- Hagi Rebellion
Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Hagi Rebellion
partof=Shizoku rebellions of theMeiji period
caption=Maeba Issei, leader of the rebellion
date=28 October ,1876 –5 November ,1876
place=Hagi,Yamaguchi Prefecture
casus=
territory=
result=Government victory; rebellion crushed
combatant1=Imperial Japanese Army
combatant2="shizoku" rebels of formerChōshū Domain
combatant3=
commander1=
commander2=Maebara Issei
commander3=
strength1=Unknown
strength2=200
strength3=
casualties1=
casualties2=
casualties3=
notes=The 1876 nihongo|Hagi Rebellion|萩の乱|Hagi no ran was one of a number of ex-samurai uprisings which took place in the early
Meiji period against the newMeiji government ofJapan Background
Following the 1868
Meiji Restoration , many members of the formersamurai class were disgruntled with the direction the nation had taken. The abolition of their former privileged social status under the feudal order had also eliminated their income, and the establishment of universalmilitary conscription had eliminated much of their raison d'etre. The very rapid modernization (Westernization) of the country was resulting in massive changes toJapanese culture , dress and society and appeared to many samurai to be a betrayal of the "joi" (“Expel the Barbarian”) portion of theSonnō jōi justification used to overthrow the formerTokugawa shogunate .Maebara Issei , one of the heroes of the Meiji restoration and a leader of the Imperial Army at theBattle of Aizu was among the dissatisfied. Maebara had been a pupil ofYoshida Shoin and an early advocate of modernization. He had risen to the post of Military Minister in the new Meiji government, but had resigned due to disagreements withKido Takayoshi over the treatment of the formerdaimyō after theabolition of the han system .The revolt
When Maebara was contacted by the leaders of the
Shimpūren Rebellion to join forces in a widespread uprising against the Meiji government, he gathered a group of like-minded samurai on1876-10-26 , in Hagi, the former capital ofChōshū Domain (nowYamaguchi Prefecture , and proposed a lightning strike against the government offices located in Yamaguchi city. As his forces numbered only around 100 warriors, it was decided to make a night attack, with the date set atOctober 28 . The governor of Yamaguchi Prefecture, hearing of Maebara's preparation, sent word to him with news of the crushing of the Shinpūren Rebellion, and urging that he stand down.Maebara realized that his plans for a surprise attack were doomed to fail, and that the government offices in Yamaguchi had been reinforced with
Imperial Japanese Army troops, so he changed his strategy, and decided to march along theSea of Japan coast toTokyo , winning over the ex-samurai from the various former domains along the way, and to commit mass suicide at the feet ofEmperor Meiji .Maebara's rebels marched from Hagi to Susa, looting along the way. At Susa, they recruited more warriors and began to call themselves the Juntoku Army. However, Maebara's plans to travel by sea to Hamada in
Iwami Province were defeated by strong winds, and he retuned to Hagi instead.On returning to Hagi, Maebara discovered that someone had dumped his secret store of ammunition into the ocean, rendering his army largely weaponless. On
November 5 , Maebara attempted to escape from Hagi with a handfull of men in an attempt to reach Tokyo, but he was captured. The remainder of his "Juntoku Army” was crushed by Imperial Army troops at Hagi. Maeda and six of his associates were tried before amilitary tribunal in Fukuoka and executed onDecember 3 alongside the leaders of theAkizuki Rebellion and forty of the surviving rebels received prison sentences.References
*cite book
last = Keane
first = Donald
year = 2005
title = Emperor Of Japan: Meiji And His World, 1852-1912"
publisher = Columbia University Press
location =
id = ISBN 0-231-12341-8ee also
*
Akizuki Rebellion
*Saga Rebellion
*Shimpuren Rebellion
*Satsuma Rebellion
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