<span> because he believed that it heralded a change from the government of the elite to the government of the people</span>
Emperor Meiji was elected head of Japan in 1868 and reigned during the Meiji restoration. Before his rule, the nation was militarily weak, and was controlled by hundreds of semi-independent feudal lords. He was influenced by how Otto Von Bismarck, Prime Minister of Germany, handled Germany during his time.
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An incident in which french agents attempted to get a bribe and loans from US diplomats in exchange for an agreement that French privateers would no longer attack American ships. It led to an undeclared Naval War between the two countries.
