Imperial Headquarters - Daihonei

The Imperial General Headquarters was established as the highest wartime leadership organization under the direct control of the Emperor by the Wartime Imperial Headquarters Ordinance promulgated on May 22, 1893 (Meiji 26). At first, the Chief of General Staff became the Chief of Staff and guided the operations of the Army and Navy, giving the Army superiority, and the Sino-Japanese War, with the Imperial Headquarters located in Hiroshima, was led under this ordinance. On December 28, 1903 (Meiji 36), the same ordinance was amended to make the Chief of General Staff and the Chief of the Naval General Staff both Chief of Staff, giving the Army and Navy equal status, and the Russo-Japanese War was led by this Imperial Headquarters (located in the Imperial Palace). With the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War (which the government called the "China Incident"), the Wartime Imperial Headquarters Ordinance was abolished on November 18, 1937 (Showa 12), and the Imperial General Headquarters Order was enacted by military order. Previously, the Imperial General Headquarters could only be established in times of war, but this was amended to make it possible to establish it in times of emergency as well. The Imperial General Headquarters was established at the Imperial Palace on the 20th of that month, and continued to exist until the end of the Pacific War, but the General Staff Office became the Army Department of the Imperial General Headquarters, and the Naval Staff Office became the Navy Department of the Imperial General Headquarters, and it merely acted as an institution to coordinate between the separate Army and Navy. The Imperial General Headquarters-Government Liaison Conference was also established with the establishment of the Imperial General Headquarters, but it did not achieve sufficient integration of political and war strategies. However, the establishment of the Imperial General Headquarters played a part in raising the nation's wartime mood.

[Awaya Kentaro]

"Yoshio Matsushita's Meiji Military History, Vol. 2 (1956, Yuhikaku)" "Modern History Materials 37: Imperial Headquarters (1967, Misuzu Shobo)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

1893年（明治26）5月22日公布の戦時大本営条例で設置された天皇直属の最高戦争指導機関。初め参謀総長が幕僚長となり陸海軍の作戦を指導する点で、陸軍優位の形態となっており、広島に大本営を置いた日清(にっしん)戦争はこの条例下で指導された。1903年（明治36）12月28日、同条例は改正されて参謀総長と軍令部長がともに幕僚長となり、陸・海軍対等の形態がとられ、日露戦争はこの形の大本営（宮中に設置）において作戦指導がなされた。日中全面戦争（政府は「支那(しな)事変」と呼称）の勃発(ぼっぱつ)に伴い、1937年（昭和12）11月18日、戦時大本営条例を廃止し、軍令により大本営令を制定した。従来、大本営は戦時にしか置くことができなかったが、それを修正して、事変の際にもその設置を可能にするためであった。同月20日大本営が宮中に設置され、太平洋戦争終末に至るまで存続したが、参謀本部が大本営陸軍部、軍令部が大本営海軍部となっただけで、分立する陸・海軍間を調整する機関たるにとどまった。大本営設置に伴い大本営政府連絡会議が設けられたが、政戦両略の十分な統合は果たせなかった。しかし大本営設置は、国民の戦争気分高揚に一役果たした。

［粟屋憲太郎］

『松下芳男著『明治軍政史論　下』（1956・有斐閣）』▽『『現代史資料37　大本営』（1967・みすず書房）』

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