biography
| name: |
Yamagata, Prince Aritomo
|
pronunciation:
[yamagahta]
| sex:
| male
|
| lived:
| (1838–1922)
|
| biography:
| Japanese general, statesman, and premier (1890–1, 1898–1900), born in Hagi, SW Japan. A disciple of the anti-Western crusader Yoshido Shoin, he was an early leader in Meiji Japan (1868), and was dominant in Japanese public life until he died. As war minister (1873) and chief-of-staff (1878), he instituted major army reforms, modelling the army on German lines, and earning the name ‘father of the Japanese army’. His belief in nationalism and imperial loyalty in the army took him above party politics, and he became premier to forestall partisan government. His military reforms led to Japan's defeat of China (1895) and Russia (1905) and her emergence as a significant power. In 1915 he opposed Japan's 21 Demands on China, believing Sino-Japanese understanding was essential to allow Japan to prepare for an inevitable war against the West. |
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