For shiroyama itself it was absolutely about honor (from their perspective). The campaign had already been lost in the satsuma rebellion. Their armies decimated and they were out of gunpowder and bullets. (They didn't have the movies anti gun compunction). Honor demanded of them death either in battle or through ritual suicide. They chose to fight one last battle, really more a siege. As mentioned the casualties were tiny as they had no appreciable ranged assets. They were slowly whittled down for the first half of a day before the first assault. On reaching melee in just a couple minutes the first company sent up suffered about 40 casualties (the only imperial casualties in the battle) and they called off the assault content to whittle them down to the last man. The last 40 not willing to surrender but not wanting to wait any longer charged in what amounts to ritual death by army. Whether the satsuma rebellion was about honor is difficult to say. Shiroyama is undeniable, thus why it lives on.
The last samurai having the rebels think guns are dishonorable is hilarious. The Japanese had massive amounts of guns and gunpowder even as early as the 1590s. Samurai armies fought using matchlocks. And the Korean and Chinese troops were devastated on land during the Imjin wars by Japanese units equipped with matchlock arquebueses. Not to mention the satsuma clan literally had one of the most famous gunnery schools in Japan.
The goal of the producer of the movie " last samurai" is to maximise casualities of imperial army . But how ? With American advicer inside samurai army.Natan Algren teached samurai to close the distance and lure imperial army in close combat - " close enough to the sword" . That is not enough to win , because samurai was heavy outnumbered, but that strategy incresed casualities of imperial army a lot. Algren was like " that will be max from samurai in that circumstances. Without Algren samurai would die like pigeons , shoted from safe distance.
Definitely one for the history episode, a lot of the events surrounding the rebellion have been romanticized for good and for bad. The samurai class came out of the Warring States period (Sengoku Jidai: lit. "all the world at war") much reduced by reforms and "sword hunts" to disarm the population. Various rebellions between 1600 (Battle of Sekigahara, the end of the Sengoku Jidai) and 1637 Shimabara Rebellion near Nagasaki (the last major rebellion) featured many peasants who were disarmed former samurai who nonetheless retained their martial training. The arrival of Commodore Matthew Perry in 1854 forced Japan to open to the West with the first of the "Unequal Treaties" (which only came to an end in 1912). Japan was trying to rapidly modernize, and in 1868, the Boshin War took place between Bakufu (known as the Shogunate, the military government that ostensibly ran the country as stewards of the Japanese Emperor) and forces that wanted to displace the bakufu and place power directly in the hands of the Emperor. Long story short, the Imperial faction wins out, the Meiji Emperor comes to power, and the capital moves from Kyoto (lit. "the Ancient Capital;" it had been the capital since 794) to Edo, soon to be Tokyo (lit. "the Eastern Capital). After Sekigahara, the Tokugawa Bakufu instituted a series of reforms, including the aforementioned sword hunt decrees, but also making occupations hereditary, and tying families to the land. Thus, a samurai clan could only ever be a samurai clan, and they received a set stipend from the government, rather than collecting taxes and rents from landholdings. Inflation was inevitable, and as time went on, the cost of living rose (as well as myriad means of conspicuous consumption), but stipends did not. Many of the lowest ranking samurai were basically impoverished, and were legally barred from finding more lucrative jobs. This contributed to social unrest, and these petty samurai were often the backbone of any group seeking to change the status quo, whether in the Boshin War, or joining the Imperial Army. Actually, the commander of the Imperial Army that cornered Saigo's forces at Shiroyama was a personal friend of his and a former samurai. The offer of surrender offered to Saigo was given out of both personal and professional respect, but Saigo chose death before dishonor. "Death is but a feather, Duty is heavier than a mountain." Following the defeat of the Satsuma Rebellion and the death of Saigo Takamori, the samurai class was officially disbanded. The late 19th and early 20th Centuries saw the Imperial Army, especially its officers, adopting a romanticized version of Bushido, and envisioning themselves as the successors of the samurai. This led to them justifying a wide variety of horrible actions and instilling the "death before dishonor" mindset that lasted through 1945, to the point that the military nearly overthrew the Emperor in a bid to fight to the death after the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. With regards to "Sword versus the Gun" in the song, the Samurai were great fans of firearms, and were early adopters of the arquebus. The Portuguese expedition to Japan arrived on the island of Tanegashima in 1542 (the Portuguese arrived from the south, and were known as Nanban, or Southern Barbarians; matchlock arquebuses were thus referred to as Tanegashima). The Japanese were so enamored with the weapon that by 1583, Japan was locally producing and using more matchlocks than all of Europe (as some sources claim; I'm not sure what metric was used to define Europe, but Japan loved guns). One of the major warlords who came close to unifying Japan (not counting Hokkaido and Okinawa, which were much later territorial additions in the 1800s) Oda Nobunaga, built his reputation on his matchlock troops and tactics, utilizing three-line rotating volley fire when the contemporary European tactic was the pike and shot (plus swordsmen) tercios. This was exemplified in the Battle of Nagashino in 1575, when Oda's arquebusiers destroyed the vaunted Takeda Clan's elite heavy cavalry, which had come to prominence under Takeda Shingen, and had smashed an Oda-Tokugawa force at Mitagahara in 1573 (Shingen died later that year).
Yes Samurais Never Disvow Firearms they embrace it as part of Next phase warfare. The last samurai (1999) Done them bad, and pretty sure Japanese Scholars weren't fond of the movie for the over exaggerated romanticized Samurai and *Bushido*
"the Samurai were great fans of firearms" Exactly. Their muskets had carvings on them unlike those of ashigaru. The only reasons why their last charge was "sword face the gun" was simply them running out of ammunition.
@@dymytryruban4324 The whole battle lasted short. 1 Kasimoto(Rebel shogun) was confident he can Convince the near garrison of the rebellion for the Bushido conservation which was didn't work. 2.) That garrison was actually a Logistics value cause if he can Coerced the conscript and their Commander then he can have more supply. And the position which it has is suited in case of Seiged. When they didn't accept and fought off the whole rebellion was immediately Falling off, supply - lacking, armaments - lacking. Which is why it was more Dire strait. The whole rebellion was just a reform to preserve the way of life. A old era though violent was at same time meaning of their identity. Japan is Industrialized slowly but the Identity and the power of the lord's and the emperor is being sucked by private companies and foreign power, saito just wants Bushido and the system still present cause just as he said. Lot's of Samurai will be rendered Useless and their life's worth and citizenship as like noble knights are strip down and turned to wandering peasant for hire. That losing their *Katana* will be their Metaphorically Death sentence as identity*
What's your source for all of this? Cause much of that sounds inaccurate. Samurai using firearms was definitely not a thing as that would violate Bushido.
@Jeremy Harmon true but justifying bombing civilians with "but they did it too" doenst put you in a good light,.. i understand why they bombed the cities... and they had success, but that doesnt make it right....
I agree with the vote for this song, although I'd like to say, it is more about getting lots of soldiers and civilians out of the death trap,Berlin became at that point,and avoiding a last stand there against the Red Army. A very good song though,another example for disobeying your orders and be a hero instead. :)
Its about the halbe pocket and the elbe corridor. the 9th army was surrounded around halbe and the 12th, instead of relieving Berlin, went to open a path for the 9th army survivors and civilians to escape the wrath of the red army. Artero Dominatus is about the Battle of berlin.
It also forgot that the character played by Tom Cruise (his real life equivalent) was in fact a French captain by the name of Jules Brunet and absolutely not an american.
To add to what you said about their being no honor in this fight. That is an understatement. The Satsuma had actually been loyal Imperialist for years up to this point. Their rebellion seriously caught the Imperials off guard due to how staunchly loyal the Satsuma domain had been during the chaos of the Meiji Restoration.
@@comradejosefstalin3097 Capable of firing at a rate of over 200 rounds per minute, with it's rotating barrel and hand-cranked automatic reloading system, THIS, Gentlemen, is the Gatling Machine Gun! Created by renowned inventor Dr. Richard J. Gatling, this gun is the finest weapon to provide a continous high rate of fire without pause for reloading! With Gatling Guns in your arsenal, and a crew of just 4, you do the job of 4 scores trained Riflemen! Reducing the cost of your army, while at the same time increasing its effectiveness! And all through American ingenuity! Well, Gentlemen? Are you ready to sign?
Thre's actually a movie about this rebellion, it's called "Hanjiro" It's only in Japanese though. Just in case youbwanna learn more about this rebrllion, they also show this battle and more that also happened during the resistance.
3:30 There is something important that needs to be added here in order to keep your remark from being misleading. Yes, Samurai had the right to execute commoners for certain reasons, but here's the often overlooked catch: When doing to they needed not only good reason to do so, but also an actual witness of the transgression in question - lest they would get executed themselves (and if my memory serves also the posessions of their entire family taken away). As such this was not done on a whim.
The comment about being able to wear your sword in public is also a bit misleading. As a samurai, you had to wear your Katana in public by law, but you could be executed if you were to unsheath it. They were told only to unsheath it if they were ready to die.
@@Ashpect yes and no. after the meji era started they made it illegal to wear a sword in public( Haito edict), which came into effect march 28 1876 to put and end to samurai the battle of shiroyama was in 1877 after the signing of the edict if they were caught carrying a sword it was confiscated. only ppl allowed to carry swords were former lords, military and police no one else. the rebellion was the samurai fighting against this edict. the satsuma rebellion was one of a number of such uprisings by ex samurai. wiki has five main ones listed.
Btw the samurai in the Battle of Shiroyama charged with swords not because of honour, but because they didn't have ammunition for their own guns. (And most of their army had deserted.) Starting a rebellion/war without modern weapons in the 1870s would have been decidedly silly.
The sword thing wasnt out of honor but he very last was absolutely out honor. To the samurai there was no honor in surrender it was either fight or die
Reposting my comment from a reply to someone else for better visibility for anyone interested: Saigo, as well as the Satsuma han as a whole fought to restore the imperial rule during the Boshin war (1868-1869, to anyone reading this, it's the war depicted in the Shogun 2 Fall of the Samurai DLC between the imperial court and the shogunate). The imperial supporters were marching under the ideal of "expelling the barbarians" (meaning the westerners). In fact, the whole reason the movement to install the emperor started with the imperial decree to throw out the foreigners, which the shogun did not uphold due to understanding the difference in strength between Japan and the colonial powers. After the war, the emperor started to fundamentally reform the country in order to catch up to the west. This included things like a new constitution, new currency (the yen) and of course, getting rid of the feudal system. Saigo actually agreed with those reforms, like most of the samurai. After all, it's important to remember that while they did lose some of the old prestige and rights, they just became the new aristocracy and most of them found work in civil administration and the new, reformed army (as officers and generals). Saigo himself was key in abolishing the han system, which served as a core of the Japanese feudalism in favor of more modern prefectures. The only problem Saigo had with the reforms was that they were enacted too quickly, rashly and were too extreme (in his opinion). The last straw was when his plan to invade Korea and make it into a colony under a more traditional, samurai-led administration was rejected, which is why he eventually retired from the political life as a form of protest. At home, he gathered other disgruntled samurai in his own military schools. The rebellion only started when the emperor tried to disarm them in fear of a rebellion occuring, which is pretty ironic. It's worth noting that to the end, Saigo wore his imperial, western-style uniform as a sign of his loyalty to the emperor. From start to finish, his rebellion was just a form of protest as he didn't openly denounce the emperor, just some of the policies his administration has worked on. In other words, rather than fighting for or against the samurai class, he was just a guy who wanted to reform the country but didn't want to discard the old system completely. My knowledge of this comes mostly from my obsession with the Bakumatsu period (the names means "the end of shogunate" and starts in 1853, with Perry's arrival in Japan and the end of isolationism in the country and ends in 1867 with the abdication of the last shogun, though I personally count the Boshin war as a part of this period). That's why my knowledge of the succeeding Meiji period, when the Satsuma rebellion occured is not as deep. As a result, some inaccuracies might've snuck in there, but I tried to look some of those things up as I wrote it to make sure.
Ig you havent, I recommend you to play a RTS history strategy game called victoria 2 with a mod called HPM or another one called HFM, with those mods contains those events and they have decent explanaitions of the events and playung as Japan its quite fun, there I learned about the bakumatsu, the restoration, the Republic of Ezo and several things about the end of the shogunate
@@nanaya7e433 if you wanna do crazy stuff like taking mexican provonces with gold, and take so different historical routes i recommend playing as the shogunate, if you westernize fast, and then research some technologies you can unify japan under the tokugawa banner, and you have the advantage that you can colonize even as an "uncivilized" nation as I mentioned early taking the gold provinces of mexico, or colonizing malaya before the british, for me the best way to have a alt history path with japan
I would love to see your reactions to these songs someday. It would be epic. No pressure though. -Diary of an Unknown Soldier + The Lost Battalion (Diary of an Unknown Soldier is something like an intro to the song, I especially love the smooth transition if these two songs are right after another) -Resist and Bite -40:1 -Wolfpack -Ghost Division -White Death -A Ghost in the Trenches -Midway -Talvisota -Nuclear Attack -The Lion from the North -Camouflage Also I recommend reacting to "history of the entire world, I guess", it's really funny
I know you mentioned Braveheart - so may I suggest Blood of Bannockburn? I believe it’s about the Scottish forces clashing against the British. Also someone else mentioned it - Hearts of Iron is a good one too!
It was about that battle on the bridge, right? Movie isn't so accurate so if @Vlogging Through History would do that one, I would like him to cover even the story about the guy (knight) who could prevent it.... (the massacre of English troops)
@@sabouter Oh I’m not sure - I’ve never seen Braveheart but a few of the videos that have the song playing, layer it over Braveheart. Unless you meant Hearts of Iron?
it was one of the first occurences where the USA used some kind of cannonboat diplomacy. Although it should be mentioned that not only the USA behaved like this in Japan.
Personally i would put the Perry expedition up there with the biggest blunders in history, This little piece of gunboat diplomacy sparked the japanese industrialisation, kickstarted the japanese ultra nationalism that gave birth to both japanese imperialism and the Imperial armed forces and navys crackpot version of bushido that murdered millions.
Thank you for this! Love this song! And I also get this weird obsession if I see a great movie or listen to a great song, like The last samurai. I search everything I can about these events! Keep up the good work! And maybe "Talvisota" or "White death" at some point?
Hi, half a decade of Japanese history and culture studies under my belt. Something a lot of people get wrong about the samurai, is that they aren't black or white. Their history is more grey. The random execution of commoners did happen, but it wasn't as common as some people think, most samurai knew that if they just went around killing commoners who looked at them wrong would show a lack of restraint and put a stain on their reputation. And one of the key rules of bushido is to show restraint and control in all things, to be the master of your sword and not the other way around. That being said, the samurai did become more corrupt and lose their way over time. In the being days of the samurai as a system, which would have been around 800 or so years ago, the code of bushido was abided by very strictly and the samurai themselves were actually somewhat respectable human beings and I think this showed best in the way they conducted themselves in war. The way of bushido, in the beginning at least, dictated that the use of excessive force was dishonorable and shameful. And excessive force was defined as being more than was necessary to force a surrender. And then this leads into the concept of honorable defeat, and samurai who excepted defeat would be granted the chance to regain his honor by his enemy. This of course meant that the victor would allow the defeated to commit ritual suicide as not only an apology to his lord but a promise to try again in his next reincarnation, an opportunity that a defeated samurai would be grateful for. This all lasted only a few generations before the samurai became arrogant in their power and lost sight of what they originally valued.
For the people who want to know: the Last Samurai is loosely based on the Satsuma rebellion, led by the pro-imperial hero of the Boshin War Saigo Takamori (who inspired the character Katsumoto). The Imperialist faction opposed the Shogunate that were forced to signed the Unequal treaties with the Western powers, and tried to modernize Japan, but said treaties (as the name imply) were damaging to the Japanese, and the imperialistic were actually trying to expel thhe foreigners. So when the Meiji Restoration acutally puts the westernization into overdrive, most samurai that fought for the Emperor felt betrayed. Saigo tried to convince the Imperial government to invade Korea to both aquire it as a colony and give the samurai an honorable way to go down, but his proposal was rejected. He then went back to his home province of Satsuma and after an attempt on his life and several samurai flocking to him, he started a rebellion trying to get thhe Emperor to listen to him. He lost, but his last stand send shockwaves through the Japanese government that changed how the modernization was carried about (they went with Japanese spirit, western technology) and that's why we have the 'samurai' and 'bushido' mindset of the IJN and IJA in WW2. The chatacter of the AmericanbCpt. Algren (played by Tom Cruise) was based on a French commander who served as advisor for first the Shogunate forces and then the Republic of Ezo in Hokkaido. Contrary to popular belief, Saigo was not the last samurai: as one scene showed, several samurai went on to serve as commanders or administrators for the new Japanese government. One served as a commander during the Ruso-Japanese War, and was so ashamed by the casualties taken by his forces he nearly committed seppuku... Which he eventually did (along with his wife) when emperor Meiji died.
I'm glad that I voted for this one, I find the story strange though, I think that Saigo actually fought to end the way of Bushido/Samurai, but then fought for it, I'm not entirely sure about its legitimacy.
Saigo, as well as the Satsuma han as a whole fought to restore the imperial rule during the Boshin war (1868-1869, to anyone reading this, it's the war depicted in the Shogun 2 Fall of the Samurai DLC between the imperial court and the shogunate). The imperial supporters were marching under the ideal of "expelling the barbarians" (meaning the westerners). In fact, the whole reason the movement to install the emperor started with the imperial decree to throw out the foreigners, which the shogun did not uphold due to understanding the difference in strength between Japan and the colonial powers. After the war, the emperor started to fundamentally reform the country in order to catch up to the west. This included things like a new constitution, new currency (the yen) and of course, getting rid of the feudal system. Saigo actually agreed with those reforms, like most of the samurai. After all, it's important to remember that while they did lose some of the old prestige and rights, they just became the new aristocracy and most of them found work in civil administration and the new, reformed army (as officers and generals). Saigo himself was key in abolishing the han system, which served as a core of the Japanese feudalism in favor of more modern prefectures. The only problem Saigo had with the reforms was that they were enacted too quickly, rashly and were too extreme (in his opinion). The last straw was when his plan to invade Korea and make it into a colony under a more traditional, samurai-led administration was rejected, which is why he eventually retired from the political life as a form of protest. At home, he gathered other disgruntled samurai in his own military schools. The rebellion only started when the emperor tried to disarm them in fear of a rebellion occuring, which is pretty ironic. It's worth noting that to the end, Saigo wore his imperial, western-style uniform as a sign of his loyalty to the emperor. From start to finish, his rebellion was just a form of protest as he didn't openly denounce the emperor, just some of the policies his administration has worked on. In other words, rather than fighting for or against the samurai class, he was just a guy who wanted to reform the country but didn't want to discard the old system completely.
Personal opinion, I would of had the samurai trained to become the new imperial army and let them keep SOME of their privileges like land and swords. Would of converted the daimyo into governors and removed their ability to raise private armies and had them swear allegiance to the new regime.....slower than what went down but less blood shed.
Tom Cruise's character I believe was based on the real life Jules Brunet; a French military artillery instructor for the Shogunate troops. When the Shogun was overthrown and the Meiji Emperor was restored to full power, the French party was ordered to leave Japan by Imperial decree. However, Brunet remained behind and went north with the Shogunate troops in hope of staging a counter-attack. Then again there was another French soldier who took part in the war on the Shogunate's side. Andre Cazeneuve, he was a cavalry instructor. He fought in the Battle of Hakodate, in command of one of the four Shogunate regiments. He was severely wounded in the battle but survived and returned to Japan in 1871 to be yet again a cavalry instructor for Imperial soldiers.
3:25 there is a deleted scene where Ujio (the brutish samurai who clashes with Algren throughout the film) does these things. Walking through Tokyo in plain garb (likely on reconnaissance), he is harassed by two aristocrats and promptly lops one's head off in the city street before continuing on. I am extremely disappointed that this scene was not included in the film.
Ah yes the Satsuma Rebellion. The Satsuma region, lead by Saigo, rebelled against the Meiji Government, and lead to the end of an age, with the death of the Samurai, the last remnant of the Shogunate died with them.
It's said that he didn't want any wars and told his people to ask the imperial army for access to Tokyo, saigo's people decided to start a all out war between the last remaining samurai and the imperial force
I know the Samurai as an institution weren't perfect by any stretch of the imagination but I can't help but feel sadness by the end of this song. A significant part, and nobody can deny samurai weren't significant, of Japanese culture was gone. Rightly or wrongly, for good or for bad, that's a heartbreaking thing to take in. I love Sabaton for introducing me to these moments in history that aren't really talked about in the US, at least they weren't at my schools.
3:10 I agree with you but only partially, it was not just about the social status and privilege's - it was also about honor which to Japan is like Democracy is to the Americans. And by the time Shiroyama happened, what was left of the Samurai actually wanted to die honorable death in battle. They wanted to be killed rather than see part of their culture gone forever. That is why, instead of being scorned for rebelling, the Samurai who were taking part n the rebellion were pardoned after defeat and Saigo was declared national hero. And on 5:08 that info about Japanese army casualty is wrong as it was written long after the battle and by American who took that number from official Japanese military's. What actually happened is that casualties are unknows among Imperial troops becasue they first charged the Samurai in close combat and ended up pretty much like in movie - hacked to pieces. Only to retreat and bomb them for entire day before the last 40 Samurai charged down the hill.
Also, according to some accounts about the battle, once the Samurai where able to close in on the lines, they almost caused a mass route due to the Imperial Line Infantry not being able to keep up with them in CQC.
@@gidi3250 not entirely. The men who served in the imperial army weren’t just conscripts. Most were peasants yes (their officers were actually samurai who took to the advancements of the age and remained in the military as imperial army officers) but every single one was a volunteer. Most of those men serving that day at the battle actually served during the Bushido War.
@@reecedignan8365 In an attempt to increase the number of soldiers the use of conscription became universal and obligatory in 1872 and, although samurai wedded to their traditional prerogatives resisted, by 1880 a conscript army was firmly established. The Imperial Army General Staff Office, created after the Prussian model of the Generalstab, was established directly under the emperor in 1878 and was given broad powers for military planning and strategy. The new force eventually made the samurai spirit its own. Loyalties formerly accorded to feudal lords were transferred to the state and the emperor. Upon release from service, soldiers carried these ideals back to their home communities, extending military-derived standards to all classes. Japan was dedicated to creating a unified, modern nation by the late nineteenth-century. Among their goals were to instill respect for the emperor, the requiring of universal education throughout the Japanese nation, and lastly the privilege and importance of military service.[1] The Conscription Law established on January 10, 1873, made military service mandatory for all men in their twenties to enlist.[2] "In 1873, no one could predict with certainty whether these quarrels would end peacefully or through military action, nor was it clear which individuals or groups would come out on top in the expected power struggle."[3] This legislation was the most significant military reform of the Meiji era. The samurai class no longer held a monopoly on military power; their benefits and status were stripped from them after the Meiji Restoration. The dissolution of the samurai class would create a modern army of men of equal status.[4] However, many of the samurai were unhappy with reforms and openly shared their concerns. The conscription law was a way of social control: placing the unruly samurai class back into their roles as warriors. The Japanese government intended that conscription would build a modern army capable of standing against the armies of Europe. However, the Meiji Restoration initially caused dissent among the dissolved samurai class, but the conscription system was a way of stabilizing that dissent. Some of the samurai, more disgruntled than the others, formed pockets of resistance to circumvent the mandatory military service. Many committed self-mutilation or openly rebelled (Satsuma Rebellion)
Except the Imperial Japanese Army is not scared and untrained peasants as the movie portrays. They suffer a few setbacks but no outright defeat. No Samurai boogeymen routing guys who can't even hold their rifles.
@@corteaz from what I know is that by the time of the rebellion the imperial army had training conscrips for a few years and the army forced the samurai back from day 1 especially in open fields the only places the imperial army had a few issues against the samurai where in close quarter combat where the samurai had a live time of training and the imperial army trained by the French and later Prussians/Germans favoured European combat with standing in lines and shooting or artillery bombardment
I really liked the movie dont get me wrong. The part I did not really care for was the movie's impression that the Samurai did not like guns. That they viewed the gun as a "dishonorable" weapon. This was NOT true. The samurai absolutely loved the gun(Tangegashima) and not that long after the Portuguese brought them over in the 1500s. Especially after the battle of Anegawa. In that battle. Oda Nobunaga, called the 'Unifier of Japan'. One of his best victories, he used the tanegashima tacticaly used them in a way that would have been recognizable to european militaries. There were a couple of renown samurai schools that taught how to use gunpowder weapons including artillery. In Japan today, they still do reenactments of Samurai in full getup using the Tangegashima. *Forgive me anyone if I butchered the spelling of any name.
I recommend checking out the Sabaton history channel, it's a really high quality series of episodes that go over the history of each of the subjects of their songs.
Almost all samurai clans followed the emperor's orders to become common civilians and be conscripted onto the Japanese army but 2 clans said wait a minute and wanted the changes to go slower but someone went and told the imperial government that these 2 clan's where still training samurai and looked like they might rebel and only these to clan's where attacked by the army
My great-great-grandfather was a swordsmith in Japan (grandma was a warbride) - it was assumed he could smith swords after the Meiji reforms, but he refused. He refused, because he knew if he displeased a (dislocated) samurai or Imperial bureaucrat, he and his family would be executed (he was also a Christian, but let's not bring in that dimension). When I watch a movie like "The Last Samurai," I feel nothing for the samurai class - they murdered and hunted down my ancestors for their knowledge of gunsmithing, taught by the Dutch. My clan was converted by the Portuguese Jesuits, and we might have given the technology to the peasants. And so, my great-great-grandfather was afraid … The Imperial government of Japan, and the samurai, were always terrified of the idea that peasants could wield firearms. Remember that.
I want to emphasize this point: when the young samurai gets his topknot cut off by peasants, I am cheering - from the depths of my soul, I am relishing his pain, for what he and his ancestors wrought upon my kin because they were of a lower caste.
“It’s the nature of time that the old ways must give in, it’s the nature of time, that the new wave comes in sin” that sadly history man.. don’t cling to the past:
Perhaps the greatest deficits of the movie are a) that it thinks we need to be told it's social *class* not a *culture* and b) the suggestion that Takamorie (I don't remember the character's name) won't "dishonour" himself using firearms... as if those where *new* to Japan and the Samurai. The Sengoku Jidai was *decided* by an innovative use of firearms and Samrai subsequently had been using them ever since the 16th century... what caused Takamorie's reversion to cold steel was not "honour", it was lack of ammunition... And b) costume and context... what the Samurai wear outside the battlefield is anachronistic if plausible but the harness worn in battle is pictoresque if utterly *anachronistic* - it's late 16th century armour... remember that they did *not* dissaprove the Mejii restauration (taking power away from the Shogunate and transfering it back to the Emperor who had been nothing but a figurehead for most of the last 400 years at this point) or gods forbid firearms and military reforms, they where a military class and the dress for battle as they had for the last couple of years as this military class was European style late 19th military uniforms (there actually is a photograph of Takamori at the time of the rebellion in a hussar-style general's uniform with his military sword...). What they opposed was the loss of their class priviledge and of such rights as execution of commoners for perceived skights and loss of feudal based income... not *that* noble a cause really... at least the moie makes the point that much of the officer class of the new army *where* Samurai, thogh it is implied that this counts only for the higher officers... 😑 . And on a final not: the army in the final battle has the right "Prussian pattern" of uniform and is equippedwith the correct German modell of 1871 single shot metallic cartridge rifle... though they should have had those in the battle in the forrest... along with an experienced and *battle tested* officer and NCO corps... the Boshin War wasn't exactely ancient history at that point... Though of course the movie is better than most of what hollywood fabricates and markets as "historic"... ah well...😑. Best regards Raoul G. Kunz
At least this movie inspires the Battle of Shiroyama which inspires the final stand of the final days of Old Warriors with Swords vs Imperialist with Guns. Thanks for doing this video. Also don’t worry if you’re quite obsessed with what you do for history. You’re you and we’re us but no need to worry about being yourself as you love history cause even I do love history in learning the wars. Just be you and you’re cool with me.
Saying that japan started to open up feels misleading, they were forced. They signed the Convention of Kanagawa under threat of so called Gunboat diplomacy.
I would LOVE to see a video about " Lifetime of war " or " Poltava " by Sabaton. ** And I like how @Vlogging Through History is making videos. --- No first-hand reaction. It gives you the feeling that this guy knows or at least researched his stuff. **One more would be " Art of war ", but there is no precise battle or war. He would need to cover " Sun-tzu battles", whole " Alexander the Great conquest", even "Napoleon Bonaparte" and many more .... It would not be 20 minutes video
I feel like neither side was really in the wrong in the conflict. The Japanese could no longer really afford to be total isolationists due to how quickly the world was changing around them. While the samurai did have their privilege over commoners, personally i think that honor played a lot bigger role in their side of things. Even looking back to ww2 honor meant a whole hell of a lot to them, so going further back to the 1800s, to them the government trying to change things away from the samurai fights was probably viewed as sacrilege to them.
Well technically they did not end their isolation by free will. The USA forced them to open up at gunpoint. The Perry Expedition in 1853-1854. The goal was to make Japan end it's isolationist ways and trade with the US freely or it would be forced to by the fleet of US gunboats sent with Perry. Hence the term "gunboat diplomacy". in a way it was the US's actions that sort of directly began the wheel turning of what resulted in the rebellion of the Samurai.
Jacob, if you are interested in how all that came about, I can recommend the channel "The Shogunate". There you finde a detailed breakdown of the Sengoku Jidai, which essentially led up to this point.
Some omitted things. Samurai actually did use firearms and a lot. They were not retards and obviously realized the advantage firearms grant. Not only that but peasants also used muskets to rid of vermin. The period of peace saw the firearms production go down but not completely disappear. If we look at Japanese painting depicting the battle of Shiroyama, we will see riflemen on samurai side and samurai themselves charging on horseback without any armor because it would somewhat slow them down while being useless against rifle bullets. Even Saigo Takamori is depicted wearing European-style uniform. A lot of officers in Imperial Army back then were ex-samurai.
One thing that is often overlooked is that it stands to reason that by this period the Imperial Japanese Army still consisted of a great deal of (ex-)Samurai, while I believe it is true that the force that engaged Saigo's rebellion at Shiroyama was a conscript unit.
In 1877, there are very few repeating infantry firearms in military use. The swiss are one of the few nations that did. It wouldn't be until after the siege of plevna, in 1877, that nations started taking repeating arms seriously. With that said, Japan wouldn't adopt there first repeating infantry arm until 1897 with the type 30. I believe they were using something like the French chassepot rifle during the rebellion.
As far as i know the samurai were offered a chance to surrender to the army but the samurai were mad that the people chose a way of training that cheapens th way of the warrior, samurai trained for life and were disciplined and respected and in the army anyone could take a rifle amd aim, its not really that simple but that was how the samurai viewed it and that was the reason they didn't surrender
The samurai believed in death before surrender and the imperial army general asked them to surrender so they said no death before dishonor and the imperial armed forces liked that philosophy and made it part of the academy training and the rest of the world would learn of the boshido way first hand in the second world war and the Russian empire learned it a bit before the first world war in their war with Japan
A quick correction, if it hasn't already been said, the title "The Last Samurai" doesn't refer to one person. In this case, "Samurai" is plural and refers to the clan.
I kinda have the same thing, that i try to learn about every stuff i hear. As my brother told me about you making Sabaton videos, and tryed to impress me with the knowlege he gained from watching it. But i already know stuff from most of the Sabaton songs. I try to make this via ducumenterys and informational websides, aswell as RU-vid videos. But i thought i give it try, there might be something to learn, or refresh some of my knowlege. You make the videos interresting to watch and that even with some backround knowlege.
This whole period of conflict and rapid modernization also had to do with Japan not wanting to be colonized the way that places like China had. The Satsuma Rebellion took place only a bit more than twenty years after the Perry Expedition and it's famous use of gunboat diplomacy to force Japan to open up to trade with the US. There's a lot to the background of this conflict, including Saigo Takamori's role in the Meiji Restoration, which he may have hoped to leverage for continued elevated social status for the samurai, but that's not what happened, obviously. He worked to put in place the government that would eventually see him killed. Very interesting situation.
I always find movie battles like this so ridiculous. One side has the advantage of ranged weapons, yet they only fire one volley before they rush the enemy and it all ends in a huge melee.
I would like to hear your view on the game Age of Empires 2's campaigns. It is a game made in the late 90's but is available for around $20 on Steam with the Definitive Edition. Campaigns include the stories of Jeanne d'Arc [Joan of Arc], Atilla the Hun, William Wallace, Montezuma, Genghis Khan, Vlad Dracula and more. I think it would it be interesting to hear how accurate or inaccurate some of these campaigns are and from a historical perspective say, knowing the history, what you would do differently.
woah my knowledge on the topic is a bit muddy.... but i remember previous to the "rebels" tried to solve the problem peacefully at first,.. something along the lines of instead of getting rid of the samurai, more like coestince... and that was somewhat rudely denied by the throne... and then both sides stepped on toes better not stepped on and the samurai lost (like you said in the video) but i am pretty sure it didnt start out with the goal to becaome a rebellion
From what I know an visiting imperial minister went to the government and said that they where still training new samurai and that it looked like they might start an rebellion and the imperial army made a decision based on that
Sabaton 1648 song next? One of them is in Engslich and describes the point of view of the Czechs defending Prague. One of them is in Swedish and describes the point of view of the Swedes attacking Prague.
Yeah, the most fictional thing about The Last Samurai is that he actually won a battle, Shrioyama lost every battle against the imperial forces that he faced.
There were a couple things about samurai that you were wrong on: 1. everyone (with the exception of certain places like okinawa) was allowed to carry a weapon if they could afford one but only the samurai were permitted to wear the so called daisho (the combination of a katana and a wakizashi). 2. kirisutogomen (killing someone for offending you) wasn't just something they could do nilly willy. You have to understand you kill someone without giving them the chance of harakiri/sepukku (ritual suicide) and thus basically dishonor them. If you were wrong about it your entire family could be shamed and your son would never be able to become samurai. So it wasn't as common an occurrence as you made it sound. Great video tho!
Like the main strategy of the Caroleans it's quite clear the Samurai were dying to get to close combat. Once they closed that gap they managed to rip apart modern infantry because their bayonets and rifle butts didn't stand a chance against the armor and techniques employed. If I recall correctly when the last charge began the commanding officer of the samurai decided to commit seppuku realizing it was the end of the era. Sad story, badass song, history that should not be forgotten.
@@VloggingThroughHistory Yeah I kind of speed dialed this post before finishing the video. Was actually kind of impressed you were well informed as to the events going into this. I don't claim to be a asian history specialist by any means (almost done with my bachelors actually) but I can appreciate the you taking the time to know the subject of a video ahead of time or expressing that you don't know some things and are open for discussion.
@@GremlinHunter like I said I get a bit obsessive about learning the history behind tv shows and movies when they come out. I knew the Tom Cruise movie had to be rather fictionalized but I was surprised at the time how much it did get at least somewhat right.
@@VloggingThroughHistory I always take film with a major grain of salt myself. The only film I can usually recommend to people that got everything almost spot on (this doesn't pertain to the topic of Shiroyama) would be Mel Gibsons "We Were Soldiers". Great film and is one of the few I can in good consciousness tell any of my non-history buddies is pretty spot-on. I'm surprised how many people thought Gladiator was accurate when I asked lol
9:30 I definitely have that happen to me, the most notable one for me was I started playing a mobile game called Azur Lane, and the whole game is based around an fictionalized alternate world version of World War II, specifically the Naval Warfare aspect. The game is surprisingly deep complex and thorough for a mobile game, of course because the game is made by Asian, if you know anything about Japanese Entertainment like Anime, Manga, etc, they have to make all the ships into humanoid versions. But like I said the game is amazingly detailed that I got so into the game I started going through all the stuff I could find about the various ships in the game, and not even just the usual suspects(USS, HMS, KMS, IJN), but also naval ships from the ROC, RN, SN, FFNF and MNF. The ships that most intrigued me as a result of playing the game were USS Hornet and Enterprise, HMS Formidable, the IJN's Amagi-Class Battleships of which only the Akagi was finished but as a carrier, IJN Zuikaku and Shoukaku, the SN's Sovetsky Soyuz and Sovetskaya Rossiya, the FFNF's Richelieu and Jeanne d'Arc, the MNF's Algerie and Jean Bart, and RN's Littorio and Trento.
Yes! I Love history to. So much din watching you react and give me more info! Been hooked for a few hours now only watching your videos. I want to sit down and just talk about history from all the world with you! That would be so much fun. Please react to hearts of iron!!! Please please please ❤️❤️❤️. Keep up the amazing job youre doing here. I subscriced after the first video i saw. Keep them coming!!!!! Love from Sweden (the home of Sabaton . 🤪) And dont forget hearts of iron. And Ghost division of course
