Under the plan for promoting national prosperity and defense in the Meiji period, Maizuru Chinju-fu (Maizuru navy base) was established in a once-isolated village of Higashi-Maizuru (eastern Maizuru City) and became one of the biggest military base along the coast of the Japan Sea, which contributed to its rapid development as a military city and the creation of one of the leading urban areas of Japan-Sea side of Japan.
富国強兵政策が執られた明治時代には、いままで寒村であった東舞鶴（舞鶴市東部）に舞鶴鎮守府が設置され、日本海沿岸の一大軍事拠点となり、軍都として急速に発展し、日本海側有数の都市圏を形成することとなった。