The Meiji Restoration was the political revolution in Japan that ended the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and returned power to the emperor, who took the name Meiji. It was led by samurai from the domains of Satsuma and Choshu, who feared that the shogunate had been weakened by American and European pressure to open Japan to trade, and it was followed by the Boshin War, in which the shogun's forces were defeated. The capital was moved to Tokyo, the feudal domains were abolished and the samurai class lost its privileges. The new government built a modern conscript army and navy, railways and industries, and adopted a constitution in 1889. Within a generation Japan had become the first non-Western industrial and military power.
Before and after
- 5 December 1867Birth of Józef Piłsudski
- 1868Founding of Technical University of Munich
- 1868Founding of University of California
- 1868Construction of Auckland Grammar School
- from 1868 to 1889Meiji Restoration
- from 3 January 1868 to 3 May 1947Empire of Japan
- from 27 January 1868 to 27 June 1869Boshin War
- 16 March 1868Birth of Maxim Gorky
- 22 March 1868Birth of Robert Andrews Millikan
More in Wars, politics & history
- from 1765 to 1783American Revolution
- from 18 June 1812 to 18 February 1815War of 1812
- from 18 March 1871 to 28 May 1871Paris Commune
- from 1885 to 1914Scramble for Africa
- from 25 April 1898 to 11 August 1898Spanish–American War
- from 8 February 1904 to 5 September 1905Russo-Japanese War
The era
This moment belongs to the Industrial era (1760 CE to 1914 CE), steam, factories and revolutions. You can also browse everything in the 19th century.