Kōdōha Faction
The Kōdōha or the Imperial Way Faction was founded by were General Sadao Araki and his protégé, Jinzaburō Masaki. The Kōdōha was a radical faction, that sought to establish a military government that promoted totalitarian, militaristic, and aggressive expansionist ideas and was mostly supported by young officers. The Kōdōha was strongly supportive of the hokushin-ron ("Northern Expansion Doctrine") strategy of a preemptive strike against the Soviet Union, believing that Siberia was in Japan's sphere of interest; although there were supporters of the Northern Expansion in the Tōseiha, the faction largely favored a more cautious defense expansion. Both factions had struggled to gain influence over the military after the Manchurian Incident, however, the Kodoha remained dominant until the resignation of Sadao Araki due to illness, and the Kodoha would start to decline in its influence over the military. Araki was replaced by General Senjūrō Hayashi, who had Tōseiha sympathies. Thus, after the February 26 Incident, the Kōdōha effectively ceased to exist, and the Tōseiha lost most of its raison d'être.
The Righteous Army
A group of young IJA officers who supported the radical Kodoha. The young officers believed that the problems facing the nation were the result of Japan drifting from the kokutai (國體) (an amorphous term often translated as "national polity", it roughly signifies the relationship between the Emperor and the state). To them, the "privileged classes," exploited the people,(Almost all of the young officers' subordinates were from poor peasant families or working-class) leading to widespread poverty in rural areas, and deceiving the Emperor, taking his power and weakening Japan. The solution, they believed, was a
"Shōwa Restoration" modeled on the
Meiji Restoration of 70 years earlier. These beliefs were strongly influenced by contemporary nationalist thought, especially the political philosophy of
Ikki Kita On February 26th, 1936, they would attempt a military coup with the goal of purging the government and military leadership of their factional rivals and ideological opponents.
Feburary 26th Incident (26-28 Feburary 1936)
The February 26th Incident (二・二六事件) was an attempted coup d'état in the Empire of Japan. It was organized by young officers known as the ![](http://static.miraheze.org/polcompballwiki/6/6f/JapRighteousArmy.png)
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