Kawashima Yoshiyuki

Kawashima Yoshiyuki, before 1937.

Kawashima Yoshiyuki ( Japanese 川島 義 之 ; born May 28, 1878 in Ehime Prefecture , Japanese Empire ; † September 8, 1945 ) was a general of the Imperial Japanese Army and Minister of the Army .

Life

Kawashima Yoshiyuki was born on May 28, 1878 in Ehime Prefecture. In June 1898 he graduated from the tenth grade of the Army Officer School with the rank of lieutenant in the infantry. Araki Sadao was one of his classmates . Ten years later he graduated with honors from the Army University . Between 1910 and 1913 he was a military attaché in the German Empire . He then served in various positions in the Army General Staff , including as head of the history and personnel offices. In August 1923 he was promoted to major general and later assumed command of the prestigious 1st Brigade of the Imperial Guard . From March 1926 to August 1929 he headed the personnel office in the Army Ministry. In this position he was promoted to lieutenant general in December 1927. After two posts as division commander, he was briefly deputy inspector general of military training from January to May 1932 and then until August 1934 commander of the Chosen Army in Japanese Korea . In March 1934 he was promoted to full general. After his field command, he received a post in the Supreme War Council . From there on September 5, 1935, he was appointed Minister of the Army in Prime Minister Okada Keisuke's cabinet . He succeeded Hayashi Senjūrō , who had to resign after factional disputes within the military led to the assassination of General Nagata Tetsuzan by a lieutenant colonel on August 12 of that year. During his tenure, at a cabinet meeting from November 29th to 30th, 1935, he got into a heated argument with Finance Minister Takahashi Korekiyo about his plans to freeze the military budget or, if necessary, to cut it. Kawashima made his position clear that the military had priority and that the wishes of other ministries could only be fulfilled if they were not at odds with the goals of the military. On the morning of November 30, Prime Minister Okada ended the dispute by taking the side of his Secretary of the Army. During Kawashima's term in office, the attempted coup on February 26 took place . During the coup attempt, Tennō Hirohito told him that he had exactly one hour to put down the rebellion. Hirohito then checked whether his orders were implemented. Officers close to the coup plotters urged Kawashima and other generals on March 2 to accept responsibility for what had happened and to resign as Minister of the Army. The dissolution of the entire Okada cabinet on March 9 took this decision for him. Because of his proximity to the planners of the coup attempt, he was subsequently retired. He died on September 8, 1945, shortly after Japan surrendered to the Pacific War .

Remarks

1. ^ Marion Laurinat: Kita Ikki (1883–1937) and the February coup of 1936. A historical investigation of Japanese sources of military court proceedings. 2004, p. 131.
2. ^ Richard Smethurst: Takahashi Korekiyo's Fiscal Policy and the Rise of Militarism in Japan durin the Great Depression. 2002, p. 174.
3. ↑ Steven S. Large: Emperor Hirohito and Shōwa Japan. A Political Biography. 1992, p. 68.
4. ^ Richard Sims: Japanese Political History Since the Meiji Renovation. 1868-2000. 2001, p. 198.
5. ↑ Ben-Ami Shillony: Revolt in Japan. The young officers and the February 26, 1936 incident. 1973.

literature

• Richard Fuller: Japanese Generals 1926–1945. 1st edition. Schiffer Publishing, Atglen, Pennsylvania 2011, ISBN 978-0-7643-3754-3 , OCLC 682892326 . P. 100.
• Meirion Harries: Soldiers of the Sun. The Rise and Fall of the Imperial Japanese Army. Random House, 1994, ISBN 0-679-75303-6 , OCLC 475858000 .
• Steven S. Large: Emperor Hirohito and Shōwa Japan. A Political Biography (= Nissan Institute / Routledge Japanese Studies Series. ). Routledge, London and New York 1992, ISBN 978-0-415-03203-2 , OCLC 25130613 .
• Marion Laurinat: Kita Ikki (1883–1937) and the February putsch in 1936. A historical study of Japanese sources of military court proceedings (= Bunka. Volume 13). LIT Verlag Münster, Münster 2004, ISBN 978-3-8258-9841-0 , OCLC 237090892 .
• Ben-Ami Shillony: Revolt in Japan. The young officers and the February 26, 1936 incident. Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey 1973, ISBN 0-691-07548-4 , OCLC 715415
• Richard Sims: Japanese Political History Since the Meiji Renovation. 1868-2000. Palgrave, New York 2001, ISBN 978-0-312-23915-2 , OCLC 45172740 .
• Richard Smethurst: Takahashi Korekiyo's Fiscal Policy and the Rise of Militarism in Japan durin the Great Depression. In: Bert Edström (Ed.): Turning Points in Japanese History. Japan Library, Richmond 2002, ISBN 978-1-903350-05-8 , OCLC 47983147 .

Japanese name: As is common in Japan, the family name comes before the first name in this article . So Kawashima is the family name, Yoshiyuki the first name.