Attempted coup in Japan on February 26, 1936
The attempted coup on February 26, 1936 ( Japanese 二 ・ 二六 事件 , ni-niroku jiken , literally: "2-26 incident") was a radical right-wing uprising by part of the Japanese armed forces . The insurgents saw themselves as fighters in the name of the Tennō. They were of the opinion that the government was not approaching the Japanese conquest of Asia aggressively enough and was pursuing political and industrial interests too much.
procedure
In the early hours of February 26, 1936 about young soldiers occupied, led by officers of the "movement of young officers" (青年将校運動, his Shoko undo) the center of Tokyo, occupied the Japanese parliament , the Army Ministry and the headquarters of the police . They shot dead three cabinet members, former Prime Minister Saitō Makoto , Finance Minister Takahashi Korekiyo and General Watanabe Jōtarō , inspector of the army. A group of officers attacked the residences of Prime Minister Okada Keisuke , the residence of Grand Chamberlain Admiral Suzuki Kantarō and Lord Keeper Makino Nobuaki . Okada escaped death, the insurgents mistakenly shot his brother-in-law. Suzuki was badly wounded and Makino, who was in Yugawara , escaped when his home was attacked. The insurgents' attempt to seal off the imperial palace failed.
The leaders of the rebels, all junior officers or discharged junior officers, turned to Army Minister Kawashima Yoshiyuki , demanding a new cabinet, led by a general sympathetic to their cause. Trying to avoid civil war, the military leadership in the government was reluctant to use armed force against the insurgents. Some high-ranking officers even sympathized with the matter and asked for it to be dealt with. The army minister authorized a statement that supported the insurgents' demands and declared the action to be justified in order to restore law and order. On the other hand, there was strong resistance from the army, and the navy dispatched ships to the Bay of Tōkyō. The rebels' strongest opponent was Emperor Hirohito , on whose behalf they pretended to act and to whom they had sworn absolute loyalty. The emperor was appalled by the murder of his close advisers and rejected the rebels' demands.
On February 27, martial law was declared in Tōkyō and reinforcements were ordered into the city. On February 28, the emperor announced an order to set up a headquarters (戒 厳 司令官, kaigen shireikan) to drive the rebels out. On the 29th the army started a psychological campaign with the aim of getting the common soldiers to give up. The exhausted officers did not stop their men, and by noon they had returned to their barracks.
Two leaders committed suicide, the other leaders went to court, and 19 were sentenced to death. On July 18, Tōkyō's martial law was repealed. The two right-wing thinkers, Kita Ikki and his student Nishida Mitsugi , were among the convicts , as they had worked as ideological pioneers. 70 rebels were jailed. Most of the common soldiers were not punished.
Follow and reception
Although the coup was crushed quickly (within three days), its political consequences were considerable. Martial law was imposed up to and including July 1936 and Prime Minister Okada was forced to resign in March. His successor was Hirota Kōki , who later signed the Anti-Comintern Pact with National Socialist Germany . Ultimately, the opponents of the war were pushed out of the Japanese government, with direct effects on the Sino-Japanese War , and presumably also on the Second World War .
In Japanese history, the role of Prince Chichibu Yasuhito is a particularly controversial topic. This is said to have had good contacts with the conspirators. In addition, Chichibu Yasuhito wanted to actively participate in the coup, but was transferred from the military leadership to the thirty-first regiment on the northern tip of Honshu . This was done to prevent contact between the conspirators and the prince.
On February 26, 1965 the relatives of 17 ringleaders opened a cenotaph ( 35 ° 39 ′ 51.37 ″ N , 139 ° 41 ′ 49.13 ″ N , 139 ° 41 ′ 49.13 ″ N , 139 ° 41 ′ 49.13 ″ at their place of execution at the former army prison - today the Shibuya district tax office is located here ″ O ) erected. There is a statue of the Goddess of Mercy, Kannon, on the base .
The February 26 coup attempt in art and film
The coup attempt was also the framework for the book yūkoku (patriotism), by the well-known Japanese writer and nationalist, Mishima Yukio . In addition, Mishima also produced a film based on his short story. This film made particular use of the artistic performance that was known from the Japanese Nō theater . The plot was presented to the viewer in stages on a scroll.
Remarks
- ↑ Kurita Yasuhide (栗 原 安 秀; 1908–1936).
- ↑ Inscription: "Adore the emperor, defeat the traitor" (尊 皇 討 奸, Sonnō Tōkan)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Peggy Seagrave / Sterling Seagrave, The Yamato Dynasty: The Secret History of Japans's Imperial Family. Transworld. London 1999. p. 209
- ^ Mishima, Yukio Patriotism . Japan 1966
literature
- Axel Klein : Japan at War, 1931–1945 . In: Josef Kreiner (ed.): Small history of Japan . Reclam, 2010. pp. 381-418.
- S. Noma (Ed.): Februrary 26th Incident . In: Japan. An Illustrated Encyclopedia. Kodansha, 1993, ISBN 4-06-205938-X , p. 359.
- Peggy Seagrave, Sterling Seagrave : The Yamato Dynasty: The Secret History of Japans's Imperial Family. Transworld, London 1999.
