Ch 26 - Coup d`état and International Rivalries

Setting New Paths

As Russia's Tsar Alexander III set out to expand his country across Siberia and Qing China tried unsuccessfully to reform itself, Meiji Japan set out to radically reform itself by developing a constitutional government adopted from Western models.

In Russia, Tsar Alexander II had realized since the end of the Crimean War that Russia no longer ranked as a great military power. The country's serf-based agricultural economy could not compete with western industrial powers such as France and Great Britain. In a move to put an end to Russian serfdom, he issued an Emancipation Manifesto in 1861 that proposed legislation to abolish serfdom and allow all peasants to buy and own their own farmland. Responding to objections from the Russian nobility, he stated, "It is better to abolish serfdom from above than to wait for the time when it will begin to abolish itself from below."

Tsar Alexander II also introduced a number of reforms during the 1870s that improved municipal government by creating local councils with the power to provide roads, schools and medical services. The right to elect council members however, remained the province of the wealthy. Alexander also instituted universal military training and encouraged the expansion of industry and the railway network.

Not everyone agreed with the Tsar's reforms. Russian liberals and radical groups wanted more. They began pushing for a parliamentary democracy and the freedom of expression that was enjoyed in the United States and most European states. The reforms also disappointed the peasants, some of whom discovered that took nearly 20 years to obtain their land at a cost greater than the land was worth. While most people just complained, some decided to adopt a policy of terrorism to achieve their aims.

Following an assassination attempt against Alexander in April 1879, the Tsar clamped down hard on dissent and imposed harsh censorship in Russia. All radical books were banned and known reformers were arrested and imprisoned. One radical group, known as the People's Will, formed in October 1879, and began planning to assassinate Alexander. After three unsuccessful attempts against the tsar, the People's Will declared in February 1880 that they would call off their terror campaign if the government put an end to censorship and granted the people a constitution that provided for free elections. Alexander announced he would consider a constitution and, in a move intended to show his good will, released a number of political prisoners. The Interior Minister set to work devising a document that would both satisfy the reformers and retain all the powers of the autocracy. In addition, the internal security division of the Russian police began infiltrating political groups agitating for political and social reforms.

The People's Will became frustrated and increasingly angry over the Russian government's failure to release the details of the new constitution. Suspecting the tsar was dragging his feet, they began planning yet another assassination attempt. This time, there would be no mistakes. The assassins struck on March 1, 1881, as Alexander rode in a closed carriage from Michaelovsky Palace to the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg. The attackers tossed bombs at the carriage, killing Alexander instantly and injuring a number of his Cossack escorts.

Alexandrovich Romanov ascended the Russian throne as Tsar Alexander III. Standing 6 feet 4 inches tall, Alexander III was a giant of a man and proud of his physical strength, but the thirty-six-year-old held no illusions that he risked the same fate as his father. Almost every drop of blood in his veins was German, yet his face bore the stubborn, enigmatic look of a Russian peasant. Immediately after ascending the throne, he passed the Temporary Regulations to deal with the People's Will. Anyone threatening public order was arrested by the police, imprisoned, exiled and court-martialed.

Although he remained out of the limelight during his years as the heir-apparent, Tsar Alexander III had his own ideas about ruling Russia, ideas that were at odds with existing government principles. At the core of his beliefs was the goal of "Russification," which included repressing opponents, undoing his father's reforms and restoring Russia's international position and national identity, which he believed had seriously degraded during the nineteenth century.

Tsar Alexander III pursued his goal of ridding Russia of western ideas he believed had weakened the country and diluted its national identity. Alexander saw no difference in what he wanted for himself and what he wanted for Russia. He began an aggressive program to remove those people who had imported alien ideas into Russia and attempted to give it some form of academic intellectual backing. In order to ensure that the Russian monarch held unchallenged power, he began to rescind his father's reforms and pull control much closer to the throne.

Much of the power in Russia resided in the Ministry of the Interior, which set about to ensure that its people held power at the local level and would do all they could to support Alexander III. By 1889, local governments held little, if any power. Local law enforcement rested in the hands of a system of land captains appointed directly by the Ministry of the Interior and given extraordinary enforcement rights, including exile, flogging and the death penalty. Russia's education system fell under the control of the Ministry of Education, which stopped universities from appointing their own professors and required government approval for all course material. No student could be taught history without permission from the Minister of Education.

Even the church fell under Alexander's reform program. The religious hierarchy, a mixture of archbishops and civil servants, became servants of the tsar's quest for power. Their primary function, transmitted from bishops to the clergy in the villages, was to preach not spirituality, but obedience to the tsar. By tradition, the words of a parishioner's confession remained confidential. Under Alexander's reign, any information passed to a church member during confession frequently found its way to the police, who used it as evidence against the offender.

Tsar Alexander III sought to attempt the impossible:  modernize Russian technology while simultaneously crushing all political opposition. In a determined effort to balance the budget, stabilize the ruble and improve Russia's credit abroad, he appointed Ivan A. Vyshnegradskii as his Minister of Finance. Like his counterpart Matsukata Masayoshi in Japan, Vyshnegradskii raised taxes sharply, slashed spending and completely restructured Russia's debt. He also understood, as did the Japanese, that only foreign trade could support Russia's continued borrowing and investing. The only readily available commodity Russia had in quantity was grain, and that depended on successful harvests. Fortunately for Vyshnegradskii, Russia had just enjoyed several good crops in a row, but he could not depend on that for long. The only way to expand grain production was to open new Siberian lands to cultivation.

East Asia's encounters with the West during the latter half of the nineteenth century sent shock waves throughout the region that produced very different reactions from China, Korea and Japan. In each case, the need for reforms and flexibility in the face of foreign threats was evident, but solutions proved elusive. China's political economy rested on an agrarian foundation that had lasted thousands of years, yet the institutions set in place long before the nineteenth century were incompatible with industrial growth. The burden of indemnities imposed by the West and the expense of suppressing rebellions nearly drove the Qing government bankrupt. Political intrigues and the decaying legitimacy of the Qing dynasty only added to China's problems. Trying to reform such a system without strong social pressure to fuel a reform movement virtually doomed any effort to change. When the Qing government finally attempted reforms, they proved to be too little to late.

The Choson dynasty in Korea, one of the world's longest ruling dynasties, found its strength in the stability and longevity of its close relationship with China. Still, when the Confucian world view began to collapse under foreign pressure and internal and external threats in the middle of the nineteenth century, Korea found itself unable to change. Like its big brother, China, Korea realized too late the necessity to reform. Its self-imposed seclusion, declining financial stability, the pressure of foreign interests, and the lack of a social force capable of igniting a political revolution made it next to impossible for the country to build a framework for economic growth.

In Japan however, the Meiji Restoration began as a massive political revolution rooted in a reform movement that began in 1859 with the opening of treaty ports to the West. The insurgency of large domains such as Choshu, Satsuma and Tosa created a crisis which, when combined with foreign intrusions, daimyo coalitions and a badly weakened bakufu (government), led to the fall of the shogunate system. Nothing could stop the tide of change once it started and from that point forward, change came swiftly. The bakufu, which was also willing to reform, realized that it did not stand a chance against the coalition of powerful daimyo and was swept aside almost overnight.

Not only did the bakufu lack the financial, institutional and ideological tools needed to carry out radical reforms, it also lacked political and social support from domains. By 1867, a tentative consensus had already emerged about what reforms were needed to meet the internal and external challenges facing Japan. Once the daimyo, dispossessed samurai and reform-minded intellectuals recognized the source of Japan's problems to be the bakufu itself, the shogunate system collapsed.

The Meiji leaders were practical men of action, driven by a determination to "restore the imperial honor" through national self-strengthening. When the Meiji government came to power in 1868, it was deeply committed to transforming Japan into a modern nation, a committment that came together in the historic Meiji Charter Oath, also called the Imperial Oath Of Five Articles promulgated on April 6, 1868. This simple yet powerful document clearly enunciated the basic principles of the nation and laid the foundation for building a constitutional government in Japan. Many in Japan drew strength from the oath and believed it to be more valuable than "having a million allies."

In June 1868, the Meiji government revived the Grand Council of State to assist the Emperor in his exercise of authority to administer state affairs. By September 1871, the Grand Council included the Minister of the Grand Council, the Minister of the Left, the Minister of the Right, and the Councilors. Under these positions were the Secretaries, men who headed the various administrative departments.

After consolidating their domestic power, Meiji leaders wanted to put Japan on an equal status with the greatest of the Western nations. The Meiji leadership had power and a new legitimacy which could be used to mobilize support for its reform efforts, but they faced tremendous challenges at home. The new government was deeply in debt and Meiji leaders voiced serious disagreements over the nature, extent and sequence of reform measures. The one thing they did agree upon however, was that before they could provide sensible leadership and promote a comprehensive domestic reform program, they needed to learn more about the wealthy and powerful West. Out of this agreement came the famous Iwakura Mission.

In the fall of 1871, Iwakura Tomomi, the de facto leader of the Meiji government, organized a massive embassy mission to visit fifteen Western countries. Iwakura Tomomi headed the mission as Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador. Okubo Toshimichi, Kido Takayoshi and Ito Hirobumi, ministers in the Meiji government, served as Vice-Ambassadors. The historian Kume Kunitake served as the mission's official diarist, keeping a detailed log of all events and impressions. Also included were a number of administrators, scholars and students totalling 108 people.

The Iwakura Mission sailed from Yokohama on December 23, 1871, bound for San Francisco. Over the next twenty-one months, the mission traveled to Washington, D.C., Great Britain, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Russia, Prussia, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Austria, Italy, and Switzerland. Returning to Japan, they briefly visited Egypt, Aden, Ceylon, Singapore, Saigon, Hong Kong, and Shanghai, arriving home on September 13, 1873. The ambassadors, very well received wherever they went, visited business and government leaders, as well as museums, schools, factories and military bases. They paid close attention to both the actual workings and underlying principles of everything they investigated. The Iwakura Mission proved to be an elaborate learning and diplomatic adventure that established useful contacts in the West who could provide useful advice when needed.

While each member of the mission had his own particular interests, all were interested in the fundamental laws which the Westerners called constitutions. They did not embrace "the doctrine of the rights of man," nor did they hold to a utopian vision of a new and perfect social order, but they recognized a constitution as basic the basic ingredient for an increasingly complex society, a means to rationalize political organization and a check against arbitrary decision-making.

Over the next few years, the young Meiji bureaucrats placed Japanese society on an entirely new basis through a series of legal enactments. The government abolished feudal domains and declared former daimyo, samurai, merchants and peasants equal under the law. The samurai class saw their benefits under the hereditary system stripped away. The powerful Choshu clan argued that a strong central government needed a national military with a single allegiance to the Emperor, not a collection of samurai with their old daimyo loyalties. They favored a universal conscription of all males, regardless of class. Satsuma clan leaders favored an army made up of former samurai. Despite the contempt shown by Satsuma clan leaders for the idea, the Conscription Law of 1873 unified samurai forces into a single national army and made all able-bodied Japanese men subject to conscription into the armed forces.

Prior to the Meiji Restoration, the Japanese paid taxes in the form of rice tributes according to the size of their crop. Matsukata Masayoshi, a Satsuma samurai, trained as an accountant, left Nagasaki for Tokyo in 1871 to work on land tax reform at the Finance Ministry as deputy head of the new Bureau of Tax. In July 1873, working under Lord Okubo Toshimichi, Matsukata introduced a radically new tax system. Under the new system, taxes were paid with money instead of rice. The amount of tax was based on land values, not on the amount of agricultural goods produced. Finally, the tax rate was fixed at 3% of the land value and the land owner was obligated to pay the "property" tax. It took some years for the Japanese people to fully accept the new system.

While the entire process of creating a modern nation of equal citizens occurred with remarkable swiftness, it also threw Japanese society into turmoil and produced a wrenching change of direction in the lives of many Japanese. The peasants seethed with discontent. They did not see equal civil status with the samurai as any real gain and felt the legal rights granted to landlord-peasants were nothing more than state theft of the land. They both hated and feared the fixed monetary tax and conscription. Peasant uprisings, which had more than doubled during the 1860s, became even more frequent after 1868 and peaked after 1873.

The status of former samurai led to a split among the Meiji ruling group. Traditionalists wanted to absorb the samurai into an expanded military force to be used in foreign wars. The issue came to a head in September 1873, when Takamori Saigo pressed the Meiji government to mount a putative invasion of Korea and punish the country for its failure to open relations with the new Meiji government. The idea especially appealed to those who wanted to strengthen Japan's traditional martial virtues. Okubo Toshimichi, Kido Takayoshi and Ito Hirobumi, recently returned from the Iwakura Mission, adamantly opposed to the idea of military action against Korea. They did not reject the principle of overseas expansion, only the timing. They saw it as a major distraction from destroying the old class system and a diversion of resources that were urgently needed for industrialization and needed reforms. Opponents of the Korean adventure won the dispute and the plan was overturned.

When Takamori Saigo realized that his recommendations were not going to be acted upon, he submitted a letter of resignation and stormed back to his home in Kagoshima in disgust. Four of Takamori's supporters - Soejima Taneomi, Goto Shojiro, Itagaki Taisuke and Eto Shimpei - followed his example and resigned. Satsuma officers in the Imperial Guard also resigned their commissions. The rupture caused by the proposed Korean expedition shook the basis of the Meiji government and threw it into a panic. Sensing imminent conflict, Japan fell into a state of confusion.

The resignation of five state councilors left the Meiji government without teeth. A new cabinet was hastily reformed around Iwakura Tomomi and Okubo Toshimichi and other men took on additional duties and responsibilities in an attempt to mend the damage done by the resignations. Still, the restlessness in government could not be pacified by such half-hearted measures. The split completely destroyed the influence of the Tosa and Hizen clans and Okubo Toshimichi became the single most prominent figure in the government.

A number of powerful daimyo criticized the unbridled power of the oligarchy and called for the immediate establishment of a representative government. In January 1874, Itagaki Taisuke, Soejima Taneomi, Goto Shojiro, and Eto Shimpei submitted a joint petition for the establishment of a popularly elected parliament. When word of the proposal hit the streets, public opinion in favor of the proposal spread to the farthest ends of the country. Heated debates soon appeared in major newspapers while Itagaki, Soejima and Goto busily fought opposition to their proposal. Itagaki bolstered support for the petition by forming a political organization he called Patriotic Public Party. He believed that establishing a constitutional government and destroying the clan cliques represented a true expression of patriotism and loyalty to the emperor. The party's pledge began, "Heaven, in creating our people, has endowed them with certain inalienable and universal rights."

The document addressed the urgent need for removing the remaining evils of a feudal system that regarded people as slaves and charged the national government had become the private fiefdom of one or two ruling clans. Itagaki's Patriotic Public Party never managed to secure a foothold however, and soon dissolved itself. The petition for a popular parliament lit a fire in Japan that could not be quenched by eliminating a single political group. Other men of like mind rose across the country, organized political societies and joined the demand for the creation of a popularly elected assembly.

In April 1874, the power of the Choshu clan suffered a blow when Kido Takayoshi resigned from government over a dispute regarding the proposed expedition to Taiwan. With the ruling clique going through a phase of self-destruction, popular demands for a genuine parliament gained momentum. On May 2, the Meiji government issued a new set of rules and regulations dealing with the constitution. As evidence of the government's unwillingness to give up control, part of this document dealing with the assembly of governors stated that governors, when in the assembly, "must nevertheless strive to serve as representatives of the ordinary people." The aberration of only "pretending" to represent the people never functioned properly and the assembly soon became yet another tool of the central government respected by neither officials nor the people.

Japan's ruling classes were long familiar with the phenomenon of peasant revolts. The growing unrest among the samurai however, appeared much more threatening. Meiji leaders in Tokyo, samurai themselves, continually expressed concerns about the plight of so many dispossessed samurai. In an attempt to defuse a mounting problem, a number were given land on the island of Hokkaido and as many as possible were absorbed into the expanding government and into government-sponsored industries as foremen and laborers. Soon however, tensions reached the boiling point.

In 1874, Takamori Saigo and Eto Shimpei conspired with other discontented elements to launch an armed insurrection against government troops in Saga, Kyushu. State Councillor Okubo Toshimichi, charged with suppressing the uprising, swiftly crushed Eto, who got no help from Takamori. Other rebellions erupted in Kumamoto, Akizuki and Hagi along with a number of assassination attempts, some successful and some not. The underlying cause in each case was deeply rooted in the controversy that surrounded the proposed putative expedition to Korea and fomented by discontented samurai conspiring to overthrow the "clan clique" government.

The government tried to strengthen its position by inviting back the various elder statesmen of the Restoration who had resigned over the Korea issue. Minister Inoue Kaoru, a leading member of the Meiji government, organized and moderated a conference in Osaka in January 1875 to work out their differences. Okubo Toshimichi and Ito Hirobumi participated along with Kido Takayoshi and Itagaki Taisuke, both of whom had resigned earlier. Takamori Saigo and Soejima Taneomi declined the invitation.

Almost immediately, Itagaki brought up his long-cherished dream of a representative parliament, insisting that it was the only way to fulfill the grand purpose of the Restoration. Kido, who agreed with the principles of constitutionalism, favored a slow approach, fearing the sudden introduction of a representative parliament would have adverse effects on government. Given the people's lack of political sophistication, he argued that local assemblies should be created to enable the Japanese people to learn about democracy. The next step should be the creation of prefectural assemblies, followed eventually by a national assembly. Okubo, the most conservative of the participants, admitted that a popular parliament would have to be established eventually, but now was not the time. None of the participants opposed constitutionalism in principal. The only differences had to do with questions of how and when.

The ruling oligarchy acknowledged the realities of political pressure, but was determined to keep control. After a lot of give and take on both sides, the men reached a compromise on a plan that would establish an independent judiciary with a supreme court (Great Court of Judicature) and a senate (Council of Elder Statesmen) for legislation. Kido and Itagaki agreed to resume their positions as councilors and cooperate in the development of the new political system. The Emperor declared that "constitutional government shall be established in gradual stages" and ordered the Council of Elders to draft a constitution. The government confirmed the separation of powers and endorsed the idea of constitutional government on April 14, 1875, when it issued its Imperial Rescript on the Gradual Establishment of a Constitutional Government.

The government sidestepped the issue of a popularly elected assembly by convening the first conference of regional administrators in June 1875. They believed that through such gatherings, members would gradually develop an understanding of representative government and that would eventually lead to the establishment of a full-fledged constitutional system.

In addition to political reforms, the Meiji government introduced a number of radical reforms with the intention of stimulating economic growth. Just as international treaties had erased barriers to international trade, the government removed all barriers to domestic trade. The government abolished trade guilds and removed restrictions on freedom of movement. People could now travel and choose occupations freely. Property rights were expanded so that practically anyone could buy land. Even farmers were permitted to plant the crop of their choice.

Freeing Japanese consumers to do business with anyone they desired had a tremendous impact on the economy. The availability of cheap foreign imports from India and China pushed non-competitive Japanese craftsmen out of business. Some men from every class seized the opportunities to forge ahead in business and the professions, but millions found the transition exceptionally difficult. Many merchants, who had long enjoyed guild monopolies and were accustomed to close and profitable dependence on the daimyo and local governments, could not adjust to the new conditions and went bankrupt.

Japan's economic turmoil fueled an increase in riots and uprisings among Japanese peasants. The last, and most dangerous of these rebellions began in February 1877 with a series of raids on government arsenals in Kagoshima and Iso. Numerous samurai insurgents joined the fight along the way, each with his own motives and allegiances. The samurai first urged, then proclaimed Takamori Saigo as their leader. His enthusiasm over the task has been debated, but the rapid escalation of the situation left him little choice. He organized the confused mob and put together an army of an estimated 25,000 to 40,000 men.

In their first major engagement Takamori's men laid siege to the imperial garrison at Kumamoto Castle. While trying to break the castle defenses, the Meiji government dispatched a much larger conscript peasant army under the command of Yamagata Aritomo. Equipped with modern weapons and supported by much better logistics, the Imperial Army broke the seige after 54 days and forced the rebels into a long retreat to Kagoshima in southern Kyushu.

When the retreat finally ended, Takamori Saigo and a small group of some 300 loyal samurai made their last stand in the hills of Shiroyama, not far from Kagoshima Castle. Thoroughly exhausted, hopelessly outnumbered and short of food and ammunition, the rebels knew they had no chance. There was no glorious hand-to-hand combat, no honorable battle to the death, only a one-sided massacre against a small group of men with nothing but their swords for defense. The final artillery bombardment began early on the morning of September 24, 1877. It was all over except for the wasteful killing and heroic dying:  13,000 killed, 24,000 wounded. Takamori Saigo died on the battlefield. The age of the samurai was over.