Yamagata Aritomo
| Yamagata Aritomo | |
|---|---|
| 山縣 有朋 | |
 |
|
| 3rd and 9th Prime Minister of Japan | |
|
In office 8 November 1898 – 19 October 1900 |
|
| Monarch | Meiji |
| Preceded by | Ōkuma Shigenobu |
| Succeeded by | Itō Hirobumi |
|
In office 24 December 1889 – 6 May 1891 |
|
| Monarch | Meiji |
| Preceded by | Sanjō Sanetomi (Acting) |
| Succeeded by | Matsukata Masayoshi |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
14 June 1838 Kawashima, Japan |
| Died | 1 February 1922 (aged 83) Odawara, Japan |
| Political party | Independent |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |
 Empire of Japan
|
| Service/branch |
 Imperial Japanese Army
|
| Years of service | 1868–1905 |
| Rank | Field Marshal |
| Battles/wars |
Boshin War Satsuma Rebellion First Sino-Japanese War Russo-Japanese War |
| Awards |
Order of the Golden Kite (1st class) Order of the Rising Sun (1st class with Paulownia Blossoms, Grand Cordon) Order of the Chrysanthemum Member of the Order of Merit Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George |
Field Marshal Prince Yamagata Aritomo (山縣 有朋?, June 14, 1838 – February 1, 1922), also known as Yamagata Kyōsuke, was a field marshal in the Imperial Japanese Army and twice Prime Minister of Japan. He is considered one of the architects of the military and political foundations of early modern Japan. Yamagata Aritomo can be seen as the father of Japanese militarism.
Yamagata was born in a lower-ranked samurai family from Hagi, the capital of the feudal domain of Chōshū (present-day Yamaguchi prefecture). He went to Shokasonjuku, a private school run by Yoshida Shōin, where he devoted his energies to the growing underground movement to overthrow the Tokugawa shogunate. He was a commander in the Kiheitai, a paramilitary organization created on semi-western lines by the Chōshū domain. During the Boshin War, the revolution of 1867 and 1868 often called the Meiji Restoration, he was a staff officer.
After the defeat of the Tokugawa, Yamagata together with Saigō Tsugumichi was selected by the leaders of the new government to go to Europe in 1869 to research European military systems. Yamagata like many Japanese was strongly influenced by the recent striking success of Prussia in transforming itself from an agricultural state to a leading modern industrial and military power. He accepted Prussian political ideas, which favored military expansion abroad and authoritarian government at home. On returning he was asked to organize a national army for Japan, and he became War Minister in 1873. Yamagata energetically modernized the fledgling Imperial Japanese Army, and modeled it after the Prussian army. He began a system of military conscription in 1873.
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Wikipedia