A Brief Biography of Hideki Tojo

When Hideki Tojo was born in Japan in 1884 nobody would have guessed that he would later become the prime minister of Japan, much less that he would be involved in the bombing of Pearl Harbor or that he would lead his country into a world war that would eventually end in his death not to mention the complete destruction of Hiroshima.

When Tojo was born he lived a childhood similar to those of other Japanese boys of the period. He dreamed of joining the Army and becoming a solider, and he eventually fulfilled that dream. He was a military attaché for some time and since he did well in his military schooling he was period for other positions as well. However, Tojo had some politician in him as well, but not the type of politician that was unpopular in this time period. Many of the Japanese politicians were held in poor regard and they were weak, or at least considered to be so. Tojo’s opinion of these politicians was shared by a large percentage of society as well and he was respected because he was part of the Army. During this time period the Army was considered much higher than the weak politicians.

Tojo began climbing the political ranks and by 1940 he had been appointed Japan’s Minister of War. He was proud of his new position and hopeful to make a difference. The difference he sought would be by following Hitler, a man respected in Japan and Europe, and hoping that his political influence would carry them all as far as they wanted to go in regards to power. The emperor during this time was Hirohito and he was revered by all of Japan, much like the other dictators in Europe during this time frame. However, the United States, its politics, and people were not admired and Japan viewed these individuals as lazy and lacking the discipline of the Japanese.

Tojo was dedicated to Japan and increasing its power. Because of this he influenced Japan to take European nations with force. This was when Tojo was the Minister of War and his actions won him zero friends in the European nations he was trying to conquer. However, his place in the political ranking of Japan continued to rise and by 1941 he had been appointed Prime Minster. At this point in time Tojo was so disillusioned with the United States, not to mention their Pacific presence, that he determined a war would be necessary and unavoidable. So, as part of his new job as Prime Minister Tojo okayed the attack on Pearl Harbor.

The United States was not expecting an attack of this nature and it took some time to rally after the shock and devastation wore off. However, during this period of time the UK was losing to the Philippines and the Philippines saw American troops leave. As a result of these actions Tojo was enjoying success and feeling like the most amazing Prime Minister of Japan. His rankings were up and many supported him. However, his fame would not last long because Tojo had initiated a war game his country was not ready to play and as a result they paid dearly for it.

Soon, the American forces regrouped and were ready for retaliation. Their sites were set on Japan and bombing raids reduced a once proud Japan to nothing but destruction. IN fact, the atom bomb was dropped on Hiroshima and many died not to mention the destruction that followed in its wake. In the aftermath of these events the emperor of Japan was no longer supporting Tojo and believed that Tojo was responsible for the state of the country and the many deaths due to his aggressive policies. So, Tojo resigned from his position as Prime Minister in 1944. Four years later Tojo’s actions caught up with him as he was tried for crimes of war and breaking the Geneva convention. He was found guilty of these actions and he was hung as a result in 1948.

Tojo had an amazing rise to power from a young man and he worked hard to achieve his dreams, despite the fact they may have been based on hate and supremist ideals. Tojo was successful for some time and praised and loved in his country. However, nobody stood beside him after Hiroshima and there was no more praise left for Tojo. The only thing waiting for him was death for his horrible war crimes and torture of prisoners of war.