1.
Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal of Japan
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The Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal of Japan was an administrative post not of Cabinet rank in the government of the Empire of Japan. The Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal was responsible for keeping the Privy Seal of Japan, the office of the Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal was identical with the old Naidaijin only in name. The office of Naidaijin was an ancient title predating the Taihō Code of 701, Fujiwara no Kamatari was the first person appointed to the post in 669. After the appointment of Fujiwara no Michitaka in 989, the office became permanently established and he was also responsible for the administration of imperial documents such as rescripts and edicts. Petitions to the emperor and the court were also handled by the Lord Keepers office, when the Privy Council was created in 1888, the Privy Seal retained his independent advisory role. The term privy in Privy Council and Privy Seal identifies a relationship of special trust. In 1907, the post was expanded to become the Naidaijin-fu with a chief secretary, three secretaries and six assistants in order to handle the increased workload with the passing of the genrō. After the start of Emperor Hirohitos reign in 1925, the office and position of the Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal became increasingly important, political infighting within the Diet of Japan further boosted the power of the Lord Keeper. The holder of this position was able to control who was allowed to have an audience with the emperor. The office of the Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal was officially abolished on 24 November 1945, thus, former Grand Chamberlain Fujita Hisanori was the last Lord Keeper. Today, the seals are kept in the care of the Chamberlain of Japan, Lord Privy Seal Keeper of the seals Takenobu, Yoshitaro. The Japan Yearbook, Complete Cyclopaedia of General Information and Statistics on Japan, tokyo, The Japan Year Book Office
2.
Kyoto
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Kyoto is a city located in the central part of the island of Honshu, Japan. It has a close to 1.5 million. Kyoto is also known as the thousand-year capital, in Japanese, the city has been called Kyō, Miyako, or Kyō no Miyako. In the 11th century, the city was renamed Kyoto, after the Chinese word for capital city, after the city of Edo was renamed Tokyo in 1868, and the seat of the Emperor was transferred there, Kyoto was known for a short time as Saikyō. Obsolete spellings for the name include Kioto, Miaco and Meaco. Another term commonly used to refer to the city in the period was Keishi. His last choice for the site was the village of Uda, the new city, Heian-kyō, a scaled replica of the then Tang capital Changan, became the seat of Japans imperial court in 794, beginning the Heian period of Japanese history. The city suffered destruction in the Ōnin War of 1467–1477. Battles between samurai factions spilled into the streets, and came to involve the court nobility and religious factions as well, nobles mansions were transformed into fortresses, deep trenches dug throughout the city for defense and as firebreaks, and numerous buildings burned. The city has not seen such widespread destruction since, Hideyoshi also built earthwork walls called odoi encircling the city. Teramachi Street in central Kyoto is a Buddhist temple quarter where Hideyoshi gathered temples in the city, throughout the Edo period, the economy of the city flourished as one of three major cities in Japan, the others being Osaka and Edo. The Hamaguri rebellion of 1864 burnt down 28,000 houses in the city, the modern city of Kyoto was formed on April 1,1889. The construction of Lake Biwa Canal in 1890 is one taken to revive the city. The population of the city exceeded one million in 1932, stimson, Secretary of War in the Roosevelt and Truman administrations, the city was removed from the list of targets and replaced by Nagasaki. The city was spared from conventional bombing as well, although small-scale air raids did result in casualties. As a result, the Imperial City of Kyoto is one of the few Japanese cities that still have an abundance of prewar buildings, however, modernization is continually breaking down the traditional Kyoto in favor of newer architecture, such as the Kyōto Station complex. Kyoto became a city designated by government ordinance on September 1,1956, in 1997, Kyoto hosted the conference that resulted in the protocol on greenhouse gas emissions that bears the citys name. Kyoto is located in a valley, part of the Yamashiro Basin, in the part of the mountainous region known as the Tamba highlands
3.
Japan
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Japan is a sovereign island nation in Eastern Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies off the eastern coast of the Asia Mainland and stretches from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea, the kanji that make up Japans name mean sun origin. 日 can be read as ni and means sun while 本 can be read as hon, or pon, Japan is often referred to by the famous epithet Land of the Rising Sun in reference to its Japanese name. Japan is an archipelago consisting of about 6,852 islands. The four largest are Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu and Shikoku, the country is divided into 47 prefectures in eight regions. Hokkaido being the northernmost prefecture and Okinawa being the southernmost one, the population of 127 million is the worlds tenth largest. Japanese people make up 98. 5% of Japans total population, approximately 9.1 million people live in the city of Tokyo, the capital of Japan. Archaeological research indicates that Japan was inhabited as early as the Upper Paleolithic period, the first written mention of Japan is in Chinese history texts from the 1st century AD. Influence from other regions, mainly China, followed by periods of isolation, from the 12th century until 1868, Japan was ruled by successive feudal military shoguns who ruled in the name of the Emperor. Japan entered into a period of isolation in the early 17th century. The Second Sino-Japanese War of 1937 expanded into part of World War II in 1941, which came to an end in 1945 following the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Japan is a member of the UN, the OECD, the G7, the G8, the country has the worlds third-largest economy by nominal GDP and the worlds fourth-largest economy by purchasing power parity. It is also the worlds fourth-largest exporter and fourth-largest importer, although Japan has officially renounced its right to declare war, it maintains a modern military with the worlds eighth-largest military budget, used for self-defense and peacekeeping roles. Japan is a country with a very high standard of living. Its population enjoys the highest life expectancy and the third lowest infant mortality rate in the world, in ancient China, Japan was called Wo 倭. It was mentioned in the third century Chinese historical text Records of the Three Kingdoms in the section for the Wei kingdom, Wa became disliked because it has the connotation of the character 矮, meaning dwarf. The 倭 kanji has been replaced with the homophone Wa, meaning harmony, the Japanese word for Japan is 日本, which is pronounced Nippon or Nihon and literally means the origin of the sun. The earliest record of the name Nihon appears in the Chinese historical records of the Tang dynasty, at the start of the seventh century, a delegation from Japan introduced their country as Nihon
4.
Chiba Prefecture
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Chiba Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region and the Greater Tokyo Area. The sixth most populous prefecture, and 27th largest by area, Chiba is on the east coast of Honshu and largely consists of the Bōsō Peninsula. The name of Chiba Prefecture in Japanese is formed from two kanji characters, the first, 千, means thousand and the second, 葉 means leaves. The name first appears as an ancient kuni no miyatsuko, or regional command office, the name was adopted by a branch of the Taira clan, which moved to the area in present-day Chiba City in the late Heian period. The branch of the Taira adopted the name and became the Chiba clan and this compound is used in terms such as the Keiyō Line, Keiyō Road, Keiyō Rinkai Railway Rinkai Main Line, and the Keiyō Industrial Zone. Chiba Prefecture was settled in times, as evidenced by the Jōmon period remains in every part of the region. The prefecture holds the largest kaizuka sea shell mounds in Japan, evidence of a population in the prefecture that relied on the rich marine products of the Pacific Ocean. Kofun burial mounds are found across the prefecture, with the largest group being in Futtsu along Tokyo Bay, in the Asuka period, under the Taika Reform of 645, the administrative structure of present-day Chiba Prefecture changed significantly. Awa Province at the south of Chiba Prefecture, was separated from Kazusa Prefecture in 718 and these administrative units existed until they were abolished and merged into Chiba Prefecture after the Meiji restoration. The central government established a provincial temple in each province. The imperial court gradually extended its authority over the three provinces in the Nara and Heian periods, shōen feudal estates were established across the three provinces, and the region became an important source of tax revenue, agricultural and other products to the capital in Kyoto. As the Heian period progressed, however, the provincial governors came to exert military power independent of the central government in Kyoto. The Chiba clan broke entirely with the court and was instrumental in the establishment of the Kamakura shogunate. Chiba Prefecture was established on June 15,1873 with the merger of Kisarazu Prefecture, the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake caused widespread destruction in Chiba Prefecture, notably in the southernmost part of the Bōsō Peninsula, where 1,300 residents were killed. Koreans in several neighborhoods of Yachiyo were killed, and a tower was erected in 1972 near Yachiyodai Station to memorialize those killed in the incident, the militarization of Chiba Prefecture dates to the Russo-Japanese War. Coastal fortifications were built along Tokyo Bay as far south as Tateyama to protect the capital of the Japanese Empire from attack, after the United States took control of Saipan the northern part of the prefecture, most notably the city of Chiba and Chōshi, were firebombed. Much of the north of the prefecture was destroyed. Operation Coronet, one of two parts of Operation Downfall, was the land invasion of Tokyo in March 1946 by the United States
5.
Order of the Chrysanthemum
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The Supreme Order of the Chrysanthemum is Japans highest order. The Grand Cordon of the Order was established in 1876 by Emperor Meiji of Japan, although technically the order has only one class, it can either be awarded with collar, meaning on a chain, or with grand cordon, accompanied by a sash. Unlike its European counterparts, the order may be conferred posthumously, apart from the Imperial Family, only six Japanese citizens have ever been decorated with the collar in their lifetimes, the last such award was to former Prime Minister Saionji Kinmochi in 1928. Seven others have been decorated with the collar, the last such award was to former Prime Minister Sato Eisaku in 1975. Today, only the reigning Emperor holds this dignity as sovereign of the order, however, exceptions are made for heads of state. The grand cordon is the highest possible honour a Japanese citizen can be awarded during his or her lifetime, aside from the Imperial Family, only 21 grand cordons have been awarded to living citizens and 29 to the deceased. The collar of the order is made of gold, and features the kanji for Meiji, in classic form and it is decorated with gold chrysanthemum blossoms and green-enamelled leaves. The sash of the cordon of the order is red with dark blue border stripes. It is worn on the right shoulder, the star of the order is similar to the badge, but in silver, without the chrysanthemum suspension, and with an eight-pointed gilt medallion placed at the centre. It is worn on the left chest, the badge of the order is a four-pointed gilt badge with white-enamelled rays, the centre bears a red enamelled sun disc. On each of the four corners of the badge is a yellow-enamelled chrysanthemum blossom with green-enamelled chrysanthemum leaves, the badge is suspended on a yellow-enamelled chrysanthemum, either on the collar or on the grand cordon. Barry C. Weaver and Michael A. Quigley, Orders and Medals of Japan and Associated States. San Ramon, California, Orders and Medals Society of America, andrew Order of the Golden Fleece Order of the Tower and Sword
6.
Order of the Golden Kite
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The Order of the Golden Kite was an order of the Empire of Japan, established on 12 February 1890 by Emperor Meiji in commemoration of Jimmu Tennō, the Romulus of Japan. It was officially abolished by the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers of Occupied Japan in 1947 after World War II, the Order of the Golden Kite was an exclusively military award, conferred for bravery, leadership or command in battle. The order consisted of seven classes, a total of 1,067,492 Order of the Golden Kite awards were made over the history of the order, most of them in the two lower 6th and 7th classes. Only 41 of the 1st class and 201 of the 2nd class were awarded, by conflict, First Sino-Japanese War, approx. 630,000 The award came with a monetary stipend. This was awarded for the lifetime of the recipient, and following his death, if the recipient died within 5 years of receiving the honor, the stipend would be awarded to the family until the end of the 5-year period. The monetary stipend was abolished in 1940, the honor was sometimes awarded individually, sometimes awarded en masse. In mid-October 1942, posthumous awards were announced following ceremonies at the Yasukuni Shrine, posthumous honorees included 995 who were lost in combat in the far-flung Pacific War battles and 3,031 were lost fighting in China. In this instance, Tokyos official radio broadcast of the list of recipients of the Order of the Golden Kite was monitored by Allied forces in Asia. The number of honorees was not considered remarkable at the time, the order of the Golden Kite was officially abolished by the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers of Occupied Japan in 1947. The badge depicts a kite, a messenger of the kami as described in the ancient Japanese chronicle Nihon Shoki. The golden kite stands on a star with 32 rays enameled in red. Below the kite are two crossed ancient samurai shields, enameled blue, with two crossed swords enameled yellow, with silver hilts, on one side is a halberd, with the mitsu tomoe Shinto symbol on red banners. The badge was gilt for the 1st-5th classes and silver for the 5th-7th classes, the badges for 6th and 7th classes were non-enameled. The star of the 1st and 2nd classes was similar to the badge as described above and it was worn on the left chest by the 1st class, on the right chest by the 2nd class. Prince Takamatsu Shirō Ishii Imperial Japanese Army Masanobu Tsuji, sakae Ōba Kite —raptor referenced in Imperial war decoration Chamberlain, Basil Hall. Things Japanese, Being Notes on Various Subjects Connected with Japan for the Use of Travelers and Others, London, the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-95 and its Cultural Effects in Japan, in Meiji Japan, Peter F. Kornicki, editor. Peterson, James W. Barry C. Weaver and Michael A. Quigley, Orders and Medals of Japan and Associated States
7.
Empire of Japan
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The Empire of Japan was the historical Japanese nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 to the enactment of the 1947 constitution of modern Japan. Imperial Japans rapid industrialization and militarization under the slogan Fukoku Kyōhei led to its emergence as a world power, after several large-scale military successes during the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Pacific War, the Empire also gained notoriety for its war crimes against the peoples it conquered. A period of occupation by the Allies followed the surrender, Occupation and reconstruction continued well into the 1950s, eventually forming the current nation-state whose full title is the State of Japan or simply rendered Japan in English. The historical state is referred to as the Empire of Japan or the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan in English. In Japanese it is referred to as Dai Nippon Teikoku, which translates to Greater Japanese Empire and this is analogous to Großdeutsches Reich, a term that translates to Greater German Empire in English and Dai Doitsu Teikoku in Japanese. This meaning is significant in terms of geography, encompassing Japan, due to its name in kanji characters and its flag, it was also given the exonym Empire of the Sun. After two centuries, the policy, or Sakoku, under the shoguns of the Edo period came to an end when the country was forced open to trade by the Convention of Kanagawa in 1854. The following years saw increased trade and interaction, commercial treaties between the Tokugawa shogunate and Western countries were signed. In large part due to the terms of these Unequal Treaties, the Shogunate soon faced internal hostility, which materialized into a radical, xenophobic movement. In March 1863, the Emperor issued the order to expel barbarians, although the Shogunate had no intention of enforcing the order, it nevertheless inspired attacks against the Shogunate itself and against foreigners in Japan. The Namamugi Incident during 1862 led to the murder of an Englishman, Charles Lennox Richardson, the British demanded reparations but were denied. While attempting to exact payment, the Royal Navy was fired on from coastal batteries near the town of Kagoshima and they responded by bombarding the port of Kagoshima in 1863. For Richardsons death, the Tokugawa government agreed to pay an indemnity, shelling of foreign shipping in Shimonoseki and attacks against foreign property led to the Bombardment of Shimonoseki by a multinational force in 1864. The Chōshū clan also launched the coup known as the Kinmon incident. The Satsuma-Chōshū alliance was established in 1866 to combine their efforts to overthrow the Tokugawa bakufu, in early 1867, Emperor Kōmei died of smallpox and was replaced by his son, Crown Prince Mutsuhito. On November 9,1867, Tokugawa Yoshinobu resigned from his post and authorities to the Emperor, however, while Yoshinobus resignation had created a nominal void at the highest level of government, his apparatus of state continued to exist. On January 3,1868, Satsuma-Chōshū forces seized the palace in Kyoto. On January 17,1868, Yoshinobu declared that he would not be bound by the proclamation of the Restoration, on January 24, Yoshinobu decided to prepare an attack on Kyoto, occupied by Satsuma and Chōshū forces
8.
Imperial Japanese Army
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The Imperial Japanese Army or IJA, literally Army of the Greater Japanese Empire, was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan, from 1871 to 1945. Later an Inspectorate General of Military Aviation became the agency with oversight of the army. During the Meiji Restoration, the forces loyal to Emperor Meiji were samurai drawn primarily from the loyalist daimyōs of Satsuma. This central army, the Imperial Japanese Army, became even more essential after the abolition of the han system in 1871. One of the differences between the samurai and the peasant class was the right to bear arms, this ancient privilege was suddenly extended to every male in the nation. In 1878, the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office, based on the German General Staff, was established directly under the Emperor and was given broad powers for military planning and strategy. The Japanese invasion of Taiwan under Qing rule in 1874 was an expedition by Japanese military forces in response to the Mudan Incident of December 1871. The Paiwan people, who are indigenous peoples of Taiwan, murdered 54 crewmembers of a merchant vessel from the Ryukyu Kingdom on the southwestern tip of Taiwan. 12 men were rescued by the local Chinese-speaking community and were transferred to Miyako-jima in the Ryukyu Islands and it marked the first overseas deployment of the Imperial Japanese Army and Navy. Not surprisingly, the new led to a series of riots from disgruntled samurai. One of the riots, led by Saigō Takamori, was the Satsuma Rebellion. Thenceforth, the military existed in an intimate and privileged relationship with the imperial institution, top-ranking military leaders were given direct access to the Emperor and the authority to transmit his pronouncements directly to the troops. The sympathetic relationship between conscripts and officers, particularly junior officers who were mostly from the peasantry, tended to draw the military closer to the people. In time, most people came to look more for guidance in matters more to military than to political leaders. By the 1890s, the Imperial Japanese Army had grown to become the most modern army in Asia, well-trained, well-equipped, however, it was basically an infantry force deficient in cavalry and artillery when compared with its European contemporaries. The Sino-Japanese War would come to symbolize the weakness of the military of the Qing dynasty and this was the result by Japans 120, 000-strong western-style conscript army of two armies and five divisions, which was well-equipped and well-trained when compared with their Qing counterparts. The Treaty of Shimonoseki made the Qing defeat official, with a shift in regional dominance in Asia from China to Japan. In 1899–1900, Boxer attacks against foreigners in China intensified eventually resulting in the siege of the legations in Beijing
9.
Field marshal
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Field marshal is a very senior military rank, ordinarily senior to the general officer ranks. Usually it is the highest rank in an army, and when it is and it is considered as a five-star rank in modern-day armed forces in many countries. The origin of the dates to the early Middle Ages, originally meaning the keeper of the kings horses. Promotion to the rank of marshal in many countries historically required extraordinary military achievement by a general. However, the rank has also used as a divisional command rank. The traditional attribute distinguishing a field marshal is a baton, the baton nowadays is purely ornamental, and as such may be richly decorated. That said, it is not necessary for the insignia to be a baton, the exact wording of the titles used by field marshals varies, examples include marshal and field marshal general. The air force equivalent in Commonwealth and many Middle Eastern air forces is marshal of the air force. Navies, which usually do not use the nomenclature employed by armies or air forces, use titles such as fleet admiral, Field marshal Mohammad Qasim Fahim was a politician in Afghanistan who served as Vice President from June 2002 until December 2004 and from November 2009 until his death. Between September 2001 and December 2004, he served as Defense Minister under the Afghan Transitional Administration. As military commander of the Northern Alliance, Fahim captured the Afghan capital Kabul in the fall of 2001 from the Taliban government, in 2004 President Hamid Karzai provided Fahim the honorary title Marshal and a year later he became member of the House of Elders. He later became a recipient of the Ahmad Shah Baba Medal, Fahim was a member of Afghanistans Tajik ethnic group. He was affiliated with the Jamiat Islami party of Afghanistan, Sir Thomas Blamey was the first and is the only Australian-born field marshal. He was promoted to the rank on the insistence of the Australian prime minister, Sir Robert Menzies, Blamey was, at the time of his promotion, seriously ill and mostly bed-ridden in the Heidelberg Repatriation Hospital. He was presented with his marshals baton at a ceremony held in the sunroom at the Heidelberg Repatriation Hospital by the Governor-General of Australia. Blameys field marshals baton is on display in the Second World War galleries at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra. Currently, the only Australian field marshal is HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, during Imperial rule in China, different dynasty gave different titles to generals. A very similar title is 司馬 in Eastern Han dynasty, which means master of horse
10.
First Sino-Japanese War
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The First Sino-Japanese War was fought between the Qing Empire of China and the Empire of Japan, primarily over influence of Korea. After more than six months of unbroken successes by Japanese land and naval forces and the loss of the Chinese port of Weihaiwei, the Qing government sued for peace in February 1895. The war demonstrated the failure of the Qing Empires attempts to modernize its military and fend off threats to its sovereignty, especially when compared with Japans successful Meiji Restoration. For the first time, regional dominance in East Asia shifted from China to Japan, the humiliating loss of Korea as a tributary state sparked an unprecedented public outcry. Within China, the defeat was a catalyst for a series of political upheavals led by Sun Yat-sen and Kang Youwei, the war is commonly known in China as the War of Jiawu, referring to the year as named under the traditional sexagenary system of years. In Japan, it is called the Japan–Qing War, in Korea, where much of the war took place, it is called the Qing–Japan War. After two centuries, the Japanese policy of seclusion under the shoguns of the Edo period came to an end when the country was forced open to trade by British and American intervention in 1854. The years following the Meiji Restoration of 1868 and the fall of the Shogunate had seen Japan transform itself from a society into a modern industrial state. The Japanese had sent delegations and students around the world to learn and assimilate Western arts and sciences, Korea continued to try to exclude foreigners, refusing embassies from foreign countries and firing on ships near its shores. At the start of the war, Japan had the benefit of three decades of reform, leaving Korea outdated and vulnerable, as a newly risen power, Japan turned its attention toward its neighbor, Korea. Japan wanted to block any other power from annexing or dominating Korea, as Prussian advisor Major Klemens Meckel put it to the Japanese, Korea was a dagger pointed at the heart of Japan. On February 27,1876, after confrontations between Korean isolationists and Japanese, Japan imposed the Japan–Korea Treaty of 1876, forcing Korea open to Japanese trade. Similar treaties were signed between Korea and other nations, Korea had traditionally been a tributary state of Chinas Qing Empire, which exerted large influence over the conservative Korean officials who gathered around the royal family of the Joseon kingdom. Opinion in Korea itself was split, conservatives wanted to retain the traditional relationship under China, while reformists wanted to approach Japan and Western nations. After fighting two Opium Wars against the British in 1839 and 1856, and another war against the French in 1885, Japan saw the opportunity to take Chinas place in the strategically vital Korea. In 1882, the Korean peninsula experienced a drought which led to food shortages, causing much hardship. Korea was on the verge of bankruptcy, even falling months behind on military pay, on July 23, a military mutiny and riot broke out in Seoul in which troops, assisted by the population, sacked the rice granaries. The next morning, the crowd attacked the palace and barracks
11.
Russo-Japanese War
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The Russo-Japanese War was fought between the Russian Empire and the Empire of Japan over rival imperial ambitions in Manchuria and Korea. The major theatres of operations were the Liaodong Peninsula and Mukden in Southern Manchuria and the seas around Korea, Japan, Russia sought a warm-water port on the Pacific Ocean for their navy and for maritime trade. Vladivostok was operational only during the summer, whereas Port Arthur, since the end of the First Sino-Japanese War in 1895, Japan feared Russian encroachment on its sphere of influence. Russia had demonstrated an expansionist policy in the Siberian Far East from the reign of Ivan the Terrible in the 16th century, through threat of Russian expansion, Japan offered to recognize Russian dominance in Manchuria in exchange for recognition of Korea as being within the Japanese sphere of influence. Russia refused and demanded Korea north of the 39th parallel to be a buffer zone between Russia and Japan. The Japanese government perceived a Russian threat to its strategic interests, after negotiations broke down in 1904, the Japanese Navy opened hostilities by attacking the Russian Eastern Fleet at Port Arthur, China, in a surprise attack. The war concluded with the Treaty of Portsmouth, mediated by US President Theodore Roosevelt, the complete victory of the Japanese military surprised world observers. The consequences transformed the balance of power in East Asia, resulting in a reassessment of Japans recent entry onto the world stage and it was the first major military victory in the modern era of an Asian power over a European one. Scholars continue to debate the historical significance of the war, after the Meiji Restoration in 1868, the Meiji government endeavored to assimilate Western ideas, technological advances and ways of warfare. By the late 19th century, Japan had transformed itself into an industrial state. The Japanese wanted to be recognized as equal with the Western powers, the Meiji restoration had always been intended to make Japan a modernized state, not a Westernized one, and Japan was always an imperialist power, looking towards overseas expansionism. By the 1890s it had extended its realm across Central Asia to Afghanistan, the Russian Empire stretched from Poland in the west to the Kamchatka Peninsula in the east. With its construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway to the port of Vladivostok, in the Tsushima incident of 1861 Russia had directly assaulted Japanese territory. Between the Meiji Restoration and its participation in World War I, the first war Japan fought was the First Sino-Japanese War, fought in 1894 and 1895. The war revolved around the issue of control and influence over Korea under the rule of the Joseon dynasty, from the 1880s onward, there had been vigorous competition for influence in Korea between China and Japan. The Korean court was prone to factionalism, and was divided by a reformist faction that was pro-Japanese. In 1884, a coup attempt was put down by Chinese troops. A peasant rebellion led by the Tonghak religious movement led to a request by the Korean government for the Qing dynasty to send in troops to stabilize the country
12.
Prince
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A prince is a male ruler, monarch, or member of a monarchs or former monarchs family. Prince is also a title in the nobility of some European states. The feminine equivalent is a princess, the English word derives, via the French word prince, from the Latin noun princeps, from primus + capio, meaning the chief, most distinguished, ruler, prince. The Latin word prīnceps, became the title of the informal leader of the Roman senate some centuries before the transition to empire. Emperor Augustus established the position of monarch on the basis of principate. The term may be used of persons in various cultures. These titles were borne by courtesy and preserved by tradition, not law, in medieval and Early Modern Europe, there were as many as two hundred such territories, especially in Italy, Germany, and Gaelic Ireland. In this sense, prince is used of any and all rulers and this is the Renaissance use of the term found in Niccolò Machiavellis famous work, Il Principe. Most small territories designated as principalities during feudal eras were allodial and this is attested in some surviving styles for e. g. British earls, marquesses, and dukes are still addressed by the Crown on ceremonial occasions as high, in parts of the Holy Roman Empire in which primogeniture did not prevail, all legitimate agnates had an equal right to the familys hereditary titles. Gradual substitution of the title of Prinz for the title of Fürst occurred. Both Prinz and Fürst are translated into English as prince, but they not only different. This distinction had evolved before the 18th century for dynasties headed by a Fürst in Germany, note that the princely title was used as a prefix to his Christian name, which also became customary. Cadets of Frances other princes étrangers affected similar usage under the Bourbon kings, the post-medieval rank of gefürsteter Graf embraced but elevated the German equivalent of the intermediate French, English and Spanish nobles. By the 19th century, cadets of a Fürst would become known as Prinzen, the husband of a queen regnant is usually titled prince consort or simply prince, whereas the wives of male monarchs take the female equivalent of their husbands title. In Brazil, Portugal and Spain, however, the husband of a monarch was accorded the masculine equivalent of her title. To complicate matters, the style His/Her Highness, a prefix often accompanying the title of a dynastic prince, although the arrangement set out above is the one that is most commonly understood, there are also different systems. Depending on country, epoch, and translation, other usages of prince are possible, foreign-language titles such as Italian principe, French prince, German Fürst and Prinz, Russian knyaz, etc. are usually translated as prince in English
13.
Fushimi-no-miya
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The Fushimi-no-miya was founded by Prince Yoshihito, the son of the Northern Court Emperor Sukō. As the house was founded by a Northern Pretender, the first three princes are not recognized as legitimate Fushimi-no-miya Princes. All of the much later ōke were branches off of the Fushimi-no-miya house, all, unless stated otherwise, each prince is the son of his predecessor. The sesshu shinnōke and ōke households, along with the kazoku, were reduced to commoner status during the American occupation of Japan, Emperor Of Japan, Meiji And His World, 1852-1912. Above the Clouds, Status Culture of the Modern Japanese Nobility
14.
Imperial House of Japan
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Under the present Constitution of Japan, the Emperor is the symbol of the State and of the unity of the people. Other members of the family perform ceremonial and social duties. The duties as an Emperor are passed down the line to their children, the Japanese monarchy is the oldest continuous hereditary monarchy in the world. The imperial house recognizes 125 monarchs beginning with the legendary Emperor Jimmu and continuing up to the current emperor, Akihito, see its family tree. Historical evidence for the first 29 emperors is marginal by modern standards, in English, shinnō and ō are both translated as prince as well as shinnōhi, naishinnō, ōhi and joō as princess. There are currently 19 members of the Imperial Family, The Emperor was born at Tokyo Imperial Palace on 23 December 1933 and he was married on 10 April 1959 to Michiko Shōda. Emperor Akihito succeeded his father as emperor on 7 January 1989 and he became heir apparent upon his fathers accession to the throne. Crown Prince Naruhito was married on 9 June 1993 to Masako Owada, the Crown Princess was born on 9 December 1963, the daughter of Hisashi Owada, a former vice minister of foreign affairs and former permanent representative of Japan to the United Nations. The Crown Prince and Crown Princess have one daughter, The Princess Toshi The Prince Akishino, the Emperors second son and his childhood title was Prince Aya. He received the title Prince Akishino and permission to start a new branch of the family upon his marriage to Kiko Kawashima on 29 June 1990. The Princess Akishino was born on 11 September 1966, the daughter of Tatsuhiko Kawashima and his childhood title was Prince Yoshi. He received the title Prince Hitachi and permission to set up a new branch of the family on 1 October 1964. The Princess Hitachi was born on 19 July 1940, the daughter of former Count Yoshitaka Tsugaru, Prince and Princess Hitachi have no children. The Princess Mikasa is the widow of the Prince Mikasa, the son of Emperor Taishō and Empress Teimei. The Princess was born on 4 June 1923, the daughter of Viscount Masanori Takagi. Princess Mikasa has two daughters and three sons with the late Prince Mikasa, Princess Tomohito of Mikasa is the widow of Prince Tomohito of Mikasa, the eldest son of the Prince and Princess Mikasa and a first cousin of Emperor Akihito. The Princess was born on 9 April 1955, the daughter of Takakichi Asō, chairman of Asō Cement Co. and his wife, Kazuko, the Princess was born 10 July 1953, the eldest daughter of Shigejiro Tottori. She married the prince on 6 December 1984, originally known as Prince Norihito of Mikasa, he received the title Prince Takamado and permission to start a new branch of the imperial family on 1 December 1984
15.
Gensui (Imperial Japanese Army)
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Field marshal was the highest title in the pre-war Imperial Japanese military. The title originated from the Chinese title yuanshuai（元帥）, the term gensui, which was used for both the Imperial Japanese Army and the Imperial Japanese Navy, was at first a rank held by Saigō Takamori as the Commander of the Armies in 1872. Equivalent to a rank, it is similar to Field Marshal in the UK British Army. They were also entitled to wear a special sword of a modern design on ceremonial occasions. In the Meiji period, the title was awarded to five generals, in the Taishō period it was awarded to six generals and six admirals, and in the Shōwa period it was awarded to six generals and four admirals. The higher title of dai-gensui was comparable to the title of generalissimo and was only by the Emperor himself. Note that several were promoted the year they died, these were posthumous promotions. The title was bestowed on King George V of the United Kingdom on October 28,1918. Gensui Imperial Japanese Army 元帥：Pronounced as yuanshuai in Chinese, wonsu in Korean, 大元帥：A title higher than gensui, pronounced as da yuanshuai in Chinese, dai-gensui in Japanese, taewonsu in Korean
16.
Prince Yamashina Akira
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Prince Yamashina Akira, was the founder of a collateral line of the Japanese imperial family. He was thus a half-brother of Prince Kuni Asahiko, Prince Kitashirakawa Yoshihisa, Prince Fushimi Sadanaru, from an early age, Prince Akira was groomed to pursue a career as a Buddhist priest, the traditional career path for non-heir sons in the Shinnōke during the Edo period. At the age of two, he was adopted by Emperor Kōkaku as a potential heir. Prince Akira took the tonsure and entered the priesthood under the title Saihan Hoshinnō and he was later appointed prince-abbot of the monzeki temple of Kajū-ji in Yamashina, outside of Kyoto. In 1842, he angered the Tokugawa bakufu, which stripped him of his post, in 1864, the Tokugawa government reinstated him to his former post. After the Meiji restoration, Prince Yamashina served the new Meiji government as a diplomat, assisting in the opening of Kobe to foreign trade and he was one of the few Imperial princes to refuse a military commission, remaining a civilian all his life. Prince Yamashina Akira married Princess Sumiko, a daughter of Emperor Ninkō, Princess Sumiko succeeded to the head of the Katsura-no-miya house in her own right upon the death of the eleventh head, Prince Katsura Misahito. A son, Prince Yamashina Kikumaro was born to Prince Yamashina Akira, Kikumaro was officially adopted to carry on the Yamashina line. Emperor of Japan, Meiji and His World, 1852–1912 ISBN 0-231-12340-X Lebra, above the Clouds, Status Culture of the Modern Japanese Nobility ISBN 0-520-07602-8 Papinot Edmond. Historical and geographical dictionary of Japan
17.
Prince Kuni Asahiko
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Prince Kuni Asahiko, was a member of a collateral line of the Japanese imperial family who played a key role in the Meiji Restoration. Prince Asahiko was a son of Emperor Ninkō and later a close advisor to Emperor Kōmei. He was a great-grandfather of the present Emperor of Japan, Akihito, the future Prince Asahiko had several childhood appellations and acquired several more titles and names over the years. He was often known as Prince Asahiko and Prince Nakagawa and he was a half-brother of Prince Yamashina Akira, Prince Higashifushimi Yorihito, Prince Kitashirakawa Yoshihisa, Prince Fushimi Sadanaru, and Prince Kanin Kotohito. From an early age, Prince Asahiko was groomed to pursue a career as a Buddhist priest and he was sent as an acolyte to Honnō-ji in 1831, but was transferred to Ichijō-in, an abbacy of Kōfuku-ji in Nara in 1836. In 1838, he was adopted by Emperor Ninkō and that same year, he succeeded an uncle as the abbot of Kōfuku-ji and formally entered the priesthood under the title Sonya Hoshinnō. In 1852, Emperor Kōmei transferred him to Shōren-in, a major temple of the Tendai sect in Kyoto. He was also known as Awata no miya or Awataguchi no miya after the location of that temple, during this period, the prince became an outspoken advocate of jōi, the expulsion of all foreigners from Japan. His popularity among the Ishin Shishi attracted the attention of Ii Naosuke, daimyō of Hikone, when Ii launched the Ansei Purge, the prince was condemned to perpetual confinement at Shōkoku-ji. He spent more than two years living in a tiny, dilapidated hut and this disrespectful treatment of the prince enraged the shishi, who made his release one of their principal objectives. In 1862, the prince was allowed to return to secular status and this was part of the amnesty declared in honor of the marriage of Shogun Tokugawa Iemochi, to Kazu-no-miya, the Emperor Kōmeis half-sister. He returned to Kyoto, became an advisor of the emperor. In September 1863, Kōmei bestowed on him the name Asahiko and the status of a prince of the blood, and named him Danjō no in, Prince Asahiko continued in this post following the death of Kōmei and the ascension of the Meiji emperor. After the Meiji Restoration, Prince Asahikos political enemies did not relent, in 1868, he was deprived of his status as a prince of the blood and exiled to Hiroshima on trumped-up charges of plotting to overthrow the new government. Emperor Meiji pardoned him in February 1872, restoring his status and allowing him to start a new collateral branch of the imperial dynasty. He spent the last two decades of his life as the lord custodian priest of the Shinto Grand Shrine of Ise, Prince Kuni Asahiko died in Tokyo in 1891. Three of Prince Asahikos sons, Prince Kaya Kuninori, Prince Kuni Taka, Prince Asahikos son Prince Kuni Kuniyoshi was the father of Princess Nagako of Kuni, who married the future Emperor Shōwa and became the mother of the present Japanese emperor. Prince Asakikos seventh son succeeded to the head of the existing Nashimoto-no-miya house and his fourth born son succeeded him as the second head of the Kuni-no-miya
18.
Prince Kitashirakawa Yoshihisa
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Prince Kitashirakawa Yoshihisa of Japan, was the second head of a collateral branch of the Japanese imperial family. He was formerly enshrined in Tainan-Jinja, Taiwan, under the name Kitashirakawa no Miya Yoshihisa-shinnō no Mikoto as the main, Prince Kitashirakawa Yoshihisa was the ninth son of Prince Fushimi Kuniye. He entered the Buddhist priesthood under the title Rinnoji-no-miya and he served as abbot of Kanei-ji in Edo. This short-lived alliance consisted of almost all of the domains of northern Japan under the leadership of Date Yoshikuni of Sendai, depending on the source, Prince Yoshihisas planned era name is believed to have been either Taisei or Enju. Following the Meiji Restoration, in 1873 Emperor Meiji recalled all imperial princes currently serving as Buddhist priests back to secular status and that same year he succeeded his younger brother, Prince Kitashirakawa Kasunari, as the second head of the new princely house of Kitashirakawa-no-miya. In April 1886, Prince Kitashirakawa Yoshihisa married Shimazu Tomiko, the daughter of Prince Shimazu Hisamitsu of Satsuma domain. On his return to Japan in 1887, he was commissioned as a general in the Imperial Japanese Army. In 1893, as lieutenant general, he was given command of the IJA 4th Division, after the outbreak of the First Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, he was transferred to the elite IJA 1st Division and participated in the Japanese invasion of Taiwan. During the invasion, he contracted malaria and died outside of Tainan, Prince Kitashirakawa Yoshihisa is thus the first member of the Japanese imperial family known to have died outside Japan, and the first to have died in war. Under State Shinto, he was elevated to a kami, and was enshrined in most of the Shinto shrines erected in Taiwan under the Japanese occupation, the Harper Encyclopedia of Military Biography. Splendid Monarchy, Power and Pageantry in Modern Japan, ISBN9780674003347, OCLC44090600 Keene, Donald. Emperor of Japan, Meiji and His World, 1852-1912, ISBN 978-0-231-12340-2, OCLC46731178 Lebra, Sugiyama Takie. Above the Clouds, Status Culture of the Modern Japanese Nobility
19.
Prince Kan'in Kotohito
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Prince Kanin Kotohito was the sixth head of a cadet branch of the Japanese imperial family, and a career army officer who served as Chief of the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff from 1931 to 1940. Prince Kotohito was born in Kyoto on November 10,1865 as the son of Prince Fushimi Kuniye. His father was head of the Fushimi-no-miya, one of the four shinnōke. Since the infant mortality rate in the imperial household was quite high, Emperor Kōmei. Prince Kotohito was thus the brother of Emperor Meiji and a great uncle to both Emperor Shōwa and his consort, Empress Kōjun. On December 19,1891, Prince Kotohiko married Sanjō Chieko, Emperor Meiji sent him as a military attaché to France in 1882 to study military tactics and technology. He graduated from the Army Staff College in 1894, specializing in cavalry and he commanded the 1st Cavalry Regiment from 1897 to 1899. Prince Kanin became a veteran of both the First Sino-Japanese War and the Russo-Japanese War and he was appointed to command the 2nd Cavalry Brigade in 1901. He rose to the rank of lieutenant general in 1905 and became the commander of the IJA 1st Division in 1906, and he was promoted to the rank of full general and became a Supreme War Councilor in 1912. He was further promoted to become the youngest field marshal in the Imperial Japanese Army in 1919, in 1921, Prince Kanin accompanied then-Crown Prince Hirohito on his tour of Europe. He became Chief of the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff on December 1,1931, Prince Kanin transmitted to the Army the emperors first directive authorizing the use of chemical weapons on July 28,1937. He transmitted a second order on September 11 authorizing the deployment of special warfare units to Shanghai. On April 11,1938, Directive Number 11 was issued in his name, Prince Kanin, among others within the army, opposed Prime Minister Yonai Mitsumasas efforts to improve relations with the United States and the United Kingdom. He forced the resignation of War Minister General Hata Shunroku, thus bringing down the Yonai cabinet in July 1940, the Prince was a participant in the liaison conferences between the military chiefs of staff and the second cabinet of Prince Konoe Fumimaro. Both he and Lieutenant General Tojo Hideki, the newly appointed War Minister, Prince Kanin retired as Chief of the General Staff on October 3,1940 and was succeeded by Sugiyama Hajime. He remained a member of the Supreme War Council and an advisor to the emperor on army matters. Field Marshal Prince Kanin died in Odawara, Kanagawa at the Kanin summer residence, the Prince was a strong supporter of State Shinto, with Kiichiro Hiranuma he set up the Shintoist Rites Research Council to research all ancient Shinto rites and practices. His only son, Prince Kanin Haruhito, succeeded him as the seventh and his decorations included the Grand Order of Merit, Order of the Golden Kite, and the Collar of the Supreme Order of the Chrysanthemum
20.
Prince Arisugawa Takahito
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Prince Takahito was born in Kyoto as the first son of Prince Arisugawa Tsunahito. In 1822, he was adopted by Emperor Kōkaku as a potential heir, the following year he was granted the rank of Imperial Prince by imperial proclamation, with the court title Kazusatai no mikoto. He succeeded his father as the 9th head of the Arisugawa-no-miya house on 2 April 1845, on 2 June 1848, Prince Arisugawa Takahito married Nijō Hiroko, the daughter of Sadaijin Nijō Narinobu. He had four sons and four daughters, many of whom were by concubines, Prince Arisugawa was a trusted confidant of Emperor Kōmei. After the Meiji Restoration, he was restored to the court and he subsequently served as first director of the Department of Shinto Affairs, where he was influential in the development of State Shinto. In 1881, he resigned from his posts and became head of the newly established Research Institute for Japanese Classical Literature. The prince was a master of poetry and Japanese calligraphy. The official copy of the Meiji Charter Oath was in his handwriting, Prince Takahito resigned as head of the Arisugawa-no-miya house in favor of his eldest son, Prince Arisugawa Taruhito, on 9 September 1871. He died in Tokyo on 24 January 1886, personal Experiences, Observations, and Studies in Japan, 1870-1874. Adamant Media Corporation ISBN 1-4021-9742-X Keane, Donald, Emperor Of Japan, Meiji And His World, 1852-1912
21.
Prince Fushimi Hiroyasu
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Marshal Admiral Prince Fushimi Hiroyasu was a scion of the Japanese imperial family and was a career naval officer who served as chief of staff of the Imperial Japanese Navy from 1932 to 1941. Prince Hiroyasu was born in Tokyo as Prince Narukata, the eldest son of Prince Fushimi Sadanaru and Princess Arisugawa Toshiko, the daughter of Prince Arisugawa Taruhito. He was the head of the Fushimi-no-miya, one of the four shinnōke cadet branches of the imperial family entitled to succeed to the throne in default of a direct heir. Princess Tomoko, married Prince Kuni Asaakira, Prince Hirohide, Became Count Fushimi Hirohide, took peerage title of Count, served in IJN, KIA. Prince Hiroyasu entered the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy on 5 April 1886 and he enrolled in the Naval Academy of the Kaiserliche Marine on 8 April 1892. Promoted to midshipman on March 30,1893 and to ensign on April 20,1894, he graduated from the academy on 15 August 1895 and he then served aboard the cruisers Itsukushima and Matsushima. On December 1,1897, he was promoted to sub-lieutenant and assigned to the battleship Fuji, promoted to lieutenant-commander on July 29,1903, he served in the Russo-Japanese War, and sustained wounds aboard the battleship Mikasa in the Battle of the Yellow Sea. He later served as officer on the cruiser Niitaka, battleship Okinoshima. He was awarded the Order of the Golden Kite, 4th class, for his services in the Russo-Japanese War and he studied in Great Britain from 1907–1910 and upon his return to Japan was promoted to captain on December 1,1910. He commanded the cruiser Takachiho, and later the Asahi and the battlecruiser Ibuki, promoted to rear admiral on August 31,1913, he rose to vice admiral on December 1,1916 and to full admiral on December 1,1922. He was a member of the Supreme War Council from 1920 onward and he was a strong supporter of the Fleet Faction within the Navy, pushing for cancellation of the Washington Naval Agreement and the building of a more powerful navy. Prince Hiroyasu succeeded his father as the head of the house of Fushimi in 1923. He was appointed commander of the Sasebo Naval District in 1924, Admiral Prince Fushimi became the chief of the Imperial Japanese Navy General Staff on February 2,1932, replacing Admiral Abo Kiyokazu, and held the post to April 9,1941. Prince Fushimi received the honorary rank of marshal admiral on May 27,1932. While he was Chief of Staff of the Imperial Japanese Navy, Hiroyasu Fushimi was awarded the Order of the Golden Kite, 1st class, in 1942. He remained a member of the Supreme War Council throughout the Pacific War, like all members of the Imperial family involved in the conduct of the war, Prince Fushimi was exonerated from criminal prosecutions before the Tokyo tribunal by Douglas MacArthur. He died in Tokyo shortly after the end of World War II on August 16,1946, bix, Herbert P. Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan. Downfall, The End of the Imperial Japanese Empire, eagle Against the Sun, The American War With Japan
22.
Satsuma Rebellion
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The Satsuma Rebellion was a revolt of disaffected samurai against the new imperial government, nine years into the Meiji Era. Its name comes from Satsuma Domain, which had been influential in the Restoration, the rebellion lasted from January 29,1877, until September of that year, when it was decisively crushed and its leader, Saigō Takamori, ended his life. Saigōs rebellion was the last and most serious of a series of armed uprisings against the new government, the modernization of the country meant the abolition of the privileged social status of the samurai class, and had undermined their financial position. Saigō was a proponent of war with Korea in the Seikanron debate of 1873. At one point, he offered to visit Korea in person, to help support and employ these men, in 1874 Saigō established a private academy in Kagoshima. Soon 132 branches were established all over the prefecture, the “training” provided was not purely academic, although the Chinese classics were taught, all students were required to take part in weapons training and instruction in tactics. The traditions of bushido and Hagakure were emphasized, Saigō also started an artillery school. Support for Saigō was so strong that Satsuma had effectively seceded from the government by the end of 1876. Word of Saigō’s academies was greeted with concern in Tokyo. In December 1876, the Meiji government sent an officer named Nakahara Hisao and 57 other men to investigate reports of subversive activities. The men were captured, and under torture, confessed that they were spies who had sent to assassinate Saigō. Fearing a rebellion, the Meiji government sent a warship to Kagoshima to remove the weapons stockpiled at the Kagoshima arsenal on January 30,1877 and this provoked open conflict, although with the elimination of samurai rice stipends in 1877, tensions were already extremely high. Outraged by the tactics,50 students from Saigō’s academy attacked the Somuta Arsenal. Over the next three days, more than 1000 students staged raids on the yards and other arsenals. Presented with this success, the greatly dismayed Saigō was reluctantly persuaded to come out of his semi-retirement to lead the rebellion against the central government. In February 1877, the Meiji government dispatched Hayashi Tomoyuki, an official with the Home Ministry with Admiral Kawamura Sumiyoshi in the warship Takao to ascertain the situation. After Oyama departed, a flotilla of ships filled with armed men attempted to board Takao by force. The following day, Hayashi declared to Oyama that he could not permit Kawamura to go ashore when the situation was so unsettled, and that the attack on Takao constituted an act of lèse-majesté
23.
Military tactics
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Military tactics are the science and art of organizing a military force, and the techniques for combining and using weapons and military units to engage and defeat an enemy in battle. Changes in philosophy and technology have been reflected in changes to military tactics, in contemporary military science, tactics are the lowest of three planning levels, strategic, operational, and tactical. The highest level of planning is strategy, how force is translated into political objectives by bridging the means, the intermediate level, operational, the conversion of strategy into tactics, deals with formations of units. Military tactics answer the questions of how best to deploy and employ forces on a small scale, some practices have not changed since the dawn of warfare, assault, ambushes, skirmishing, turning flanks, reconnaissance, creating and using obstacles and defenses, etc. Using ground to best advantage has not changed much either, heights, rivers, swamps, passes, choke points, and natural cover, can all be used in multiple ways. Before the nineteenth century, many tactics were confined to battlefield concerns. Nowadays, specialized tactics exist for many situations, for example for securing a room in a building, technological changes can render existing tactics obsolete, and sociological changes can shift the goals and methods of warfare, requiring new tactics. Tactics define how soldiers are armed and trained, each – constrained by his weaponry, logistics and social conditioning – would use a battlefield differently, but would usually seek the same outcomes from their use of tactics. The First World War forced great changes in tactics as advances in technology rendered prior tactics useless, list of military tactics Combat arms Johnson, Rob, Michael Whitby, John France. How to win on the battlefield,25 key tactics to outwit, outflank, cS1 maint, Multiple names, authors list Muhm, Gerhard. German Tactics in the Italian Campaign, Gerhard Muhm, La Tattica nella campagna ass d’Italia, in LINEA GOTICA AVAMPOSTO DEI BALCANI, Amedeo Montemaggi - Edizioni Civitas, Roma 1993. Contemporary Marine tactics for war fighting Napoleons tactics and strategy Small Unit Actions during German Campaign in Russia
24.
France
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France, officially the French Republic, is a country with territory in western Europe and several overseas regions and territories. The European, or metropolitan, area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, Overseas France include French Guiana on the South American continent and several island territories in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. France spans 643,801 square kilometres and had a population of almost 67 million people as of January 2017. It is a unitary republic with the capital in Paris. Other major urban centres include Marseille, Lyon, Lille, Nice, Toulouse, during the Iron Age, what is now metropolitan France was inhabited by the Gauls, a Celtic people. The area was annexed in 51 BC by Rome, which held Gaul until 486, France emerged as a major European power in the Late Middle Ages, with its victory in the Hundred Years War strengthening state-building and political centralisation. During the Renaissance, French culture flourished and a colonial empire was established. The 16th century was dominated by civil wars between Catholics and Protestants. France became Europes dominant cultural, political, and military power under Louis XIV, in the 19th century Napoleon took power and established the First French Empire, whose subsequent Napoleonic Wars shaped the course of continental Europe. Following the collapse of the Empire, France endured a succession of governments culminating with the establishment of the French Third Republic in 1870. Following liberation in 1944, a Fourth Republic was established and later dissolved in the course of the Algerian War, the Fifth Republic, led by Charles de Gaulle, was formed in 1958 and remains to this day. Algeria and nearly all the colonies became independent in the 1960s with minimal controversy and typically retained close economic. France has long been a centre of art, science. It hosts Europes fourth-largest number of cultural UNESCO World Heritage Sites and receives around 83 million foreign tourists annually, France is a developed country with the worlds sixth-largest economy by nominal GDP and ninth-largest by purchasing power parity. In terms of household wealth, it ranks fourth in the world. France performs well in international rankings of education, health care, life expectancy, France remains a great power in the world, being one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council with the power to veto and an official nuclear-weapon state. It is a member state of the European Union and the Eurozone. It is also a member of the Group of 7, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the World Trade Organization, originally applied to the whole Frankish Empire, the name France comes from the Latin Francia, or country of the Franks
25.
Germany
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Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a federal parliamentary republic in central-western Europe. It includes 16 constituent states, covers an area of 357,021 square kilometres, with about 82 million inhabitants, Germany is the most populous member state of the European Union. After the United States, it is the second most popular destination in the world. Germanys capital and largest metropolis is Berlin, while its largest conurbation is the Ruhr, other major cities include Hamburg, Munich, Cologne, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Düsseldorf and Leipzig. Various Germanic tribes have inhabited the northern parts of modern Germany since classical antiquity, a region named Germania was documented before 100 AD. During the Migration Period the Germanic tribes expanded southward, beginning in the 10th century, German territories formed a central part of the Holy Roman Empire. During the 16th century, northern German regions became the centre of the Protestant Reformation, in 1871, Germany became a nation state when most of the German states unified into the Prussian-dominated German Empire. After World War I and the German Revolution of 1918–1919, the Empire was replaced by the parliamentary Weimar Republic, the establishment of the national socialist dictatorship in 1933 led to World War II and the Holocaust. After a period of Allied occupation, two German states were founded, the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic, in 1990, the country was reunified. In the 21st century, Germany is a power and has the worlds fourth-largest economy by nominal GDP. As a global leader in industrial and technological sectors, it is both the worlds third-largest exporter and importer of goods. Germany is a country with a very high standard of living sustained by a skilled. It upholds a social security and universal health system, environmental protection. Germany was a member of the European Economic Community in 1957. It is part of the Schengen Area, and became a co-founder of the Eurozone in 1999, Germany is a member of the United Nations, NATO, the G8, the G20, and the OECD. The national military expenditure is the 9th highest in the world, the English word Germany derives from the Latin Germania, which came into use after Julius Caesar adopted it for the peoples east of the Rhine. This in turn descends from Proto-Germanic *þiudiskaz popular, derived from *þeudō, descended from Proto-Indo-European *tewtéh₂- people, the discovery of the Mauer 1 mandible shows that ancient humans were present in Germany at least 600,000 years ago. The oldest complete hunting weapons found anywhere in the world were discovered in a mine in Schöningen where three 380, 000-year-old wooden javelins were unearthed
26.
Staff (military)
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A military staff is a group of officers, enlisted and civilian personnel that are responsible for the administrative, operational and logistical needs of its unit. It provides bi-directional flow of information between an officer and subordinate military units. A staff also provides a function where it filters information needed by the commander or shunts unnecessary information. One of the key purposes of a staff is to provide accurate. A goal is being able to suggest approaches or help produce well-informed decisions that effectively manage. In addition to generating information, the staff also manages the flow of communication within the unit, while controlled information flow toward the commander is a priority, those useful or contingent in nature are communicated to lower-level units and/or through their respective staffs. If the information is not pertinent to the unit, it is redirected to the level which can best utilize the condition or information. Staffs are generally the first to know of issues that affect its group, issues that require major decisions affecting the units operational capability are communicated to the commanding officer. However, not all issues will be handled by the commander, in addition, a staff aims to carefully craft any useful situations and utilize that information. In a generic command staff, more seasoned and senior officers oversee staff sections of groups organized by the needs of the unit, senior Enlisted Personnel task personnel in the maintenance of tactical equipment and vehicles. Senior Analysts are tasked with the finalizing of reports, and their enlisted personnel participate in the acquisition of information from subordinate staffs and this frees up the most senior members of the command at each level for decision making and issuing direction for further research or information gathering. Prior to the late 18th century, there was no organizational support for staff functions such as military intelligence, logistics. Unit commanders handled such functions for their units, with help from subordinates who were usually not trained for or assigned to a specific task. A great deal of mythology surrounds the origin of the modern staff system as a tool of army management. It was perfected by the Prussians, but despite the claims of many American and British authors, it did not originate in France, especially not with Napoleon, the claims made about Pierre-Joseph Bourcet and his staff college at Grenoble are myths. Staff officers were drawn from units and would later return to them. In a battle or when the army had detached corps, a number of staff would be allocated to the column commander as a smaller version of headquarters. The senior man, usually a Major, would be the chief of the column staff, the Archduke set out the position of a modern Chief of Staff, “The Chief of Staff stands at the side of the Commander-in-Chief and is completely at his disposal
27.
Prussia
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Prussia was a historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg, and centred on the region of Prussia. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organised, Prussia, with its capital in Königsberg and from 1701 in Berlin, shaped the history of Germany. In 1871, German states united to create the German Empire under Prussian leadership, in November 1918, the monarchies were abolished and the nobility lost its political power during the German Revolution of 1918–19. The Kingdom of Prussia was thus abolished in favour of a republic—the Free State of Prussia, from 1933, Prussia lost its independence as a result of the Prussian coup, when the Nazi regime was successfully establishing its Gleichschaltung laws in pursuit of a unitary state. Prussia existed de jure until its liquidation by the Allied Control Council Enactment No.46 of 25 February 1947. The name Prussia derives from the Old Prussians, in the 13th century, the Teutonic Knights—an organized Catholic medieval military order of German crusaders—conquered the lands inhabited by them. In 1308, the Teutonic Knights conquered the region of Pomerelia with Gdańsk and their monastic state was mostly Germanised through immigration from central and western Germany and in the south, it was Polonised by settlers from Masovia. The Second Peace of Thorn split Prussia into the western Royal Prussia, a province of Poland, and the part, from 1525 called the Duchy of Prussia. The union of Brandenburg and the Duchy of Prussia in 1618 led to the proclamation of the Kingdom of Prussia in 1701, Prussia entered the ranks of the great powers shortly after becoming a kingdom, and exercised most influence in the 18th and 19th centuries. During the 18th century it had a say in many international affairs under the reign of Frederick the Great. During the 19th century, Chancellor Otto von Bismarck united the German principalities into a Lesser Germany which excluded the Austrian Empire. At the Congress of Vienna, which redrew the map of Europe following Napoleons defeat, Prussia acquired a section of north western Germany. The country then grew rapidly in influence economically and politically, and became the core of the North German Confederation in 1867, and then of the German Empire in 1871. The Kingdom of Prussia was now so large and so dominant in the new Germany that Junkers and other Prussian élites identified more and more as Germans and less as Prussians. In the Weimar Republic, the state of Prussia lost nearly all of its legal and political importance following the 1932 coup led by Franz von Papen. East Prussia lost all of its German population after 1945, as Poland, the main coat of arms of Prussia, as well as the flag of Prussia, depicted a black eagle on a white background. The black and white colours were already used by the Teutonic Knights. The Teutonic Order wore a white coat embroidered with a cross with gold insert
28.
Major general
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Major general is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the rank of sergeant major general. In the Commonwealth, major general is equivalent to the rank of rear admiral. In some countries, including much of Eastern Europe, major general is the lowest of the officer ranks. In the old Austro-Hungarian Army, the general was called a Generalmajor. Todays Austrian Federal Army still uses the same term, see also Rank insignias of the Austro-Hungarian armed forces General de Brigade is the lowest rank amongst general officers in the Brazilian Army. AGeneral de Brigada wears two-stars as this is the level for general officers in the Brazilian Army. In tha Brazilian Air Force, the two-star, three-star and four-star rank are known as Brigadeiro, Major-Brigadeiro, see Military ranks of Brazil and Brigadier for more information. In the Canadian Armed Forces, the rank of major-general is both a Canadian Army and Royal Canadian Air Force rank equivalent to the Royal Canadian Navys rank of rear-admiral, a major-general is a general officer, the equivalent of a naval flag officer. The major-general rank is senior to the ranks of brigadier-general and commodore, prior to 1968, the Air Force used the rank of air vice-marshal, instead. In the Canadian Army, the insignia is a wide braid on the cuff. It is worn on the straps of the service dress tunic. On the visor of the cap are two rows of gold oak leaves. Major-generals are initially addressed as general and name, as are all general officers, major-generals are normally entitled to staff cars. In the Estonian military, the general rank is called kindralmajor. The Finnish military equivalent is kenraalimajuri in Finnish, and generalmajor in Swedish and Danish, the French equivalent to the rank of major general is général de division. In the French military, major général is not a rank but an appointment conferred on some generals, usually of général de corps darmée rank, the position of major général can be considered the equivalent of a deputy chief of staff. In the French Army, Major General is a position and the general is normally of the rank of corps general
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4th Division (Imperial Japanese Army)
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The 4th Division was an infantry division in the Imperial Japanese Army. The 4th Division was formed in Osaka City in January 1871 as the Osaka Garrison, the Osaka Garrison had responsibility for central region of Honshū, ranging from Shiga Prefecture to Hyōgo Prefecture. The six regional commands were transformed into divisions under the reorganization of 14 May 1888. The 4th regional command have played a role in the defeat of the Satsuma Rebellion in 1877. During the Russo-Japanese War, the division, led by Lieutenant General Ogawa Mataji, participated in Battle of Nanshan, Battle of Liaoyang, Battle of Shaho, the division later served in the Siberian Intervention and the Jinan Incident. On 10 February 1937, the 4th Division came under the command of the Kwantung Army in Manchuria and it was transferred to the 11th Army on 1 July 1940, actually departing Osaka 6 September 1937, and landing in Daegu 12 September 1937. It participated in Central Hubei Operation, Battle of South Henan, in September 1941, the division participated in Battle of Changsha. After a Philippines Campaign ended 8 May 1942, the division was returned to home islands to perform a security duties and it came under the control of the 25th Army in September 1943. The 4th division has departed Moji-ku, Kitakyūshū10 October 1943, parts of the 4th division were on Chikago Maru transport when it was sunk 15 October 1943, and therefore were temporarily diverted to Kaohsiung. Assigned to the 15th Army 14 January 1945, its headquarters was in Lampang. The 4th division has started disbanding in June 1946, the soldiers were repatriated from Bangkok back to the Japanese ports of Uraga and Kagoshima. Last sub-unit, a hospital, has departed Bangkok 4 June 1946. 27 June 1946 the dissolution of the 4th division was complete, the original headquarters for the 4th Division was Osaka Castle. In 1940, the headquarters moved again, this time to Hōkoku Shrine area, the divisional arsenal in Osaka has detonated 14 August 1945 due Allied bombing, resulting in light damage to the headquarters buildings. By 2013, headquarters building remains as war memorial within the Osaka Castle Park, list of Japanese Infantry Divisions Madej, W. Victor. Japanese Armed Forces Order of Battle, 1937-1945 Allentown, PA,1981 This article incorporates material from the article 第4師団 in the Japanese Wikipedia, retrieved on 21 January 2016
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Liaodong Peninsula
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The Liaodong Peninsula is a peninsula in Liaoning Province of Northeast China, historically known in the West as Southeastern Manchuria. Liaodong means East of the Liao River, referring to the Liao River which divided the Yan commanderies of Liaoxi, the peninsula lies in the north of the Yellow Sea, between the Bohai Sea to the west and Korea Bay to the east. It forms the part of a mountain belt that continues northward in the Changbai Mountains. The part of the range on the peninsula is known as the Qianshan Mountains, named after Qian Mountain in Anshan. Liaodong came under the rule of the Gojoseon kingdom which emerged in the region, in the late 4th century BC, the Chinese State of Yan invaded and conquered this region from Gojoseon. The Mu-jung clan of the Mongol Xianbei horde founded a new kingdom in Liaotung, the peninsula was an important area of conflict during the First Sino-Japanese War, which the Japanese won. Defeat precipitated decline in the Chinese Qing dynasty which was exploited by colonial powers who extracted numerous concessions, the peninsula was ceded to Japan, along with Taiwan and Penghu, by the Treaty of Shimonoseki of 17 April 1895. However the ceding of Liaodong peninsula was rescinded after the Triple Intervention of 23 April 1895 by Russia, France, in the aftermath of this intervention, the Russian government pressured the Qing dynasty to lease Liaodong and the strategically important Lüshunkou for use by the Russian Navy. As in the First Sino-Japanese War the Liaodong peninsula was the scene of fighting in the Russo-Japanese War
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China
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China, officially the Peoples Republic of China, is a unitary sovereign state in East Asia and the worlds most populous country, with a population of over 1.381 billion. The state is governed by the Communist Party of China and its capital is Beijing, the countrys major urban areas include Shanghai, Guangzhou, Beijing, Chongqing, Shenzhen, Tianjin and Hong Kong. China is a power and a major regional power within Asia. Chinas landscape is vast and diverse, ranging from forest steppes, the Himalaya, Karakoram, Pamir and Tian Shan mountain ranges separate China from much of South and Central Asia. The Yangtze and Yellow Rivers, the third and sixth longest in the world, respectively, Chinas coastline along the Pacific Ocean is 14,500 kilometers long and is bounded by the Bohai, Yellow, East China and South China seas. China emerged as one of the worlds earliest civilizations in the basin of the Yellow River in the North China Plain. For millennia, Chinas political system was based on hereditary monarchies known as dynasties, in 1912, the Republic of China replaced the last dynasty and ruled the Chinese mainland until 1949, when it was defeated by the communist Peoples Liberation Army in the Chinese Civil War. The Communist Party established the Peoples Republic of China in Beijing on 1 October 1949, both the ROC and PRC continue to claim to be the legitimate government of all China, though the latter has more recognition in the world and controls more territory. China had the largest economy in the world for much of the last two years, during which it has seen cycles of prosperity and decline. Since the introduction of reforms in 1978, China has become one of the worlds fastest-growing major economies. As of 2016, it is the worlds second-largest economy by nominal GDP, China is also the worlds largest exporter and second-largest importer of goods. China is a nuclear weapons state and has the worlds largest standing army. The PRC is a member of the United Nations, as it replaced the ROC as a permanent member of the U. N. Security Council in 1971. China is also a member of numerous formal and informal multilateral organizations, including the WTO, APEC, BRICS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the BCIM, the English name China is first attested in Richard Edens 1555 translation of the 1516 journal of the Portuguese explorer Duarte Barbosa. The demonym, that is, the name for the people, Portuguese China is thought to derive from Persian Chīn, and perhaps ultimately from Sanskrit Cīna. Cīna was first used in early Hindu scripture, including the Mahābhārata, there are, however, other suggestions for the derivation of China. The official name of the state is the Peoples Republic of China. The shorter form is China Zhōngguó, from zhōng and guó and it was then applied to the area around Luoyi during the Eastern Zhou and then to Chinas Central Plain before being used as an occasional synonym for the state under the Qing
32.
Japanese invasion of Taiwan (1895)
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The Japanese sought to take control of their new possession, while the Republican forces fought to resist Japanese occupation. The Japanese landed near Keelung on the northern coast of Taiwan on 29 May 1895, although their advance was slowed by guerrilla activity, the Japanese defeated the Formosan forces whenever they attempted to make a stand. The Japanese victory at Baguashan on 27 August, the largest battle fought on Taiwanese soil. The fall of Tainan on 21 October ended organised resistance to Japanese occupation, in 1894 China and Japan went to war. In a few months the Japanese defeated Chinas Beiyang fleet, routed the Chinese armies in Manchuria. Although nearly all the fighting took place in northern China, Japan had important territorial ambitions in southern China. As the war approached its end, the Japanese took steps to ensure that Taiwan would be ceded to Japan under the peace treaty. In March 1895 peace negotiations between Japan and China opened in the Japanese city of Shimonoseki, although hostilities in northern China were suspended during these negotiations, Taiwan and the Pescadores were specifically excluded from the scope of the armistice. Possession of the Pescadores, lying midway between mainland China and Taiwan, was the key to an occupation of Taiwan. According to this rumour, the Chinese proposal was discussed by the British cabinet, and the British prime minister Lord Rosebery and it took the Japanese only three days to secure the islands. In the next two days they occupied the main islands of the Pescadores group. Japanese combat casualties were negligible, but a cholera outbreak shortly after the fall of the islands killed more than 1,500 men of the Japanese occupation force. The soldiers of the defeated Chinese garrison of the Pescadores, most of whom surrendered without a fight, were repatriated by the Japanese to mainland China, the Japanese occupation of the Pescadores was of considerable strategic significance, preventing China from substantially reinforcing its garrisons in Taiwan. Having made it almost impossible for China to fight successfully for Taiwan, the Treaty of Shimonoseki was signed on 17 April 1895, and contained a clause requiring the cession of Taiwan and the Pescadores. On 10 May, Admiral Kabayama Sukenori was appointed the first Japanese governor-general of Taiwan, when the news of the treatys contents reached Taiwan, a number of notables from central Taiwan led by Chiu Feng-chia decided to resist the transfer of Taiwan to Japanese rule. On 23 May, these men proclaimed the establishment of a free, Chiu Feng-chia was appointed Grand Commander of Militia, with the power to raise local militia units throughout the island to resist the Japanese. His job would be to sell the Republic abroad, there was therefore little sympathy in Europe for the Republic, despite its impeccably Parisian manifesto. Nor was there any support for the Formosan resistance movement in Peking, under the terms of the Treaty of Shimonoseki, China had agreed to cede the peninsula to Japan, but once the treatys contents became known there was alarm in Europe at Japans rapacity
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Emperor Meiji
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Emperor Meiji, or Meiji the Great, was the 122nd Emperor of Japan according to the traditional order of succession, reigning from February 3,1867 until his death on July 30,1912. By the time of his death in 1912, Japan had undergone a political, social, and industrial revolution at home and emerged as one of the great powers on the world stage. The New York Times summed up this transformation at his funeral in 1912, with the words, before it went old Japan, after it came new Japan. Having ruled during the Meiji period, the Emperor is thus known as the Meiji Emperor or simply Emperor Meiji. His personal name, which is not used in any formal or official context, the Tokugawa shogunate had established itself in the early 17th century. Under its rule, the shogun governed Japan, about 180 lords, known as daimyō, ruled autonomous realms under the shogun, who occasionally called upon the daimyō for gifts, but did not tax them. The shogun controlled the daimyō in other ways, only the shogun could approve their marriages, and the shogun could divest a daimyō of his lands. In 1615, the first Tokugawa shogun, Tokugawa Ieyasu, who had retired from his position, and his son Tokugawa Hidetada. Under it, the Emperor was required to devote his time to scholarship, the Emperors under the shogunate appear to have closely adhered to this code, studying Confucian classics and devoting time to poetry and calligraphy. They were only taught the rudiments of Japanese and Chinese history, the shogun did not seek the consent or advice of the Emperor for his actions. Emperors almost never left their compound, or Gosho in Kyoto. Few Emperors lived long enough to retire, of the Meiji Emperors five predecessors, only his grandfather lived into his forties, dying aged forty-six. The Imperial Family suffered very high rates of infant mortality, all five of the Emperors brothers and sisters died as infants, soon after taking control in the early seventeenth century, shogunate officials ended much Western trade with Japan, and barred missionaries from the islands. In addition to the substantial Chinese trade, only the Dutch continued trade with Japan, however, by the early 19th century, European and American vessels appeared in the waters around Japan with increasing frequency. Prince Mutsuhito was born on November 3,1852 in a house on his maternal grandfathers property at the north end of the Gosho. At the time, a birth was believed to be polluting, so imperial princes were not born in the Palace, the boys mother, Nakayama Yoshiko, was a concubine to his father Emperor Kōmei, and was the daughter of the acting major counselor, Nakayama Tadayasu. The young prince was given the name Sachinomiya, or Prince Sachi, the young prince was born at a time of change for Japan. This change was symbolized dramatically when Commodore Matthew Perry and his squadron of what the Japanese dubbed the Black Ships, Perry sought to open Japan to trade, and warned the Japanese of military consequences if they did not agree
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Coronation
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The ceremony can also be conducted for the monarchs consort, either simultaneously with the monarch or as a separate event. A ceremony without the placement of a crown on the head is known as an enthronement. Coronations are still observed in the United Kingdom, Tonga, in addition to investing the monarch with symbols of state, Western-style coronations have often traditionally involve anointing with holy oil, or chrism as it is often called. Wherever a ruler is anointed in this way, as in Great Britain and Tonga, some other lands use bathing or cleansing rites, the drinking of a sacred beverage, or other religious practices to achieve a comparable effect. Such acts symbolise the granting of divine favour to the monarch within the relevant spiritual-religious paradigm of the country, in the past, concepts of royalty, coronation and deity were often inexorably linked. Rome promulgated the practice of worship, in Medieval Europe. Coronations were once a direct expression of these alleged connections. Thus, coronations have often been discarded altogether or altered to reflect the nature of the states in which they are held. However, some monarchies still choose to retain an overtly religious dimension to their accession rituals, others have adopted simpler enthronement or inauguration ceremonies, or even no ceremony at all. In non-Christian states, coronation rites evolved from a variety of sources, buddhism, for instance, influenced the coronation rituals of Thailand, Cambodia and Bhutan, while Hindu elements played a significant role in Nepalese rites. The ceremonies used in modern Egypt, Malaysia, Brunei and Iran were shaped by Islam, Coronations, in one form or another, have existed since ancient times. Egyptian records show coronation scenes, such as that of Seti I in 1290 BC, judeo-Christian scriptures testify to particular rites associated with the conferring of kingship, the most detailed accounts of which are found in II Kings 11,12 and II Chronicles 23,11. Following the assumption of the diadem by Constantine, Roman and Byzantine emperors continued to wear it as the symbol of their authority. Although no specific coronation ceremony was observed at first, one gradually evolved over the following century, the emperor Julian was hoisted upon a shield and crowned with a gold necklace provided by one of his standard-bearers, he later wore a jewel-studded diadem. Later emperors were crowned and acclaimed in a manner, until the momentous decision was taken to permit the Patriarch of Constantinople to physically place the crown on the emperors head. Historians debate when exactly this first took place, but the precedent was established by the reign of Leo II. This ritual included recitation of prayers by the Byzantine prelate over the crown, after this event, according to the Catholic Encyclopedia, the ecclesiastical element in the coronation ceremonial rapidly develop. This was usually performed three times, following this, the king was given a spear, and a diadem wrought of silk or linen was bound around his forehead as a token of regal authority
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Tsar
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Tsar /zɑːr/ or /tsɑːr/, also spelled tzar, csar, or czar, is a title used to designate certain Slavic monarchs or supreme rulers. As a system of government in the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, it is known as Tsarist autocracy, occasionally, the word could be used to designate other secular supreme rulers. Simeon II, the last Tsar of Bulgaria, is the last person to have borne the title Tsar, the title Tsar is derived from the Latin title for the Roman emperors, Caesar. In the history of the Greek language, basileus had originally meant something like potentate and it gradually approached the meaning of king in the Hellenistic Period, and it came to designate emperor after the inception in the Roman Empire. Thus, tsar was not only used as an equivalent of Latin imperator but was used to refer to Biblical rulers. From this ambiguity, the development has moved in different directions in the different Slavic languages, thus, the Bulgarian language and Russian language no longer use tsar as an equivalent of the term emperor/imperator as it exists in the West European tradition. Currently, the term refers to native sovereigns, ancient and Biblical rulers, as well as monarchs in fairy tales. The title of king is sometimes perceived as alien and is by some Russian-speakers reserved for European royalty, foreign monarchs of imperial status, both inside and outside of Europe, ancient as well as modern, are generally called imperator, rather than tsar. Biblical rulers in Serbian are called цар and in Croatian kralj, in the Polish language however tsar is always used as imperator, never as king. The term tsar is very used to refer to the Russian rulers after Peter the Great. In 705 Emperor Justinian II named Tervel of Bulgaria Caesar, the first foreigner to receive this title, the sainted Boris I is sometimes retrospectively referred to as tsar, because at his time Bulgaria was converted to Christianity. However, the tsar was actually adopted and used for the first time by his son Simeon I. Since in Byzantine political theory there was place for two emperors, Eastern and Western, the Bulgarian ruler was crowned basileus as a spiritual son of the Byzantian basileus. In Latin sources the Emperor of Bulgaria is sometimes designated Emperor of Zagora, various additional epithets and descriptions apart, the official style read Emperor and autocrat of all Bulgarians and Greeks. During the five-century period of Ottoman rule in Bulgaria, the sultan was referred to as tsar. This may be related to the fact that he had claimed the legacy of the Byzantine Empire or to the fact that the sultan was called Basileus in medieval Greek, after Bulgarias liberation from the Ottomans in 1878, its new monarchs were at first autonomous prince. With the declaration of independence, Ferdinand I of Bulgaria adopted the traditional title tsar in 1908. However, these titles were not generally perceived as equivalents of emperor any longer, in the Bulgarian as in the Greek vernacular, the meaning of the title had shifted
36.
Nicholas II of Russia
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Nicholas II was the last Emperor of Russia, ruling from 1 November 1894 until his forced abdication on 15 March 1917. His reign saw the fall of the Russian Empire from being one of the foremost great powers of the world to economic, Soviet historiography portrayed Nicholas as a weak and incompetent leader, whose decisions led to military defeats and the deaths of millions of his subjects. The Anglo-Russian Entente, designed to counter German attempts to influence in the Middle East. Nicholas approved the Russian mobilisation on 30 July 1914, which led to Germany declaring war on Russia on 1 August 1914 and it is estimated that around 3,300,000 Russians were killed in World War I. Following the February Revolution of 1917, Nicholas abdicated on behalf of himself and his son, Nicholas, the recovered remains of the Imperial Family were finally re-interred in St. Petersburg, eighty years to the day on 17 July 1998. In 1981, Nicholas, his wife and their children were canonized as martyrs by the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia, located in New York City. On 15 August 2000 Nicholas and his family were canonized as passion bearers, Nicholas was born in the Alexander Palace in Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire, the eldest son of Emperor Alexander III and Empress Maria Feodorovna of Russia. He had five siblings, Alexander, George, Xenia, Michael. Nicholas often referred to his father nostalgically in letters after Alexanders death in 1894 and he was also very close to his mother, as revealed in their published letters to each other. His paternal grandparents were Emperor Alexander II and Empress Maria Alexandrovna of Russia and his maternal grandparents were King Christian IX and Queen Louise of Denmark. Nicholas was of primarily German and Danish descent, his last ethnically Russian ancestor being Grand Duchess Anna Petrovna, Nicholas was related to several monarchs in Europe. His mothers siblings included Kings Frederik VIII of Denmark and George I of Greece, Nicholas, his wife Alexandra, and Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany were all first cousins of King George V of the United Kingdom. Nicholas was also a first cousin of both King Haakon VII and Queen Maud of Norway, as well as King Constantine I of Greece, Tsar Nicholas II was the first cousin-once-removed of Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich. To distinguish between them the Grand Duke was often known within the Imperial family as Nikolasha and Nicholas the Tall, while the Tsar was Nicholas the Short. In his childhood, Nicholas, his parents and siblings made annual visits to the Danish royal palaces of Fredensborg and Bernstorff to visit his grandparents, the king and queen. The visits also served as family reunions, as his mothers siblings would come from the United Kingdom, Germany. It was there in 1883, that he had a flirtation with one of his English first cousins, in 1873, Nicholas also accompanied his parents and younger brother, two-year-old George, on a two-month, semi-official visit to England. In London, Nicholas and his family stayed at Marlborough House, as guests of his Uncle Bertie and Aunt Alix, the Prince and Princess of Wales, where he was spoiled by his uncle
37.
10th Division (Imperial Japanese Army)
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The 10th Division was an infantry division in the Imperial Japanese Army. Its tsūshōgō code name was the Iron Division, the 10th Division was one of six new infantry divisions raised by the Imperial Japanese Army in the aftermath of the First Sino-Japanese War,1 October 1898. Its troops were recruited primarily from communities in the three prefectures of Hyōgo, Okayama and Tottori, plus a portion of Shimane and it was originally headquartered in the city of Himeji, and its first commander was Lieutenant General Prince Fushimi Sadanaru. From 15 January 1905, it came under the command of Lieutenant General Andō Teibi and participated at the Battle of Sandepu, from July 1937, with the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War, the 10th Division returned to China under the command of Lieutenant General Rensuke Isogai. It was in combat during the Beiping–Hankou Railway Operation, Tianjin–Pukou Railway Operation and Battle of Xuzhou and it was also in the northern pincer of the Japanese offensive in the Battle of Wuhan. It was withdrawn back to Japan in October 1939 and reorganized at that time into a triangular division, in August 1940, the reorganized division was sent to Jiamusi, northern Manchukuo under the command of Lieutenant General Tōichi Sasaki, and placed under the control of the Kwantung Army. For the next few years, it served as a garrison force. However, in 1944, as the situation in the Pacific War grew increasing desperate for Japan, initially earmarked for a transfer to Taiwan, the 10th Division was sent instead to Luzon in the Philippines, coming under the command of the Japanese Fourteenth Area Army. List of Japanese Infantry Divisions Kowner, Rotem, historical Dictionary of the Russo-Japanese War. Japanese Armed Forces Order of Battle, 1937–1945 Allentown, PA,1981 This page incorporates material from the Japanese Wikipedia page 第10師団, accessed 29 January 2016
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1st Division (Imperial Japanese Army)
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The 1st Division was an infantry division in the Imperial Japanese Army. Its call sign was the Jade Division, the 1st Division was formed in Tokyo in January 1871 as the Tokyo Garrison, one of six regional commands created in the fledgling Imperial Japanese Army. The Tokyo Garrison had responsibility for the region of Honshū. As one of the oldest Divisions in the Imperial Japanese Army, the 1st Division saw combat in the First Sino-Japanese War, after the wars, the division returned to Tokyo, with permanent headquarters opened in Minami-Aoyama 15 June 1918. The February 26 Incident was an attempted coup détat staged by elements of the 1st Division in Tokyo in 1936, the division participated in a Kanchazu Island incident, successfully driving off Soviet invaders by 30 June 1937. 1 September 1937 a 101st division was created to garrison Tokyo instead of 1st Division, later, the parts of the 1st division have participated in disastrous Nonomhan Incident in 1939. Ordered to oppose the re-occupation of Leyte by the American and Filipino forces and their orders were to move up Leyte Highway Number 2 to Carigara and to secure the northern half of the island. However, American and Filipino forces had already seized Carigara, and American air strikes had deprived the Japanese 1st Division of its supply chain and reinforcements. By the time Battle of Leyte was won by American and Filipino forces, of the 11,000 Japanese soldiers, as result, the 1st Division ceased to exist as an operational unit. The remnants of division have participated in the Battle for Cebu City though, list of Japanese Infantry Divisions Madej, W. Victor, Japanese Armed Forces Order of Battle, 1937-1945, Allentown, Pennsylvania,1981 Morison, Samuel Eliot. History of United States Naval Operations in World War II, vol.13, The Liberation of the Philippines—Luzon, Mindanao, the Visayas, 1944-1945 University of Illinois Press, ISBN 0-252-07064-X Vego Milan N. Battle for Leyte,1944, Allied And Japanese Plans, Preparations, ISBN 1-55750-885-2 This article incorporates material from the Japanese Wikipedia page 第1師団, accessed 8 March 2016
39.
General officer
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A general officer is an officer of high rank in the army, and in some nations air forces or marines. The term general is used in two ways, as the title for all grades of general officer and as a specific rank. It originates in the 16th century, as a shortening of captain general, the adjective general had been affixed to officer designations since the late medieval period to indicate relative superiority or an extended jurisdiction. Today, the title of General is known in countries as a four-star rank. However different countries use different systems of stars for senior ranks and it has a NATO code of OF-9 and is the highest rank currently in use in a number of armies. The various grades of general officer are at the top of the rank structure. Lower-ranking officers in military forces are typically known as field officers or field-grade officers. There are two systems of general ranks used worldwide. In addition there is a system, the Arab system of ranks. Variations of one form, the old European system, were used throughout Europe. It is used in the United Kingdom, from which it spread to the Commonwealth. The other is derived from the French Revolution, where ranks are named according to the unit they command. The system used either a general or a colonel general rank. The rank of marshal was used by some countries as the highest rank. Many countries actually used two brigade command ranks, which is why some countries now use two stars as their brigade general insignia, mexico and Argentina still use two brigade command ranks. As a lieutenant outranks a sergeant major, confusion arises because a lieutenant is outranked by a major. Originally the serjeant major was, exclusively, the commander of the infantry, junior only to the captain general, the distinction of serjeant major general only applied after serjeant majors were introduced as a rank of field officer. Serjeant was eventually dropped from both titles, creating the modern rank titles
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Media related to Prince Fushimi Sadanaru at Wikimedia Commons