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Revision as of 07:53, 17 August 2010
Fumimaro Konoe, also Prince Konoye, (1891 - 1945) was a member of the Japanese nobility and three-time Prime Minister of Japan. He wasReplacing Hideki Tojo after the fall of Saipan, he has been associated with a desire to end the Second World War, but also was a major contributor to developing the Axis and was a central figure of the shintaisei movement (to establish a new political system modeled on the German Nazis).[1] He was a member of the first transitional postwar cabinet, and met with Douglas MacArthur on 13 September 1945, being asked to help MacArthur root out militarism. [2] Before he could be arrested as a Class A war criminal to be brought before the International Military Tribunal (Tokyo), he committed suicide.
Early life
The last head of the Fujiwara clan, he became a member of the nobility, ranked as koshaku (prince), in 1916. In 1931 he became vice president of the House of Peers and in 1933 he became its president.
1940 cabinet
During his 1940 cabinet, the Taisei Yokusankai (Imperial Rule Assistance Association) was established, the Tripartite Pact signed, and the term "Greater East Asian Coprosperity Sphere" issued.
References
- ↑ Portraits of modern Japanese leaders: Fumimaro Konoe, National Diet Library, 2004
- ↑ Kazuo Yagami, Konoe Fumimaro and the Failure of Peace in Japan, 1937-1941: A Critical Appraisal of the Three-Time Prime Minister, p. 154