the removal of class distinctions, an enormous labor force formed to meet its industrialization needs (Poon). However, at the same time, Western powers imposed unequal treaties onto Japan. In order to revise those treaties, Japan revised its legal system up to Western standards. The Meiji government granted the first constitution in 1889, where the basis for a modern government developed. The written document granted the citizens freedom of religion, speech and association (Poon). This political reformation guaranteed and safeguarded the freedoms and rights of citizens for the first time in Japanese history. However, like most other revolutions, resistance and rebellion hindered its progression. The samurai class had special privileges ever since feudal times, until the Meiji government abolished class distinctions. With the addition of the Òrestricted carriage of swordsÓ law, rebellion amongst the samurai took place for twenty years and with no successful results (Allison). According to Herbert Norman in 1940, the final blow to conservative samurai came in the 1877 Satsuma rebellion, when the government's new and modern army defeated the last resistance of the traditional samurai warriors (Norman 277). This event illustrates how the newly established Meiji government completely dominated Japan, since no resistance could effectively impair their progress in reformation. The Japanese revolution completely altered the nationÕs political infrastructure, which enabled nationalism to rise.
The Meiji government established national motivation with the help of religion, a certain military slogan, and the presence of a common enemy. Throughout JapanÕs long history, three major religions dominated the nation. Shintoism, JapanÕs most ancient religion, aided the unification of Japan. After the Meiji restoration, the nation increasingly worshiped the emperor due to the religion (Norman). Sterling and Peggy Seagrave, scholars on the Yamato Dynasty of Japan, published their statement in 1999. ÒBy creating a list of national divinities, the newly remodeled Shintoism accented the importance of the emperor and the nation over the local regions,Ó (Seagrave 233). This factor collaborates with the Meiji government, since the emperor represented the oligarchy of the Meiji government. Their series of reforms succeeded more smoothly as national motivation from the population increased. In effect, "rich country and strong army" became the national slogan of Meiji modernization. During the Meiji era, the Japanese government established effective means of transportation as well as a formidable military. Donald Keene, an expert scholar on the Meiji era, addressed the national achievement in 1893. Japan had to strengthen its military in order to dispose of the unequal treaties imposed by the Western powers (Keene 738). This establishment of the Meiji restoration revolutionized not only the Japanese, but the rest of the world as well, since JapanÕs powerful military greatly influenced politics in the near future of World War II. In contrast to the developing Japan, the nation often fought amongst themselves in the feudal ages. Before the establishment of the Meiji government, tribal clans fought amongst each other for power. The nation became vulnerable to foreign invasions, because many feudal lords divided the shogunateÕs power amongst themselves (Seagrave 53-55). The Meiji government established nationalism, a completely new concept to the Japanese, as the result of a common motive (Allison). The nation finally began to fight as a country in order to fend off foreign invasions. With an enriching social structure set, Japan eventually obtains modern technology and develops economic power.
Modernization completely revolutionized traditional
Japanese lives by undergoing industrialization, using its natural resources
sparingly, and establishing contact with the outer world. The Meiji government
expertly followed the industrialization of Europe and America without repeating
their faults. In 1943, Randall Bytwerk translated a statement from a 128-page
booklet about Japan.
ÒJapan
succeeded in avoiding the atomizing tendencies of European industrialization
and the growth of a rootless proletariat. Despite manifestations of capitalism,
Japanese industrial capitalism never gave rise to class struggle,Ó (Bytwerk).
Such an achievement helped modernize the nation by preventing the destruction
of its rural industry; the steady flow of cheap exports would soon drain the
nation of its wealth. Had the revolution not taken place at the given time, the
nationÕs few natural resources would soon reach depletion. Colin Barker, a
university student in 2003, predicted the outcome of Japan had the Meiji
restoration not occurred. The majority of Western exports sold at cheaper
prices than native imports would cause all peasants to bankrupt, and ultimately
resort to selling raw or semi-finished materials; many third world countries
face this problem today (Barker). The revolutionÕs economic denouement resulted
from modernization, since industrialization enabled Japan to wisely manage its
scarce natural resources. Finally, to obtain political power, contact with the
outer world became a necessity. During the Meiji restoration, Japan established
trade and technological gains from Western nations (Norman). For two centuries,
the shogunate had largely isolated Japan from all foreign influences. The Meiji
government employed foreign advisers and engineers to run new industrial
undertakings, as well as training native Japanese employers. Once successfully
trained in industrial jobs, the natives replaced many foreign advisers (Poon).
As a result of this action, the Meiji government established the necessary modern
businesses to rival those of foreign enterprises. Japan obtained great economic
power from modernization, but political reformation and national motivation
enabled such an achievement.
Through political reformation, national motivation,
and modernization, the Meiji restoration revolutionized Japan more than any
other cause in history. If the Meiji restoration had not occurred, the results
of capitalism would have taken a completely different form. Instead of leading
many industries in the world market, Japan would only supply raw or
semi-finished products, as African colonies and communist nations do. Also,
ghetto slums and unsanitary conditions would take the place of JapanÕs current
urban cities. The Japanese revolution and the reforms that came with it
determined the nationÕs future success.
