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Shigenori Togo (10 December 1882 – 23 July 1950) was two-time Foreign Minister of Japan, serving at both the outset of the war with the United States, and again at the end. Togo was dubious about Japan's ability to defeat the U.S. before and during the World War II, and was one of those who pressed for Japan's surrender in 1945. As he had signed the declaration of war against the U.S., he was convicted for war crimes, and died in prison.
Togo was of Korean descent. His birth name was actually Park, but his father took the name Togo.
Shigenori Togo in Worldwar[]
Shigenori Togo was Foreign Minister of Japan during first the aborted World War II and then during the war against the Race's Conquest Fleet.[1]
Togo represented Japan at Big Five strategy conferences; having been the only country in that alliance which had fought neither Germany nor the Soviet Union in World War II, he was best qualified to mediate the frequent bickering between Joachim von Ribbentrop and Vyacheslav Molotov at those meetings.[2] Unlike Molotov, Ribbentrop, and American Secretary of State Cordell Hull, Togo refused to visit Fleetlord Atvar aboard the 127th Emperor Hetto. After Ribbentrop described his own meeting with Atvar, Togo privately reproached him in German, saying "There is no excuse for treating with the enemy." (Togo, who had learned German from his wife, believed he was making a private aside to Ribbentrop, as, since Ribbentrop was fluent in English, German translators were not employed at Big Five meetings. However, Molotov's English translator happened to speak German, so Molotov caught the reproof, which applied to him as well as to Ribbentrop.)[3][4]
It was Togo who first alerted the rest of the Big Five that the Race's Conquest Fleet was simply a precursor, and that a Colonization Fleet would be arriving in the next 20 years.[5] All parties quickly agreed that, even if the Conquest Fleet were defeated, the Big Five must remain united pending the arrival of the Colonization Fleet.[6]
Togo represented his nation at the Peace of Cairo in 1944, although, as Japan had not developed an explosive-metal bomb and secured diplomatic ties with the Race, he was there informally.[7] He secured a recognition of Japanese sovereignty from the Race, though he only saved a small portion of Japan's mainland empire; the Race had overrun Korea and China, and kept them.[8] The suggestion that the Race might retain territory between the Soviet Union and Germany was Togo's initially, although it played well into the USSR's hands.[9]
References[]
- ↑ In the Balance, pg. 221.
- ↑ Ibid. pg. 225
- ↑ Ibid., pg. 224.
- ↑ See also Inconsistencies (Worldwar).
- ↑ Tilting the Balance, pgs. 121-122.
- ↑ Ibid. pgs. 123-124.
- ↑ Striking the Balance, pg. 373, PB
- ↑ Ibid., see, e.g. 439.
- ↑ Ibid., pg. 397.
| Political offices (OTL) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Teijirō Toyoda |
Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan Oct 1941 – Sept 1942 |
Succeeded by Hideki Tojo |
| Preceded by Kantarō Suzuki |
Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan Apr 1945 – Aug 1945 |
Succeeded by Mamoru Shigemitsu |
| Preceded by Teijirō Toyoda |
Minister for Colonial Affairs Oct 1941 – Dec 1941 |
Succeeded by Hiroya Ino |
| Preceded by Kantarō Suzuki |
Minister for Greater East Asia Apr 1945 – Aug 1945 |
Succeeded by Mamoru Shigemitsu |
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