Foreign Troops occupy Chōshū shore batteries

September 1864

In response to Chōshū's attacks on foreign ships passing through the Straits of Shimonoseki in 1863i, a four nation alliance (UK, France, Holland, US) attacked and destroyed Chōshū shore batteries. The ease with which the foreign powers overwhelmed Chōshū's defenses forced future Meiji leaders such as Itō Hirobumi and Inoue Kaoru to rethink their ideas about the "barbarians." The defeat, ironcially, led to closer UK-Chōshū ties.