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Konoe Fumimaro (sometimes Konoye, October 12, 1891 - December 16, 1945)
was a Japanese politician and the 34th (June 4, 1937 - January 5, 1939),
38th (July 22, 1940 - July 18, 1941) and 39th (July 18, 1941 - October 18,
1941) Prime Minister of Japan.
He was born a Prince into the ancient Fujiwara family in Tokyo. He
entered politics in 1920 as a moderate and a protege of Saionji Kimmochi,
opposed to the power of the army.
In June 1937, he became Prime Minister in an attempt to balance the
growing power of the military, but he turned increasingly militaristic
himself. After the Marco Polo Bridge incident in July 1937 and under
pressure from hard-liners, his cabinet agreed to expand operations in China
and handed the entire conduct of the conflict in China to the military
leaders to progress without government oversight. In November, Konoye
announced Japan's aim of a new order in Asia, what would become the Greater
East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere, and pressed China for concessions to end the
Sino-Japanese War. He resigned on January 4, 1939 over his failure to
negotiate an end to the conflict in China. Hiranuma Kiichiro succeeded him
as Prime Minister.
Konoe returned to the premiership on July 17, 1940, and despite
negotiations with America he oversaw the build-up to war with Vice Admiral
Toyoda Teijiro succeeding Matsuoka Yosuke as his belligerent foreign
minister. He concluded an alliance with the Axis, issued the National
Mobilization Law, created the foundations of a wartime government (called
Shin Taisei or New Political Order) and in October 1940 established the
Imperial Rule Assistance Association (Taisei Yokusankai) to replace the
political parties, which had voluntarily dissolved themselves. Having failed
to reach an agreement with the United States to (at least) avoid a war on
two fronts, he resigned in October 1941, to be replaced by the War Minister,
Tojo Hideki.
Konoe played a role in the fall of the Tojo government in 1944 and in
February 1945 he advised the Emperor Hirohito to begin negotiations to end
World War II. He served in the Higashikuni cabinet, the first post-war
government, but he came under suspicion of war crimes and committed suicide
in December 1945.
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