Abigail Shimniok

Assassination and Political Violence in 19th Century Japan” was the topic of the third lecture in the UW-Platteville History Club’s spring lecture series titled “Assassinations Throughout History.” The lecture, presented by Dr. Adam Stanley, covered the political unrest in Japan during the mid 1800s.
The History Club hosts a spring lecture series each year, with the topic decided on by students. Faculty are then invited to lecture about the topic in place of club meetings. The lecture series is open to all students to attend. This year’s topic is assassinations throughout history. Dr. Stanley’s lecture was the third of six, following Dr. Aharon Zorea’s lecture on Julius Caesar and Dr. Nancy Turner’s lecture last week about Lorenzo the Magnificent. The next lecture will be on March 7, presented by Dr. Andrey Ivanov.
Dr. Stanley discussed a string of assassinations in the mid-1800s, spurred on by a shift into globalization in Japan after the arrival of Americans, then Europeans, demanding a trade relationship with the previously reclusive country. The economic shift in turn caused inflation and a shift in social structure, causing uprooted samurai to take arms against those who they felt wronged them, and eventually the Shogun. The outcome of the linked assassinations would restore the mantle of emperor to power as opposed to the Shogun.
The Meiji Restoration refers to the restoration of placing political power within an empire. This shift in government was a critical point in Japan’s history, according to Stanley. He also referred to the assassination of Japanese politician Shinzo Abe, explaining the connection between assassinations and political violence in modern times.
Brett Pope, the secretary and treasurer of the History Club, stated in an interview, “I would like to thank Dr. Stanley for coming out and give us this amazing lecture; it’s awesome to learn about these different time periods in history, especially the ones that aren’t covered very often like the time of reconstruction in Japan. We like covering all sorts of broad topics, a lot of the stuff you don’t hear about a lot like Japan with this past one, and next time we’ll be touching on stuff during medieval Russia about the Tzar’s rule.”