ABSTRACT
So steadily did Baron Shidehara keep to his course that to the last it seemed as though he might steer safely to a peaceful settlement, and the fact that he did not was due to open mutiny on the part of the heads of the army. The army was publishing its lists of “unsettled issues,” and exploiting the killing of the spy Captain Nakamura, but the country at large remained calm, so the army decided to act without any mandate. On August 4th, addressing a meeting of divisional commanders, General Minami, Minister for War, expatiated on the growing gravity of the situation in Manchuria and Mongolia. He warned them that it was not a passing phase, but due to a decline in Japan’s prestige and to the Chinese mania for the “recovery of rights,” The army, he said, must have a stronger sense of loyalty and public service. He went on to deride the ignorance of the pacifists who were promoting the Disarmament Conference at Geneva.
