Many of the decisive events of this period were closely related to
the Cabinet changes. Hiranuma, for example, was forced out of office
by the Soviet-German pact of August 23, 1939. During that summer the
Hiranuma Cabinet had been dickering with Germany over the details of
a proposed military pact, while the Japanese army had been fighting a
minor war with the Soviet Union on the Outer Mongolian frontier. So
the Soviet-German pact came as a stunning blow to Tokyo, and for a
time feelings against Germany ran high. The army extremists, who had
strongly advocated an alliance with Germany, were discredited along
with Hiranuma. Consequently, extremist influence was not so great in
the next two Cabinets, headed by General Abe and Admiral Yonai.