Ouetsu Reppan Domei

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 Troops from Sendai, following their mobilization in April, joined the Northern Alliance against Imperial troops in May 1868.
Troops from Sendai, following their mobilization in April, joined the Northern Alliance against Imperial troops in May 1868.

The Ouetsu Reppan Domei or Northern Alliance (奥羽越列藩同盟) was a Japanese military-political coalition established and disestablished over the course of several months in early to mid-1868 during the Boshin War.

Sometimes referred to as the "Northern Alliance" it centered around the Sendai, Yonezawa, and Nihonmatsu domains, and drew together nearly all domains from the provinces of Mutsu and Dewa, several domains of northern Echigo, and even the Matsumae clan of Ezo (Hokkaidō). Headquartered in Shiroishi, the alliance's nominal head was Prince Kitashirakawa Yoshihisa, the onetime abbot of Kan'eiji Temple in Edo who fled north following the Satsuma-Chōshū takeover of the city), who declared himself "Emperor Tobu", with Date Yoshikuni of Sendai as the head of the Alliance. Although heteroclital in nature, the Alliance formed of a combination of modern and traditional forces, and mobilized of total of about 50,000 soldiers.

In addition, though it technically no longer existed as a domain, the forces of the Hayashi clan of the Jōzai Domain also fought on behalf of the Alliance.

While the alliance was a bold, innovative step that combined the military forces of several dozen domains, it was unable to fully act as a single, cohesive unit, and with the fall of Sendai and Aizu, it effectively collapsed.

[edit] Members of the Ouetsu Reppan Domei

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