Politics of Manchukuo

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 This article does not cite any references or sources. (January 2007)
Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.

Manchukuo was a nominally independent puppet state set up by the Empire of Japan in Manchuria (Northeastern China) which existed from 1931 to 1945. It was divided into five large prefectures or antos, each of which were in turn divided into various subprefectures.

Contents

[edit] General Affairs State Council and Japanese advisers

The General Affairs State Council was the real political power center in the Japanese-controlled Manchukuo, rather than the publicly proposed Kangde Emperor installed in the Wei Huang Gong. A Japanese civil servant described the Council as "the steel structure that sustains the Manchukuo regime"[citation needed]. This Japanese-dominated political entity was more accurately the "General Commission Affairs of State Council". It was constituted as six departments or sections:

  • Planning
  • Legislation
  • Personnel
  • Accounts
  • Statistics
  • Information/Intelligence

Tadayuki Furume was executive chairman and president of this organization, with Japanese administrative and chief personnel. British newspaper The Times in December 1932 reported that it was the real political body in control in Manchukuo, with the power to hire and fire civil servants and control the budget. At the same time this political entity was answerable to the Japanese Emperor, the Kantogun and the Commander in Chief.

Political administration was supposedly managed by the "native" Manchu authorities, but Japanese advisers dominated, including Kanji Ishiwara, Kenji Doihara (the "Lawrence of Manchuria"), Takayoshi Tanaka (who served in China as well), Masaiko Amakazu (also head of the Manchukuo Film Association), Seichiro Itagaki, Yasunori Yoshioka, Konoto Daisaku, Hisao Watari, Tomoyuki Yamashita (the "Malaysian Tiger"), and others.

The "National Foundation" cultural entity and the "Central Shintoist Manchukuan Temple" in Hsinking were under the administration of ex-Provost-Marshal and First Shinto Priest Toranosuke Hashimoto. Yoshisuke Aikawa, an important industrialist with links to the Army, was chief of the Manchukuan industrial zaibatsu groups. He led the factory centers on the Mukden-Dairen industrial axis; Ryojun, Anshan and Harbin manufactured iron, coal, chemical and soy bean products, and railway equipment. Manchukuo was the 'Ruhr' for Japan.

[edit] Political parties and movements

During his administration, the Kangde Emperor, in an interview with foreign journalists, mentioned his interest in forming a political party with Confucian doctrines. The Japanese "native" establishment, however, organized some right-wing and nationalist parties, in the Militarism-Socialism mould. Such movements, which had official status, were:

  • Concord Association Party (Manchukuo right-wing local party)
  • Northeast Administrative Committee (Manchukuo nationalist local party)
  • Russian Fascist Organization (the White Russian fascist association in Manchukuo)
  • White Russian Fascist Party (White Russian anticommunist party in Manchukuo, used the swastika as symbol, guided by a Russian fascist "Duce")
  • Bureau for Russian Emigrants in Manchuria (BREM) led by General Vladimir Kislitsin
  • Monarquic Party (White Russian Tzarist Monarchic party with Japanese approval)
  • Betarim Jew Zionist Movement (Jewish rights movement in Manchukuo)
  • Far Eastern Jewish Council (Jewish Zionist council in Harbin, Manchukuo led by Dr. Abraham Kaufman, with Japanese Army support)

[edit] Notable people

[edit] The Imperial Manchu Court

  • Aisin Gioro Henry Puyi (Kangde Emperor and head of state)
  • Elizabeth Wan Rong (Empress and first wife of the Kangde Emperor)
  • Prince Aisin Gioro Pu-Chieh (brother of Puyi, possible heir of Manchukuo Throne)
  • Prince Aisin Gioro Puren (brother of Puyi)
  • Prince Aisin Gioro Yuyan (nephew of Puyi)
  • Hiro Saga (Japanese sister-in-law of the Kangde Emperor)
  • Wen Xiu (first concubine of the Emperor)
  • Tan Yuling (2nd Wife of the Kangde Emperor)
  • Li Yuqin (4th Wife of the Kangde Emperor)
  • Princess Aisin Gioro Huisheng (daughter of Pu-Chieh and Hiro Saga)
  • Princess Aisin Gioro Xianyu (distant relative)

[edit] Others (local)

  • Zheng Xiaoxu (Prime Minister of Manchukuo)
  • Zhang Jinghui, next Prime Minister until 1945
  • Xi Xia (Xi Qia), cabinet minister,in manchukuo government
  • Ma Zhanshan, former warlord, and cabinet minster
  • Xie Jishi, cabinet minister in the manchukuo government
  • Zang Shiyi, cabinet minister in the manchukuo government
  • Zhang Yangqing, cabinet minister in the manchukuo government
  • Yu Zhishan, cabinet minister in manchukuo government
  • Yuan Jinkai, cabinet minister in manchukuo government
  • Lü Ronghuan, cabinet minister in manchukuo government
  • Ding Jianxiu, cabinet minister in manchukuo government
  • Li Shaogeng, cabinet minister in manchukuo government
  • Ruan Zhenduo, cabinet minister in manchukuo government
  • Ling Sheng, cabinet minister in manchukuo government

[edit] Kwantung Army

(Commanders)

(Chief of Staff)

[edit] Others (Japanese)

[edit] Others

  • Genrikh Lyushkov, ex-Soviet Far East NKVD defector, adviser to Kwantung Army
  • Konstantin Vladimirovich Rodzaevsky, White Russian anticommunist leader
  • General Kislistin, another White Russian anticommunist chief
  • Abraham Kaufman, founder of Far Eastern Jewish Council and Betarim Jew Zionists Movement
  • Trebitsch Lincoln, Hungarian pro-Japanese collaborator
  • August Ponschab, German consul in Harbin, Manchuria
  • Auguste Ernest Pierre Gaspais, Vatican representative in Harbin,Manchuria
  • Charles Lemaire, Vatican diplomatic officer in Harbin,Manchuria

[edit] References