while military was getting stronger ⇒ it was not united.
- was divided between imperial way of faction and control faction
- feud between 2 factions was bitter.
Feb 26 Incident 1936 ⇒ Young officers from imperial way of faction led a military coup
- attempted to assassinate key govt leaders + demanded new govt
- part of their call for Showa restoration, which aimed to restore glory to emperor + defending empire + improving life for ordinary people
Coup failed ⇒ emperor condemned their actions
- 19 leading figures ⇒ in the imperial way faction were arrested, tried in secret military court and executed
Failure of the coup ⇒ caused imperial way of faction to lose its influence within army
- gave control faction opportunity to seize control of military + restore its discipline Military had so much power influence over cabinet ⇒ was able to appoint active general as Minister for war → who in the post would have been non military person.
- with strong grip on govt ⇒ Control faction began to prepare for war ⇒ by modernising Japanese military