Editing Nobuyuki Abe (section)

==Premiership (1939–1940)==
{{seealso|Nobuyuki Abe Cabinet}}
[[File:Nobuyuki Abe Cabinet 19390830.jpg|thumb|Nobuyuki Abe Cabinet (30 August 1939)]]
Abe was not the obvious first choice as [[Prime Minister of Japan|prime minister]] after the collapse of the [[Hiranuma Kiichirō]] cabinet. From the civilian side, [[Konoe Fumimaro]] or [[Hirota Kōki]] were regarded as front-runners, but the Army and the ultranationalists strongly supported General [[Ugaki Kazushige]]. After ''[[genrō]]'' [[Saionji Kinmochi]] declared his lack of enthusiasm for any of those candidates, the Army was poised to have its way. However, Ugaki fell ill and was hospitalized. The interim [[Ministry of War (Japan)|War Minister]] General Abe was a compromise choice. He had the advantage of belonging to neither the ''[[Tōseiha]]'' nor the '' [[Kodoha]]'' political factions within the Army and was also supported as a relative political moderate by the [[Imperial Japanese Navy]]. On the other hand, he was despised by many senior Army officers for his total lack of any combat experience.

Abe became Prime Minister on 30 August 1939.<ref name="wwiienc">{{cite book|last=Baudot|first=Marcel|title=The Historical Encyclopedia or World War II|year=1980|publisher=Facts on File Inc.|isbn=0-87196-401-5|pages=[https://archive.org/details/historicalencycl00baud/page/1 1]|url=https://archive.org/details/historicalencycl00baud/page/1}}</ref> He concurrently held the portfolio of [[Minister for Foreign Affairs (Japan)|Foreign Minister]]. During a reign which lasted only four months, Abe sought to end as quickly as possible the [[Second Sino-Japanese War]], and to maintain Japan's [[Neutral country|neutrality]] in the growing European conflict. He also opposed to efforts by elements within the Army to form a political-military alliance with [[Nazi Germany]] and [[Kingdom of Italy#Fascist regime (1922–1943)|Fascist Italy]]. Increasingly lacking in support from either the military or the political parties, Abe was replaced by [[Mitsumasa Yonai]] in January 1940.