Jokyu war

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The Jōkyū war ( Japanese. 承 久 の 乱 jōkyū no ran , dt. "Unrest of the Jōkyū era"), also Jōkyū rebellion , was a military conflict in Japan in 1221 (3rd year of the Jōkyū era) between the armed forces of the abdicated Tennō Go-Toba and those of the Hōjō clan, the rulers of the Kamakura shogunate , which the Tennō wanted to overthrow.

The most important battle took place at Uji and was already the third battle that was fought there in half a century.

At the beginning of the 13th century, the Kamakura shogunate hindered the political maneuvers of Tennō Go-Toba. Striving for independence and demanding his rightful power as ruler of Japan, he gathered allies around him in 1221 and planned the overthrow of the shogunate. These allies consisted largely of members of the Taira clan and other enemies of the Minamoto , the victors in the Genpei War and representatives of the Shogunate.

In the fifth lunar month of 1221, Go-Toba, without consulting the Shogunate, established the imperial succession and invited a large number of potential allies from the ranks of the eastern warriors of Kyoto to a large festival in order to check the allegiance of those who rejected it . A prominent official was murdered while revealing his allegiance to the shogunate. Several days later the imperial court declared the regent and representative of the shogunate, Hōjō Yoshitoki, an outlaw, and three days later all of eastern Japan was in revolt.

Hōjō Yoshitoki decided to launch an offensive against Go-Toba's forces in Kyoto, using a three-winged strategy : one wing came from the mountains, one from the north and the third, commanded by Yoshitoki's son Yasutoki, approached on the Tōkaidō .

These forces encountered weak resistance on their way to the capital; the imperial commanders were simply outmaneuvered. Go-Toba left Kyoto when he heard of this series of defeats and sought refuge with the Sōhei , the warrior monks from Mount Hiei. The monks refused to help him due to alleged weakness of their own and the Tennō returned to Kyoto. The remnants of the imperial army fought their last stand at the bridge over the Uji River, where the opening battle of the Genpei War was fought 41 years earlier. Yasutoki's cavalry opened up and dispersed the imperial forces.

The capital was taken by Yasutoki and the rebellion put down. Go-Toba was exiled to the Oki Islands for the rest of his life . His sons, the abdicated Tennō Tsuchimikado and Juntoku and the newly appointed Tennō Chūkyō were also banished. The new Tennō was Go-Horikawa , a nephew of Go-Toba.

literature

  • George Sansom: A History of Japan. Volume 1: To 1334. Stanford University Press, Stanford CA 1958.