Treaty Charter Issue

Political conflict between the Imperial Court and the Shogunate over the Imperial sanction of the Ansei Five-Nation Treaty. In the final days of the Tokugawa shogunate, in response to the demands of the various nations to open their borders, the Shogunate initially adopted a policy of concluding a peace and amity treaty with the approval of the Imperial Court. However, the Imperial Court, which was a close-knit and anti-foreigner, was opposed to the conclusion of a trade treaty and did not grant its sanction. As a result, the Shogunate's chief advisor, Ii Naosuke, signed the trade treaty on its own initiative. As a result, the anti-foreigner movement took the form of pro-imperialism and developed into an anti-Shogunate movement, and the Shogunate was caught between the pressure from the various nations and the pro-imperial and anti-foreigner movement, and suffered. The great powers began to question the Shogunate's ability to govern due to the frequent occurrences of anti-foreigner incidents, and representatives of four countries, including Great Britain, France, the United States, and the Netherlands, finally used force to force the Choshu Domain, the base of the anti-foreigner faction, to submit (the Shimonoseki bombardment incident by the Four-nation Allied Fleet). Meanwhile, in order to open the port of Hyogo and to give effect to the treaty itself, they urged the Shogunate to gather a fleet off the coast of Hyogo in September 1865 (Keio 1) and obtain imperial sanction for the treaty. Tokugawa Yoshinobu and other Shogunate officials did everything in their power to persuade the Imperial Court, and the Imperial Court, finally realizing the pressure from the great powers, granted the sanction on October 5th. Thus, it became clear that the Imperial Court had the right to ratify the treaty, and since the Imperial Court had agreed to open the country, the anti-foreigner movement also began to decline.

[Tanaka Tokihiko]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

安政(あんせい)五か国条約の勅許をめぐる朝廷と幕府の政治抗争。幕末、列国の開国要求に対し、幕府は最初、朝廷の承認を得て和親条約を締結する方針をとったが、鎖国攘夷(じょうい)主義の朝廷は、通商条約の締結に反対して勅許を与えず、そのため大老井伊直弼(いいなおすけ)は幕府の専断で通商条約に調印した。この結果、攘夷運動が尊王主義の形をとって反幕府運動に発展し、幕府は列国の圧力と尊王攘夷運動との板挟みになって苦悩することとなった。列国は、頻発する攘夷事件に幕府の統治能力を疑問視するに至り、イギリスをはじめとするフランス、アメリカ、オランダの4国代表は、ついに実力を行使して攘夷派の拠点である長州藩を屈服させる（四国連合艦隊下関(しものせき)砲撃事件）。一方、兵庫開港の履行と条約自体に実効を与えるため、1865年（慶応1）9月、兵庫沖に艦隊を集結させて条約勅許を獲得せよと幕府に迫った。徳川慶喜(よしのぶ)ら幕府当局者は力を尽くして朝廷を説得し、ようやく列国の圧力を認識した朝廷は、10月5日勅許を与えた。こうして朝廷が条約の批准権をもつことが明白となった一方、朝廷が開国に同意したので、攘夷運動も退潮に向かうこととなった。

［田中時彦］

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