February 26 Incident

Japanese: 二･二六事件 - ににろくじけん

A coup d'état by young officers of the Imperial Way faction on February 26, 1936. Around the time of the start of the Manchurian Incident, a conflict developed between forces that cooperated with Britain and the United States and maintained the status quo, and forces that sought to overthrow the Washington system and reform or innovate the country. Furthermore, within the Army, which was the largest player in the latter, a conflict developed between the Control faction, centered on staff members who wanted to cooperate with the bureaucracy and business world in reforming the country, and the Imperial Way faction, centered on young officers attached to the corps, who wanted to carry out a ``Showa Restoration'' directly connected to the Emperor. The conflict between the two factions continued to intensify with the dismissal of Imperial Way faction members Takaji Muranaka and Asaichi Isobe in the 1934 Military Academy Incident, the dismissal of Imperial Way faction leader and Inspector General of Education Masaki Jinzaburo in July 1935, and the assassination of Control faction leader Nagata Tetsuzan, Director of the Military Affairs Bureau, by Lieutenant Colonel Aizawa Saburo in August.

Source: Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition Information

Japanese:

1936年2月26日に起こった皇道派青年将校によるクーデタ。満州事変開始前後から対英米協調･現状維持的勢力と，ワシントン体制の打破をめざし国家の改造ないし革新をはかる勢力との抗争が発展し，さらに後者の最大の担い手である陸軍内部に，国家改造にあたって官僚･財界とも提携しようとする幕僚層中心の統制派と，天皇に直結する〈昭和維新〉を遂行しようとする隊付青年将校中心の皇道派との対立が進行した。1934年士官学校事件による皇道派の村中孝次（たかじ）･磯部浅一の免官，35年7月皇道派の総帥真崎甚三郎教育総監の罷免，8月相沢三郎中佐による統制派のリーダー永田鉄山軍務局長の暗殺などで，両派の対立は激化の一途をたどった。

出典　株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典第２版について　情報

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