MOVE TO GLOBAL WAR: Japan

Commodore Matthew Perry

A navy commander who, on July 8, 1853, became the first foreigner to break through the barriers that had kept Japan isolated from the rest of the world for 250 years.

Treaty of Kanagawa

An 1854 agreement between the United States and Japan, which opened two Japanese ports to U.S. ships and allowed the United States to set up an embassy in Japan.

Meiji Restoration

In 1868, a Japanese state-sposored industrialization and westernization effort that also involved the elimination of the Shogunate and giving power to the Japanese Emperor.

First Sino-Japanese War

1894-95 war in which Japan took Korea (a protectorate of China). After invading Manchuria and destroying the Chinese navy, the Treaty of Shimonoseki gave Japan its first two colonies: Taiwan and the Pescadores Island.

Triple Intervention

the combination of Russia, France, and Germany that pressured Japan to renounce the Liaodong peninsula in Manchuria in 1895

Russo-Japanese War

(1904-1905) War between Russia and Japan over imperial possessions. Japan emerges victorious.

Battle of Tsushima

In May 1905, the Japanese's navy stunned the world with the complete destruction of the Russian Baltic fleet.

Manchuria

A northeastern province in China, desired by Japan because of its size, natural resources, and location between Japan and the Soviet Union.

Manchukuo

In 1932 Japan established this puppet state in their conquered territories of Manchuria. In 1933 the League of Nations reprimanded Japan, and so the nation withdrew from the League.

Twenty-One Demands

list of demands Japan gave to China in 1915 that would have made China a protectorate of Japan. Criticism by the U.S. and U.K. led Japan to alter these demands.

Shidehara Kijuro

Japanese foreign minister in the 1920s; promoted peaceful internationalism

Anglo-Japanese Alliance

An agreement between the U.K. and Japan that was Japan's first military alliance with a Western nation.

Washington Treaty System

3 different treaties that agreed to prevent an arms race by limiting naval construction. Criticized by Japanese nationalists as an "iron ring" constricting Japan's ascension.

Four Power Treaty

1921 treaty between the US, Great Britain, France, and Japan to maintain the status quo in the South Pacific, that no countries could seek further territorial gain.

Five Power Treaty

1922 Committed the US, Britain, Japan, France, and Italy to restricting construction of new battleship class ships.

Nine-Power Treaty

1922 treaty that was essentially a reinvention of the Open Door Policy. All members to allow equal and fair trading rights with China. Signed by (9) US, Japan, China, France, Great Britain, Italy, Belgium, Netherlands, and Portugal.

Taisho Democracy

The period beginning with the political agitation that ended the Russo-Japanese War in 1905 and ending with the fall of the Seiyukai party in 1932. During this period, the idea that the Prime Minister and most of the cabinet should be elected politicians from the various political parties began to take hold.

GMD (Guomindang)

The Chinese nationalist party that fought for Chinese independence from Western powers, as well as against the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)

Chinese Communist Party (CCP)

A communist party that fought for Chinese independence from Western Powers, as well as against the GMD. Led by Mao Zedong.

Jiang Jieshi

(1887-1975) Leader of the Guomindang, or Nationalist Party in China. Fought to keep China from becoming communist, and to resist the Japanese during World War II. He lost control of China in 1949, and fled to Taiwan where he setup a rival government. Also known as Chang Kai Shek.

Mao Zedong

(1893-1976) Leader of the Communist Party in China that overthrew Jiang Jieshi and the Nationalists. Established China as the People's Republic of China and ruled from 1949 until 1976.

Kwantung Army

The Japanese army posted in Manchuria to guard the South Manchurian Railway and other Japanese interests. It acted without authorization from the civil government, such as by assassinating the warlord Zhang Zuolin in 1928 and seizing Manchuria in 1931. When the Japanese government ordered them to withdraw, they refused.

Kodo-ha (Imperial Way)

A right-wing nationalist, militarist group in Japan that sought to elevate Japan as an imperial power in East Asia. They opposed efforts by the West to restrict Japanese growth.

Hamaguchi Yuko

Japanese politician and prime minister (1929-30) at the outset of the Great Depression. He promoted Japanese industrialization but opposed militarism. His policies were resented by the Imperial Way faction and was assassinated in Tokyo in 1930.

Mukden Incident

A "Chinese" attack on a Japanese railway near the city of Mukden (had actually been carried out by Japanese soldiers disguised as Chinese); used by the Kwantung Military as an excuse to seize Manchuria. 18 September 1931

Treaty of Tanggu

1933 treaty signed by Jiang Jieshi, leader of the GMD, ceding to Japanese control of Manchuria. Jieshi considered the Chinese Communists a greater threat than the Japanese.

Triple Intervention

the combination of Russia, France, and Germany that pressured Japan to renounce the Liaodong peninsula in Manchuria in 1895

Lytton Commission

Investigating commission sent by the League of Nations to Manchuria during Japanese invasion. They concluded that Japan had no right to invade China, which resulted in Japan leaving the League of Nations.

League of Nations

an international organization formed after WWI to promote peace among nations. It ultimately could not prevent WWII because it lacked power to enforce its decisions and the U.S. was not a member.

Stimson Doctrine

1932, President Hoover's Secretary of State said the US would not recognize territorial changes resulting from Japan's invasion of Manchuria.

Kellogg-Briand Pact

Agreement signed in 1928 in which nations agreed not to go to war against one another. Japan was a signatory under Kojiro's leadership.