Satsuma Rebellion 1877
Topic: Paths to Modernisation: Japan, China, Korea · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
The Satsuma Rebellion was the last big uprising of former samurai (Japan's old warrior class) against the Meiji government. It took place in 1877 in Satsuma, in southern Kyushu. Meiji reforms had taken away the samurai's special place. Now conscription (compulsory army service) brought ordinary men over twenty into the army, and only the state could keep soldiers. The government's new army of commoners crushed the revolt. This showed that the modern national army had replaced the samurai for good.
Example
In 1877, Saigo Takamori led thousands of former samurai from Satsuma against the government. They had helped bring about the Meiji Restoration. The conscript army defeated them, and Saigo died in the final battle that year.
Don't confuse with
- Meiji Restoration (1868): Samurai from Satsuma helped remove the shogun in 1868. In 1877, Satsuma samurai rose against the new Meiji government.
Related concepts
- Commodore Perry
- Treaty of Kanagawa
- Unequal treaties
- Meiji restoration
- Charter Oath 1868
- Fukoku kyohei
- Emperor system
- Meiji education system
- Imperial Rescript on Education
- Hiragana and katakana