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The Nature and Characteristics of the Meiji Modernization
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16. The Nature and Characteristics of the Meiji Modernization The samurai leaders, mainly Satsuma and Choshu men' who engineered and led the Meiji Restoration had no pre-conceived program of social and economic reforms in mind - i.e. the developments in the post-1868 period were not planned before the Restoration. The Meiji Restoration (1868) was essentially a political samurai movement aiming at the destruction of the Shogun's power so as to effect a new national unity in resistance to western encroachment. After the restoration, the task of national defence fell on that group of men who now dominated the government (the Meiji oligarchy). If they failed in resisting the western challenge, then, they might be attacked by their enemies as they themselves had attacked the shogun in the Bakumatsu period (1853-1868). Thus, the new oligarchy devoted all their efforts - 'Rich Country and a Strong Army' (Fukoku Kyohei). Subsequently, all developments -...
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