 When the Boshin War erupted in 1868, and the shogunate came to an end with the abdication of "shōgun" Tokugawa Yoshinobu, the Uesugi joined the "Northern Alliance" ("Ōuetsu Reppan Dōmei"), voicing their support for the embattled Aizu domain and opposing Satsuma and Chōshū domination of the new imperial government, while stating an intent to "reconquer Japan, that the Emperor may indeed reign over it.