The idea of the independence of the supreme command came originally from the facts that the leaders at that time were afraid of the revival of the government by the shogunate if statesmen acquired the supreme command, despite the contradiction to that, as the statesmen who contributed in Meiji Restoration and domain cliques had control over the both politics and military, the problems that occurred later due to the independence of the supreme command did not come to the surface, the anecdote of Masashige KUSUNOKI who died at Minatogawa River because his strategy of the war was denied by the ignorant court nobles in the Northern and Southern Court Period (Japan), and it led to the decline of the Southern Court (Japan).
なお、統帥権独立の考えが生まれた源流としては、当時の指導者が、政治家が統帥権をも握ることにより幕府政治が再興される可能性をおそれたこと、それといささか矛盾するが、元勲・藩閥が政治・軍事両面を掌握していたことから、後世に統帥権独立をめぐって起きたような問題が顕在化しなかったこと、南北朝時代(日本)に楠木正成が軍事に無知な公家によって作戦を退けられて湊川で戦死し、南朝(日本)の衰退につながった逸話が広く知られていたことなどがあげられる。