Q&A ยท 2:16:15-2:18:12

Tojo's government fell after the Marianas defeat

A chronology question connects the June 1944 defeat with Hideki Tojo's loss of military and political offices in July.

Question

When exactly did Tojo resign in relation to the Battle of the Philippine Sea?

Short answer

After the battle: Tojo left the Army General Staff on 18 July 1944 and resigned as war minister and prime minister on 22 July.

Notes

Tojo's departures followed the Battle of the Philippine Sea: he resigned as chief of the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff on 18 July and as war minister and prime minister on 22 July 1944. The offices then went to different successors rather than remaining concentrated in one leader. During his arrest in 1945, Tojo survived a self-inflicted gunshot wound before being tried by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East and executed in 1948. The battle therefore had a domestic political aftermath that continued beyond his resignation.