Boshin War

It refers to the wars that took place from the Battle of Toba-Fushimi in January 1868 (Keio 4) to the Battle of Hakodate in May 1869 (Meiji 2). The name was given because 1868 was the year of the Boshin in the Chinese zodiac.

The new government established by the Imperial Restoration Coup on December 9, 1867 (Keio 3) removed Tokugawa Yoshinobu from power and demanded that he resign from his post and hand over his lands. The new government was a coalition of the various domains that had participated in the coup, including Satsuma, Tosa, Aki, Owari, and Echizen, and its dominant ideology was the theory of a public government system. However, the initial dominance of the anti-shogunate faction gradually faded within the government, and the public government system faction gained dominance, and the initial policy on the issue of resignation and handover of lands was gradually relaxed. However, the situation changed dramatically with the Battle of Toba-Fushimi. With the victory of the new government forces, the feudal lords from Kinki and west quickly pledged their loyalty to the new government, and the wealthy merchant class in western Japan also began to cooperate with the new government. Within the government, the idea of ​​power based on the theory of a public government rapidly weakened, and the anti-shogunate faction gained leadership. The new government changed in a direction in which a small number of autocratic politicians would determine the ultimate will of the nation under the name of direct rule by the Emperor. The Five Articles of Oath of March 14, 1868, declared the establishment of this new government both at home and abroad, and the Constitution of Japan of leap April embodied the spirit of the Oath in the government system.

Meanwhile, after the Battle of Toba-Fushimi, Yoshinobu returned to Edo and tried to appeal to the new government for his submission, but to no avail, and finally retired to Kan'ei-ji Temple in Ueno. In order to pursue and destroy the enemy of the Imperial Court, the new government established the Vanguard General Headquarters of the Hokuriku, Tokai, and Tozan Three Roads under the Grand General Headquarters, and had them command the armies of the various domains and head to Edo. Troops formed by volunteers from the grassroots community also participated in the Eastern Expedition. Some of these troops, such as the Sekihoutai led by Sozo Sagara, were suppressed as false government troops by the new government's schemes. The general attack on Edo Castle was made possible by a meeting between Saigo Takamori and Yamaoka Tetsutaro (Yamaoka Tesshu) in Sunpu, and a meeting between Saigo and Katsu Yasuyoshi (Kaishu) in Edo made it possible for the castle to be surrendered peacefully. On April 4, 1868, an imperial envoy entered Edo Castle and conveyed the conditions for surrender to the Tokugawa side, including Yoshinobu's suspension from Mito, the opening of the castle, the confiscation of warships and weapons, and the punishment of senior vassals. Edo Castle was handed over on the 11th of the same month. However, Tokugawa soldiers who fought against the Tokugawa side escaped Edo and fought resistance in various parts of the Kanto region, which, along with the uprisings and seditions that were occurring at the time, put the government forces in a difficult position. In the midst of this, a decision on how to punish the Tokugawa clan was urgently made, and in leap April, Sanjo Sanetomi went to Edo as Kanto Inspector General to decide on the details of the punishment for the Tokugawa clan. On the 29th of the same month, it was announced to the Tokugawa that Tayasu Kamenosuke (Tokugawa Iesato) would be the successor to the Tokugawa clan. On May 15, the new government defeated the Shogitai in the Battle of Ueno, obtaining favorable conditions for the subjugation of the Kanto region. On May 24, the government conveyed to the Tokugawa side that Tokugawa Kamenosuke would be made the lord of Suruga Fuchu Castle with a fief of 700,000 koku. With the Tokugawa family transferred to Suruga, the new government was able to manage the Kanto region from Edo as its center, and extend its control to the Tohoku region, solidifying the foundation for its rule over the entire country in both name and reality. In July, Edo became Tokyo, and in October, the Emperor made a visit to Tokyo.

On the other hand, the Sendai and Yonezawa clans, who tried to mediate between the Aizu and Shonai clans, which were considered enemies of the Imperial Court, and the new government regarding the terms of their surrender and apology, failed in their efforts. The Tohoku clans, dissatisfied and distrustful of the new government and the staff of the Oshu Chinbu Government-General, formed the Oshu-Uetsu Alliance in May, and the Hokuetsu clans eventually joined, forming the Oshu-Uetsu Alliance, and resisting the new government. In July 1868 (Meiji 1), a public council was established in Shiroishi, Sendai domain, and Prince Rinnoji was appointed military governor. The senior vassals of the Oshu-Uetsu clans participated in the discussion and execution of military, civil, accounting, and other matters. This was a feudal lord alliance government established in the Oshu-Uetsu region, but they were defeated in battles with the new government forces, and the allied clans surrendered one after another. In December, the punishment of the Oshu-Uetsu domains was decided. The feudal lords were imprisoned, placed under house arrest, their fiefs were reduced or transferred, senior vassals were punished, and atonement money was imposed. In August, Enomoto Takeaki and his men escaped with the Tokugawa navy and captured Hakodate in Hokkaido, where they established a new government, but surrendered to the new government forces at Goryokaku in May 1869, bringing the Boshin War to an end.

The Boshin War caused a wide range of problems, including extreme financial hardship for the feudal domains, the loss of control of the feudal lords within their domains, intensified internal conflicts as the domains split into pro-imperial and pro-shogunate factions, conflicts between high-ranking samurai and low-ranking samurai, officers and soldiers, and civil servants and military officials, and the apparent contradictions of territorial enclaves and enclaves, and greatly accelerated the disintegration of the feudal domain system. The majority of the feudal lord class became more dependent on the new imperial government and hoped to escape this crisis by increasing the authority of the feudal lords through the return and re-issuance of their official documents and by a reorganization of the domains. The desires of the feudal lord class combined with the machinations of the new government leaders to peacefully realize the return of the domains and their domains to the Emperor in 1869.

The Boshin War decisively weakened the feudal lord class, dramatically increasing the momentum for the end of the feudal system and the establishment of a centralized, unified nation. The collapse of the shogunate and the birth of a new government also greatly increased the possibility of Japan escaping the threat of semi-colonization that had been plaguing it since the end of the Edo period. These are the greatest significances of the Boshin War.

[Kiyoshi Haraguchi]

"The Boshin War" by Kiyoshi Haraguchi (1963, Hanawa Shobo)" ▽ "Research on Local Political History in the Early Meiji Period, Vol. 1" by Kiyoshi Haraguchi (1972, Hanawa Shobo) ▽ "The Civil War of the Meiji Restoration" by Takashi Ishii (1968, Shiseido) ▽ "The Boshin War" by Masaru Sasaki (Chuko Shinsho)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

1868年（慶応4）1月の鳥羽(とば)・伏見(ふしみ)の戦いから1869年（明治2）5月の箱館(はこだて)戦争までの戦争をいう。1868年が干支(えと)で戊辰(つちのえたつ)の年にあたるので、この呼称がつけられている。

　1867年（慶応3）12月9日の王政復古クーデターによって成立した新政府は、徳川慶喜(よしのぶ)を政権から排除し、辞官・納地を彼に要求した。新政府は、クーデターに参加した薩摩(さつま)、土佐、安芸(あき)、尾張(おわり)、越前(えちぜん)など諸藩の連合政権であり、公議政体論を支配的なイデオロギーとしていたが、政府内では当初の討幕派の優位がしだいに失われて公議政体派が優位となり、辞官・納地問題も当初の方針がしだいに緩和されていった。しかし、鳥羽・伏見の戦いにより局面は一変した。新政府軍の勝利により、近畿以西の諸侯は急速に新政府に忠誠を誓い、西日本の大商人層も新政府に協力することになった。政府内では公議政体論的権力構想は急速に衰え、討幕派の指導権が成立した。新政府は、天皇親政の名のもとに少数の専制的政治家が国家の最高意志を決定する方向に変貌(へんぼう)していった。1868年3月14日の五か条の誓文(せいもん)はこのような新政府の成立を内外に宣言するものであったし、閏(うるう)4月の政体書は誓文の精神を官制上に具体化したものであった。

　一方、鳥羽・伏見の戦いの後、江戸に帰った慶喜は、新政府に自己の恭順を訴える工作を行ったが効果なく、ついに上野寛永寺(かんえいじ)に閉居する。新政府は朝敵慶喜追討のため、大総督府の下に北陸、東海、東山三道の先鋒(せんぽう)総督府を置き、諸藩軍隊を指揮して江戸に向かわせた。草莽(そうもう)有志が結成した諸隊も東征に参加した。草莽諸隊のなかには、相楽総三(さがらそうぞう)らの赤報隊(せきほうたい)のように新政府側の策謀によって偽官軍の罪で弾圧されたものもある。江戸城総攻撃は、西郷隆盛(さいごうたかもり)、山岡鉄太郎（山岡鉄舟）の駿府(すんぷ)会談を経て、江戸での西郷・勝安芳(かつやすよし)（海舟）の会談により平和的開城が可能となる。1868年4月4日勅使が江戸城に入り、慶喜の水戸謹慎、開城、軍艦兵器の没収、重臣処分などの降伏条件を徳川方に伝達、同月11日江戸城明け渡しが行われた。しかし徳川方抗戦派将兵は江戸を脱走して関東各地で抵抗戦を行い、おりからの一揆(いっき)、打毀(うちこわし)とともに政府軍を苦境に陥れた。このなかで徳川氏処分の決着が急がれ、閏4月に三条実美(さんじょうさねとみ)は関東監察使として江戸に下り徳川氏処分内容を決定。同月29日徳川相続人を田安亀之助(たやすかめのすけ)（徳川家達(いえさと)）とする旨を徳川方に伝えた。5月15日の上野戦争で彰義隊(しょうぎたい)を撃滅して関東制圧に有利な条件を獲得した新政府は、5月24日徳川亀之助を駿河(するが)府中70万石の城主とする旨を徳川方に伝達した。徳川家の駿河移封により、新政府が江戸を中心にして関東を経営し、東北地方にも支配を浸透させ、名実ともに全国に君臨する基礎が固められた。7月江戸を東京とし、10月天皇の東京行幸が実現する。

　一方、朝敵とされた会津・庄内(しょうない)両藩の降伏謝罪条件について、両藩と新政府との間の斡旋(あっせん)に尽力した仙台・米沢(よねざわ)藩などの努力も失敗し、新政府や奥羽鎮撫(ちんぶ)総督府参謀に不満・不信を抱いた東北諸藩は、5月奥羽列藩同盟を結成し、やがて北越諸藩もこれに参加して奥羽越列藩同盟となって新政府に抵抗。1868年（明治1）7月仙台藩領白石(しろいし)に公議府を設け、輪王寺宮(りんのうじのみや)を軍事総督に推戴(すいたい)し、奥羽越諸藩重臣が参加して軍事・民政・会計その他を議定、執行することになる。これは、奥羽越の地に成立した諸藩連合政権であったが、新政府軍との戦闘に敗れ、同盟諸藩は次々に降伏した。12月奥羽越諸藩の処分が決定。藩主の幽閉、謹慎、削封、転封、重臣処分、贖罪金(しょくざいきん)賦課などが行われた。また、8月に徳川方海軍を率いて脱走した榎本武揚(えのもとたけあき)らは、北海道箱館を攻略してこの地に新政権を樹立したが、69年5月五稜郭(ごりょうかく)において新政府軍に降伏し、戊辰戦争は終了する。

　戊辰戦争により、諸藩財政の極度の窮乏、藩主の藩内統制力の喪失、勤王・佐幕両派に分裂しての藩内抗争の激化、上級武士対下級武士、将校対兵士、文官対武官などの対立、領土の飛地(とびち)・入組(いりくみ)関係の矛盾の顕在化、その他が広範に現れ、藩体制の解体化は大きく促進された。領主階級の大部分は、天皇新政権への依存度を強め、判物(はんもつ)返上―再交付による藩主の権威の増大、領地再編成によりこの危機から脱出することを願った。この領主階級の願望と新政府指導者の策謀が結合し、1869年の版籍奉還(はんせきほうかん)が平和的に実現する。

　戊辰戦争により封建領主階級は決定的に弱体化し、封建制度の終焉(しゅうえん)と中央集権的統一国家樹立の機運を飛躍的に増大させた。また幕府の倒壊と新政権の誕生は、幕末以来の半植民地化の危機から日本が脱出する可能性を大きく増大させるものとなった。これらが戊辰戦争のもつ最大の意義である。

［原口　清］

『原口清著『戊辰戦争』（1963・塙書房）』▽『原口清著『明治前期地方政治史研究　上』（1972・塙書房）』▽『石井孝著『維新の内乱』（1968・至誠堂）』▽『佐々木克著『戊辰戦争』（中公新書）』

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