Uehara Yūsaku

Infobox Military Person
name= Baron Uehara Yūsaku
lived= (6 December 1856 - 8 November 1933)
placeofbirth=Miyakonojo, Hyūga, Japan
placeofdeath=Tokyo, Japan


caption= Japanese General Baron Uehara Yūsaku
nickname=
allegiance=Empire of Japan
branch=
serviceyears=1879 -1933
rank=Field Marshal
commands=IJA 3rd Division
unit=
battles=Russo-Japanese War
awards=
family=
laterwork= Chief of the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff

Baron nihongo|Yūsaku Uehara |上原 勇作| Uehara Yūsaku|extra=6 December 1856 – 8 November 1933 was a field marshal in the Imperial Japanese Army.

Biography

Born in Miyakonojo, Hyūga province (currently Miyazaki prefecture, Uehara's father was a "samurai" of the Satsuma domain. He graduated from the Imperial Japanese Army Academy in 1879 with Akiyama Yoshifuru as one of his classmates. Uehara was sent to France for studies on modern military techniques from 1881-1885. He later fought in the Russo-Japanese War, as a staff officer in the IJA 4th Army commanded by his father-in-law, General Nozu Michitsura. [Dupuy, Encyclopedia of Military Biography] In December 1912, Uehara was appointed War Minister in Prime Minister Saionji Kinmochi's second cabinet. Since the civilian government was pursuing a tight fiscal policy, it soon came into conflict with the army, which was demanding an increase in funding for another two infantry divisions. When Uehara resigned as War Minister over this conflict, the remainder cabinet resigned en masse when the Army refused to nominate a successor, precipitating the collapse of Saionji's government. This event was known as the "Taisho Political Crisis". [ Sims, Japanese Political History]

From March-June 1913, Uehara was commander in chief of the IJA 3rd Division. In 1915, Uehara became Chief of the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff, and remained in this post longer than any person before or after (with the exception of a member of the Imperial House). While in this position, he (together with Tanaka Giichi and Ugaki Issei authorized the Siberian Intervention in support of White Russian forces against the Bolshevik Red Army in the Russian Civil War.

Uehara received the rank of field marshal on 22 April 1922, and was ennobled with the title of "danshaku" (baron) under the "kazoku" peerage system the same year. [Dupuy, Encyclopedia of Military Biography]

Later, Uehara became Inspector General of Military Training, one of the three most prestigious posts within the Army. He was also the founder of the Imperial Japanese Army Engineering Corps.

Uehara died in 1933.

References

Books

*cite book
last = Dupuy
first = Trevor N.
year = 1992
title = Encyclopedia of Military Biography
publisher = I B Tauris & Co Ltd
location =
id = ISBN 1-85043-569-3
*cite book
last = Harries
first = Meirion.
year = 1994
title = Soldiers of the Sun: The Rise and Fall of the Imperial Japanese Army
publisher = Random House
location =
id = ISBN 0-679-75303-6
*cite book
last = Jansen
first = Marius B.
year = 1992
title = The Making of Modern Japan
publisher = Belknap Press
location =
id =
*cite book
last = Sims
first = Richard.
year = 1992
title = Japanese Political History Since the Meiji Renovation 1868-2000
publisher = Palgrave Macmillan
location =
id = ISBN 0-312-23915-7

External links

*cite web
last = National Diet Library
first =
url = http://www.ndl.go.jp/portrait/e/datas/24.html
title = Uehara Yusaku
work = Portraits of Modern Historical Figures

Notes