第一次近衛政権の法幣処理政策と狭義国防主義思想

昭和初期における外交と経済

抄録

Konoe Fumimaro is generally thought to have been a feeble and volatile political leader. But in his first government, he was the one who attempted to overcome the gigantic ‘Kogi Kokubo Shugi’ policy or ‘Military centralized industrialism’ which no one had ever been able to stop. And he tried to run Japan's economy by a peaceoriented ‘Kyogi Kokubo Shugi’ policy or ‘Regular industrialism’ instead.
Being involved in the Marco Polo bridge incident unexpectedly, however, Konoe still convinced himself that Japan could punish China soon by using Japan's economic power. Because he had a strong belief in Japan's monetary‘power policy’ which had been proceeded all through the Manchurian Empire, inner Mongoria and Northern China challenging the circulation of Chiang Kai-shek's ‘Legal Tender’. This was the reason why Konoe did not repress Kôgi Kokubo Shugi's landslide escalation in the eary stage of the war.
Finally at the end of 1937, the ‘currency war’, turned against China, and Chiang Kai-shek resigned his seat in the Cabinet.
In January 16, Konoe proclaimed his famous ‘Aitetosezu’ (or refuze to deal) statement against China. By this statement Konoe wanted to thrust his sword in Chiang Kai-shek's political reputation. But it failed to lead to Chiang's military collapse. On the contrary Wang Ching-wei and ‘the East-west military cliques’ lost their power in the Chinese government who both had once organized the ‘anti-Chiang movement’ in the ‘Kuomintang’ (the Chinese Nationalist Party).
Chiang Kai-shek revived his influence three months later and this time he strengtend the alliance with CCP (the Chinese Communist Party) and fully used CCP's power to increase his power.
In June 1938, Konoe's political initiative was at last nominal, and ‘Kogi Kokubo Shugi’ had already replaced Konoe's treasure, ie, ‘Kyogi Kokubo Shugi’.