Japan: Reforms And State Coup

Having broken the armed resistance of the shogunate's troops throughout the country, the government began to create a new state apparatus. The basic law of the state structure was developed . After its adoption in June 1868 Edo was renamed Tokyo (Eastern Capital), the period of the reign of Emperor Mutsuhito was called Meiji (enlightened government). In the spring of 1869 the imperial court was transferred from Kyoto to Tokyo.

The leaders of the Meiji government came to the conclusion that Japan, divided into 270 semi-autonomous feudal principalities, would not be able to withstand the threat of colonial enslavement. Therefore, they immediately embarked on fundamental socio-economic transformations. The guild monopolies were dissolved, the feudal estate system was abolished, freedom of sale and purchase of land, choice of profession, place of residence was proclaimed, and other measures were promoted that contributed to the formation of a national market.

Elimination of principalities and the introduction of prefectures, military service, the reorganization of the public education system put an end to feudal disunity, led to the formation of a unified national state. Many of these transformations were made as a compromise with the feudal class; An example of this can be the way in which the feudal principalities were liquidated.

In July 1871, an imperial decree was issued to liquidate the former principalities and the formation of prefectures, governors now appointed by government officials, and former princes were given large redemption sums for land and awarded high aristocratic titles.

In 1873, a law was passed on the reform of land tax, according to which the previous natural tax, paid depending on the harvest, was replaced by a monetary tax calculated in accordance with the price of the land. The established state tax by its size was equal, or even exceeded, the previous tax, paid to the feudal lord. Japan: Reforms and a coup d'état ...

The reform left the land behind those to whom it actually belonged, thus legitimizing the system of landed estates.

The coup d'état of January 3, 1868, and the transformations that followed it, are sometimes called the "Meiji Restoration", sometimes characterized as a bourgeois revolution .. Their historical significance consists in the elimination of Japan's feudal system and the formation of a unified national state. At a time when Western countries were turning one eastern country after another into their colonies, the Meiji events allowed Japan to avoid colonial enslavement, which was of great importance for its subsequent economic and cultural development.

Japan: Reforms and a coup d'état