Incredibly stupid question regarding Boshin War and Pro/Anti Westernism

[AndariusHaliusScipio]

Yes indeed my knowledge is colored by "The Last Samurai" movie, with the clear distinction between pro-western Emprah, and anti-western Samurai.

When I first started with this game, I was under the delusion that the same setup was in Fall of the Samurai, with the Shogunate being the anti-western powers.


So I was all twisted up when it showed that the Shogunate capitulated to the westerners first, and the Emperor was the one who initiated the brief war with them.


But I still feel a sort of sentiment when playing the game that if I am pro-Imperial, my strength would be in utilizing modern units and imported foreigners, whereas if I am pro-Shogun, my strength would be in utilizing Samurai and traditional-style units with more modern warfare interspersed to prevent us being overwhelmed. This is kind of helped along by the starting factions, where one had a bonus for traditionalism (Shogunate faction) and one starts out already open to the Westerners (Imperial faction)



So... incredibly stupid question... which, if any of the factions is Pro and Anti Western in this war?

[AngryTitusPullo]

All clans were actually pro western weapons but anti western influence.

[AndariusHaliusScipio]

Given what I know about Chinese/Japanese sentiments towards anyone other than their own kind (mirroring the ancient Greek kind), I could easily comprehend that; even the Emprah's supporters in "The Last Samurai" only cared about the western weapons and training

[Stívarðr Reynitré]

The advantage without the interference...

"Sell us your weapons and then go..."

It's a model as old as the hills.

[DeMolay]

Since they have been forced at gunpoint to open their ports initially (and were bombarded in kagoshima or shimonoseki later on ) , they were all "anti-western" in the sense that they saw these Foreign powers primarily as a threat and were aware of the need to modernize the country if they wanted to avoid becoming a colony on the long run like other countries in the region , but they were all pro-western in the sense that their interest in western knowledge and know-how was high .

The distinction for those in charge of the powerful domains was more on the means to achieve the modernisation of the country (politically and economically ) in order to address the challenges that they faced during a period where the Shogunate's authority was dented , and later on how to react to the social changes that resulted from this modernization ( the Satsuma rebellion in 1877 where samurais revolted against the abolition of their class , which i think is the event that the movie "the Last Samurai" with T .Cruise is inspired of )


Some domains in the south exposed to western influence ( due to their geograhical position , wealth and political will of their leaders ) , modernized their smaller armies faster than the Shogunate government could do with its larger forces . Initially though , the Imperial side were the "traditionalists" since they wanted to expel all foreigners (the Emperor and its land being sacred to them ) and re-negociate the unequal treaties as well as abolish the Shogunate to reinstate a traditional Emperor's rule . In the end , their rulers never cut their ties with the Foreign powers despite exploiting the anti-western sentiment from those who supported them , modernized their army quickly and agreed for a new modern form of governement to achieve the Meiji restoration .

To relate to the game , perhaps you could rank the clans in term of modernity of the army/navy , Choshu had the most modern army , followed by the Shogunate army (mix of clans) , Aizu domain of Matsudaira Katamori had the least modern army. Satsuma had the most modern navy with the Shogunal navy , Saga and Choshu had a few modern vessels too .

[O'Hea]

As DeMolay said, anti-western sentiment was extremely strong throughout Japan at the time, so both factions were anti-western, yet both factions realized their inability to resist the west without adopting western technology. The Last Samurai's depiction of Saigo Takamori's forces fighting with swords and spears is intentionally anachronistic and doesn't reflect the truth that Saigo's home domain was home to Japan's most modern navy and one of its most well-developed systems of military schools. His rebel samurai fought with rifles.