| Terauchi Masatake 寺内 正毅 |
|
|---|---|
| 9th Prime Minister of Japan | |
| In office 9 October 1916 – 29 September 1918 |
|
| Monarch | Taishō |
| Preceded by | Ōkuma Shigenobu |
| Succeeded by | Hara Takashi |
| Governor General of Korea | |
| In office 1 October 1910 – 9 October 1916 |
|
| Monarch | Meiji Taishō |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | Hasegawa Yoshimichi |
| Resident General of Korea | |
| In office 30 May 1910 – 1 October 1910 |
|
| Monarch | Meiji |
| Preceded by | Sone Arasuke |
| Succeeded by | Position abolished |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 5 February 1852 Hagi, Chōshū Domain (Japan) |
| Died | 3 November 1919 (aged 67) Tokyo, Japan |
| Political party | Independent |
| Children | Hisaichi Terauchi |
| Signature | |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | Empire of Japan |
| Service/branch | Imperial Japanese Army |
| Years of service | 1871–1909 |
| Rank | Field Marshal |
| Battles/wars | Boshin War Satsuma Rebellion First Sino-Japanese War Russo-Japanese War |
| Awards | Order of the Rising Sun (1st class) Order of the Golden Kite (1st Class) Order of the Bath (Honorary Knight Grand Cross) |
Terauchi Masatake (寺内 正毅), GCB (5 February 1852 – 3 November 1919) was a Japanese military officer and politician.[1] He was a Field Marshal in the Imperial Japanese Army and the 18th Prime Minister of Japan from 9 October 1916 to 29 September 1918.
Contents |
Terauchi Masatake was born in Chōshū Domain (present-day Yamaguchi prefecture) as the son of a samurai of the Hagi clan.
As a young soldier, he fought in the Boshin War against the Tokugawa shogunate, and later was commissioned second lieutenant in the fledging Imperial Japanese Army. He was injured and lost his right hand during the Satsuma Rebellion of 1877, but his physical disability did not prove to be an impediment to his future military and political career.
In 1882, after being sent to France for military study as military attaché, Terauchi was appointed to several important military posts. He was the first Inspector General of Military Education in 1898 and made that post one of the three most powerful in the Imperial Army. He was appointed as Minister of the Army in 1901, during the first Katsura administration. The Japanese victory in the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905) occurred during his term as War Minister. After the war, he was ennobled with the title of danshaku (baron), and in 1911, his title was raised to that of hakushaku (count).
Terauchi was appointed as the third and last Japanese Resident-General of Korea on the assassination of Itō Hirobumi in Harbin by An Jung-geun. As Resident-General, he executed the Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty in 1910, and thus became the first Japanese Governor-General of Korea.
The annexation of Korea by Japan and subsequent policies introduced by the new government was highly unpopular with large segments of the Korean population, and Terauchi employed military force to maintain control. Terauchi used the deep historical and cultural ties between Korea and Japan as justification for the eventual goal of complete assimilation of Korea into the Japanese mainstream. To this end, thousands of schools were built across Korea. Although this contributed greatly to an increase in literacy and the educational standard, the curriculum was centered on Japanese language and history, with the intent of assimilation of the populace into loyal subjects of the Japanese Empire.
Other of Terauchi's policies also had noble goals but evil consequences. For example, land reform was desperately needed in Korea. The Korean land ownership system was a complex system of absentee landlords, partial owner-tenants, and cultivators with traditional but without legal proof of ownership. Terauchi's new Land Survey Bureau conducted cadastral surveys that reestablished ownership by basis of written proof (deeds, titles, and similar documents). Ownership was denied to those who could not provide such written documentation (mostly lower class and partial owners, who had only traditional verbal "cultivator rights"). Although the plan succeeded in reforming land ownership/taxation structures, it added tremendously to the bitter and hostile environment of the time by enabling a huge amount of Korean land to be seized by the government and sold to Japanese developers.
In 1916, Terauchi became the 18th Prime Minister of Japan. During the same year, he received his promotion to the largely ceremonial rank of field marshal. His cabinet consisted solely of career bureaucrats as he distrusted career civilian politicians. During part of his administration he simultaneously also held the post of Foreign Minister and Finance Minister.
During his tenure, Terauchi pursued an aggressive foreign policy. He oversaw the Nishihara Loans (made to support the Chinese warlord Duan Qirui in exchange for confirmation of Japanese claims to parts of Shandong Province and increased rights in Manchuria) and the Lansing-Ishii Agreement (recognizing Japan's special rights in China). Terauchi upheld Japan's obligations to the United Kingdom under the Anglo-Japanese Alliance in World War I, dispatching ships from the Imperial Japanese Navy to the South Pacific. Indian Ocean and Mediterranean, and seizing control of German colonies in Tsingtao and the Pacific Ocean. After the war, Japan joined the Allies in the Siberian Intervention (whereby Japan sent troops into Siberia in support of White Russian forces against the Bolshevik Red Army in the Russian Revolution).
In September 1918, Terauchi resigned his office, due to the rice riots that had spread throughout Japan due to postwar inflation; he died the following year.
His decorations included the Order of the Rising Sun (1st class) and Order of the Golden Kite (1st Class).
The billiken doll, which was a Kewpie-like fad toy invented in 1908 very popular in Japan lent its name to the Terauchi administration, partly due to the doll’s uncanny resemblance to Terauchi Masatake's bald head.
Terauchi's son, Terauchi Hisaichi, was the commander of the Imperial Japanese Army's Southern Expeditionary Army Group during World War II and was also a field marshal.
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Hayashi Tadasu |
Minister of Foreign Affairs Jul 1908 - Aug 1908 |
Succeeded by Komura Jutarō |
| Preceded by Sone Arasuke |
Resident General of Korea May 1910 - Oct 1910 |
Succeeded by Himself as Governor General of Korea |
| Preceded by Himself as Resident General of Korea |
Governor General of Korea Oct 1910 – Oct 1916 |
Succeeded by Hasegawa Yoshimichi |
| Preceded by Ōkuma Shigenobu |
Prime Minister of Japan Oct 1916 – Sept 1918 |
Succeeded by Hara Takashi |
| Preceded by Ishii Kikujirō |
Minister of Foreign Affairs Oct 1916 - Nov 1916 |
Succeeded by Motono Ichirō |
| Preceded by Taketomi Tomitoshi |
Finance Minister Oct 1916 - Dec 1916 |
Succeeded by Kazue Shoda |
| Preceded by Kodama Gentarō |
War Minister Mar 1902 - Aug 1911 |
Succeeded by Ishimoto Shinroku |
| Military offices | ||
| Preceded by none |
Inspector-General of Military Training Jan 1898 – Apr 1900 |
Succeeded by Nozu Michitsura |
| Preceded by Nozu Michitsura |
Inspector-General of Military Training Jan 1904 – May 1905 |
Succeeded by Nishii Hiroshi |
|
|||||