General Hideki Tojo was the Japanese prime minister during World War II. He led Japan into the war with the United States in 1941. Born on December 30th, 1884, Tojo grew up around a family with a military background. Tojo was a militarist who thought that the needs of the military should be a number one priority. He was a big influence at the end of the 1930's, during the invasion of China. In 1940, Tojo was given position of minister of war by Hirohito. He helped plan and negotiate the Tripartite Pact, which was a treaty with Germany and Italy to make Japan a member of the Axis Powers. When the United States started trade embargoes with Japan, Tojo said that negotiations could not be made and sought to fight the Americans. Hideki Tojo ordered the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941. At the end of the war, Tojo was captured and deemed a war criminal. He was hanged on December 23, 1948.
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Hirohito was the emperor of Japan from 1926 until his death in 1989. Hirohito was born in Tokyo on April 29, 1901. He took regent for his father, Yoshihito when he was only twenty years old. In 1926, he became emperor of Japan. When Hirohito rose to power, the Japan seemed like it was going to become more democratic, however other politicians from Manchuria and in other areas criticized this. This idea was reversed in the 1920's. Because of his disagreement with the militarism of Japan, Hirohito let the events happen that triggered Japan's entry into World War II. |
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