Modern Imperialism
Banned
What if Shogunate Japan modernized and survived into the 1900 century? This could be done by them winning the Boshin War or preventing it somehow. The country still industrializes and tries to expand but under the rule of the shogun. If the shogun survives by winning the civil war maybe he uses the war to depose of the emperor permanently and install a republic(military dictatorship) under him and his generals leadership.
Maybe the samurai retain their status or expand on it and become a class of hereditary military elites that help run the country and military. The samurai still practice their traditional sword wielding skills for mostly ceremonial reasons but also spend a great amount of time studying modern welfare, tactics, and weapons. The samurai become masters in modern weaponry and war. The army still recruits average citizens as soldiers but the generals and elite units are samurai. Maybe the samurai become the first modern special force units. I imagine a soldier skilled in close combat like samurai would be pretty useful especially later on in the 1900 century. Samurai families could even own large businesseses and companies outside of military and political service. Many major companies from Japan claim or do have samurai backgrounds. Could samurai even become involved in policing the country. Like the military they run the police forces.
Thoughts???
Maybe the samurai retain their status or expand on it and become a class of hereditary military elites that help run the country and military. The samurai still practice their traditional sword wielding skills for mostly ceremonial reasons but also spend a great amount of time studying modern welfare, tactics, and weapons. The samurai become masters in modern weaponry and war. The army still recruits average citizens as soldiers but the generals and elite units are samurai. Maybe the samurai become the first modern special force units. I imagine a soldier skilled in close combat like samurai would be pretty useful especially later on in the 1900 century. Samurai families could even own large businesseses and companies outside of military and political service. Many major companies from Japan claim or do have samurai backgrounds. Could samurai even become involved in policing the country. Like the military they run the police forces.
Thoughts???