The 1881 Political Crisis drove off the radicals, which supported the freedom and popular rights movement, including Okuma, and helped the government establish a firm regime that had Hirobumi ITO as the central figure.
明治十四年の政変によって、自由民権運動に好意的と見られてきた大隈をはじめとする政府内の急進派が一掃され、政府は伊藤博文を中心とする体制を固める事に成功した。