AMBITIONS OF JAPAN

Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere

Japan’s desire to create a new order in East Asia by becoming self-sufficient and not needing to rely on the Western powers 

Army’s solution to economic problems of depression?

adopt a policy similar to Hitler’s ‘lebensraum policy’ in Europe to get living space for the peasants in China. 

• Acquired land within the Asia Pacific

• Japan wanted to develop an empire

• And address the issue of having limited resources 

How did Japan want to develop its empire and address the issue of limited materials and resources?

Through dictatorship and military tradition. Ambitions were anti-communist

1931

Manchurian Crisis, Japan takes advantage of an explosion on the South Manchurian Railway in an attempt to take control of Manchuria

• Manipulated an event 

• Leads to break down of relationship with the West and building of relationship with Italy and Germany

1933

Japan leaves the League of Nations as a result of being told to leave Manchuria. 

1936

Anti-Comintern Pact Germany and Japan sign the Pact which is aimed against the Soviet union

1937

Japan joins the Rome-Berlin-Tokyo Axis