The , or was a powerful

military alliance A military alliance is a formal Alliance, agreement between nations that specifies mutual obligations regarding national security. In the event a nation is attacked, members of the alliance are often obligated to come to their defense regardless ...

between the southwestern feudal domains of Satsuma and Chōshū formed in 1866 to combine their efforts to restore Imperial rule and overthrow the

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. The Tokugawa shogunate was established by Tokugawa Ieyasu after victory at the Battle of Sekigahara, ending the civil wars ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

History

The name ''Satchō'' () is an abbreviation combining the names of the provinces Satsuma (present day Kagoshima Prefecture) and Chōshū (present-day

Yamaguchi Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Yamaguchi Prefecture has a population of 1,377,631 (1 February 2018) and has a geographic area of 6,112 Square kilometre, km2 (2,359 Square mile, sq mi). ...

), two of the strongest Imperialist '' tozama'' domains in Edo-period

. In the 1860s, Satsuma tended to take a moderate position towards maintenance of the status quo, whereas Chōshū had become the center of an uprising aimed at overthrowing the government. Through the mediation of Sakamoto Ryōma of Tosa Domain (present day Kōchi Prefecture), Satsuma military leaders Saigō Takamori and Ōkubo Toshimichi were brought together with Katsura Kogorō of Chōshū Domain. Although the two domains were traditionally fierce enemies, their leaders agreed that the time was right for a change, and agreed in principle to assist one another in the event that either would be attacked by a third party. Also, Chōshū desperately needed modern weapons, but had very limited contacts with the western powers. Satsuma, on the other hand, had developed a substantial arms trade with the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

via Thomas Glover, a Scottish merchant affiliated with Jardine Matheson. At the suggestion of Sakamoto, Saigo helped broker an agreement to supply Chōshū with the weapons it needed to fight the Tokugawa shogunate. Despite this assistance, there was still considerable distrust between the two domains. On March 1, 1866, the Shogunate demanded the retirement and confinement of Chōshū ''

daimyō were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji era, Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and no ...

'' Mōri Takachika and the reduction of domain revenues by 100,000 '' koku''. This enraged the Chōshū leadership, and led to a formal, six-point agreement with Satsuma. The scope of the agreement was fairly limited. Satsuma agreed to assist Chōshū in obtaining a pardon from the Imperial Court. If this failed and the Shogunate attacked, Satsuma would send 2000 troops to

Kyoto Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...

; however, Satsuma would engage the Shogunate in combat only if Kuwana, Aizu or shogun Tokugawa Yoshinobu's personal guard attempted to block Satsuma's access to the Emperor. The Alliance was crucial in enabling Chōshū to withstand a punitive expedition mounted by the Tokugawa shogunate in the summer of 1866, which led to a stunning defeat for the Tokugawa armies. During the subsequent Boshin War of 1868–1869, the imperial armies which finally overthrew the Shogunate were primarily

samurai The samurai () were members of the warrior class in Japan. They were originally provincial warriors who came from wealthy landowning families who could afford to train their men to be mounted archers. In the 8th century AD, the imperial court d ...

from the Satchō alliance. With the establishment of the

Meiji Restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored Imperial House of Japan, imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Althoug ...

, men from these two domains dominated the new

Meiji government The was the government that was formed by politicians of the Satsuma Domain and Chōshū Domain in the 1860s. The Meiji government was the early government of the Empire of Japan. Politicians of the Meiji government were known as the Meiji ...

into the 20th century.Jansen 2000, p. 396.

Notes

References

* Gordon, Andrew. (2003). ''A Modern History of Japan: From Tokugawa Times to the Present.'' Oxford: Oxford University Press. ;
OCLC 49704795
* Jansen, Marius B. (2000). ''The Making of Modern Japan.'' Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
OCLC 44090600
* Ravina, Mark. (2004). ''The Last Samurai: The Life and Battles of Saigo Takamori''. Hoboken, New Jersey: Wiley.
OCLC 427566169
{{DEFAULTSORT:Satcho Alliance Meiji Restoration 19th-century military alliances