Midterm Terms

Question 1

1. Chichibu Rebellion (1884)

Answer 1

• Chichibu – Area near the Kantu region. Here there was an armed resistance that was seeking debt relief. This was called the Chichibu revolt and was linked tenuously to the freedom party. This group became called the poor-people party
• 1884-87; Radical phase (third stage) of the Freedom and People’s Rights Movement
• Popular uprising driven by acute economic distress; the people wanted debt relief
• Led by middle and small farmers who had only recently fallen on hard times (not the destitute farmers)
• To deal with public debt, the government creates fiscal conservative policies and the farmers were hurt the most by these reforms and many lost their land
• “Poor People’s Army” was the most significant uprising during Meiji period because of its organization, militancy and ideological articulation, if not number of participants
• Poor People’s Party tried to work through legal means and pursue debt reconciliation first, and only turned to violence after that failed
• Some political awareness, but also pre-Meiji thinking like yonaoshi
• Kept apart from the Jiyuuto, which comprised of more well-off local notables; Jiyuuto dissolved itself before the Chichibu Revolt so they would not be affiliated with such radicalism
• Crushed by the government’s imperial armies
• The Chichibu escape and then start stirring up problems in the other regions and became popular with the poor. They again were crushed and the leaders of the group were executed