Bakumatsu, Part 2: Blood in the Streets
After the assassination of Ii Naosuke, political violence became a new norm. The Shogunate was deeply troubled when a rebellion began in its own backyard of northern Kanto, in Mito Domain.
Month: May 2024
Bakumatsu, Part 1: The Ansei Purge
After the national humiliation and subsequent economic turmoil caused by opening Japan to more foreign trade, the Bakufu desperately tried to regain a position of national authority. This culminated in the Ansei Purge initiated by the chief elder Ii Naosuke. However, the shogunate’s tough actions would bring significant unexpected consequences.
The Black Ships
Pillars of Resistance
Throughout the 1840s, various groups sought to find solutions to repeated violations of sakoku and questioned the ability of the shogunate to practically defend the country if there was an actual invasion. Many came to very different conclusions.
The Joseon Renaissance
Throughout the 1700s, after a series of political purges and national instability, the Joseon kingdom experienced a cultural flowering.
When Empires Collide
As the Qing Dynasty continued to decline in the wake of mass rebellions and longstanding insurgencies, a conflict with the British East India Trade Company would evolve into the disastrous Opium Wars.
The Golden Age of the Qing Dynasty
The reigns of Emperors Kangxi, Yongzheng, and Qianlong represented a time of increasing expansion, stabilizing, and solidifying for China in the 1700s. However, some of the tendencies of the Qing Dynasty would ultimately sow the seeds for its own destruction.
Kinjiru
The Sakoku isolation policies were meant to keep the Japanese government insulated from dangerous foreign influence. However, its tendency toward restriction and xenophobia could not be easily balanced with the Bakufu’s desire to continue governing the nation.
Let the Good Times Roll
After the expulsion of Matsudaira Sadanobu, the shogun was free to pursue the lavish lifestyle he had always dreamed of. Thanks to a buoyant economy, the rest of the nation joined him in conspicuous consumption. These good times, however, would eventually come to an end.
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