• Cypher@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    Nobunaga is literally the most successful of the Japanese warlords because he looted a Spanish merchant vessel and obtained guns and powder.

    Then he did everything possible to get more.

    This narrative that evil Europeans forced them to use guns is absurd.

    • EldritchFeminity@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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      2 months ago

      It’s more that guns were hard to get until the British and Americans forced Japan to open its borders. They were generally imported through the Spanish/Portuguese, or the Dutch after they established trade relations. Even after they started making their own matchlocks, I believe they were only produced in small batches due to the high percentage of impurities in Japan’s iron deposits.

    • Milk_Sheikh@lemm.ee
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      2 months ago

      You’re right, that last sentence was ham fisted - I was referring to the gunboat diplomacy opening the trade free for all after decades of isolation, not colonial annexation.