Japan - Move to Global War

Japanese Expansionism

Treaty of Shimonoseki (1895)

Treaty signed to officially end the first Sino-Japanese War. China had to recognize Korea as an independent state. The Liaotung peninsula, Taiwan and the Pescadores Islands were given to Japan. New Chinese ports were opened to Japanese traders.

Treaty of Portsmouth (1905)

Ended the Russo-Japanese War. It was signed in the USA after negotiations brokered by Theodore Roosevelt (for which he won the Nobel Peace Prize). Japan won the war, but did not receive everything it conquered.

South Manchurian Railway

Built and controlled by the Japanese, this railway ran through Manchuria, transporting goods from China to Japan.

Diet

Japanese parliament established as part of the constitution of 1889; able to advise government but not control it.

Five Power Treaty (1922)

Treaty resulting from the Washington Conference. It committed the US, Britain, Japan, France, and Italy to restricting construction of new battleship class ships. For every five capital ships Britain and the USA were allowed, Japan was allowed three.

Four Power Treaty (1922)

Treaty resulting from the Washington Conference. It ended the Anglo-Japanese Alliance and required Japan, the USA, Britain, and France to respect each other's territories.

Nine-Power Treaty (1922)

Treaty resulting from the Washington Conference. It was 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.

Washington Naval Conference 1921-22

US president Harding invited delegates from Europe and Japan, who agreed to limit the production of war ships, to not attack each other's possessions, and to respect China's independence.

London Naval Conference 1930

The U.S., Great Britain, and Japan agreed on a fixed number of cruisers, destroyers, and submarines, altering the agreements made in Washington. The Great Depression worried delegates about the economic liability of an arms race.

Zaibatsu

Large conglomerate corporations through which key elite families exerted a great deal of political and economic power in Imperial Japan. By WWII, four of them controlled most of the economy of Japan.

Imperial Way Faction (Kodo-ha)

This was a faction composed of radical members of the army and some civilian sympathizers. They wanted to eliminate the influence of party politicians, zaibatsu and status quo-minded senior statesmen and court figures. The stressed the importance of spiritual education and loyalty to the emperor as foundations of national strength.

Control Faction (Tosei-ha)

This was a faction comprising mostly more senior army officers, including General Tojo. They wanted to mobilize Japanese society for what they expected to be an impending war with the West. They rejected the terrorist violence of their rival faction and sought to control the state by legal means and through cooperation with existing elites.

Hirohito

Emperor of Japan

Genros

Any of a group of elder male politicians of Japan who were formerly advisers to the emperor.

Kwantung Army

The Japanese army posted in Manchuria to guard the South Manchurian Railway and other Japanese interests. It increasingly acted without authorization from the government.

Manchurian Incident (1931)

A bomb destroyed the Japanese railway near the city of Mukden. The Japanese Kwantung Army guarding the railway, who staged the incident, used the destruction as a pretext to occupy Manchuria.

Manchukuo

In 1932 Japan established this puppet state in their conquered territories of Manchuria. It was led by the former Chinese emperor, Puyi.

Lytton Report (1932)

A report published by the League of Nations which condemned Japan for aggression and called for the return of Manchuria to China; however, the League was unable to enforce this.

Stimson Doctrine (1932)

U.S. policy calling for the non-recognition of international territorial changes that were executed by force.

Open Door Policy

A policy proposed by the US in 1899, under which ALL nations would have equal opportunities to trade in China.

Anti-Comintern Pact (1936)

A treaty between Germany and Japan promising a common front against communism (and the geo-political threat from the Soviet Union). Signed by Italy in 1937.

Marco Polo Bridge Incident (1937)

A clash between Japanese and Chinese troops in the outskirts of Beijing. The Japanese government used this as an excuse to occupy Beijing. When Chiang Kai Shek refused to give way, full-scale war broke out between China and Japan.

USS Panay Incident (1937)

Japanese aircraft sank an American gunboat on the Yangtze River in China. This strained U.S-Japanese relations and pushed the U.S further away from isolationism despite an official Japanese apology.

Tripartite Pact (1940)

Italy, Germany and Japan pledged to help the others in the event of an attack by a nation not already in the war (namely, the US). This solidified the military alliance of the Axis powers.

French Indochina

Chinese forces received supplies through this region, but it was taken by Japan in 1940 after permission from the Vichy government. This resulted in the USA freezing Japanese assets, putting an embargo on oil, and granting financial aid to China.

Oil Embargo on Japan

Roosevelt banned the sale of oil to Japan in response to Japanese incursions into French Indochina. This prompted the Japanese to plan an attack at Pearl Harbor.

Dutch East Indies

Colony controlled by the Dutch East India company where resources like rubber, and more importantly, oil, could be found. Japan planned to annex this territory but knew it would draw the ire of the USA. Thus the attack on Pearl Harbor was deemed necessary.

Hull Note

The final proposal delivered to Japan by the United States before their attack on the US and the declaration of war between the two nations. The note was delivered on November 26, 1941 and it demanded that Japan abandon its alliance with Nazi Germany and stop its expansion efforts in Asia.

Pearl Harbor, 1941

The Japanese launched an attack against the United States on the naval base in Hawaii on Dec. 7, 1941 (a "day that will live in infamy" according to the famous words of FDR). The United States abandoned its policy of isolationism and entered WWII by declaring war on Japan the following day.

Semi-isolation

A policy of having limited involvement in international diplomacy. The USA in the 1920s and 30s was a notable example of this.

Admiral Yamamoto

Japanese admiral who planned the attack on Pearl Harbor.

General Tojo

Japanese general and prime minister during much of World War II

Lend-Lease Act

Allowed the US to provide Allied nations with resources without officially joining World War II

Motivations for bombing Pearl Harbor

Attacking America by surprise because it was a strategy that worked with China, oil embargo from the US on Japan