Move to Global War - Japan

1. What were the origins of Japanese militarism and nationalism?

prior to 1930s

-Manifest Destiny

Japan had nationalist militant ideology and believed they were better than China and Korea. They did not subscribe to Pan-Asianism and instead had their own “Manifest Destiny”

-Need for Raw Materials

Manchuria was bountiful(coal). Manchuria also held crucial chinese/russian railroads. Japan wanted the raw materials from China, thus they turned to war (Mukden Incident) to imperialize China.

-Western Discrimination

Japan experienced discrimination from Western powers. Europe continuously denied Japanese claim of Chinese territory and instead gave it to Russia. -LON declined Racial equality clause

2. Why did Japan enter the First World War?

-Territory

Japan wanted control of German pacific islands and German Chinese territories/mines. Japan also wanted control of Manchuria and Shandong peninsula. 21 demands were placed on China.

-Treaty

Japan honored the Anglo-Japanese treaty of 1902 as Britain asked for their aid against Germany.

3. What foreign policies did Japan pursue in the 1920s?

Washington Conference started by US after ww1 had 3 treaties. SHIDEHARA DIPLOMACY

Four power treaty: ended Anglo-Japanese alliance and nominated US, Japan, Britain, France to handle conflicts in pacific.

Five power naval treaty: limited US, British, French, Italian, and Japanese Navy. It had harsher restriction on Japan, Italy, and France

Nine power treaty: Japan, US, Britain, France, Italy, China, Portugal, Belgium, and Netherlands respected China’s sovereignty

4. How did events in China foster Japanese expansionism?

Manchuria

Japan had a foothold in Manchuria due to Chinese lack of government. GMD tried to get Japan out of Manchuria, and Japanese army disobeyed emperor and prime minister to invade Manchuria.

Civil War

Instability caused by GMD and CCP infighting allowed Japan to conquer Manchuria. Jiang was too focused on fighting communists to resist Japanese expansion. Then Jiang formed the second united front in 1936 to resist Japan.

5. How important were economic factors in motivating Japanese expansion in the 1930s?

1929 Great Depression tanked Japan’s economy as their silk exports (primarily to the US) dropped. Japan turned to imperialism as its nationalist ideology was strengthened by the perceived “failures” of a trade-dependent economy.

6. What role did domestic political issues play in Japanese expansionist policies?

Emperor Hirohito’s power was undermined by the Japanese nationalist military. The Imperial Way faction and the Control faction were imperialist groups that formed in Japanese government. They fought for power, causing several assassination attempts between 1932-1936 that destabilized Japanese civilian government(diet).

7. What was the impact of nationalism and militarism on Japan's foreign policy in the 1930s?

Japanese government failed to stand up to Kwantung army, thus nationalism and militarism took over Japanese foreign policy causing lots of Japanese Imperialism in the 1930s. The Tanggu truce signed between GMD and Kwantung in 1933 which recognized Japanese influence in Manchuria. the 1937 Marco Polo bridge incident further solidified Japan’s Chinese conquest.

1. What happened in Manchuria from September 1931?

Mukden Incident 1931- used by Kwantung to justify Japan invasion of Manchuria. Kwantung defied emperor’s order and invaded. This established Manchukuo in 1932 and Tanggu Truce in 1933.

2. Why did the Second Sino-Japanese War break out in July 1937 and how did the war develop?

Marco Polo Bridge Incident 1937

Japanese and Chinese forces open-fire, causing second Sino-Japanese war. China refused to back down due to Nanjing, so Japan went further into China.

Development of Sino-Japanese War

1937 Battle of Shanghai between Kwantung and GMD. Japan moved on to Nanjing

1937-1938 Rape of Nanjing, Jiang flooded Yellow River but it failed to deter Japan

1938 Chongqing, Japan bombs tf out of Chongqing (most bombed city in ww1)

Japanese economy started to struggle in 1938, but by 1941 Japan held most of eastern coast China

3. How did Japan diplomatically realign and what was the Tripartite Pact?

League Of Nations

Mukden incident inspired Lytton report, where LON condemned Japan. Japan left LON in 1933.

Anti-Comintern Pact 1936

Japan and Nazi Germany align against communists (USSR). Italy joins in 1937

Tripartite Pact September 1940

Pact between Germany, Japan, Italy to deter US intervention in ww2

Soviet-Japanese Non-Agression Pact 1941

Japan and USSR agree not to attack each other as Japan was worried about a “war on both fronts” with the US and the USSR. The US was angered by Japanese imperialism in the pacific thus Japan had to deal with their navy.

4. Why did Japan attack Pearl Harbor in December 1941?

The US refused to acknowledge Japan’s Manchukuo and condemned their Imperialism. After Japanese invasion of French indochina, plus the Rape of Nanjing, US placed oil embargo on Japan in 1941.

Japan then attacked pearl harbor causing Roosevelt to declare war on Japan. Germany declared war on US, causing US to join WW2 despite its previous isolationist policies.

1. How did the League of Nations respond to the Mukden Incident September 1931?

LON took months to send the Lytton commission to Manchuria. Lytton arrived to Manchuria in1932, when Manchukuo was established, and the Japanese claimed the Manchurians wanted to be liberated from China.

2. What was the Lytton Report and what were its effects?

It condemned Japanese imperialism in Manchuria and urged Japan to leave and seek a peace treaty. Japan called Britain and French hypocrites as they also held imperial territories in China, and Japan left the LON in 1933. This exposed the League as useless and allowed Japanese expansionism.

3. How did the US respond to the Manchurian crisis?

The US responded with the Stimson doctrine, which refused to recognize agreements that violated China’s territory or the Kellogg-Briand Pact. The US did not have a significant response against Japan because they were isolationist after the great depression, japanese trade, and ww1.

4. How did the political situation in China develop in response to Japanese expansion?

The Second United Front 1936

Jiang Jieshi previously only focused on CCP first and ignored Japan. After Tanggu truce, the GMD recognized Japan as a worse threat. Thus, the CCP and GMD formed a truce in 1936.

China had a lot of difficulty in the war and lost a lot, however Japan had trouble controlling their captured territories.

5. What was the response of the US to events in China up to 1938?

US initially didn’t respond much to Japan as they were focused on Great Depression and Hitler’s policies. FDR was limited by the US neutrality acts and couldn’t intervene in the Sino-Japanese war. The US trade continued to support japanese war effort.

6. Why did US policy towards Japan change after 1938?

FDR began to get around the neutrality acts as US public opinion became against Japan. The Tripartite pact convinced FDR that Japan’s war was intertwined with European Nazis, and Japanese invasion of French Indochina finally caused US to act against Japan.

Many embargos enacted from 1939-1941, and finally US enacted the oil embargo of 1941.

7. What was the US response to the attack on Pearl Harbor?

FDR declared war on Japan and ended the american isolationist policy as they officially engaged in WW2.