近代日本军人阶级源流及其军制演变,是明治维新研究的焦点问题之一,研究成果极为丰富,但存在较多分歧与遗漏。由明治维新所确立的日本军国主义体制,是世界近代政治史上的典型形态。传统武士阶级转换为“皇军”,继续保有其政治经济特权,支配、垄断了对内和对外政策的制定,实以中世纪的皇家私兵形态,扭曲了工业化时代的国家军政关系,铸就了一部在国内充斥暴力、在国外持续战争的流血历史。从政治主导层面考察,明治维新是由武士与军人阶层控制的“和魂洋才”式国家权力调整,是一场为适应近代技术环境与对外战争需求而进行的军人政治运动。由明治维新带来的、从幕藩体制向天皇制绝对主义与军国主义体制的转变,并无时代的政治的进步意义可言。
<<One of the research focuses on Meiji Restoration is the origin of the Japanese serviceman class and the evolution of its military system. To date,the research has achieved a lot while there are also many disagreements and omissions. The Japanese militaristic system established during the Meiji Restoration is a typical form in modern world political history. The traditional samurai class transformed to the “Imperial Army”,who continued to enjoy the political and economical privilege,dominating and monopolizing the domestic and foreign policy. The form of imperial private army twisted the nation’s civil-military relationship,breeding a bloody history filled with domestic violence and procrastinating foreign war. As fas as the dominating politics is concerned,the Meiji Restoration is an adjustment of state power in the form of “Yamato Soul and Foreign Talent”,which is a political movement launched by servicemen in an effort to meet the requirements of modern technology and external war. No progressive significance of the epoch can be seen in the transformation from the shogunate system to the Mikado absolutism and the militaristic system brought about by the Meiji Restoration.
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