Editing Nobuyuki Abe

{{Short description|Japanese general and prime minister (1875–1953)}}
{{for|footballer|Nobuyuki Abe (footballer)}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific_prefix    = [[Senior Second Rank]]
| name                = Nobuyuki Abe
| native_name         = {{nobold|阿部 信行}}
| native_name_lang    = ja
| image               = Nobuyuki Abe formal (cropped).jpg
| office              = [[Prime Minister of Japan]]
| monarch             = [[Hirohito]]
| term_start          = 30 August 1939
| term_end            = 16 January 1940
| predecessor         = [[Hiranuma Kiichirō|Kiichirō Hiranuma]]
| successor           = [[Mitsumasa Yonai]]
| office1             = [[Governor-General of Korea|Governor-General of Korea]]
| monarch1            = Hirohito
| term_start1         = 22 July 1944
| term_end1           = 12 September 1945
| predecessor1        = [[Kuniaki Koiso]]
| successor1          = [[John Reed Hodge]] (as [[United States Army Military Government in Korea|Military Governor of Korea]])<br/>[[Terentii Shtykov]] (as [[Soviet Civil Administration|Head Administrator]])
| office2             = [[Minister for Foreign Affairs (Japan)|Minister for Foreign Affairs]]
| primeminister2      = ''Himself''
| term_start2         = 30 August 1939
| term_end2           = 25 September 1939
| predecessor2        = [[Hachirō Arita]]
| successor2          = [[Kichisaburō Nomura]]
| office3             = Member of the [[House of Peers (Japan)|House of Peers]]
| term_start3         = 18 May 1942
| term_end3           = 22 February 1946 {{hanging indent|Nominated by the [[Hirohito|Emperor]]}}
| birth_date          = {{birth date|1875|11|24|df=y}}
| birth_place         = [[Kanazawa, Ishikawa]], [[Empire of Japan|Japan]]
| death_date          = {{death date and age|1953|9|7|1875|11|24|df=y}}
| death_place         = [[Tokyo]], Japan
| spouse              = Mitsuko Abe
| relatives           = [[Masazumi Inada]] (son-in-law)<br>[[Shigeyoshi Inoue]] (son-in-law)
| alma_mater          = [[Imperial Japanese Army Academy]]<br>[[Army War College (Japan)|Army War College]]
| party               = [[Imperial Rule Assistance Association]] (1940–1945)
| otherparty          = [[Independent (politician)|Independent]] (before 1940)
| allegiance          = {{flag|Empire of Japan}}
| branch              = {{army|Empire of Japan}}
| serviceyears        = 1894–1936
| rank                = [[General]]
| battles             = [[First Sino-Japanese War]]
}}
{{nihongo|[[General]] '''Nobuyuki Abe'''<ref>The script ''Noboyuki'' is also found</ref>|阿部 信行|Abe Nobuyuki|extra=24 November 1875 – 7 September 1953}} was a general in the [[Imperial Japanese Army]], [[Prime Minister of Japan]], and the last [[Governor-General of Korea]].

==Early life and military career==
Abe was born on November 24, 1875, in [[Kanazawa, Ishikawa|Kanazawa]], [[Ishikawa Prefecture]], the son of the former [[samurai]] Abe Nobumitsu, who had served the [[Kaga Domain]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hata |first=Ikuhiko |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/62748821 |title=Nihon Riku-Kaigun sōgō jiten |date=2005 |publisher=Tōkyō Daigaku Shuppankai |isbn=4-13-030135-7 |edition=Dai 2-han |pages=4 |oclc=62748821}}</ref> His brother-in-law was [[Imperial Japanese Navy]] [[admiral]] [[Shigeyoshi Inoue]].

Abe attended Tokyo No.1 Middle School ([[Hibiya High School|Tokyo Metropolitan Hibiya High School]]) followed by No.4 High School. While he was still a student, he volunteered for military service during the [[First Sino-Japanese War]].

After the war, Abe graduated from the [[Imperial Japanese Army Academy]] in November 1897. Commissioned a second lieutenant the following 27 June, he was promoted to lieutenant in November 1900 and attended the Army Artillery School, graduating in December 1901. Promoted to captain in November 1903, he enrolled in the 19th class of the [[Army War College (Japan)|Army War College]], graduating in November 1907.  The [[ultranationalist]] General [[Araki Sadao]] was one of his classmates.

Abe was promoted to major in December 1908, becoming an instructor at the Army War College in September 1909. In November 1910, he was posted to the [[German Empire]] as a military attaché at the Japanese embassy and became a supplementary attaché at the embassy in Vienna in February 1913.

Abe was promoted to lieutenant colonel in February 1915 and to colonel on 24 July 1918. He served as the commander of the 3rd Field Artillery Regiment from 1918 to 1921. In August 1918, his regiment was sent to Siberia during Japan's [[Siberian Intervention]] but never saw combat. He became secretary of the Army War College on 3 June 1921, and was promoted to major general on 15 August 1922. Appointed Director of the General Affairs Division of the Imperial General Staff on 6 August 1923, following the devastating earthquake of 1 September, he was placed in charge of overseeing martial law for the Kanto region on 3 September.

He was appointed director of military service affairs in the Army Ministry on 28 July 1926 and was promoted to lieutenant general on 5 March 1927. He later served as chief of the Military Affairs Bureau and as [[Ministry of War of Japan|Vice Minister of the Army]], which he had been appointed as on 10 August 1928. He commanded the [[4th Division (Imperial Japanese Army)|4th Infantry Division]] from 22 December 1930.

In January 1932, Abe was appointed to command the [[Taiwan Army of Japan|Japanese Taiwan Army]] and was promoted to full [[general]] on 19 June 1933. After serving on the [[Supreme War Council (Japan)|Supreme War Council]], he was placed on the reserve list on 10 March 1936.

==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.

==Later career==
[[File:Signing_of_Japan-Manchukuo-China_Joint_Declaration.jpg|thumb|left|Abe as the Japanese ambassador signing the Japan-Manchukuo-China joint declaration with [[Wang Jingwei]] and [[Zang Shiyi]], 30 November 1940 in Nanjing]] Three months later after his replacement as Prime Minister, Abe was sent by the army as a special envoy to [[China]] to advise the [[Reorganized National Government of the Republic of China|Japanese-supported regime]] of [[Wang Jingwei]] in [[Nanjing]] and to negotiate a treaty ensuring Japanese economic and military rights in [[northern China]]. However, he had some sympathy for Wang's Reorganized National Government. Abe remained as the Japanese ambassador to China in Nanjing until December 1940.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Times|first=Hugh Byas Wireless To the New York|date=1940-12-08|title=TOKYO PICKS HONDA AS NANKING ENVOY; Former Ambassador to Berlin, Bitter Foe of Conciliation, Named by Matsuoka IS AGGRESSIVELY PRO-AXIS Advocate of Anti-U.S. Stand Is Expected to Promote East Asia Policy|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1940/12/08/archives/tokyo-picks-honda-as-nanking-envoy-former-ambassador-to-berlin.html|url-status=live|access-date=2020-09-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200903001811/https://www.nytimes.com/1940/12/08/archives/tokyo-picks-honda-as-nanking-envoy-former-ambassador-to-berlin.html|archive-date=2020-09-03|issn=0362-4331|quote=Kumataro Honda, former Ambassador to Germany, was appointed Ambassador to Nanking today, succeeding former Premier Nobuyuki Abe.}}</ref> After his return to Japan, Abe joined the [[House of Peers (Japan)|House of Peers]] in 1942, and accepted the largely-ceremonial position as president of the [[Imperial Rule Assistance Political Association]]. He was appointed the 10th (and last) [[Governor-General of Korea]] in 1944 and 1945.

After [[World War II]], Abe was [[purge (occupied Japan)|purged]] from public office and arrested by the [[Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers|American occupation government]]. However, he was not charged with any [[war crimes]] and was soon released.

==Honours==
*Grand Cordon of the Order of the Sacred Treasure (November 1930)
*Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun (April 1934)

==References==

===Books===
*{{cite book
|last = Barnhart
|first = Michael
|year = 1988
|title = Japan Prepares for Total War: The Search for Economic Security, 1919–1941
|url = https://archive.org/details/japanpreparesfor00barn
|url-access = registration
|publisher = Cornell University Press
|isbn = 0-8014-9529-6
}}
*{{cite book
|last = Bix
|first = Herbert P.
|author-link = Herbert P. Bix
|year = 2001
|title = [[Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan]]
|publisher = Harper Perennial
|isbn = 0-06-093130-2
}}
*{{cite book
|last = Coox
|first = Alvin D.
|author-link = Alvin Coox
|year = 1990
|title = Nomonhan: Japan Against Russia, 1939
|publisher = Stanford University Press
|isbn = 0-8047-1835-0
}}
*{{cite book
|last = Baudot
|first = Marcel
|year = 1988
|title = The Historical Encyclopedia or World War II
|publisher = Facts on File Inc
|isbn = 0-87196-401-5
|url = https://archive.org/details/historicalencycl00baud
}}
{{Commons category|Nobuyuki Abe}}

== External links ==
*{{cite web
|last = Ammentorp
|first = Steen
|url = http://www.generals.dk/general/Abe/Nobuyki/Japan.html
|title = Generals from Japan: Abe, Hiroaki
|work = The Generals of World War II
|access-date = 2007-09-03
}}
* {{PM20|FID=pe/000039}}

== Notes ==
{{reflist}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-off}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Hachirō Arita]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Minister for Foreign Affairs (Japan)|Minister of Foreign Affairs]]|years=1939}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Kichisaburō Nomura]]}}
|-
{{s-bef|before=[[Hiranuma Kiichirō|Kiichirō Hiranuma]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Prime Minister of Japan]]|years=1939–1940}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Mitsumasa Yonai]]}}
|-
{{s-bef|before=[[Kuniaki Koiso]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Governor-General of Korea|Governor General of Korea]]|years=1944–1945}}
{{s-non|reason=Position abolished}}
{{s-end}}

{{Prime Ministers of Japan}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abe, Nobuyuki}}
[[Category:1875 births]]
[[Category:1953 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century prime ministers of Japan]]
[[Category:Politicians from Kanazawa, Ishikawa]]
[[Category:World War II political leaders]]
[[Category:Governors-general of Chōsen]]
[[Category:Japanese generals]]
[[Category:Members of the House of Peers (Japan)]]
[[Category:Imperial Rule Assistance Association politicians]]
[[Category:Ministers for foreign affairs of Japan]]
[[Category:Ambassadors of Japan to China]]
[[Category:Heads of government who were later imprisoned]]