Six hours. That's all it took to end 150 years of civil war and launch a dynasty that would rule Japan for 265 years. Michael Stevens breaks down the Battle of Sekigahara, where a 58-year-old Tokugawa Ieyasu made his final, brilliant gamble for absolute power. 🎯 What You'll Learn: • Why Ieyasu's pre-battle negotiations mattered more than his actual fighting strategy • How 160,000 samurai faced off in what became Japan's most decisive six-hour fight • The massive land redistribution that followed: 6 million koku of rice (enough to feed 6 million people for a year) 👤 Perfect for: history fans who want to understand how one battle can reshape an entire civilization and anyone curious about the political chess moves that actually win wars. 📍 Chapters: [00:00] Michael Stevens sets up Japan's 150-year civil war crisis [01:45] Meet 58-year-old Ieyasu: too old to fail, too smart to rush [03:30] October 21, 1600: 160,000 warriors gather at Sekigahara [05:15] The six-hour battle that wasn't really about fighting [07:45] How Ieyasu flipped enemy commanders before the first sword swing [09:30] The aftermath: reshaping Japan's entire power structure [11:00] Why this battle still matters for understanding political strategy today 🔔 Never miss an episode: Follow When Rome Burns and turn on notifications. New episodes drop daily, covering history's biggest collapses and what they teach us about power, politics, and human nature. 🔍 Topics: Tokugawa Ieyasu, Battle of Sekigahara, Sengoku period Japan, samurai warfare, political strategy

Stream the full show at When Rome Burns

------ Keywords: historical disasters, paper money, fall of empires, military history, strategic bombing, historical failures, civilization collapse

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