Republic of Ezo
The Republic of Ezo ( Japanese 蝦 夷 共和国 , Ezo Kyōwakoku ) was a short-lived secession from Japan on the northern island of Ezo (also Jesso , later Hokkaidō ). It existed from December 1868 to June 1869.
history
After the defeat of the Tokugawa Shogunate's troops in the Boshin War (1868 to 1869), part of the shogun's navy , led by Admiral Enomoto Takeaki, together with 2500 soldiers and a handful of French military advisers under Jules Brunet , fled to the island of Ezo ( Hokkaidō ) .
On December 25, 1868 they established an independent Republic of Ezo on the model of the United States and chose Enomoto as their Sōsai ( 総 裁 ). He was the only president of a Japanese state at all. Matsudaira Tarō became vice-president .
The newly elected government tried in vain to achieve international recognition for the republic. During the winter, the defenses around the Hakodate peninsula were fortified with the new Goryōkaku fortress as the center. The troops were under Japanese-French command; the Japanese commander in chief Ōtori Keisuke was assisted by the French captain Jules Brunet. The troops were divided into four brigades under the command of French officers (Fortant, Le Marlin, Cazeneuve and Bouffier); each brigade in turn consisted of two half-brigades under Japanese command.
The emperor's forces quickly consolidated their position on the mainland of Japan and in April 1869 they dispatched a fleet and 7,000 infantry to Ezo. The imperial forces advanced quickly and won the naval battle of Hakodate . Eventually the Goryōkaku fortress was included with the remaining 800 men of the republic.
Enomoto decided on 18 May 1869 to surrender and recognized the rule of the Emperor Mutsuhito on. The Republic of Ezo was incorporated into the Japanese Empire on June 27, 1869. In August of the same year, the island officially got the current name Hokkaido. Enomoto was sentenced to a brief prison term but was released in 1872. He assumed a post as a government official in the newly renamed Hokkaido Land Agency . He later became ambassador to Russia and held several ministerial posts in the Meiji government.
Claimed territory of the Republic of Ezo
Government building
Sea Battle of Hakodate
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Reinhard Zöllner : History of Japan. From 1800 to the present. Schöningh, Paderborn 2006, ISBN 978-3-8252-2683-1 , p. 184 f.