Hideki Tojo - Premier of Japan During WWII

General Tojo became prime minister of Japan on the 16th of October, 1941 - after the fall of the country's civil government. With a general in charge of the nation, Japan was on a war-footing. He ordered the attack on Pearl Harbor.

In addition to prime minister, Tojo also became minister of war, home minister and foreign minister. In February of 1944, he assumed the role of Commander-in- Chief of the General Staff.

Tojo remained in charge of the government until Japanese military forces began to lose ground in the Pacific. He resigned from office after the loss of Saipan, a vicious battle fought in the summer of 1944.

After Japan surrendered, U.S. military officials came to arrest the country's former leader. Tojo shot himself in the chest, just before the arrest, but his injuries were not fatal. He lived to be tried, and convicted, of war crimes. He was executed on December 23, 1948.