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Baron was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army, politician, and the 26th Prime Minister of Japan from 20 April 1927 to 2 July 1929. ==Early life and military career== Tanaka was born to a ''samurai'' family in Hagi, Nagato Province (modern day Yamaguchi Prefecture), Japan. He graduated from the Imperial Japanese Army Academy and the 8th class of the Army War College in 1892, and served in the First Sino-Japanese War. After the end of the war, he was sent as a military attaché to Moscow and Petrograd, and was in Russia at the same time as Takeo Hirose of the Imperial Japanese Navy, with whom he became close friends. Tanaka was fluent in the Russian language, which he learned while attending mass every Sunday at a Russian Orthodox church, which enabled him to practice his Russian at church social events, although it is uncertain if he ever actually converted to Christianity. Later in the Russo-Japanese War, he served as aide to General Kodama Gentarō in Manchuria. In 1906, Tanaka helped draft a defense plan which was so highly regarded by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff and General Yamagata Aritomo that it was adopted as basic policy until World War I. He was also awarded the Order of the Golden Kite (3rd class) in April 1906. In 1911, Tanaka was promoted to major general, and was made director of the Military Affairs Bureau at the Army Ministry, where he recommended an increase in the strength of the standing army by two additional infantry divisions. He was awarded the Order of the Sacred Treasure (1st class) in September 1918. Promoted to full general in 1920, he served as War Minister under Prime Ministers Hara Takashi (1918–21) and the 2nd Yamamoto administrations (1923–24), during which time he backed the Siberian Intervention. He was awarded the Order of the Rising Sun (1st class) in September 1920. After retiring from the army, he was invited to accept the post of party president of the ''Rikken Seiyukai'' political party in 1925, and was made a member of the House of Peers. He was later elevated to the title of ''danshaku'' (Baron) under the ''kazoku'' peerage system. Tanaka had been scheduled to be promoted to the rank of Field Marshal at the time of his retirement. However, when news reached the ears of the Army Ministry of a 3 million Yen bonus that Tanaka received on agreeing to join the ''Rikken Seiyukai'', the promotion was denied. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Tanaka Giichi」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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