Bakumatsu Crisis
PERRY’S ARRIVAL AND OPENING OF JAPAN (1853-1854)
Commodore Perry arrived in Japan with his steam-powered black ships in 1853, which marked an important period in Japanese history because Japan was isolationist for two centuries, and the United States shattered this through displaying their technological superiority over Japan. This visit split Japan because leaders were debating whether to support or resist American influence. Eventually, the Treaty of Kanagawa opened the Japanese harbor for American coaling stations and safe harbors for whales. This shift triggered the domestic political crisis that would cause the Tokugawa shogunate to be destroyed
COLLAPSE OF BAKUFU AUTHORITY (1858-1867)
Similar to the Treaty of Kanagawa, the Harris Treaty set low tariffs and ensured low tariffs to allow for Western economic involvement in Japan. This treaty undermined the Tokugawa shogunate by exposing its inability to resist the West. Incidents like the Namamugi affair and the bombardment of Kagoshima showed that the government could not resist Western military power and ramped up anti-shogunal sentiment by proving bakufu (shogunate) impotence. The two most powerful opposition domains (semi-independent feudal territories ruled by a powerful lord, daimyo), the Satsuma and the Choshu, united together to form an alliance, combining the Satsuma’s wealth and naval connections with the Choshu’s military innovation. This alliance defeated the shogunate in the Second Choshu Expedition, where government forces were repelled by this alliance’s modernized troops. This shattered any remaining pretense of Tokugawa military superiority. Eventually, in 1867, the Tokugawa shogunate was extremely weakened, and by late 1867, the system was destroyed.
EARLY ANTI-TOKUGAWA MOVEMENTS (1870)
The anti-Tokugawa coalition emerged from decades of intellectual discussion, with Mito domain’s school of thought emphasizing imperial loyalty and advocated for national strengthening. It provided ideological framework allowing domains to oppose shogunate while claiming patriotic motives. The secret Satsuma-Choshu Alliance, brokered by Sakamoto Ryoma, overcame centuries of mutual hostility between these groups and focused on shared opposition to the existing authority and the shared vision to modernize Japan. However, Ryoma was assassinated in 1867, which demonstrated that there was direct opposition from the shogunate and extremists. However, the alliance showed themselves to be supporters of Japanese foreign strength and that the Tokugawa Shogunate had lost the mandate of heaven.
BOSHIN WAR (1868-1869)
The Boshin War of 1868-1869 was not only a military conflict but also a struggle between visions of what Japan’s future should be like. Tokugawa loyalists wanted to defend the old order, while “imperial’ forces wanted complete transformation of Japan. The Battle of Toba-Fushimi was decisive since Imperial forces used modern rifles to devastate Tokugawa troops, which showed that modernization (militarily) would determine political power. The Imperial victory was not achieved through predetermined superiority but through better organization and weapons.