During the Second World War, although both sides fought to the death, resulting in heavy casualties on both sides, when it came to the post-war trial, the Allied top brass, for the sake of various comprehensive factors, gently lowered the axe raised high; only 12 people were hanged in Germany, only 7 people were hanged in Japan, and all the war criminals who were not immediately hanged were later released early for various reasons.
And the person to be said here is one of the "lucky ones", his name is Sadao Araki, is a Japanese Class A war criminal, according to the ranking, he ranked eighth in Japan Class A war criminals, the reason why he ranked eighth is because he is only one step away from hanging, in the final trial, with a vote difference luckily escaped the hanging sentence, was sentenced to "life imprisonment".
This Sadao Araki was a very typical old Japanese soldier, and during his formative years, under the influence of the special atmosphere at that time, he applied for the Japanese Army Non-Commissioned Officer School, and after graduation, he was admitted to the Japanese Army University. During his studies, the Russo-Japanese War broke out, and Araki Sadao fought as an aide-de-camp of the Guards Reserve Mixed Brigade; but when this army went to the battlefield, the transport ship was sunk by a Russian warship, and Araki Sadao did not take the sunken transport ship, so he escaped the disaster.
Later, through the addition of participating in the Russo-Japanese War, Araki Sadao graduated with the first place in the Japanese Army University, which was already doomed to the future of Araki Sadao; this upstart in the military, later known for his in-depth study of Russia, and because of the "Northward Advance Theory" proposition was quite influential among the young officers of the Japanese Army's young and strong faction; but Araki Sadao really began to show his fists after he became the president of the Japanese Army University.
The Japanese Army University was the top military academy in Japan at that time, and most of the middle and senior officers in Japan graduated from this university; after becoming the president, Araki Sadao instilled his ideas, and because of his personal charm and eloquence, he was supported by a large number of students; and it was by virtue of the support of these students that Araki Sadao became the leader of the "Imperial Taoist Faction".
The ImperialIsts were largely composed of young officers of the field forces, who acted boldly, disobeyed orders, and operated without organizational discipline, including assassinations and coups. This attracted the attention and vigilance of the more conservative "unification faction", mainly composed of high-ranking officers, who released Araki Sadao as the commander of the Sixth Division, and another giant of the Imperial Sect, Masazaki Hassaburo, was also released. But two years later, Araki was recommended by Nobuyoshi Muto to become the director of education and became one of the three chiefs of the army.
Although both Araki and Masazaki Weresaburo were sent abroad, the Imperial Daoist faction was not dissolved, but the contradictions with the unification faction became more and more acute, and eventually led to the outbreak of the "October Incident"; the "October Incident" could not say who won or lost, but the biggest beneficiary was Araki Sadao, because he had always been unknown because he played an "important role" in persuading Hashimoto, Nagamasa and others, and became a hot focus figure in the army.
Taking this opportunity, Araki not only insisted on taking the lead in handling the coup d'état mastermind, but thus further won the favor of young officers; after dozens of days, he was appointed Minister of War, although Araki Sadao only served as Minister of War for more than two years, but these two years were the two years when the Japanese Military Department developed the most rapidly, and the Military Department controlled the power of Japan at that time to a considerable extent; it can be said that in the era of Sadao Araki, the Japanese Army and Navy ushered in a brilliant era that had never been seen in the history of its military construction.
It also laid the foundation for the implementation of the military attaché system for military ministers during the later period of the Hirota Hiroshi cabinet, so Araki Played a very important role in the criminal history of Japanese warlords. After his retirement from the position of Secretary of War, he successively transferred to the posts of Military Senator and Cabinet Senator, and also served as Minister of Letters; although not in his position, he used his influence to constantly raise the flag for the war, and used his extensive influence in the Army to support the Cabinet of the Military Department.
Therefore, although Araki did not directly participate in the Second World War, he was still arrested as a war criminal, and he was still a Class A war criminal; but because he did not directly participate in the war, he was still exempted from hanging by one vote, although he was not executed; although he was not executed, he was still sentenced to life imprisonment. However, eight years later, due to changes in the times, Araki Wasao was released on parole due to illness, but in fact, after his release from prison, Araki Sadao was not only in good health, but also energetic, "speaking" everywhere, until 11 years later, he died at home at the age of 89.