Hirohito, the Grandson of Emperor Meiji, Was Born in Japan on 29Th April 1901. His Father

Hirohito, the grandson of Emperor Meiji, was born in Japan on 29th April 1901. His father, Emperor Taisho, came to power in 1912.

In 1915 Hirohito was tutored by KimmochiSaionju, the former prime minister of Japan. As a young man he became very interested natural science and marine biology. When Hirohito visited Europe in 1921 he became the first Japanese prince to travel to the west. He spent some time in Britain and had meetings with George V.

Hirohito became emperor on the death of his father in December 1926. He therefore became the 124th emperor in direct lineage.

Under the constitution of Japan the Emperor could not act except on the advice of his ministers and the chiefs of staff. However, when a group of officers in the Japanese Army led a military coup against the political leaders in February, 1936, Hirohito ordered his senior advisers, against their wishes, to put the rebellion down. As a result of Hirohito's action, the ringleaders were executed.

Hirohito reluctantly supported the war against China (1931-32) and the invasion of Manchuria in 1937. However, he approved the attack on Pearl Harbor that led to Japan and the United States being drawn into the Second World War.

Hideki Tōjō

Childhood and Early Life

Rise to Power

Tōjō's Rule

Decline of Power and death

Childhood and Early Life:

Born in Kōjimachi, Tokyo in 1884, Tōjō' had a similar upbringing to other Japanese boys in the late 1800s. As the third son of his father, HidenoriTōjō a lieutenant general in the Imperial Japanese Army, pressure to succeed in the military should have been relatively low. Unfortunately for Hideki, his two elder brothers had passed away before his birth and so the importance of his success was paramount to Hidenori.

Tōjō had a shakey start to his military career, graduating from the Imperial Japanese Army Academy in 1905, ranked 42nd out of 50 cadets. However with age came experience and knowledge and in 1915 he was promoted to Captain after completing Army Staff College with top grades. After this, Tōjō was based in Germany as a military attache for some time and in 1921, returned to Japan to become an instructor at his previous school. It was here that Tōjō met his new friends that would further the Tōseiha, a political group that attempted to balance out the extremist views of the Kōdōha.

Many of the politicians during this era were held in low regard, an attitude shared by Tōjō and the Tōseiha.

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Rise to Power:

Following his new-found interest in politics, Tōjō began climbing the political ranks and by 1940 he had been appointed Japan's Minister of War. He was a strong supporter of Hitler and hoped to follow in his footsteps in regards to gaining power. Obviously, this meant that Tōjō wanted to further the alliance between Japan, Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, as well as continuing the war with China. Similarly to the dictators of such European countries, the Emperor of Japan, Hirohito, was revered. Tōjō wanted to conquer European countries in an attempt to strengthen Japan, an idea shared by the current Prime Minister, however this merely resulted in him losing support throughout Europe and failing to gain any land. He also made his thoughts on the United States clear: that he thought they were lazy and incapable of being a strong, united nation.

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Tōjō's Rule:

By 1941, Tōjō had finally succeeded in being appointed to Prime Minister. At this point in time Tojo was so disillusioned with the United States, not to mention their Pacific presence, that he judged a war both necessary and inevitable. So, as part of his new job as Prime Minister Tojo authorized the attack on Pearl Harbor. As an unexpected attack, this appeared to show Japan as being strong and the US as being weak and so increased the local support of Tōjō's rule.

His popularity was high in the early years of the war and it seemed like Tōjō could do no wrong. However, opposition to his rule was growing within the Japanese government as it became clear that Tōjō had deliberately broken the Geneva Convention. Tōjō lost the Battle of Midway and after the fall of Saipan, his days were certainly numbered.