Oseifukko (Restoration of Royal Rule) (王政復古)
"Oseifukko" refers to a country once ruled by a monarch before the monarchy was abolished by coups or civil wars, but then restored its monarchy for some reason. If the constitution of the country was that of an empire, its restoration can be called "Teiseifukko" (Restoration of Imperial Rule).
Oseifukko (Restoration of Royal Rule) may be classified into two types. The first case is a restoration of direct administration by a royal family from such conditions whereby the ruling power was repressed due to a constitutional monarchy system or by powerful clans. Some examples include Japan's Meiji Restoration in 1868 where Imperial power was restored from the control of the Tokugawa family, as well as Nepal's cases, one of which was the restoration of the King's reign from the control of the Rana family in 1951, and another one where the political system shifted from the constitutional monarchy to the King's direct administration in 2005. The second case of Oseifukko (Restoration of Royal Rule) involves a revival of a monarchy from republican institutions. Some of examples are the restored monarchies of England in 1660, and Spain in 1975 where the monarchy was restored from the dictatorship of Francisco FRANCO, as well as in Cambodia in 1993 when the monarchy was reestablished after civil warfare ceased and democratization gained a foothold.
Oseifukko', or restoration of monarchy, may sometimes refer to the countries which establish a constitutional monarchy or a democracy under monarchy.
Kenmu no Shinsei (Kenmu Restoration):
For details, please refer to Kenmu no Shinsei (Kenmu Restoration).
In 1333, the Emperor Godaigo overthrew the Shogunate and started Kenmu no Shinsei (Kenmu restoration). "Kenmu no Shinsei" means a restoration of the Emperor's direct administration. This restoration was more genuine than the Meiji Restoration in the sense of the word "Oseifukko" (restoration of imperial rule). "Kenmu no Shinsei" is translated as Kenmu Restoration in English.
Declaration of Imperial Rule, Meiji Restoration
For details, please refer to Oseifukko (Japan) (Restoration of Imperial Rule in Japan).
On January 3, 1868, the declaration of the emperor's direct administration over Japan was made under the name of the Emperor Meiji. This is also called the Declaration of Imperial Rule. It was a declaration to abolish the Edo Shogunate and to establish a new Imperial government; more specifically, (1) abolishment of sekkan-seido (a system of regents and advisors), (2) imperial consent to Yoshinobu's resignation of Shogunate, (3) abolishment of the Edo Shogunate, and (4) appointment to the posts of three new offices, namely sosai (president), gijo (official post) and sanyo (councilor). Because the Emperor Meiji was then only fifteen years old, some court nobles including Tomomi IWAKURA and some retainers of Satsuma and Choshu domains took the political initiative, but, nevertheless, emperor's direct administration was formally declared.
The Declaration of Imperial Rule was a kind of coups staged by the anti-shogunate movement of Tomomi IWAKURA, Toshimichi OKUBO and others in order to justify their movement against the Tokugawa shogunate after they lost their official rationale to defeat the shogunate through Yoshinobu TOKUGAWA's voluntary Taisei Hokan (transfer of power back to the Emperor) on November 9, 1867. Afterward, the movement to defeat the shogunate was eventually accomplished, and the Meiji Restoration was realized.
England:
In 1642, the Puritan Revolution broke out. In 1649, Oliver Cromwell, the leader of the revolution, executed Charles I (then King of England) and abolished the monarchy. Parliamentarians appointed their leader Cromwell as the Lord Protector of the Commonwealth, but, after his death, his child Richard Cromwell who succeeded the post of Lord Protector had little political clout and offered his voluntary resignation from the post. This made the nation of England grow tired of the puritans' innocence in a good sense but self-righteous activities in a bad sense. Consequently, the parliament decided to reassign the sovereignty of England to Charles II (King of England) who was a child of Charles I, and restarted the Stuart Dynasty in 1660.
France
For details, please refer to French Restauration.
On August 10, 1792, the French Revolution Government arrested their King Louis XVI (King of France) and suspended his sovereignty. In the following year, the National Convention decided to execute King Louis XVI by guillotine. Since then, France transitioned to the First Republican France and furthermore into the First Imperial France. In 1814, when the Emperor Napoleon BONAPARTE abdicated from the throne after being defeated in the Napoleonic War, Louis XVIII (King of France), a younger brother of Louis XVI, ascended the throne to revive the Bourbon Dynasty of France. In the following year, when Napoleon escaped from the Elba, Louis XVIII defected abroad again but returned to France soon after Napoleon's hundred days' rule ended. The Bourbon Dynasty was extinguished in 1830 to be followed by the Orleans Dynasty which ruled France until the monarchy was forced to discontinue by the revolution in 1848. Subsequently, the republican constitution became settled in France through the period of the Second Imperial France.
Spain:
In 1931, when a party of republicans won the general election, Alfonso XIII (King of Spain) stepped down from the throne. Then, a republican government inaugurated. Later in 1936, the Spanish Civil War brought about the dictatorship of Francisco Franco y Bahamonde. Although Franco himself desired to restore royal rule, former Crown Prince Juan (Count of Barcelona) did not support the Franco government, so that Franco assumed the post of supreme ruler which covered both the posts of prime minister and regent and maintained the political system in order for him to keep full power of control over the nation.. Subsequently in 1967, Juan Carlos I (King of Spain), a child of Don Juan, was nominated as a Crown Prince who the revived monarchy of Bourbon family after Franco died in 1975. Meanwhile, restoration of royal rule was realized in 1874, too.
Greek:
In 1923, a republican party won the general election, and in December of the following year the country changed itself into a republic by a national referendum. King Georgios II (King of Greek) exiled himself. But, since internally rampant corruption and the worldwide Great Depression bogged the country down politically, it decided to revive the monarchy by a national referendum on November 3, 1935. Subsequently, King Konstantinos II (King of Greek) was exiled by a coups by Colonel Papadopoulos in 1967. And, the country declared itself a republic in 1973. This republican system of government was approved by a national referendum held in December, 1974.
Cambodia:
On March 17, 1970, coups by Lon NOL defeated the monarchy of King Norodom SIHANOUK while he was travelling abroad, and the Khmer Republic was established. Since then, the country passed through tumultuous times, including Democratic Kampuchea, Heng Samrin Government, and civil wars in Cambodia, until 1993 when the country adopted a constitutional monarchy by a general election for National Assembly. When SIHANOUK returned to the throne, the restoration of royal rule in Cambodia finally became a reality.