The Meiji Restoration — how the transition was achieved
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Question
What is the genro?
Answer
The small group of senior Meiji statesmen (e.g. Ito Hirobumi, Okubo Toshimichi, Yamagata Aritomo) who actually ran Japan's government after 1868.
Question
Why did the genro rule in Emperor Mutsuhito's name instead of their own?
Answer
It gave radical reforms the appearance of traditional, legitimate authority and gave the population one unifying figure to be loyal to.
Question
What did the 1873 land tax reform do?
Answer
Gave farmers private legal title to land and replaced feudal dues with one fixed cash tax, giving the government steady, predictable revenue.
Question
What is fukoku kyohei?
Answer
"Rich country, strong army" — the Meiji slogan meaning economic strength had to come before military strength.
Question
When was Japan's first railway built, and where?
Answer
1872, between Tokyo and Yokohama.
Question
What are the zaibatsu?
Answer
Huge family-run business conglomerates (e.g. Mitsubishi, Mitsui) that bought state-built industries cheaply from the 1880s and expanded them with private capital.
Question
Who modelled the Meiji Constitution on the Prussian system, and why Prussia?
Answer
Ito Hirobumi; Prussia had modernized quickly while keeping the monarch and traditional elite firmly in power, which suited the genro's aims better than Britain's model.
Question
When was the Meiji Constitution promulgated?
Answer
11 February 1889.
Question
What is a limited constitutional monarchy?
Answer
A system where a monarch's power is restricted by a written constitution and an elected body, rather than being absolute.
Question
What real power did the Emperor keep under the 1889 Constitution?
Answer
Sole command of the army and navy, and ministers were responsible to him, not to the elected Diet.
Question
Compare: what the 1889 Constitution gave vs. what it kept for the genro.
Answer
Gave: an elected Diet, published laws and rights. Kept: military command, ministerial loyalty to the Emperor, and a very limited voting electorate.
Question
For a Q3 [12] perspectives answer, what must you do beyond describing each source's viewpoint?
Answer
Explain why perspectives differ by linking them to origin and purpose, and identify where sources still agree, before making a judgement.
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Topic 3.1 hub
The Meiji Restoration (1853–1894)
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