Aggressive Nationalism

The Meiji constitution was based on a restricted franchise and created a Diet (the Japanese used the German word for parliament because of the influence of German legal ideas) with limited powers. The leaders who brought about the imperial restoration continued to exercise power and even established political parties. Between and , popularly elected prime ministers formed cabinets. Thereafter, they lost power to national unity cabinets formed across party lines. The emperor was the commander of the forces and from this was interpreted to mean that the army and the navy had independent control. In , the prime minister ordered that only serving generals and admirals could become ministers. This strengthening of the military, together with the expansion of Japan’s colonial empire, was connected with the fear that Japan was at the mercy of the Western powers. This fear was used to silence opposition to military expansion and to higher taxes to fund the armed forces. Tanaka Shozo ( - ), the self-taught son of a farmer, he rose to become a major political figure. He participated in the Popular Rights Movement in the 1880s, a movement demanding constitutional government. He was elected member to the first Diet. He believed that ordinary people should not be sacrificed for industrial progress.