“Internal challenges were the greatest threat to the Tokugawa Shogunate.” Discuss.

The question requires that candidates offer a considered and balanced review of the statement that internal challenges were the greatest threat to the Tokugawa Shogunate. Candidates may refer to a range of social and economic problems including peasant uprisings, the pressures of the alternate attendance system and financial strain experienced by the samurai because of long periods of peace. The political movement Sonno Joi may also be discussed to demonstrate that there was a desire amongst many Japanese to restore the power of the emperor. Candidates may challenge the statement by arguing that it was external factors such as the influence of Dutch learning and the arrival of Perry that undermined the shogun. Candidates may agree, partly agree or disagree with the statement.