[Forum Game] World in Revolution: 1900 Mk. II

[sealy300]

The Ottoman Empire
Devlet-i Aliyye-i Osmâniyye
​

The Treaty of Odessa

The undersigned, duly empowered plenipotentiaries of their respective sovereigns, do agree to the following:

I. That the Principality of Bulgaria is to be given complete independence, styled as a Principality in perpetuity and entitled therefore to the princely dignity for her sovereign and his descendants in the male line.
II. That the Principality shall purchase at-cost from the Ottoman Empire any and all Imperially-owned utilities within the Principality.
III. That the Principality shall pay the Ottoman government the sum of forty-one million pounds sterling for compensation for taxes owed from 1885-1900 in the common year.
IV. That the Principality shall irrevocably guarantee the rights of all Bulgarian Muslims, and recognise the Ottoman Caliphate as the supreme governing authority in all Islamic matters within the Principality; and shall host at it's own expense an appointed Vizier to represent the Caliph in religious affairs.

[x] The Ottoman Empire
[] The Russian Empire
[] The German Empire
[] The Austro-Hungarian Empire
[] The United Kingdom

Царство България
Бог е с нас
Шуми Марица
​

The Tsardom of Bulgaria signs this treaty.

~TSAR FERDINAND I

 

[Gorganslayer]

The Treaty of Paris
i. The Kingdom of Spain cedes its claim to territory in Equatorial Guinea east up to the Ubangi River, excluding the Rio Muni region to the French Republic and recognizes French control of the region.
ii. The French Republic cedes any claim to the Rio Muni region to the Kingdom of Spain and recognizes Spanish control of the region.
iii. The Kingdom of Spain in spirit of her strategic rearrangement will agree to transfer control of her Equatorial Guinea holdings* to the Republic of France in an unspecified time in the near future of no further than ten years.
*For purposes of this agreement the island of Fernando Po is not to be included within the New Guinea holdings of Spain, and are to be considered separate crown territory.

[x] - Théophile Delcassé – Minister of Foreign Affairs
[x] - Spanish Representative

 

[Olligarchy]

The Treaty of Paris
i. The Kingdom of Spain cedes its claim to territory in Equatorial Guinea east up to the Ubangi River, excluding the Rio Muni region to the French Republic and recognizes French control of the region.
ii. The French Republic cedes any claim to the Rio Muni region to the Kingdom of Spain and recognizes Spanish control of the region.
iii. The Kingdom of Spain in spirit of her strategic rearrangement will agree to transfer control of her Equatorial Guinea holdings* not to the Republic of France in an unspecified time in the near future of no further than ten years.
*For purposes of this agreement the island of Fernando Po is not to be included within the New Guinea holdings of Spain, and are to be considered separate crown territory.

[x] - Théophile Delcassé – Minister of Foreign Affairs
[] - Spanish Representative

[X]Ministro de Estado Francisco Silvela​

 

[Gorganslayer]

​

Spoiler: Private Telegram to the Japanese Government

It would be a lie if the French Government were to say we are not enticed by the proposal put forward by the Japanese Government. Of course we would be agreeable to a deal to supply the Imperial Japanese Army with the aforementioned artillery piece. We also believe that a licensing arrangement for ammunition and other required maintenance tools can be hashed out. We are eager to hear further from the Japanese Government on this matter.

~Théophile Delcassé – Minister of Foreign Affairs​

Official Message on Behalf of the French Republic ​

The people of the French Republic are shocked by the news of the death of the Prince of Wales. On behalf of my Government and the French populace as a whole I would like to extend my deepest condolences to Her Majesty, Queen Victoria, the Royal Family and all the peoples of the British Empire for this tragic and unjust loss of life.

~Théophile Delcassé – Minister of Foreign Affairs​

 

[Sneakyflaps]

​

The The Treaty of Odessa is hereby signed on behalf of his Imperial and Royal Majesty, Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany and his government.

The German government expresses its happiness that all parties came to a satisfactory agreement and that peace and stability once again rules in the Balkans.

 

[Revan529]

大日本帝国
Dai Nippon Teikoku
富国強兵 - Fukoku kyōhei
君が代 – Kimigayo​

A Look at the Genrō

Touched upon only briefly whilst discussing the recent history of the Japanese Empire, the genrō are the seven most influential statesmen in the Empire, serving in a plethora of political and military roles, as well as acting as extraconstitutional advisers to the Emperor, they can regarded as the “Founding Fathers” of the modern Japanese state. The institution itself was born from the traditional council of elders (Rōjū) common in the Edo period, though term itself appears to have been coined by a newspaper only in 1892. The term is sometimes confused with the Genrōin (Chamber of Elders), a legislative body which existed from 1875–1890; however, the genrō were not related to the establishment of that body or its dissolution.

These experienced leaders of the Meiji Restoration were first singled out by the Emperor as genkun, and asked to act as Imperial advisors. All the genrō are from medium or lower ranking samurai families, four from Satsuma and three from Chōshū. The genrō have the right to select and nominate Prime Ministers to the Emperor for approval. All genrō were formerly members of the Sangi (Imperial Council) which was abolished in 1885. Some also refer to them as the Meiji oligarchy, though that term is far broader and can refer to other leading figures of the Empire.

The word itself can be translated principal elders or senior statesmen, and in a broader explanation, they are a subset of the revolutionary leaders who shared common objectives and who by about 1880 had forced out or isolated the other original leaders. These seven men led Japan for many years, through its great transformation from an agricultural country into a modern military and industrial state.

As a body, the genrō hold no official status, being simply trusted advisers to the Emperor. Yet the genrō made collectively the most important decisions, such as peace and war and foreign policy, and when a cabinet resigned they chose the new prime minister.

Yamagata Aritomo and Itō Hirobumi have long been the most prominent of the seven, genrō, though neither have been quite able to outmatch the other, with Yamagata holding a large and devoted power base in the officers of the army and the militarists, and Itō extremely influential amongst the civilian bureaucracy (and not lacking his own support in the military, though more relegated to the moderates).

The seven are:

​

Itō Hirobumi​

Spoiler: Itō Hirobumi

Itō was born as Hayashi Risuke on 16 October 1841, the son Hayashi Jūzō (an adopted son of Mizui Buhei who was himself an adopted son of Itō Yaemon's family, a lower-ranked samurai from Hagi in Chōshū Domain). Hayashi Risuke was renamed to Itō Shunsuke at first, then Itō Hirobumi. He was a student of Yoshida Shōin at the Shōka Sonjuku and later joined the Sonnō jōi movement (“to revere the Emperor and expel the barbarians”), together with Kido Takayoshi. Itō was chosen as one of the Chōshū Five who studied at University College London in 1863, which convinced him that Japan needed to adopt Western ways. Following his return in 1864, Itō and fellow student Inoue Kaoru attempted to warn Chōshū Domain against going to war with the foreign powers (the Bombardment of Shimonoseki) over the right of passage through the Straits of Shimonoseki. At that time, he met Ernest Satow for the first time, who would become a lifelong friend.

After the Meiji Restoration of 1868, Itō was appointed governor of Hyōgo Prefecture, junior councillor for Foreign Affairs, and sent to the United States in 1870 to study Western currency systems; he would use the experience to establish Japan's taxation system the following year. Later in 1871, he joined the Iwakura Mission around the world as vice-envoy extraordinary, during which he won the confidence of Ōkubo Toshimichi, one of the leaders of the Meiji government.

In 1873, Itō was made a full councillor, Minister of Public Works, and in 1875 chairman of the first Assembly of Prefectural Governors. He participated in the Osaka Conference of 1875. After Ōkubo's assassination, he took over the post of Home Minister and secured a central position in the Meiji government. In 1881 he urged Ōkuma Shigenobu to resign, leaving himself in unchallenged control.

Itō then went to Europe in 1882 to study the constitutions of those countries, spending nearly 18 months away from Japan. While working on a constitution for Japan, he also wrote the first Imperial Household Law and established the Japanese peerage system (kazoku) in 1884.

In 1885, he negotiated the Convention of Tientsin with Li Hongzhang, normalising Japan's diplomatic relations with the Qing Empire. The same year, based on European ideas, Itō established a cabinet system of government, replacing the Daijō-kan as the decision-making state organization, and on December 22, 1885, he became the first prime minister of Japan.

On April 30, 1888, Itō resigned as prime minister, but headed the new Privy Council to maintain power behind-the-scenes. In 1889, he also became the first genrō, the same year the Meiji Constitution was promulgated. He had added to it the references to the kokutai or "national polity" as the justification of the emperor's authority through his divine descent and the unbroken line of emperors, and the unique relationship between subject and sovereign. This stemmed from his rejection of some European notions as unfit for Japan, as they stemmed from European constitutional practice and Christianity.

He has remained a powerful force while Kuroda Kiyotaka and Yamagata Aritomo, his political nemeses, were prime ministers.

During Itō's second term as prime minister (August 8, 1892 – August 31, 1896), he supported the First Sino-Japanese War and negotiated the Treaty of Shimonoseki in March 1895 with his ailing foreign minister Mutsu Munemitsu. In the Anglo-Japanese Treaty of Commerce and Navigation of 1894, he succeeded in removing some of the onerous unequal treaty clauses that had plagued Japanese foreign relations since the start of the Meiji period, whilst during his third term as prime minister (January 12 – June 30, 1898), he encountered problems with party politics. Both the Jiyūtō and the Shimpotō opposed his proposed new land taxes, and in retaliation, Itō dissolved the Diet and called for new elections. As a result, both parties merged into the Kenseitō, won a majority of the seats, and forced Itō to resign. Though the party was short lived, this lesson taught Itō the need for a pro-government political party, so he organized the Rikken Seiyūkai (Constitutional Association of Political Friendship) in 1900, and is believed by many to be plotting the downfall of the Yamagata government.

Itō is a rather infamous womaniser, something which has become a popular theme in editorial cartoons and in parodies by contemporary comedians, and is used his political enemies in their campaigns against him.

Kuroda Kiyotaka​

Spoiler: Kuroda Kiyotaka

Kuroda was born on 16 October 1840 to a samurai-class family serving the Shimazu daimyo of Kagoshima, Satsuma domain in Kyūshū, and was involved in the 1862 Namamugi Incident, in which Satsuma retainers killed a British national who refused to bow down to the daimyo's procession. This led to the Anglo-Satsuma War in 1863, which Kuroda played an active role. Immediately after the war, he went to Edo where he studied gunnery.

Returning to Satsuma, Kuroda became an active member of the Satsuma-Chōshū joint effort to overthrow the Tokugawa shogunate, and later, as a military leader in the Boshin War, he became famous for sparing the life of Enomoto Takeaki, who had stood against Kuroda's army at the Battle of Hakodate.

Under the new Meiji government, Kuroda became a pioneer-diplomat to Karafuto, claimed by both Japan and the Russian Empire in 1870. Terrified of Russia's push eastward, Kuroda returned to Tokyo and advocated quick development and settlement of Japan's northern frontier. In 1871 he travelled to Europe and the United States for five months, and upon returning to Japan in 1872, he was put in charge of colonization efforts in Hokkaidō.

In 1874, Kuroda was named director of the Hokkaidō Colonisation Office, and organized a colonist-militia scheme to settle the island with unemployed ex-samurai and retired soldiers who would serve as both farmers and as a local militia. He was also promoted to lieutenant general in the Imperial Army. Kuroda invited agricultural experts from overseas countries with a similar climate to visit Hokkaidō, and to provide advice on what crops and production methods might be successful.

Kuroda was dispatched as an envoy to Korea in 1875, and negotiated the Japan–Korea Treaty of 1876. In 1877, he was sent as part of the force to suppress the Satsuma Rebellion.

Shortly before he left office in Hokkaidō, Kuroda became the central figure in the Hokkaidō Colonization Office Scandal of 1881. As part of the government's privatization program, Kuroda attempted to sell the assets of the Hokkaidō Colonization Office to a trading consortium created by some of his former Satsuma colleagues for a nominal price. When the terms of the sale were leaked to the press, the resultant public outrage caused the sale to fall through. Also in 1881, Kuroda's wife died of a lung disease, but on rumours that Kuroda had killed her in a drunken rage, the body was exhumed and examined. Kuroda was cleared of charges, but rumours of his problems with alcohol abuse persisted.

In 1887, Kuroda was appointed to the cabinet post of Minister of Agriculture and Commerce, and would then become the second Prime Minister of Japan, after Itō Hirobumi in 1888. During his term, he oversaw the promulgation of the Meiji Constitution. However, the vexing issue of Japan's inability to secure revision of the unequal treaties created considerable controversy. After drafts of proposed revisions drawn up his foreign minister Ōkuma Shigenobu became public in 1889, Kuroda was forced to resign.

Kuroda served as Minister of Communications in 1892 under the second Itō Cabinet. In 1895 he became a genrō, and chairman of the Privy Council. As of 1900, his health has notably declined.

Ōyama Iwao​

Spoiler: Ōyama Iwao

Ōyama was born in Kagoshima to a samurai family of the Satsuma Domain on 12 November 1842. A protégé of Ōkubo Toshimichi, he worked to overthrow the Tokugawa Shogunate and thus played a major role in the Meiji Restoration. He served as the commander of the Detached First Brigade during the Boshin War. At the Battle of Aizu, Ōyama was a commander at the Satchō Alliance's field artillery positions on Mount Oda. During the course of the siege, he was wounded by an Aizu guerrilla force under Sagawa Kanbei.

In 1870, Ōyama was sent overseas to the École spéciale militaire de Saint-Cyr in France to study and he was official Japanese military observer to the Franco-Prussian War. After promotion to major general, he went to France again for further study, together with Kawakami Sōroku. On his return home, he helped establish the fledgling Imperial Army, which was soon employed in suppressing the Satsuma Rebellion, although Ōyama and his elder brother were cousins of Saigō Takamori.

In the First Sino-Japanese War, Ōyama was appointed the commander-in-chief of the Japanese Second Army, which after landing on Liaotung Peninsula, carried Port Arthur by storm, and subsequently crossed to Shantung, where it captured the fortress of Weihaiwei. After the war, however, Ōyama was disparaged by American reporter Trumbull White for failing to restrain his troops during the Port Arthur Massacre; nevertheless, Ōyama received the title of marquis under the kazoku peerage system, and, three years later, he became a field-marshal.

Ōyama, who peaks and writes several European languages fluently (having spent three years (1870–1873) in Geneva studying foreign languages, his speciality being Russian), also is a fan of European-style architecture. During his tenure as the War Minister, he built a large house in Tokyo modelled after a German castle. Although he’s very pleased with the design, it seems his wife Sutematsu is not, and insists that the children's room be remodelled in Japanese style, so that they would not forget their Japanese heritage.

Trivially, Ōyama Iwao is the first recorded Japanese customer for Louis Vuitton, having purchased some luggage during his stay in France.

And as touched upon in the Brief History, he was the person who chose the verses that became the Kimigayo.

Inoue Kaoru​

Spoiler: Inoue Kaoru

Born Yakichi to a lower-ranked samurai family in Yuda, Chōshū Domain on 16 January 1836, Inoue attended the Meirinkan Domain school with his brother Ikutarō. He was a close boyhood friend of Itō Hirobumi, and he played an active part in the Sonnō Jōi movement. In 1858, he studied rangaku, artillery and swordsmanship in Edo. He later emerged as a leader of the antiforeigner movement in his native Chōshū, going so far as to set fire to the British legation in Edo in January 1863 with his compatriot Takasugi Shinsaku.

Recognising Japan's need to learn from the western powers, Inoue joined the Chōshū Five and was smuggled out of Japan to study at University College, London in England in 1863. When he returned with Itō Hirobumi, he unsuccessfully tried to prevent war (the Battle of Shimonoseki) between the Chōshū and the western naval powers over the closing of the Straits of Shimonoseki to foreign shipping. Later, he fought against the forces of the bakufu in the 1864 First Chōshū expedition, during which he was severely wounded. He later played a key role in the formation of the Satchō Alliance against the shogunate.

Since the Restoration, Inoue has served in several important positions in the new Meiji government. He was appointed Vice Minister of Finance in 1871 and was influential in reorganising government finances on modern lines, especially in the reform of the land tax system, termination of government stipends to the ex-samurai and former aristocracy and for promoting industrialisation. Closely linked to business circles, including the emerging Mitsui zaibatsu, he was also involved in the railway business. However, these measures created many political enemies, and Inoue was forced to resign in May 1873. Several years later, in 1876, Inoue was asked to assist in the field of foreign affairs, and was involved in the conclusion of the Japan–Korea Treaty of 1876 as vice-ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary. He returned to government as Minister of Public Works in 1878 and Lord of Foreign Affairs in 1879. In 1884, he was elevated to the rank of count (hakushaku) under the new kazoku peerage system.

In December 1885, Inoue officially became Japan’s first Minister of Foreign Affairs Itō Hirobumi’s first cabinet. However, Inoue came under public criticism for his failure to negotiate a revision of the unequal treaties, his building of the Rokumeikan, and support of its Westernizing influences, which forced him to resign in August 1887.

Later he served as Minister of Agriculture and Commerce in the Kuroda administration, as Home Minister in the second Itō administration and again as Finance Minister in the third Itō administration.

He is amongst the most senior of the genrō, and is considered (certainly by himself) the government's foremost advisor on financial affairs.

Saigō Tsugumichi​

Spoiler: Saigō Tsugumichi

Saigō Tsugumichi, or Saigō Jūdō his name can also be read, 1 June 1843 was born in Shimokajichō, Kagoshima, the son of the samurai Saigō Kichibe of the Satsuma Domain. His siblings included his famous older brother Saigō Takamori. Saigō has changed his name many times throughout his life; besides the two already stated, he sometimes went by the nickname “Shingō.” His real name however is Ryūkō or Ryūdō.

At the recommendation of Arimura Shunsai, he became a tea-serving Buddhist monk for the daimyo of Satsuma, Shimazu Nariakira. After he returned to secular life, he became one of a group of devoted followers of Arimura. As a Satsuma samurai, he participated in the Anglo-Satsuma War. He later joined the movement to overthrow the bakufu, and served as a commander of the Satsuma army fighting in the Battle of Toba–Fushimi as well as other battles on the imperial side of the Boshin War.

In 1869, two years after the establishment of the Meiji government, Saigō went to Europe with General Yamagata Aritomo to study European military organizations, tactics and technologies. After his return to Japan, he was appointed a lieutenant-general in the new Imperial Japanese Army. He commanded Japanese expeditionary forces in the Taiwan Expedition of 1874.

In 1873, his brother Saigō Takamori resigned from the government, over the rejection of his proposal to invade Korea during the Seikanron debate. Many other officials from the Satsuma region followed suit, however, Saigō Jūdō continued to remain loyal to the Meiji government. Upon the death of his brother in the Satsuma Rebellion, Saigō Jūdō became the primary political leader from Satsuma. In accord with the kazoku peerage system enacted in 1884, he received the title of count (hakushaku).

Saigō held a string of important positions in the Itō Hirobumi cabinet, including Navy Minister (1885, and since 1892), whilst as Minister of Internal Affairs, Saigō pushed strongly for the death penalty for Tsuda Sanzō, the accused in the Ōtsu* incident, and threatened Kojima Korekata should the sentence be more lenient.

In 1892, he was appointed to the Privy Council as one of the genrō. In the same year, he founded a political party known as Kokumin Kyōkai (The People's Cooperative Party). The party did not survive long.

In 1894, Saigō was given the rank of admiral, in recognition of his role as Navy minister, and his peerage title was elevated to that of marquis, and four years later, the Imperial Navy bestowed upon him the honorary title of Marshal-Admiral.

Saigō Jūdō is, in another bit of trivia, the first person in Japan to own a race horse.

*The Ōtsu incident was a failed assassination attempt on Nicholas Alexandrovich, Tsesarevich of Russia, now the Emperor of Russia, on 11 May 1891, during his visit to Japan as part of his eastern journey.

Matsukata Masayoshi​

Spoiler: Matsukata Masayoshi

Matsukata, on February 25, 1835, was born into a samurai family in Kagoshima, Satsuma Province. At the age of 13, he entered the Zoshikan, the Satsuma domain's Confucian academy, where he studied the teachings of Wang Yangming, which stressed loyalty to the Emperor; these teachings influenced him to start his career as a bureaucrat of the Satsuma Domain. In 1866, he was sent to Nagasaki to study western science, mathematics and surveying. Matsukata was highly regarded by Ōkubo Toshimichi and Saigō Takamori in those days, who used him as their liaison between Kyoto and the domain government in Kagoshima.

Knowing that war was coming between Satsuma and the Tokugawa, Matsukata purchased a ship available in Nagasaki for use in the coming conflict. This ship was then given the name Kasuga. The leaders of Satsuma felt the ship was best used as cargo vessel and so Matsukata resigned his position as captain of the ship he had purchased. Just a few months later the Kasuga did become a warship and it fought in the Boshin War against the Tokugawa ships. At the time of the Meiji Restoration, he helped maintain order in Nagasaki after the collapse of the bakufu. In 1868, Matsukata was appointed governor of Hita Prefecture by his friend Okubo who was the powerful minister of the interior for the new Meiji government; during his tenure, Matsukata instituted a number of reforms including road building, starting the port of Beppu, and building a successful orphanage. His ability as an administrator was noted in Tokyo and after two years he was summoned to the capital. He formally moved there in 1871 and began work on drafting laws for the Land Tax Reform of 1873–1881.

The new tax system was radically different from the traditional tax gathering system, which required taxes to be paid with rice varied according to location and the amount of rice produced. The new system took some years to be accepted by the Japanese people.

Matsukata became Lord Home Minister in 1880. In the following year, when Ōkuma Shigenobu was expelled in a political upheaval, he became Lord Finance Minister. The Japanese economy was in a crisis situation due to rampant inflation. Matsukata introduced a policy of fiscal restraint that resulted in what has come to be called the “Matsukata Deflation.” The economy was eventually stabilized, but the resulting crash in commodity prices caused many smaller landholders to lose their fields to money-lending neighbours. Matsukata also established the Bank of Japan in 1882. When Itō Hirobumi was appointed the first modern-day Prime Minister of Japan in 1885, he named Matsukata to be the first Finance Minister in his cabinet.

Matsukata also sought to protect Japanese industry from foreign competition, but was restricted by the unequal treaties. The unavailability of protectionist devices probably benefited Japan in the long run, as it enabled Japan to develop its export industries. The national government also tried to create government industries to produce particular products or services. Lack of funds forced the government to turn these industries over to private businesses which in return for special privileges agreed to pursue the government's goals. This arrangement led to the rise of the zaibatsu system.

Matsukata served as finance minister in seven of the first nine cabinets, and led the Finance Ministry off and on for the overwhelming majority of the past two decades. He is also believed to have had significant influence on drafting Articles 62–72 of the Meiji Constitution of 1890.

Matsukata followed Yamagata Aritomo as Prime Minister from May 6, 1891 – August 8, 1892, and followed Ito Hirobumi as Prime Minister from September 18, 1896 – January 12, 1898, during which times he concurrently also held office as finance minister.

One issue of his term in office was the Black Ocean Society, which operated with the support of certain powerful figures in the government and in return was powerful enough to demand concessions from the government. They demanded and received promises of a strong foreign policy from the 1892 Matsukata Cabinet.

Matsukata has successively held offices as president of the Japanese Red Cross Society, privy councillor, gijokan, member of the House of Peers, and Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal of Japan.

Yamagata Aritomo​

Spoiler: Yamagata Aritomo

Yamagata was born in a lower-ranked samurai family from Hagi, the capital of the feudal domain of Chōshū on 14 June 1838. He went to Shokasonjuku, a private school run by Yoshida Shōin, where he devoted his energies to the growing underground movement to overthrow the Tokugawa shogunate. He was a commander in the Kiheitai, a paramilitary organization created on semi-western lines by the Chōshū domain. During the Boshin War, the revolution of 1867 and 1868 often called the Meiji Restoration, he was a staff officer.

After the defeat of the Tokugawa, Yamagata together with Saigō Tsugumichi was selected by the leaders of the new government to go to Europe in 1869 to research European military systems. Yamagata like many Japanese was strongly influenced by the recent striking success of Prussia in transforming itself from an agricultural state to a leading modern industrial and military power. He accepted Prussian political ideas, which favoured military expansion abroad and authoritarian government at home. On returning he was asked to organize a national army for Japan, and he became War Minister in 1873. Yamagata energetically modernized the fledgling Imperial Army, and modelled it after the Prussian army. He began a system of military conscription in 1873.

As War Minister, Yamagata pushed through the foundation of the Imperial Army General Staff, which has been the main source of Yamagata's political power. He was Chief of the Army General Staff in 1878–1882, and again from 1884–85.

Yamagata in 1877 led the newly modernized Imperial Army against the Satsuma Rebellion led by his former comrade in revolution, Saigō Takamori of Satsuma. At the end of the war, when Saigo's severed head was brought to Yamagata, he ordered it washed, and held the head in his arms as he pronounced a meditation on the fallen hero.

He also prompted Emperor Meiji to write the Imperial Rescript to Soldiers and Sailors, in 1882, which is considered the moral core of the Japanese army and naval forces.

Yamagata was awarded the rank of field marshal in 1898 in recognition for the leadership he showed whilst as acting War Minister and Commanding General during the First Sino-Japanese War; as the Commanding General of the Japanese First Army during the Russo-Japanese War; and as the Chief of the General Staff Office in Tokyo.

Since the beginning of his now long and versatile career, Yamagata has held numerous important governmental posts. In 1882, he became president of the Board of Legislation (Sanjiin) and as Home Minister (1883–87) he worked vigorously to suppress political parties and repress agitation in the labour and agrarian movements. He also organized a system of local administration, based on a prefecture-county-city structure presently in use. In 1883 Yamagata was appointed to the post of Lord Chancellor, the highest bureaucratic position in the government system before the Meiji Constitution of 1889. He then became the third Prime Minister of Japan after the creation of the Cabinet of Japan from December 24, 1889 to May 6, 1891. He became the first prime minister who had to share power with a partially elected Imperial Diet under the Meiji Constitution that took effect in 1890. During his first term, the Imperial Rescript on Education was issued. In order to pass a budget for fiscal 1891 (begins in April), he had to negotiate with a liberal majority in the House of Representatives, the elected lower house of the Diet, making an unhappy concession on the centralised, authoritarian government he prefers. He was President of the Privy Council from 1893–94, and two years later, he led a diplomatic mission to Moscow, which produced the Yamagata–Lobanov Agreement confirming Japanese and Russian rights in Korea.

Yamagata became Prime Minister for a second term from November 8, 1898 and is the incumbent; many believe that in a short time he will attempt to rule that only an active military officer can serve as War Minister or Navy Minister, which would better ensure his base of support, the military, always has a say in the government. He has also enacted laws preventing political party members from holding any key posts in the bureaucracy.

Yamagata is a talented garden designer, and today the gardens he designed are considered masterpieces of Japanese gardens. A noted example is the garden of the villa Murin-an in Kyoto.

The Prime Minister also has no children, and as such has adopted a nephew, the second son of his eldest sister, to be his heir. Yamagata Isaburō has, since his maturation, assisted his adopted father by serving as a career bureaucrat, notably during the Iwakura Mission of 1871, and beyond.

​

 

[Duke Dan `the Man`]

The Korean Empire, in the name of peace, shall stand down and sign the Treaty

[X] Shi Gi-sun, Prime Minister of Korea

 

[MastahCheef117]

The Boxer Rebellion of 1900
​

Crisis threatened to split China apart.

The thousands of Chinese peasants a part of the Yihequan Movement, now known colloquially in the West as the Boxer Rebellion, threatened the Imperial rule of law by burning churches, killing Chinese Christians, and attempting to negotiate for their own powers with the Imperial court in Peking. The Empress Dowager Cixi had already issued several tame proclamations in opposition to the Boxers' actions; but many conservatives in the court hoped, and many reformers feared, that she was about to change her mind.

Part of the Boxer's reason for joining the rapidly growing movement was out of pure starvation. Shandong, the birthplace of the movement, had experienced severe drought and famine in previous years; thousands each month died from starvation. By February its beliefs – for a renewed Imperial China, which could only be brought about with the expulsion of the “Western barbarians”, echoing the old radical political slogan of pre-Meiji Japan (“revere the Emperor, expel the barbarians”) -- were becoming increasingly popular in the region. Word among the general populace said that the Empress was just days from making an imperial proclamation officially adopting the Boxers and their ideology as that of the whole Empire.

The Dowager Empress, the most powerful person in China, garbed in traditional dress.​

However, on 17 February, she issued a different proclamation: two new forces of justice, the National Police and the Imperial Gendarmerie, were being established. The former force was to have jurisdiction in the cities of the Empire, while the latter roamed free in the countryside. Their purpose were twofold, the second one unspoken: to punish criminals and ensure the law would punish them; and to ensure the Boxers never stepped over the line. To back these forces up – which would very soon take on a near-paramilitary feel – another proclamation was made on 19 February, detailing the establishment of the Imperial Administrative Tribunal, a large bureau of judges handpicked by Empress Dowager to root out corruption and ensure continued obedience to the law.

Hundreds of thousands of men were levied into both the National Police and Imperial Gendarmerie over the course of February and March, while Cixi and the most willing members of her court – roughly split evenly between conservatives and reformers – set about choosing the one thousand judges needed to fill the Tribunal, which were to be headed by court-picked commissioners and were thus free from local ordinances and decrees.

The judges of the Tribunal did their best to curb corruption, and were, in some areas more than others, successful in their task. In the city of Shanghai alone, over three-hundred bureaucrats were arrested and convicted of bribery, extortion, and a whole host of other crimes; as the Imperial proclamation had named only life imprisonment or death as the sentence, nearly half of these men were executed while the rest were imprisoned. In these cities, and others, where the Tribunal proved successful, money that had one gone to line the pockets of corrupt officials now finally went into the Imperial treasury. Still, many judges appointed to the Tribunal were themselves corrupt, selectively convicting the tried and letting friends and allies free.

An artist's romanticization of Cixi presiding over the sentencing of a convicted official.​

When the National Police and Imperial Gendarmerie were deployed in the cities and countryside – particularly in the area between Shandong and Peking – the Boxer response was, by and large, furious. Attacks on Chinese Christians became more frequent; on 5 March a Korean merchant and his family, visiting the city of Tientsin, were killed by a mob of angered Boxers, which was promptly dispersed moments later by a company of men of the National Police; the next day, thousands more Boxers flocked to the city, burning and looting shops, burning down churches, and publicly executing any Christians they could find. An American mining engineer and his wife, Herbert and Lou Henry Hoover, took shelter in a local church and, when it was attacked, shot several of the Boxers before being themselves killed. National Policemen struggled to hold order and, after several skirmishes with the Boxers in the city, were rapidly forced out, effectively ceding control to the Boxers.

Men of the Tientsin National Police – though they performed admirably, they could not stop the Boxers.​

Cixi reacted immediately. Fearing a Western intervention, she issued a third proclamation calling for the destruction of the Yihuequan movement; she ensured that the foreign ambassadors in Peking's legations quarter were well aware of her decree before cabling information of “absolute anarchy and untold destruction,” as American ambassador Edwin Conger put it, to their respective governments. When Italian bishop and friar Gregorio Grassi was brutally murdered by a group of Boxers, the Dowager Empress sent a message to Viceroy Ronglu, commander of the Peking Guards Army.

Ronglu, a friend and ally of Cixi, was ordered to “arrest or execute all those spreading violence and perpetrating murder throughout the country”. The Guards Army of five divisions was reinforced by two cavalry divisions from the Peking garrison. These troops were, far and away, the most well-equipped and trained soldiers in the entire Imperial Army. While Ronglu headed south with the bulk of the Army to clear Shandong of the rebels, he tasked General Yuan Shikai, commander of the “Right Division” (the most well-equipped and experienced troops in all of China) and Governor of Shandong, to expel the Boxers from Tientsin and effect its liberation. Yuan, a veteran of the Sino-Japanese War (where he led the most modernized Imperial units into battle), immediately marched for Tientsin. On 11 March Yuan's troops, hoping to restore order where the National Police had failed, were bolstered by a smattering of Imperial Gendarmerie soldiers from the surrounding countryside and, shortly after noon, began fighting Boxer forces on the outskirts of the city. The battle was never really in question – despite a huge numerical advantage, few Boxers were properly armed, and even these men only went into battle with antiquated muskets or outdated single-cartridge rifles. Inside of four hours, the city was completely freed from Boxer influence; not including the bloodletting during the short Boxer occupation, an estimated forty-thousand died that day. Of note, Yuan ordered the burial of the Hoovers after hearing of their deaths, their having been the only foreigners to die in the event.

Governor of Shandong and commander of the Right Division, Yuan Shikai.​

Yuan, at the age of forty, quickly became one of the most celebrated – and one of the youngest – generals in the entire Empire, at least among anti-Boxer Chinese. Ronglu and his experienced subordinate, Nie Shicheng, endured much more hardship in rooting out Boxer troops from Shandong. On 29 March Yuan, still enjoying his popularity from his defeat of the Tientsin Boxers, was ordered south to restore order to his own province. There, the Right Division fought alongside the Kansu Braves of the “Rear Division”, an all-Muslim unit known for their determination and high morale under the command of Dong Fuxiang, rooting out many Boxer supporters from the area. Around mid-April, however, the situation intensified; Boxers were now seen in Peking and the surrounding countryside, harassing merchants, low-level Qing officials, and attacking Christians wherever they could find them. The Guards Army was brought back to Peking where, alongside veteran soldier and statesman Li Hongzhang, Ronglu and Yuan Shikai effected martial law over the city – without the Empress Dowager's permission or orders.

British minister Claude Maxwell MacDonald cabled London, saying the “situation in China is deteriorating rapidly,” requesting the government dispatch more guards for the British legation. The ambassadors and guards of the legations quarter went into lockdown, with fortifications being erected and firing zones set up among the few soldiers present. As they did so, thousands of Chinese Christians and foreign missionaries, fearing for their lives, fled into the legations. Ronglu, who had famously remarked to Cixi that the Boxer soldiers were “but rabble”, was startled to find, on the morning of 22 April, almost ten thousand Boxers at the gates of the Imperial City Prince Duan, a staunch conservative of the Imperial court who had been sidelined by Cixi following the fall of Tientsin, had organized his own rebellion from those troops of the Imperial Army loyal to the Boxer movement. The troops demanded Cixi rescind her proclamations and condemn the West for the “brutal rape and attacks committed upon our Nation”. When she refused, Yuan Shikai arrived with his division, and battle took over the streets of Peking.

Prince Duan, leader of the Boxers in Peking. ​

To the southeast, Boxers began to attack the legations quarter. Fighting picked up around midday as thousands surrounded the legations and pressed the attack, breaking through the fortifications in some areas before quickly being pushed back. Ronglu, leading the rest of the Guards Army, fought here for the remainder of the day, helping to cut down thousands of Boxers. By twilight Prince Duan's forces outside the Imperial City had been routed and, seeking to end all resistance and bring the day to a decisive and glorious end, Yuan Shikai rode through the ranks, on horseback, encouraging his men to “aim a little higher” as the Boxers opened the distance and fled further away. All told, some thirty-thousand died in Peking that day – most were Boxer troops, while many civilians themselves were killed in the crossfire. Several thousand troops of the Guards Army were lost, particularly the Kansu Braves, who endured brutal melee and were continually sent into battle on the orders of Ronglu. Only about two dozen men and women in the legations themselves lost their lives.

Despite the rallying of native support to the aid of the Qing, the Boxers continued to prove a problem. The countryside to the south of Peking, along with Shandong, continued to be ride with Boxers attacking caravans and passers-by as well as any foreigners and Christians they could find. Ronglu and Yuan Shikai were both heavily praised by both the court (or the reformers and realist conservatives, at least) as well as the various Western ministers to China, particularly MacDonald, Conger, and German plenipotentiary Clemens von Ketteler, the latter naming them “the greatest heroes of Chinese civilization.” Shikai and Ronglu spent the remaining days of April, May, and June rapidly training as many Imperial soldiers as they could, and arming them with what imported arms they could get their hands on. Overall, outside of the Peking Guards Army, some ten whole divisions were brought up to snuff. While many of these troops still could not match the quality of Western armies – this characteristic alone belonged to the Peking Guards – they would be able to hold their own against the Boxers and, perhaps, some more. [+1 army level to Qing. -2 infantry divisions from Qing. +7% public support to Qing]

 

[Revan529]

​

大日本帝国
Dai Nippon Teikoku
富国強兵 - Fukoku kyōhei
君が代 – Kimigayo
​

The Empire of Japan congratulates the Qing Empire for doing its utmost to dispel the chaos and disorder that had held dominion over her lands for much of the past year, though we shall continue to watch this unfolding situation with trepidation.

In particular, His Majesty's Government believes it only prudent to comment the expert leadership of the General Yuan Shikai, upon whom the entirety of the Qing's hopes and aspirations rest. His heroic deeds, his stunning victories, and his bravery in the field, combined with his decisive action, can only remind His Majesty's Government of what an obstinate and noble foe he was during the War some half a decade ago. His Majesty's Government sends its highest commendations to him.

It is but a pity the remainder of that government still remains bound by ties to these violent movement, and has, despite the efforts of Yuan Shikai and the other figures, tried in our estimation to provide shelter and cover for these violent dissidents. Perhaps order shall be more fully restored, as is our hope.

Of more dire note, His Majesty's Government fears deeply for the safety of the Emperor's subjects in Japan, and cannot express its disdain and anger at the loss of the same over the past year; we demand from the Empire of the Qing that responsibility be assumed for previous inaction, and the sluggish advance into countering this rebellion before the arrival of General Yuan Shikai and his efforts to restore order and stability.

~ Aoki Shūzō, Gaimu Daijin

​

 

[etranger01]

The United States of America
Hail, Columbia​

For their meritorious service to the people and government of the United States and for conspicuous gallantry in the face of a far more numerous foe,

I, Edwin E. Conger, Envoy to the Court of the Great Qing, on behalf of President McKinley and the Congress of the United States,

Hereby present Generals Jung-lu and Yüan Shih-k'ai with the Congressional Silver Medal,

In recognition of the signal service rendered to the United States in an hour of most desperate need.

The government and people of the United States hereby offer their heartfelt thanks to these two men.

Edwin E. Conger
Envoy to the Court of the Great Qing
On behalf of President McKinley and the United States

 

[Revan529]

​

大日本帝国
Dai Nippon Teikoku
富国強兵 - Fukoku kyōhei
君が代 – Kimigayo​

For heroic deeds in the face of the rebellion, His Majesty’s Government formally commends both Generals Ronglu and Yuan of the Qing Empire. Furthermore, His Majesty’s Government, having reviewed the conduct of the Battle of Peking, formally inducts Yuan Shikai into the Order of the Rising Sun, Fifth Class, Gold with Silver Rays.

Colonel Shiba Gorō, of whom we have only heard only the highest of praise regarding his conduct during the Battle of Peking, ensuring the safety not only of the Japanese delegations, but of all the other residents of the Legation Quarter, is similarly commended, and is awarded the Medal of Honour with Red Ribbon, and is further inducted into the Order of the Golden Kite, Fifth Class.

~ Sugiyama Akira, Ambassador to the Qing Empire, on Behalf of Aoki Shūzō and His Majesty the Emperor

​

 

[Rolman99]

To the Honorable Edwin Conger, Envoy of the United States of America to the Court of the Empire of the Great Qing, as well as to the Government of the United States of America in general:

On behalf of His Imperial Majesty the Emperor, Son of Heaven, Lord of Ten Thousand Years of the Guangxu Era, as well as the Empire of the Great Qing as a whole, wishes to thank Mr. Conger and the Government of the United States for America for rewarding Generals Yuan and Ronglu for their recent military victories, and both men extend to their thanks to the United States.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

To the Honorable Sugiyama Akira, Ambassador of the Empire of Japan to the Empire of the Great Qing, as well as to His Majesty the Emperor of Japan and Aoki Shūzō:

On behalf of His Imperial Majesty the Emperor, Son of Heaven, Lord of Ten Thousand Years of the Guangxu Era, as well as the Empire of the Great Qing as a whole, wishes to extend their greatest thanks to Mr. Akira and the Government of the Empire of Japan for their bestowing of medals upon Generals Yuan and Ronglu for their service, and both extend their Thanks to the Empire of Japan.

It is most joyful to see that our two nations, though adversaries just five years ago, may both agree that these two great Chinese are worthy of such rewards.​

 

[MastahCheef117]

GM Note: Lochlan joins as an IC nation. He can issue general diplomatic statements, declare mobilization/demobilization, recognize foreign countries, declare war, and sign treaties.

EDIT: I forgot to say he was Sweden.

 

[jacob-Lundgren]

Kingdom of Italy
​

"The Italian Kingdom expresses its deep sorrow and regret about recent events to the United Kingdom. We have only good feelings and goodwill towards your people and their leadership.

We must take note of the events that have recently taken place in asia. We find the issue in Korea to be an interesting and yet unsettling one. That land surely appears to not be done in the news.

However the news that most bothered us out of asia cannot help but be that of the events in China. A localized problem has found a way to spread heavily without truly leaving the sames lands. While we find some comfort in the actions of some inside China, the situation is a very ugly and explosive one. The Italian government is angry about the situation and if China cannot protect foreigners in its land properly then perhaps those people should see foreign soldiers deployed to protect them. Of course maybe the news conveyed to us is wrong, and China is simply suffering a brief hiccup of instability.

As well we are continuing to monitor the deteriorating situation in and around the Ottoman Empire." ~ Mario Luigi-Spokesman for the royal family

 

[Rolman99]

Official Response of the Empire of the Great Qing to Concerns Raised by the Kingdom of Italy

The Empire of the Great Qing, as well as His Imperial Majesty the Emperor, Son of Heaven, Lord of Ten Thousand Years of the Guangxu Era, is saddened and insulted by the recent comments made by the spokesman of the royal family of the Kingdom of Italy. While we regret the loss of the Italian Bishop Gregorio Grassi, along with Mr. and Mrs. Hoover of the United States, amongst other foreigners, the belief espoused by the Kingdom of Italy that foreign military intervention within the Empire of the Great Qing is necessary for a conflict that has nearly ended, and in the Empire's favor no less, is worryingly jingoistic on the part of the Italian Government.

This regrettable event that has killed over a hundred thousand Chinese from all sides, a "hiccup of instability," as the Kingdom of Italy calls it, has nearly passed. Furthermore, the Empire of the Great Qing expresses confusion at the speed of which the Kingdom of Italy has come to peg our Empire simply for performing well and putting an end to this dark time. Have the Italians already forgotten that just two years ago their army was forced to fire their rifles and cannons at their own people in Milan, as we have been forced to do to violent elements in Peking? None called for expeditions then.

The Empire of the Great Qing simply wishes to remain on good terms with the nations of the world under Heaven, and we are willing to negotiate whatever may be necessary to stop such militaristic and inflammatory rhetoric currently being espoused by the Kingdom of Italy. Already, the body of Bishop Grassi is being sent home, and all other Italian nationals within Peking and the Empire of the Great Qing are safe and accounted for. The Empire of the Great Qing hopes that the leaders of the Kingdom of Italy may cool their tempers, and that good relations may continue to be fostered between our two nations.​

 

[Olligarchy]

Kingdom of Spain

His Majesty the King of Spain, as well as his royal Mother Queen-Regent would like to offer their heartfelt applause and gratitude for the efforts of the Qing Government for restoring order securing the livelihoods and persons of many foreign peoples. A large number of Spanish missionaries and Jesuits work alongside their Italian counter-parts within the Chinese Empire, and the fact that the Qing Government was able to clean house and protect them so effectively speaks well of its progress and advancement.

-Ministro de Estado Francisco Silvela-​

 

[Revan529]

大日本帝国
Dai Nippon Teikoku
富国強兵 - Fukoku kyōhei
君が代– Kimigayo​

His Excellency the Prime Minister has ruled that only active-duty officers in the Imperial Army and Navy can serve as War and Navy Ministers, to ensure these duties are not controlled by bureaucrats and the best interests of the military are properly served. However, due to mounting pressure, particularly over perceived weakness in regards to the Korea Crisis earlier this year and the political re-ascendency of Marquis Itō Hirobumi, some believe that this latest push has expended the last ounces of political clout and support available to Marquis Yamagata.

-
The Japan Times

ITOU IN!​

The government of Field Marshal Marquis Yamagata Aritomo has collapsed and, upon the advice of the venerable genrou, Marquis Itou Hirobumi has begun his fourth term as Prime Minister. In an address shortly after the announcement, Prime Minister Ito has promised continued cooperation with the Korean and Russian Empires in the hopes of maintaining peace and stability on the peninsula, and shall work tirelessly to protect Japanese officials in China, still undergoing turmoil in the wake of the Battle of Peking.

Many figures of the former government have been retained, perhaps as a means to placate Yamagata’s faction within the genrou and the general public, notably the Navy Ministers. Notably though, War Minister and noted ally of Yamagata, Lieutenant General Viscount Katsura Tarou has been replaced by Lieutenant General Baron Kodama Gentarou, presently the Governor-General of Taiwan, a position in which he has garnered high esteem for efficacy and administrative skill. Similarly, Foreign Minister Aoki Shūzō has also been replaced by the former Ambassador to Britain, Katō Takaaki.

-​

Yamamoto Gonnohyōe, the returning Navy Minister, announced today plans to expand the Imperial Navy, in accordance with the 1897 budget. Over the course of this year, five new destroyers and torpedo boats are planned. Several shipyards have announced their interest in obtaining these contracts, though reliable sources suggest that the Navy Ministry is reserving a few in the hopes of acquiring foreign contractors.

​

 

[Harpsichord]

On behalf of the Kingdom of Servia and King Alexander I, I offer my full and sincere condolences to Her Majesty The Queen and her subjects, who in losing Albert Edward, the Prince of Wales, have lost a man of great esteem and ability.


~ Vladan Đorđević, President of the Ministry of Servia

 

[bakerydog]

Statement by President Campos Sales on the the death of Prince Albert Edward
​

The entirety of the Brazilian Republic sends its condolences to the royal family, a deplorable act cutting short the life of a man to be admired.

​

 

[Revan529]

​

大日本帝国
Dai Nippon Teikoku
富国強兵 - Fukoku kyōhei
君が代– Kimigayo​

Following the replies from the various companies and offices in the West, the Foreign Ministry receives the offers, as well as another deal to be made in France.

Spoiler: Mr Mauser,

That your company has seen fit to tentatively accept this deal with the Empire of Japan is most welcoming. I have received opening terms from the Finance and Army Ministries, outlined as such.

The Empire of Japan shall purchase one-thousand G98s for a sum of $300 per rifle.

The Empire of Japan shall obtain a license whereby the Arisaka rifle may incorporate design elements from the G98 to improve its capacity as the main small arm of the Imperial Army; this license shall be acquired for $100,000, with an additional fee of $500 for every 100 Arisaka rifles utilising these modifications and redesigns manufactured – this secondary arrangement shall last for either five years or after five thousand such rifles have been produced, whichever occurs sooner.

The Empire of Japan shall employ several engineers from Mauser to provide technical assistance to the Tokyo Arsenal in fully utilising these modifications. The Empire of Japan shall, for this service, assume one-half of their wage whilst under Imperial employment and all travel expenses.

Sincerely,
Nakamura Satoshi, of the Foreign Ministry

Spoiler: Mr Krupp,

His Majesty’s Government is pleased to know that such an arrangement would be satisfactory to your company, and has only recently provided me with the terms by which we can begin formal negotiations.

The Empire of Japan shall purchase two-hundred and fifty 7.7 cm FK 96 n.A.s for a sum of $1,000 per artillery piece.

The Empire of Japan shall commission the design of a mortar-cannon for the purpose of countering defensive emplacements. Should the design prove effective, shall purchase one-hundred and twenty-five of them for a sum of $1,500 per artillery piece.

The Empire of Japan shall obtain a license allowing for the manufacture of similar such artillery pieces domestically, for a fee of $175,000.

The Empire of Japan shall employ engineers and technicians from Krupp to provide assistance in developing these domestic variants, suitable for their Oriental environs. The Empire of Japan shall, for this service, assume one-half of their wage whilst under Imperial employment and all travel expenses.

Sincerely,
Nakamura Satoshi, of the Foreign Ministry

Spoiler: Mr Delcassé,

His Majesty’s Government is greatly pleased to see that the French government is interested in such a deal; thus, to avoid any needless waste of times, I hereby present the offer sent to me by the War and Finance Ministers:

The Empire of Japan shall purchase one-thousand Canon de 75 modèle 1897s for a sum of $1,250 per piece.

The Empire of Japan shall acquire a license to produce similar such weapons domestically for a fee of $150,000.

The Empire of Japan shall also take into employ French engineers to advise the Imperial Arsenals in developing these domestic variants. The Empire of Japan shall, for this service, assume one-half of their wage whilst under Imperial employment and all travel expenses.

Sincerely,
Ikeda Taichi, of the Foreign Ministry

Spoiler: Mr. Hotchkiss,

It has come to the attention of the new War Minister that a glaring oversight occurred in the process of expanding and improving Japanese arms, deals that you no doubt have a cursory knowledge of. The Empire of Japan has, for some years, been a client of sorts of yours, yet a formal deal, whereby the Imperial Army would be outfitted with your latest and best designed machine guns, and a capability to manufacture such weapons domestically in Japan as opposed to importing them from France, has been neglected by the previous Minister and of great interest to the incumbent. To arrange such a deal expeditiously, the War and Finance Ministries have already drafted a deal for your company.

The Empire of Japan shall purchase five-hundred Hotchkiss machine guns for a sum of $450 per weapon.

The Empire of Japan shall acquire a license to produce these weapons, and modify them as necessary, domestically for a fee of $125,000.

The Empire of Japan shall also take into employ engineers from Hotchkiss et Cie to advise the Imperial Arsenals in developing these domestic variants. The Empire of Japan shall, for this service, assume one-half of their wage whilst under Imperial employment and all travel expenses.

Sincerely,
Ikeda Taichi, of the Foreign Ministry

​