The global weapons trade and the Meiji restoration: dispersion of means of violence in a world of emerging nation-states
Western arms played a significant role as a new means of violence leading to the Meiji Restoration and in the ensuing civil war in Japan 1868-69. This chapter explores how industrial arms manufacturing and the global arms trade in the 1860s fueled wars in multiple locations worldwide including Japan...
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| Format: | Chapter/Article Conference Paper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
14 April 2020
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| In: |
The Meiji restoration
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| DOI: | 10.1017/9781108775762.005 |
| Online Access: | Verlag, lizenzpflichtig, Volltext: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108775762.005 Verlag, lizenzpflichtig, Volltext: https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/meiji-restoration/global-weapons-trade-and-the-meiji-restoration/3D43FEB2DA6B128C990E7AA825BC3621 
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| Author Notes: | Harald Fuess |
| Summary: | Western arms played a significant role as a new means of violence leading to the Meiji Restoration and in the ensuing civil war in Japan 1868-69. This chapter explores how industrial arms manufacturing and the global arms trade in the 1860s fueled wars in multiple locations worldwide including Japan. As domains and the Shogunate prepared for battle domestic demand for foreign arms soared precipitously overshadowing any other form of international trade. With their global and regional connections local Western merchants such as L. Kniffler & Co. in Nagasaki and the Schnell brothers in Yokohama supplied several sides in the Japanese conflict with military goods ranging in size from gunpowder to gunboats. Nevertheless, the rifle became the prevalent Western weapon for combat in Japan and it is the rifle that became the centerpiece of military strategy and social reform. Contrary to the prevalent image of arms trading limited to a few young risk takers like Thomas Glover, this study shows the widespread and short-term creation of military goods trade networks through abundant foreign supply and great domestic demand. |
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| Item Description: | Gesehen am 16.04.2026 |
| Physical Description: | Online Resource |
| ISBN: | 9781108775762 |
| DOI: | 10.1017/9781108775762.005 |