Japanese expansionism combined

Progression of ultra-nationalism

1. ‘Fundamental Principles’ - Hirota 1936

2. ‘A New Order in Asia’ - Konoe 1938

3. Eight Corners Speech - Konoe 1940

4. Greater Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere - 1940

Which event marked the start of total military control in Japan?

General Tojo becomes prime minister 1941

Tripartite Pact

1940: Military alliance signed between Japan, Germany, and Italy

• Supported Japan taking Indochina

When did Japan occupy Northern Indochina and Southern Indochina?

September 1940; July 1941

Two-Ocean Navy Act

1940: authorised a 70% increase in the U.S. Navy’s size and allowed the US to simultaneously fight in two oceans (Atlantic and Pacific)

Stats on Japan’s dependence on American exports

• 100% of cotton and rubber came from the US

• 80% oil

Key US economic actions against Japan

Jul 1939: Treaty of Commerce and Navigation annulled

Jul 1941: Japanese assets in US and Britain frozen

Aug 1941: Oil embargo on Japan

Terms of the US oil embargo (Aug 1941)

US would stop embargo if Japan withdrew from Indochina and China

Hull Ultimatum

November 1941: Demanded that all Japanese troops withdraw from Indochina and China immediately, forcing Japan to respond (but the Imperial Conference agreed that they would risk going to war in July 1941)

Soviet-Japanese Neutrality Pact

April 1941: Enabled Japan to strike south without worrying about its assets in the north

Pearl Harbor

Dec 1941

Why did Japan attack Pearl Harbor

• Pre-emptive attack to disable US naval power

• Destroyed 90% of US’s Pacific naval and air power

• Several US aircraft-carriers were ‘out on manoeuvres’ and escaped the attack

Nine Power Conference

1937

• US continued trade with Japan

• Loans to China (not aid)

• No agreement on action

US position before 1937

• Treaty of Commerce and Navigation: no embargoes between Japan and the US

• Kellog-Briand Pact 1928

• Neutrality Acts

• Stimson Doctrine 1932

• ‘New Deal’ and domestic considerations to solve depression

Roosevelt’s Quarantine Speech

1937: Does not directly mention Japan but indirectly accuses its expansionist ideology as a ‘disease’ which needed to be quarantined

Examples of USSR-Japan border conflicts

Battles of Khalkhin Gol 1939

US Neutrality Acts

1935: ban on sales of arms to warring nations

1936: prohibited loans and credits to warring nations

1937: cash-and-carry policy for non-military goods

1939: lifted arms embargo and enacted cash-and-carry for weapons (favouring the Allies)

‘Descent into the dark valley’

Japan’s gradual militarisation and the civilian government’s loss of authority

Kodoha assassination key examples

May 15 (1932) Incident: conservative PM Inukai

Feb 1936 Incident: attempted coup d’état to control the Emperor

Feb 1936 Incident

• Attempted coup d’état by the Kodoha

• Believed they were acting in the Emperor’s best interests

• Wanted to abolish the Diet

• Targeted politicians involved in the London Naval Conference

• Marshal Law proclaimed, Kodoha purged and collapsed

‘Fundamental Principles of National Policy’ — PM Hirota

Official government announcement of ultra-nationalist ideology

• Agreement to expansionist policy in China

• Prepare for possible war with US and UK

• Co-prosperity sphere and Japanese racial superiority

Anti-Comintern Pact

November 1936: Japan and Nazi Germany agree to consult if attacked by the USSR

• Laid groundworks for the Axis Powers

Examples of Japanese military encroachment in China

He-Umezu Agreement (Jun 1935): Hebei

Qin-Doihara Agreement (Jun 1935): Inner Mongolia

Xian Incident

Dec 1936: Jiang kidnapped to form the Second United Front formed between GMD and CCP

Key Japanese figures in Sino-Japanese War

Prince Konoe

• PM

• Asian Monroe Doctrine 1932

• New order in Asia 1938

• Unable to prevent Marco Polo Bridge Incident

General Tojo

• Toseiha leader

• Supported strike south

• Great political and military power

Marco Polo Bridge Incident

July 1937: Japan uses minor skirmish as pretext to invade Beijing and Tianjin, officially starting the Second Sino-Japanese War

Battle of Shanghai

Aug 1937: 180,000 Chinese killed over 9000 Japanese, Japanese control of the city after 3 months

• Jiang moved capital to Chongqing

Nanjing Massacre

Dec 1937-Jan 1938: highlighted Japanese superiority, International Peace Organisation called for protests and private boycotts, made Western nations more sympathetic towards China

Key articles of the Covenant of the League

10. Members will protect the territorial integrity of members

11. War is the matter of concern of the League

12. The League arbitrates conflict between members

16. War against one member is war against the League (collective security)

What was the League Council’s stance towards the Manchurian Crisis?

1. Wanted to avoid war at all costs

2. Wanted to keep Japan in the League

3. Wanted to minimise costs for own countries (it was still the Depression)

Kellogg-Briand Pact

1928: 62 nations (including Japan, US, and Germany) promised to not not use war to resolve ‘disputes or conflicts of whatever nature’

Lytton Commission

Established by the League to investigate the situation in Manchuria: collected information on:

1. China before the invasion

2. The setting up of Manchukuo

3. Japanese economic interests

Arrived in China in April 1932

Lytton Report

October 1932 (a year after the invasion)

• Refused to recognised Manchukuo

• Reaffirmed China’s sovereignty over Manchuria

• Recommended Japanese withdrawal

• Recommended self government in Manchuria

• Japan did have valid interests but was unjustified in invasion

Response to Lytton Report

• Report approved in 1933

• Japan criticised European hypocrisy

• Japan withdrew from the League in March 1933

Stimson Doctrine

(Jan 1932)

• no recognition for territory gained by force

• no recognition of Manchukuo

Reasons why the League failed to prevent conflict

• Lytton Commission took too long to respond

• Britain and France not prepared to intervene as their interests weren’t directly threatened

• League was weak without a military

• US not in the League

What was Manchuria described as by Matsuoka (foreign minister)

the ‘lifeline’ of Japan

economic reasons for invading Manchuria?

Living space for the Japanese

Raw materials

Access to Chinese markets

Ideological and political reasons to invade Manchuria?

Good opportunity: China’s instability and warlordism

Ideology: Japanese racial superiority

Strategic: Buffer between Japan and USSR

Stats to show Manchuria’s value in raw materials

90% of China’s oil, 70% of China’s iron, a third of China’s trade

Kwantung Army

highly influential and nationalist unit of the Imperial Japanese Army stationed in Manchuria which guarded the SMR

Assassination of Zhang Zuolin

4th of June 1928: plot by the Kwantung Army to eliminate the warlord of Manchuria (Zhang Zuolin) to create political chaos, allowing Japan to take full control

• Embarrassed Japan internationally as Tokyo did not authorise this

• PM Tanaka resigned

• Zhang’s son (Zhang Xueliang) aligned with the GMD

• Japan’s influence in Manchuria is weakened (failed unilateralism)

The Mukden Incident

September 1931: false flag attack staged by the Kwantung Army to justify Japan’s invasion of Manchuria

• Wakatsuki and cabinet unable to stop unilateralism and resigns

• Manchuria fully occupied within days

When was Manchukuo established

March 1932

Asian Monroe Doctrine

asserted Japan's right to dominate and maintain hegemony over Asia, particularly East Asia, by excluding Western powers from interfering in the region (mirrored US Monroe Doctrine)

China’s response to invasion of Manchuria

• Appeal to the League

• Boycott of Japanese goods

• Non-resistance to Japan (‘trading space for time’)

• The Shanghai Incident

• Encirclement Campaigns

• Tanggu Treaty

Shanghai Incident

Jan-Mar 1932

Cause: Triggered by anti-Japanese protests and boycotts in Shanghai following Japan's invasion of Manchuria (1931), providing pretext for Japanese military action

Conflict: Japanese forces attacked Chinese areas in Shanghai, leading to intense urban fighting.

Outcome: After weeks of fighting, a ceasefire was brokered by the LoN and US in May. China no longer allowed troops in Shanghai

Significance: Marked Japan's growing militarism and further strained Sino-Japanese relations

Chinese Civil War

1927-1937

Encirclement Campaigns

1930-34: a series of military operations launched by the GMD against the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) during the Chinese Civil War (1927–1937) —> Long March

• GMD did not focus on Japan but the CCP instead (‘disease of the heart’)

• Jiang: ‘Trading space for time’

• Mao: ‘Marching north to beat the Japanese’

Long March

Oct 1934: CCP escaping GMD encirclement

The Tanggu Treaty

May 1933: treaty between China and Japan which ended the Manchurian Crisis

• De facto recognition of Manchukuo

• Demilitarised zone (area south of the Great Wall of China)

• Region of Jehol ceded to Japan

Independents foreign minister

Shidehara: favoured internationalism and building relationships with Western powers

When does Hirohito (Showa Emperor) ascend the throne?

1926

3 key phrases to summarise Japan's situation

fragile democracy, ideological polarisation, looming military

Kodoha

Imperial Way Faction: radical nationalist military faction which promoted a militaristic, emperor-centered system that sought to overthrow political and economic elites (supported Strike North and mainly from the army)

Toseiha

Control Faction: moderate military faction that aimed to maintain the imperial system while reforming the government and economy, often opposing the Kodoha's radicalism (supported Strike South and mainly from the navy)

Example of ultra-nationalist groups

Cherry Blossom Society (Sakurakai)

The February 1932/League of Blood Incident

Assassination of Junnosuke Inoue (former finance minister) and Dan Takuma (head of Mitsui conglomerate) lead by the Kodoha

The May 15 Incident (1932)

Assassination of sitting PM Inukai lead by the Kodoha

4 key economic problems

1. The Zaibatsu

2. Tokyo Earthquake 1923

3. Banking Crisis 1927

4. Wall Street Crash 1929

Who were the Zaibatsu

Wealthy ‘cliques’ which monopolised key industries in Japan: Sumitomo (raw materials), Mitsui (gas and oil), Mitsubishi (heavy industry), and Yasuda (banking and finance)

Key stats about the Zaibatsu

owned 30% Japanese raw materials

70% of stock exchange

Kanto Earthquake 1923 stats

1 billion USD cost

Why did the 1927 Banking Crisis occur?

Economic difficulties in Japan after WWI; banks unable to repay earthquake bonds

Smoot-Hawley Tariff

1930: US law that raised tariffs on over 20,000 imported goods to historically high levels to protect American industries during the Great Depression (key example of Protectionism)

• Duties on Japanese goods rose by as much as 200%

Great Depression impact on Japanese industry stat

• 50% of Japanese factories closed down between 1929 and 1931

• Unemployment

Start of WWI

28 July 1914

21 Demands

1915: Japan takes advantage of the war to advance its imperialist designs on China --> China forced to accept

WWI ends

11 Nov 1918

Paris Peace Conference

1919

What does Japan get in the Paris Peace Conference?

- German Pacific colonies as mandates

- 13 of the 21 Demands (Grps 4 & 5 rejected)

- No racial equality clause

- Shandong and Jiaozhou Peninsula

Washington Conferences

1921-22: International disarmament conference which established naval disarmament and affirmed China's sovereignty

Five Power Treaty

5:5:3 naval ratio for US, UK, and Japan

Four Power Treaty

US, Britain, Japan, and France to respect each other's Pacific territories; Anglo-Japanese Alliance annulled

Nine Power Treaty

Reaffirmed Open Door Policy in China and China's sovereignty

Wall Street Crash

29th of October 1929

London Naval Conference

1930: International conference aimed at limiting naval armaments and preventing a naval arms race

- Heavy cruisers: 5:5:3 (US, UK, Japan --> same as before)

- Destroyers: 10:10:7 (Japan gets larger ratio)

- Parity in submarines

1924 US Immigration Act

included the Asian Exclusion Act which prohibited Asian immigrations --> indignity in Japan

Russo-Japanese War

1904-1905

Treaty of Portsmouth

Sep 1905: mediated by the US, which gave Japan half of Sakhalin Islands, lease on Port Arthur and the Liaodong Peninsula, control of the SMR, Manchuria to stay Chinese, but no Russian reparations

Treaty of Shimonoseki

17 Apr 1895: treaty that forced China to cede land, recognise Korea as a Japanese protectorate, and pay reparations at the end of the Sino-Japanese War

Tripartite Intervention

23 Apr 1895: Russia, France, and Germany gained control of the Liaodong Peninsula, the Shandong Province, and numerous ports, humiliating Japan and causing resentment and nationalism

Anglo-Japanese Alliance

1902-1923: If either Britain or Japan was attacked by two or more powers, the other would come to its aid. This was to curtail Russian expansion

Commodore Perry

US navy commander who sailed to Tokyo to open trade with Japan on the 8th of July, 1853

Meiji Restoration & the Five Articles

1868: seismic shift in national values; a more enlightened, liberal, and progressive government promised

Meiji Constitution

1889: shift in values from the Five Articles --> more patriarchal and oligarchical

First Sino-Japanese War

1894-1895