Meiji Restoration, Constitution, and the Meiji era republic Mazzini surrendered on July Italy almost returned to its pre-Revolutionary status, divided into sovereign principalities, and a disillusioned Mazzini returned to London He disliked the “narrow spirit of nationalism,” and deplored the usurping of leadership by the politicians of Italy and Germany afterward The revolutionary phase of Italian unification was over and the kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia took leadership in proclaiming the Kingdom of Italy in 1861 The amateur revolutionaries failed, and the path was cleared for professional politicians to take leadership of Italy’s unification, much to Mazzini’s dismay He continued to strive for democracy and an agenda of social reforms Mazzini was arrested in 1870 and lived in Pisa for two years under a pseudonym He died of pleurisy on March 10, 1872 Mazzini remains a respected figure in Italy, whose ideals were active into the 1990s under the banner of the republican party Mazzini’s philosophy influenced not only nationalists in Italy, but nationalists abroad as well Mohandas Karmachand Gandhi, an important figure in the Indian freedom movement, for example, was influenced by Mazzini and worked for both political and social emancipation in his struggle against British colonial rule See also Cavour, Camillo Benso di; Italian nationalism/unification Further reading: Beales, Derek The Risorgimento and the Unification of Italy London: Longman, 1981; Coppa, Frank, ed Studies in Modern Italian History From the Risorgimento to the Republic New York: Lang, 1986; Gooch, John The Unification of Italy London: Methuen and Co, 1986; Hearder, Harry Italy in the Age of the Risorgimento New York: Longman, 1983; King, Bolton The Life of Mazzini New York: E.P Dutton & Co., 1938; Smith, Denis Mack Mazzini New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1996 Patit Paban Mishra Meiji Restoration, Constitution, and the Meiji era In December 1867 the 15th and last shogun (military leader) of the Tokugawa dynasty (1603–1867), Yoshinobu, surrendered his power to Emperor Meiji, which means “enlightened government.” The event is called the Meiji Restoration 267 In 1868 Meiji took a charter oath that would create a modernized state when several important feudal lords (daimyo) surrendered their lands to the emperor The process was completed in 1871 when all feudal holdings were confiscated from their traditional landowners, and Japan was divided into prefectures, still the main organizational departments of Japan today When Meiji became emperor, he inherited a state that had been severely handicapped in its development by the Tokugawa Shogunate, which closed Japan to foreign influence Emperor Meiji and his supporters had to move swiftly to modernize his empire and, above all, its armed forces The treaty of 1858, which was negotiated with the United States’s first envoy to Japan, Townsend Harris, included a clause: “The Japanese Government may purchase or construct in the United States ships-of-war, steamers, merchant ships, whale ships, cannon, munitions of war, and arms of all kinds, and any other things it may require It shall have the right to engage in the United States scientific, naval and military men, artisans of all kind, and mariners to enter into its service.” In his search for military and naval modernization, Meiji looked also toward western Europe A delegation was sent to study the armed forces of Europe and initially felt that the French represented the best model for Japan’s army and that Britain would furnish the naval model since the British navy had reigned supreme since Admiral Horatio Nelson’s defeat of Napoleon I’s fleet at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805 The Meiji government thus went to Britain to purchase Japan’s warships May of the early Imperial Japanese battleships came from British shipyards Japan’s army, however, shifted to the German model when the French army was decisively defeated by Prussian forces in the Franco-Prussian War in 1870 In 1873 Emperor Meiji introduced universal conscription to the armed forces, to bring Japan in line with German and other European practices This ended the centuries-long samurai monopoly of armed military service Such drastic changes, however, resulted in discontent In 1877 some early supporters launched the Satsuma Rebellion, which failed in the face of the discipline and modern weaponry of the new army Meiji pursued reforms throughout the government In 1885 Meiji adopted a cabinet system loosely based on the cabinets under the U.S president and the British prime minister In 1889 a constitution was promulgated for Japan with a bicameral legislature The upper house, or House of Peers, resembed the British House of