The Gathering Storm - Gameplay Thread (Late 1939)

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

We thank Prince Konoe for his past service to us and the Empire and hope to have opportunity to enjoy the benefits of his service in the future. However, we shall make use of the occasion to examine other paths that our Empire could follow. We have disclosed to our ministers our thoughts about which paths seem meritorious to us and will welcome memorials from them concerning paths forward. After consultations to determine which paths should be explored, we will select a new prime minister who will vigorously explore those paths.

Emperor Hirohito

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

After consultations, the Imperial Palace is pleased to announce the following individuals have agreed to be the principal ministers of the new Japanese government.

Prime Minister Kanji Ishiwara
Foreign Minister Hachirō Arita
Home Minister Kiichirō Hiranuma
Colonial Affairs Minister Kazushige Ugaki
Army Minister Seishirō Itagaki
Navy Minister Mitsumasa Yonai
Finance Minister Kazuo Aoki

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Statement on China

His Imperial Majesty's Government continues to be distressed by the continuing chaos in China. With an eye towards bringing this destructive civil war to an end, we invite all loyal sons of China, to send representatives to a meeting in Nanking beginning on 1 May with the aim of inaugurating a Reorganized Government of the Republic of China on 1 January 29 Minkuo (1 January 1940). Such representatives shall be guaranteed safe conduct, though no armistice will be entered into until and unless such a regime has agreed to be part of this Reorganized Government.

By the term "loyal sons of China" we include the Chungking regime led by General Chiang, but not the Yenan regime under Chairman Mao, as those who are subservient to the Comintern cannot be considered loyal sons of China.

Foreign Minister Arita

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Statement on the Anti-Comintern Pact

Because of the unilateral offer made by the German Government of membership in the Anti-Comintern Pact to one side of the still ongoing Spanish Civil War without any consultation with the Japanese Government, the Japanese Government has chosen to suspend participation in the Pact until such time as either such consultations are made and resolved satisfactorily, including an explicit understanding that no unilateral invitations to join the Pact can be made by any member, or the German Government revokes its invitation to the Spanish State to join the Pact.

We wish to be clear that the Japanese Government has no objections to any bilateral agreements that the German Reich may choose to make with the Spanish State. Nor do we doubt that the Spanish State will be strongly opposed to the machinations of the Communist International. However, the Japanese Government cannot allow any other government, not even a friendly one such as the German Government, to unilaterally commit the Japanese Government to any obligations to a third party, especially to one involved in active fighting.

The Republican government of Spain is indeed likely to soon collapse, thus ending the Spanish Civil War, but only if the French and British do not follow through on their threats of intervention. As such, the Japanese Government considers it to be imprudent to have any entanglements with the Spanish State until the Spanish Civil War has indeed ended.

Foreign Minister Arita

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Statements on European Matters

The Japanese Government is pleased to note the conclusion of the Spanish Civil War. We have offered some assistance to the French Republic in dealing with the refugees they have so generously offered refuge from the collapse of the Spanish Republic. However, at such a remove, that assistance will necessarily be limited, and we urge other European nations to aid France in its compassionate endeavors.

The Japanese Government also extends its warm regards to King Peter II and hope that the crisis of separatism in Yugoslavia will come to a speedy and pacific conclusion and that the Petrine Restoration will prove as beneficial to the Yugoslav people as the Meiji Restoration was to the Japanese people.

Lastly, given our withdrawal some years ago from the League of Nations, the Japanese Government has decided that it shall not stand in the way of any resolution of the Klaipėda crisis that the Conference of Ambassadors should agree to. The Japanese Government recommends that any resolution maintain the freedom of transit on the Neman River that was guaranteed by the Klaipėda Convention of 1924.