Abe Moritaro

Japanese: 阿部守太郎 - あべ・もりたろう

Year of death: September 6, 1913
Year of birth: November 10, 1872 (December 10, 1872)
A diplomat during the Meiji and Taisho periods. The eldest son of Abe Gensaburo, a samurai of the Nakatsu Domain (Oita Prefecture). After attending Nakatsu Middle School and Sanko High School, he graduated from the Imperial University Law School in 1896 (Meiji 29) and passed the higher civil service examination. In 1897 he became a foreign affairs secretary. In 1901 he worked at the Japanese embassy in the UK. After the Russo-Japanese War he worked at the Japanese embassy in China. He served as a member of the Treaty Revision Preparatory Committee under Foreign Minister Komura Jutaro, and then became Director-General of the Political Affairs Bureau under Foreign Minister Uchida Yasuya. He criticized the military's attempts to expand their influence into Manchuria (northeastern China) and Mongolia, and advocated friendly relations with China and cooperation with both Britain and Russia, and also advocated non-interference in the Xinhai Revolution (1911). He was attacked and killed by hard-liners on foreign policy who were outraged by the diplomatic measures taken against the anti-Japanese actions of the Chinese military during the Second Revolution (1913).

(Masatoshi Sakata)

Source: Asahi Japanese Historical Biography: Asahi Shimbun Publications Inc. About Asahi Japanese Historical Biography

Japanese:

没年：大正2.9.6(1913)
生年：明治5.11.10(1872.12.10)
明治大正期の外交官。中津藩(大分県)藩士阿部源三郎の長男。中津中学,三高を経て,明治29(1896)年帝大法科大卒業,高等文官試験合格。30年外務書記官。34年在英公使館勤務。日露戦争後は在中国公使館勤務。小村寿太郎外相のもとで条約改正準備委員会委員を務めたのち内田康哉外相のもとで政務局長となる。満州(中国東北部),蒙古への勢力拡大を画策する軍部の動きを批判し,中国との親善,英露両国との協調を唱え,辛亥革命(1911)にも不干渉を主張した。第2革命(1913)における中国軍の反日行動に対する外交処置に憤慨した対外強硬論者に襲撃され死亡。

(酒田正敏)

出典　朝日日本歴史人物事典：（株）朝日新聞出版朝日日本歴史人物事典について　情報

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