World War II

After France was invaded by Germany in 1940, Japanese troops began in September to occupy French Indochina. A few days later Japan concluded the Berlin Pact with Germany and Italy, becoming the third member of the Axis. In October, 1941, an ultranationalist army officer, General Tojo Hideki, became premier of Japan. Relations with the United States grew more strained. While Japanese envoys were negotiating in Washington; the Japanese on December 7, 1941, made a surprise attack on the U.S. Navy base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and declared war. Although successful at first, Japan fell to crushing defeat and formally surrendered September 2, 1945, after atomic bombs had been dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

General Douglas MacArthur was appointed supreme commander of the allied powers (SCAP) to supervise the occupation of Japan. Emperor Hirohito, divested of his claim to divinity, was permitted to remain on the throne. The new constitution, under which the people's democratic rights were recognized and Japanese rearmament was made illegal, was adopted in 1946 and went into effect in 1947. In 1948 Tojo and six other wartime leaders were hanged as war criminals.