Will the real last samurai please stand up?

Hi, this is Our Bloody History, where we take complex, tense history and make it digestible for your busy brains.

Here’s what we’ve got for you today:

The final battle of the Satsuma Rebellion, an epic stand that effectively brought an end to the samurai class this week, 145 years ago, on 24 September 1877.

Let's get innit.

It's been nine years since the Meiji Restoration, the massive political event that gives birth to the powerful nation state of the Empire of Japan. During the Meiji Era, Japan is changing rapidly from an isolated feudal society to a modernised and industrialised state influenced by Western ideas and technology. Watchhh out.

But it's changing too fast for some.

Especially for the samurai class.

A barrage of modern reforms is threatening their very way of life. More importantly, the government is effectively chucking the privileged social status of the samurai class under the proverbial cart. Unemployment is on the rise and so is the number of disaffected samurai. Not a class you want to rub the wrong way you would think.

Enter Saigō Takamori, one of the most influential samurai of all time, described by historian Ivan Morris as "the quintessential hero of modern Japanese history."

Saigō is an important dude. He's one of Three Great Nobles who leads the Meiji Restoration and holds influential roles in the new Meiji government. Long story short, he's kind of a big deal.

But although Saigō is an initial supporter of the reforms, he soon becomes disaffected himself. As a major proponent of starting war with Korea, he comes up with an "interesting" plan to make it happen. In order to provoke a casus belli (an act or event that justifies a war), Saigō proposes to go to Korea and act so disrespectfully that the Koreans would be forced to kill the rude asshole, thus giving Japan a legitimate reason to declare war. The government is like yeah nah, sorry mate. Saigō gets upset, is like stuff this and resigns from the government in protest.

Free from the shackles of civic duties, Saigō returns to his home town where he notices many unemployed samurai. In order to support these men and provide employment, he establishes a private academy known as the Shi-gakkō. It's essentially a paramilitary political training centre focusing on weapons, tactics and Chinese classics, among other things. Soon there are 132 branches of Saigō's brainchild across the Satsuma Domain, located in the south of the island of Kyushu.

Word of Saigō's academies reach Tokyo and the government freaks out. They've recently put down several small but violent samurai revolts, and the last thing they need is an influential hero training up an angry samurai army in the south. So in 1876, the suspicious Meiji regime sends a police officer and a bunch of dudes to snoop around and investigate reports of subversive activities. But they're caught. Whoops. They then confess, under torture, to being spies with a plan to assassinate Saigō. And that doesn't go down well at all.

In January 1877, the government, fearing a revolt, sends a warship to remove stockpiled weapons from the region. Things then very quickly spiral downhill. As they do. In response, more than a 1,000 students carry out a series of raids on naval yards and carry off any and all weapons. The Satsuma Rebellion is officially underway and good ole' Saigō, although reluctant, steps forward to lead it.

Yikes. Here we go.

Saigō and his 10,000+ samurai march north through the deepest snowfall Satsuma has seen in more than 50 years. It's hard going, but they eventually arrive at Kumamoto Castle and lay siege to it on 22 February 1877. The attacking samurai are unable to break through and are forced to retreat on 12 April when the main Imperial Army arrives to relieve the defenders.

The samurai from Satsuma then suffer another crushing defeat by the Imperial Army at the Battle of Tabaruzaka, an eight-day battle that sees more than 4,000 men killed on each side.

Again, Saigō is forced to retreat.

Shortly after, the two sides clash once more. And....

...Saigō retreats again.

And again.

Finally, on 1 September 1877, Saigō and his remaining 500 men reach Kagoshima and seize Shiroyama, the mountain overlooking the city. Here they prepare to make their final stand.

With a casual 30,000 men, the Imperial Army outnumbers Saigō's ragged band of samurai by 60-to-1. But the Imperial forces aren't taking any chances. They spend several days ruffling up an elaborate system of ditches, walls and obstacles to prevent any breakout. No more fleeing or escaping through the cracks this time. It ends here and it ends now.

On 23 September 1877, the rebels are offered terms of surrender – give up Saigō and keep your lives or stuff's gonna get real at 5pm today.

No response.

So the Imperial Army begins a furious bombardment. The shelling continues all night.

The next morning at 4am on 24 September 1877, our day in history this week, the Imperial forces attack the rebel position. Saigō leads a charge to meet them. His samurai create absolute havoc with their swords in the close-quarter combat, throwing the much much larger force into disarray. But the gains are short lived, and the sheer weight of numbers push the defenders back once more.

It's at this point that Saigō is mortally wounded by a bullet. Where he was shot and what exactly happens next with his body is unknown. Some say that one of his officers carries him off downhill to find a place to commit seppuku. However, in all accounts his body is found decapitated, a key part of the ritualistic warrior's death that he would have wished. Though some legends today claim that he denies death and ascends to Russia or to Mars. Seriously. That would be a sweet NASA-themed anime: Curiosity vs Saigō.

With Saigō's dead and only 40 samurai remaining, Beppu Shinsuke, now in command, leads a final charge downhill. With no ammunition left, the samurai draw their swords and ride boldly to their death...

...to the death of the Satsuma rebellion,

and to the death of the samurai class.

PS. If this scene sounds somewhat vaguely familiar, it's because it's the historical basis for the white saviour classic The Last Samurai starring Tom Cruise. Except in real life, it isn't the Americans who train the samurai, it's the French, yet their involvement predates the Satsuma Rebellion.

3 quick facts:

• Lasting just nine months, the Satsuma Rebellion is responsible for more than 35,000 deaths. The financial impact of the conflict is crushing; it nearly triples Japan's national debt and forces it off the gold standard, causing the government to print paper currency.

• In English, the most common name for the conflict is the "Satsuma Rebellion". However, some argue that it's not the best name because it doesn't accurately represent the war and its Japanese name. It's scope is much larger than Satsuma and is closer to a civil war than a rebellion. It's suggested that a more appropriate English name would be the "War of the Southwest."

• In 1889, Saigō is posthumously pardoned and statues are later erected in his memory. He is labelled as a tragic hero by the people, and his actions are considered an honourable example of bushido and Yamato-damashii (cultural values and characteristics of the Japanese people).

Other conflicts that happened this week:

• 19 September 634: The Rashidun Arabs under Khalid ibn al-Walid capture Damascus from the Byzantine Empire, bringing an end to the Siege of Damascus.

• 20 September 1260: The Great Prussian Uprising among the old Prussians begins against the Teutonic Knights.

• 21 September 1745: A Hanoverian army is defeated in ten minutes by the Jacobite forces of Prince Charles Edward Stuart at the Battle of Prestonpans.

• 22 September 1866: Paraguay defeats a joint force of Brazilian, Argentine and Uruguayan armies in the Battle of Curupayty, its only significant victory in the Paraguayan War.

• 23 September 1868: El Grito de Lares (The Cry of Lares), kicks off the first major revolt against Spanish rule in Puerto Rico.

• 24 September 1846: US forces capture Monterrey during the Mexican–American War.

• 25 September 1066: Harald Hardrada, the invading King of Norway, is defeated by King Harold II of England, in the Battle of Stamford Bridge, a conflict that is often presented as the symbolic end of the Viking Age.

A historical quote about historical things:

See ya next week!

DisclaimerYou are reading my abstractions based on the abstractions of others. History is not always an accurate map of what really happened. The map is not the territory. Reality can be very different. We are like blind people groping an elephant, describing what we feel. It always pays to do your own research and ask questions.