Europe and the End of Shogunate: Japan «Opening»

“Bakumatsu” is the period from 1853 to 1868, which can be translated as “The End of the Bakufu” or “The End of the Tokugawa Shogunate”. Japan, under pressure from the United States and European countries, was forced to open the country for trade and contacts, well realising that it could not resist foreigners due to its technological and military inferiority. The “opening” of the country took place under the confusion of the authorities and with the resistance of not only a large part of the authorities, but also the people, who readily rallied under easy understandable slogan of “honor emperor and expel barbarians” (sonno-joi). This led to military clashes between Japanese and foreigners and to acts of terrorism not only against “barbarians” but also against local supporters of the opening of the country. The result of the “opening” of the country was also the elimination of the traditional for Japan formal dual power, under which the power by law belonged to the Emperors in Kyoto, but the country was ruled by the military rulers ‒ Shogunate of the Tokugawa dynasty in Edo. In 1868, the Tokugawa shogunate was abolished and power passed to the 122nd Meiji Emperor. The capital was moved to Edo and named Tokyo (Eastern Capital). Although the USA was given primacy in “opening” Japan, the major role in its political and economic transformation was played by European countries. President Millard Filmore, who initiated Matthew Perry's expeditions to Japan, was not re-elected, and the new president Franklin Pierce (1804‒1874), was mainly preoccupied with the conflict between the American South and North, and did not pay much attention to the issue of relations with Japan. In 1861, the American Civil War broke out and European countries – Great Britain, France, the Netherlands and Russia – began to play a major role in Japan's foreign policy.