[right] With a candle in hand
A man walks in the garden -
Seeing off spring …
(Busson)
Step by step operation
The beginning of the reform of public administration was marked by the fact that in June 1868, a chamber of a large state council was established, consisting of several sectors: legislative, executive and advisory. Representatives of the kuge aristocracy, daimyo feudal lords and those samurai who actively participated in the overthrow of the shogunate were candidates for it. They were offered by family clans, and the emperor had to approve them. True, it still happened that the feudal lords, as before, were the rulers of their lands, which was dangerous, since it provoked internecine conflicts. And then Mutsuhito in 1868 invited all daimyo to voluntarily return their lands to the emperor, since they belonged to him in the past. For this they were entitled to compensation, a good annual income and the post of governor in their former possessions. That is, the daimyo no longer bore the costs of managing their principality. They didn't have to pay for the service of the samurai. And the state also relieved them of the obligation to fight the samurai-ronin, who did not want to return to a peaceful life, formed gangs and were engaged in robbery and robbery. And most of the daimyo agreed with this proposal of the emperor.
Emperor Mutsuhito
Less than three years later, the emperor took an even more important step, which finally undermined the position of the major feudal lords. On August 29, 1871, he issued a decree stating that the principalities in Japan were abolished. The country was now subdivided into 75 prefectures, each of which was ruled by officials appointed by the emperor. The decree gave the impression of an exploding bomb, so that its consequences were even spoken of as the second Maid-zi revolution. But even this was not enough for the emperor: people did not have time to get used to the idea that they now live in the prefecture of such and such, as the emperor abolished the class division of society into samurai, peasants, artisans and merchants, the borders between which were practically impenetrable. Now the following division was introduced in Japan: the highest nobility (kazoku), simply the nobility (shizoku) (all former samurai were attributed to it) and all other inhabitants of the country (hei-min). All estates were granted equal rights before the law, the ban on marriages between these estates was lifted, all restrictions on the choice of profession, as well as movement around the country (in the Tokugawa era, by no means everyone could leave the land of their prince, even if necessary, this should have been obtained permission), and the commoners are given the right to bear a surname. But most of all, the Japanese were struck by the permission to wear their hair at their own discretion. The fact is that in Japan, it was primarily a hairstyle that was a sign of the social status of the person to whom it belonged. This especially hurt the samurai, since now their pride is a special hairstyle, any commoner could afford. But the common people liked the innovation very much, and he played it in funny verses with the following content: “If you knock on the shaven forehead (that is, that of a samurai), you will hear the music of the old times. If you knock on the head with free-flowing hair (hairstyle of samurai-ronin), you will hear the music of the restoration of the imperial power. But if you knock on a bobbed head, you will hear the music of civilization."
The European escapes from the whore without paying. The Europeans taught the Japanese to do this too. And the shock from the interpenetration of different cultures was sometimes very great. Artist Tsukioka Yoshitoshi, 1839-1892). (Los Angeles County Museum of Art)
"Reformers are playing back"
For the Japanese, who are used to perceiving the world around them exclusively hierarchically, the latest reform turned out to be more radical than all others, a real shock, and nothing more. And, of course, among yesterday’s reformers there immediately appeared those who declared that the emperor was too radical. And then Mutsuhito himself decided to add fuel to the fire. On March 14, 1868, speaking at the Gosho Palace in Kyoto, he told the nobility gathered there that in order for the country to flourish, he was personally ready to "collect knowledge from all over the world." Everyone understood that he was not going to drive out the "overseas devils", although there were talks about it. Naturally, this was accepted with hostility. Interestingly, in fact, Mutsuhito did not accelerate the course of Westernization in the least, just the very spirit of free enterprise and the Western way of life, which began to penetrate into Japan at that time, was rejected by many Japanese. And, first of all, the samurai lost their sense of their own worth. And the creation of a regular army in 1873 and the introduction of general conscription finished them off completely. After all, it is easier for another person to be a beggar, but to feel superior to others. And many people find it difficult to change, just laziness, and some lack abilities. The easiest way is to leave it as it is, even if you are told that the consequences will be dire. Will there be? And suddenly it is me that they will not touch. Is it foolish to think so? Of course, but … since 80% of people are not smart enough by nature, one should not be surprised at such reasoning, whether in Japan or in Russia. It is clear that some samurai simply resigned themselves to the inevitable and became either an official, some a teacher or a merchant, but most of them did not represent themselves except as "noble warriors".
But how the life and the way of life of Japanese women have changed! (Artist Mizuno Toshikata, 1866 - 1908) (Los Angeles County Museum of Art)
Hopes to reclaim their importance among the samurai were revived when rumors circulated about the planned invasion of Korea by Ministers Saigo Takamori and Itagaki Taisuke. That's where they would have turned around. They would have shown their prowess, and they would have received land as a reward. But in 1874 the government abandoned this adventure. The army was still too weak to quarrel with China, which Korea considered its vassal. Hearing that there would be no war, many samurai took this news as their personal insult. And then on March 28, 1876, a decree was issued forbidding them to carry two swords. And then they were also deprived of their state pension, instead of which they received bank bonds with maturities ranging from 5 to 14 years as a one-time compensation. That is, it was, yes, money, however, not so big, so it was impossible to live on the interest from it. As a result, all over the country began demonstrations of "disadvantaged" samurai.
Ukiyo-yo Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (1839 - 1892). Saigo Takamori walks with his dog (Los Angeles Regional Museum of Art).
So, on October 24, 1876 in Kumamoto on the island of Kyushu, a detachment "Shimpuren" ("League of Kamikaze", or "Union of the Divine Wind") rebelled. It numbered about 200 people, and they just "after Lenin" began by seizing the telegraph office and the building of the prefecture. Everyone who fell into their hands was killed. As a result, 300 people died, including the governor of the province. But since the rebels did not have firearms, government troops easily suppressed this uprising. There were no prisoners here for another reason - the rebels preferred seppuku. Then the uprising began in the city of Ukuoka on the island of Kyushu. The rebels called themselves "the army of suicide bombers for the country", and were engaged in the fact that … they simply died in battle. Moreover, it is known that they understood that Japan needed Westernization, but they didn’t want to live in a new country!
So they taught them how … (Still from the movie "The Last Samurai")
Well, the most significant uprising, the Great Satsuma Uprising, began in 1877. It was headed by a famous man, a former active reformer, Minister of War Saigo Takamori, who became the prototype of Prince Katsumoto in Edward Zwick's film "The Last Samurai".
Artist Tsukioka Yoshitoshi. Saigo Takamori with his companions in the mountains.
"For a good emperor, against bad ministers!"
Saigo Takamori was a native of the kingdom of opponents of the Tokugawa Satsuma and, by virtue of this alone, opposed the shogunate. In 1864, he commanded the Satsuma military contingent in Kyoto. A born military leader, he was promoted to marshal and held several positions in the government at once: he was the minister of war, the chief state adviser and the commander of the imperial army. From 1871 to 1873, when most of the ministers were generally in Western countries, Saigoµ had to act as head of government. But over time, for some reason, he began to believe that Japan was making too many concessions to the West and therefore losing its national identity. Therefore, when the government abandoned the Korean War, Takamori announced his resignation, settled in his hometown of Kagoshima and opened a school for samurai, where they studied Bushido, Buddhist philosophy, the art of calligraphy, versification, and various samurai martial arts.
Japan of the 70s of the nineteenth century. A still from the film "The Last Samurai".
The school, which had more than 10,000 students, seemed very suspicious to the government and ordered the removal of the arsenal from Kagoshima. But Saigo Takamori's disciples fought him off without even informing him about it, which automatically put him in the position of the main rebel. As a result, on February 17, 1877, Takamori's army (about 14,000 people in total) headed for Tokyo (since 1868 they began to call it Edo), and the following inscription appeared on its banners: “Honor virtue! Change the government! " That is, the mikado itself for the rebels continued to be a sacred person, they were not satisfied only with his "bad" environment. A familiar situation, isn't it ?!
In several battles in the spring and summer of 1877, the rebel armies were severely defeated, and government forces began to move rapidly towards Kagoshima. Takamori, along with the remnants of his squad, left the city to avoid the death of its civilian population, and took refuge in a cave on Mount Shiroyama. Legend has it that on the night before his last battle, Takamori, along with his companions, played the Satsuma lute and wrote poetry. In the morning, an attack by government forces began. Takamori was seriously wounded, he was carried out of the battle by the samurai Beppu Shinsuke. At the gate of the hermit's hut, facing the imperial palace, Takamori committed seppuku, and Beppu, as an assistant, knocked off his head with one blow.
September 24, 1877. Battle of Shiroyama. Kagoshima City Museum.
Although Takamori was accused of betrayal, the attitude towards him among the people was the most positive. Therefore, fourteen years later, he was posthumously rehabilitated, declared a national hero and erected a monument in Ueno Park in central Tokyo. It bears the following inscription: "The services of our beloved Saigoµ to the nation do not need panegyrics, for they are attested by the eyes and ears of the people." Today, Takamori in Japan is said to be the standard of "a man of honor, and a bearer of the people's spirit." The heir to the Russian throne, Nicholas (the future Nicholas II), while in 1881 in Japan, said about him this way: "To know, there is benefit for him, and this benefit undoubtedly is, this is bloodletting, through which the excess of Japan's restless forces evaporated …" he said it, but later, apparently,forgot these words of mine or did not draw the proper conclusion from them.
And yes, we can say that this uprising was nothing more than the collective suicide of people who hindered progress and did not want to adapt to new conditions. It killed active oppositionists, others were later executed, and this allowed Meiji to bring his reforms to the adoption of the constitution in 1889 without hindrance.
Shiroyama Hill and the monument to Saigo Takamori erected on it.
Well, they also lost because the peasants did not support the samurai now, since the new government gave them a lot, and they did not eat mercury in childhood! Already in 1873, the agrarian reform was completed: the land was transferred to the peasants as property, and only one or two of the taxes remained, and those were strictly fixed. It made sense to work well and get a lot of products!
Reformers and revolutionaries
The Meiji revolution for Japan was an event as large-scale as the 1789 revolution for France. Everything has changed in the country: power, form of ownership, structure of society, clothes and even … food! And that was a revolution. But in Russia, similar changes in the same years, although they were no less ambitious, did not become a revolution, since they were not brought to their logical conclusion. From the very beginning, they were extremely half-hearted, and then the death of Alexander II completely postponed the dates of their completion. As a result, this became the reason for the defeat suffered by Russia in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905. The fact that in Japan the land was transferred to the ownership of the peasants led to the rapid development of market relations not only in the countryside, but, as a result, the equally rapid growth of industry in the city. In Russia, since the land remained in the communal use of the era of "Russian Truth" and "Pravda Yaroslavichi", this form of ownership became a brake on the development of the economy and most tragically affected the economic and social development of the country. The Japanese reform of public education (1872) also turned out to be much more radical: compulsory primary education was adopted for everyone, but in Russia during the reign of the last Romanovs it was never introduced.
Portrait of Saigo Takamori by Toyohara Chikanobu.
Having begun the reform of the army, the Japanese relied on the experience and advanced technologies of France, England and Germany, while the Russian generals believed that they were "themselves with a mustache," since their ancestors defeated Napoleon. This had an extremely detrimental effect both on the quality of the available military equipment and on the level of training of military personnel. During the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905, they showed complete ignorance of modern combat tactics. Russian soldiers were also much worse prepared for participation in modern warfare than Japanese ones. Alas, illiterate soldiers are bad soldiers. And then in the Japanese army, the soldiers were taught that each of them is a completely independent combat unit, and that they are obliged to take the initiative in any circumstances. In the Russian imperial army, the initiative has been treated with great suspicion for centuries and did not encourage its manifestations at all levels.
A statue of Saigo Takamori at Ueno Park in Tokyo. It is known that he was very fond of dogs, which is completely atypical for a Japanese. But sculptors and painters depict his pets with love, not always heroizing him as a commander and an outstanding personality. That's how they are, the Japanese …
And, perhaps, the main difference between the Russian reforms and the Japanese ones was that in Japan they were carried out under the slogan of the unity of the nation. If under the shoguns the country was just a territory consisting of many isolated principalities, then under Emperor Mutsuhito it was already a single state, and he himself was an impressive symbol of this unity. And the social structure of Japanese society has also become more homogeneous. But Russia has long been a centralized monarchy, and the halo of "Tsar Liberator", whose reforms, like in Japan, were very painful, was unable to defend him. The Russian tsar was not a sacred figure for the Russian educated class, he was not! Probably, such a step as the creation of a parliament in the country could calm him down. But the tsar simply did not have time to accept the "constitutional draft" of Mikhail Loris-Melikov. That is why the Japanese reforms were limited by and large only to the uprising of Saigo Takamori, and Russia had to go through the 1905 revolution.
