February 26 Incident
On 26 February 1936, about 1,400 soldiers led by radical junior officers of the Imperial Way (Kōdō-ha) faction seized central Tokyo, assassinating the finance minister, the lord keeper of the privy seal and others in a bid to impose a 'Shōwa Restoration' of direct imperial-military rule. Emperor Hirohito demanded the revolt's suppression and it collapsed within days, with the ringleaders executed. But paradoxically the failed coup strengthened the military's grip: the army purged the Kōdō-ha, elevated the Tōsei-ha, and used the crisis to demand and obtain decisive influence over cabinet formation. The incident marked the effective end of party government's capacity to restrain the military and set Japan on the road to full-scale war in China.
- Year: 1936 CE
- Category: Political
