EMPEROR HIROHITO
World War II began in 1939 when Nazi Germany invaded Poland and both France and Britain declared war on German in the days that followed. The conflict led to two large alliance systems being created between the Allied Powers and the Axis Powers. Both sets of alliance produced some of the most memorable and significant leaders of the 20th century. Hirohito was the Emperor of Japan during World War II and is detailed below.
|
Emperor Shōwa (better known outside of Japan as Hirohito, his personal name) was born on the 29th April, 1901. Shōwa refers to the name of the era that corresponded to Hirohito’s reign, and when Hirohito died, he was renamed Shōwa to reflect this. Hirohito was born to the Crown Prince, Yoshihito who later became Emperor Taisho, and the Crown Princess Sadako, who later became Empress Teimei.
Hirohito was educated and then joined the armed forces. In 1920, Hirohito was prompted to Lieutenant Commander in the Navy, and Major in the army. Soon after, he took a tour of Europe and travelled through countries such as Britain, France and Belgium. When Hirohito returned to Japan he became Regent of Japan as his father was ill. |
When Emperor Taisho died, Hirohito was appointed the 124th Emperor of Japan. Hirohito reigned from the 25th December 1936, until his death on the 9th January 1989, a period of 53 years. When Hirohito became Emperor, Japan was already a strong and great country. It had the 9th largest economy, and was one of the permanent members of the League of Nations.
Hirohito was the head of state during Japan’s militarization, imperial expansion and extensive involvement within World War II. As a result of opposition largely from independence activists, Hirohito missed a number of assassination attempts during his ruling. For example he narrowly missed assassination by a hand grenade thrown by an independence activist in 1932.
Despite the fact that some historians think that Emperor Hirohito was responsible for the terrible acts that were committed by the imperial forces in World War II, unlike many other leading governmental figures, such as Hideki Tojo, the war time Prime Minister of Japan, Hirohito was not prosecuted for war crimes as his involvement was considered negligible at the time. After the war, Hirohito became the countries symbol of recovery. He helped Japan to rebuild itself, and when he died, Japan had regained its power, and emerged as the world’s second largest economy.
Hirohito was the head of state during Japan’s militarization, imperial expansion and extensive involvement within World War II. As a result of opposition largely from independence activists, Hirohito missed a number of assassination attempts during his ruling. For example he narrowly missed assassination by a hand grenade thrown by an independence activist in 1932.
Despite the fact that some historians think that Emperor Hirohito was responsible for the terrible acts that were committed by the imperial forces in World War II, unlike many other leading governmental figures, such as Hideki Tojo, the war time Prime Minister of Japan, Hirohito was not prosecuted for war crimes as his involvement was considered negligible at the time. After the war, Hirohito became the countries symbol of recovery. He helped Japan to rebuild itself, and when he died, Japan had regained its power, and emerged as the world’s second largest economy.