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What was the Tokugawa Shogunate?
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All Flashcards in Topic 3.1
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3.1.112 cards
What was the Tokugawa Shogunate?
The military government that ruled Japan (not the emperor) for over 200 years before 1868, led by a shogun.
Name the three internal causes of the shogunate's decline.
Financial weakness, samurai discontent, and loss of authority.
Why was the shogunate financially weak by the 1850s?
Its tax income relied on rice yields, which could not keep up with rising government and administrative costs, pushing it into debt.
Why were samurai discontented before the Restoration?
Long peace made their military role pointless, but the government still had to pay their stipends, which were increasingly cut as funds ran low.
What was sakoku?
Japan's centuries-long policy of near-total isolation from foreign contact, ended in the 1850s.
Why did China's defeat in the Opium Wars alarm Japanese reformers?
It showed that an isolated, technologically behind Asian power could be crushed by Western military force — Japan feared the same fate.
What does fukoku kyohei mean and why does it matter?
'Rich country, strong army' — the slogan capturing the demand for rapid modernization to strengthen Japan against foreign threats.
What happened in July 1853?
Commodore Matthew Perry sailed four US warships ('black ships') into Edo Bay and demanded Japan open its ports to trade.
What was agreed in the 1854 Convention of Kanagawa?
Japan agreed to open two ports to American ships, the first breach of the sakoku isolation policy.
What made the treaties with Western powers 'unequal'?
Japan lost tariff autonomy (control over its own import taxes) and had to accept extraterritoriality (foreigners tried under their own laws).
Compare an American officer's account of Perry's visit with a Japanese samurai's diary from 1853.
The American account likely frames the mission as bringing progress and trade; the samurai diary likely frames it as a national humiliation — different perspectives shaped by who wrote them and why.
How should a historian use a domain's internal financial ledger as a source?
Its content shows concrete facts (e.g. cut stipends); its context — an internal record with no public audience — makes it a reliable, low-bias clue about real conditions.
3.1.212 cards
What is the genro?
The small group of senior Meiji statesmen (e.g. Ito Hirobumi, Okubo Toshimichi, Yamagata Aritomo) who actually ran Japan's government after 1868.
Why did the genro rule in Emperor Mutsuhito's name instead of their own?
It gave radical reforms the appearance of traditional, legitimate authority and gave the population one unifying figure to be loyal to.
What did the 1873 land tax reform do?
Gave farmers private legal title to land and replaced feudal dues with one fixed cash tax, giving the government steady, predictable revenue.
What is fukoku kyohei?
"Rich country, strong army" — the Meiji slogan meaning economic strength had to come before military strength.
When was Japan's first railway built, and where?
1872, between Tokyo and Yokohama.
What are the zaibatsu?
Huge family-run business conglomerates (e.g. Mitsubishi, Mitsui) that bought state-built industries cheaply from the 1880s and expanded them with private capital.
Who modelled the Meiji Constitution on the Prussian system, and why Prussia?
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.
When was the Meiji Constitution promulgated?
11 February 1889.
What is a limited constitutional monarchy?
A system where a monarch's power is restricted by a written constitution and an elected body, rather than being absolute.
What real power did the Emperor keep under the 1889 Constitution?
Sole command of the army and navy, and ministers were responsible to him, not to the elected Diet.
Compare: what the 1889 Constitution gave vs. what it kept for the genro.
Gave: an elected Diet, published laws and rights. Kept: military command, ministerial loyalty to the Emperor, and a very limited voting electorate.
For a Q3 [12] perspectives answer, what must you do beyond describing each source's viewpoint?
Explain why perspectives differ by linking them to origin and purpose, and identify where sources still agree, before making a judgement.
3.1.312 cards
What was the 1873 land tax reform?
A fixed cash tax of 3% of land value, paid every year regardless of harvest, replacing the old flexible rice tax.
Why did the land tax cause peasant hardship?
Because it had to be paid in cash every year even after a bad harvest, forcing peasants into debt or loss of land.
What were hyakusho ikki?
Peasant uprisings against the land tax and conscription that occurred through the 1870s and 1880s.
When was conscription introduced in Japan, and why did it add to peasant strain?
1873 — it took young men away from farm labour, reducing household income on top of the new tax burden.
Who led the Satsuma Rebellion?
Saigo Takamori, a former Meiji government leader who became the figurehead of samurai resistance.
What rights did samurai lose between 1873 and 1876?
Their government stipends, the right to wear swords in public, and their exclusive role in the military (conscription opened the army to all classes).
When and where did the Satsuma Rebellion end?
September 1877, at the Battle of Shiroyama, where Saigo Takamori was killed and samurai resistance was crushed.
Why is the Satsuma Rebellion historically significant, beyond just being a lost battle?
It proved the new conscript army of commoners could beat trained samurai, marking the definitive end of the samurai as a fighting class.
What was the Sino-Japanese War (1894–95) about?
A conflict between Japan and Qing China over influence in Korea, won by Japan, marking the start of Japanese imperial expansion.
For Paper 1 Q2, what three elements make up a source's 'context'?
Its origin (who made it), purpose (why it was made), and time/place (when and where it was produced).
Why might a peasant petition and a government tax record disagree even when describing the same tax policy?
Because they have different purposes and perspectives: the petition aims to persuade officials of suffering, while the record simply states administrative facts.
For Paper 1 Q3, what should a strong 'perspectives' answer do beyond describing each source?
Compare sources directly — showing where they agree (convergence) and where they differ (divergence) — and link this back to the inquiry question.
Topic 3.1 study notes
Full notes & explanations for The Meiji Restoration (1853–1894)
History (2028+) exam skills
Paper structures, command terms & tips
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