ABSTRACT
The army interfered in the creation of the cabinet, opposing few potential members, such as Yoshida Shigeru, the candidate for foreign minister, claiming they were too inclined toward Britain and America. America announced its abrogation of the Treaty of Commerce and Navigation between Japan and the United States in July 1939. It would not be an exaggeration to say that the Japanese Empire, as a body capable of conducting unified, rational decision making, had been destroyed long before 1945. The middle-grade officers of the army fiercely resisted the formation of an Ugaki Cabinet, however, and as a result he was unable to obtain a war minister and had to abandon his attempt to create a government. The Konoe Fumimaro Cabinet also represents a major turning point in domestic Japanese politics as well. The government further expanded its economic controls in 1938, passing the National Mobilization Law and the Electricity Management Law.
