Japan: First Political Parties

In the early 80-ies of the XIX century. In Japan the first political parties of the landowners and capitalists took shape. These parties were liberal in their political attitudes. The liberal landlords demanded "freedom," criticized the government for the excessively high land tax (which reduced the incomes of the agrarians) and for the all-powerful narrow clique of the bureaucracy and the military.

The radical phraseology of the liberal-landowner opposition sometimes made it a center of attraction for dissatisfied people from other sections of the population: former samurai, intellectuals and even peasants. The anti-government campaign was led by the liberal-landowning party Jyuto (Liberal Party), founded in 1881.

In 1882, the liberal-bourgeois opposition emerged, headed by the Kaysinto Party (the Reform Party), demanding in its program documents the promptest implementation of measures to consolidate the command positions of the bourgeoisie in the economy. The capitalists sought reform of the monetary system, the encouragement of foreign trade, the speedy revision of unequal treaties and an active foreign policy, that is, first of all the policy of colonial conquests and conquests that were to open foreign markets to Japanese capitalism.

The liberal-bourgeois party was less radical in its statements against the government than the liberal landlords. This was explained by the close connection of its leaders with the government bureaucracy. Japan: the first political parties ...

Both parties insisted on the introduction of the constitution.

With the growth of the proportion of the bourgeoisie in the country's economy, its political activity has become more active . An expression of this was the movement for the constitution. Not only the opposition layers of the ruling classes joined in this movement, but also representatives of genuinely democratic circles. The movement for the constitution was progressive. Criticism of the imperial; Government turned into a struggle against the domination of feudal elements in the state apparatus.

The democratic circles of Japan (part of the petty bourgeoisie of the city and the countryside, the petty-bourgeois intelligentsia, single-proletarians from the proletariat) gave the constitutional movement a fighting character in spite of the restraining influence of the bourgeois-landowning parties, formally leading this movement - Dziyuto and Kaisinto. In 1884, in several regions of the country, the struggle took the form of mass armed protests against the government. The constitutional movement in Japan was called "Minkenundo" (literally - the movement for people's rights).

The government brutally suppressed the performances of "Minken Undo". Restricted to minor concessions, the ruling oligarchy sought to preserve the fullness of political power. However, the most far-sighted figures of the Japanese monarchy recognized the introduction of a constitution in the interests of covering the reactionary dictatorship of the ruling bloc with a constitutional sign.

Japan: the first political parties