The Meiji Restoration — challenges after the transition
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Question
What was the 1873 land tax reform?
Answer
A fixed cash tax of 3% of land value, paid every year regardless of harvest, replacing the old flexible rice tax.
Question
Why did the land tax cause peasant hardship?
Answer
Because it had to be paid in cash every year even after a bad harvest, forcing peasants into debt or loss of land.
Question
What were hyakusho ikki?
Answer
Peasant uprisings against the land tax and conscription that occurred through the 1870s and 1880s.
Question
When was conscription introduced in Japan, and why did it add to peasant strain?
Answer
1873 — it took young men away from farm labour, reducing household income on top of the new tax burden.
Question
Who led the Satsuma Rebellion?
Answer
Saigo Takamori, a former Meiji government leader who became the figurehead of samurai resistance.
Question
What rights did samurai lose between 1873 and 1876?
Answer
Their government stipends, the right to wear swords in public, and their exclusive role in the military (conscription opened the army to all classes).
Question
When and where did the Satsuma Rebellion end?
Answer
September 1877, at the Battle of Shiroyama, where Saigo Takamori was killed and samurai resistance was crushed.
Question
Why is the Satsuma Rebellion historically significant, beyond just being a lost battle?
Answer
It proved the new conscript army of commoners could beat trained samurai, marking the definitive end of the samurai as a fighting class.
Question
What was the Sino-Japanese War (1894–95) about?
Answer
A conflict between Japan and Qing China over influence in Korea, won by Japan, marking the start of Japanese imperial expansion.
Question
For Paper 1 Q2, what three elements make up a source's 'context'?
Answer
Its origin (who made it), purpose (why it was made), and time/place (when and where it was produced).
Question
Why might a peasant petition and a government tax record disagree even when describing the same tax policy?
Answer
Because they have different purposes and perspectives: the petition aims to persuade officials of suffering, while the record simply states administrative facts.
Question
For Paper 1 Q3, what should a strong 'perspectives' answer do beyond describing each source?
Answer
Compare sources directly — showing where they agree (convergence) and where they differ (divergence) — and link this back to the inquiry question.
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Topic 3.1 hub
The Meiji Restoration (1853–1894)
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