Home > Fumimaro Konoe

He was born a prince into the ancient FujiwaraFujiwara can refer to: The Fujiwara clan and its members Kamatari Fujiwara Fujiwara-no-Sai, character of Hikaru no Go Takumi "Tak" Fujiwara, character of Initial D Zakura Fujiwara, character of Tokyo Mew Mew (Known as "Renee Roberts" in the Mew Mew Power clan, a heir of Duke Konoe familyThe Konoe family ( Konoe-ke) was a branch of the Fujiwara clan. As one of the five regent houses, the Konoe family monopolized the offices of Sessho and Kampaku along with Takatsukasa, Kujo, Nijo and Ichijo families. With the support from Taira no Kiyomor in TokyoTokyo (; Tokyo lit. eastern capital) is the capital of Japan as well as the most populous conurbation in Japan, and the world's largest metropolitan area by population with 33,750,000 people living within its urban influence. A little more than 12 million. He entered politics in 1920 as a moderate and a protege of Saionji KinmochiSaionji Kinmochi ( Saionji Kinmochi October 23 1849 November 24 1940) was a Japanese politician and the 12th ( January 7 1906 July 14 1908) and 14th ( August 30 1911 December 21 1912) Prime Minister of Japan. As a statesman, he influenced the opinion of t, 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, Konoe 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, Hideki Tojo.

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.

His grandson, Morihiro Hosokawa, became prime minister fifty years later.