Hideki Tojo

Hideki Tojo (東條 英機) (1884 - 1948) was a Japanese general and politician who led the Japanese government during much of World War II. Tojo was a member of the military clique that pushed Japan into war in the late 1930s. As War Minister in 1940 he was instrumental in leading Japan into the Axis Alliance with Nazi Germany and Italy. By 1941 he was premier and in command of the entire Japanese military, which so dominated Japan at the time that he was virtually the nation's dictator. He resigned in 1944 following a series of military disasters. After the war, he attempted suicide and failed, was tried for war crimes and executed. Because of the crimes committed under his authority, Tojo is considered responsible for the murder of perhaps four million people.