Japanese Expansion Timeline

1853

1853

Commodore Perry sails into Nagasaki harbour to open trade negotiations with the Japanese emperor

1894

The Sino-Japanese War breaks out over influence in Korea

1895

• Treaty of Shimonoseki marking a shift from Chinese to Japanese regional dominance

• The Triple Intervention by Russia, Germany, and France forces Japan to give up control of Liaodong Peninsula

1902

The Anglo-Japanese Alliance is signed

1904

The Russo-Japanese War breaks out

1915

Japan presents the Twenty-One Demands to China which sought to extend Japanese control of Manchuria and the Chinese economy

1919

• The Paris Peace Conference takes place, Japan lays claim to Shandong province in China and Germany colonies in North Pacific

• Japan proposed the inclusion of a Racial Equality Clause in the covenant of the League of Nations, denied

• The May Fourth Movement breaks out in China in protest against Japanese demands at the Paris Peace Conference

1922

• Five Power Naval Treaty concluded which attempted to limit naval competition between world powers by imposing a 5:5:3 ratio in battleships and aircrafts for Britain, USA, and Japan

• Nine-Power Treaty imposes “Open Door” principles in trade with China

1926

The Northern Expedition is launched by Jiang Jieshi in China and in collaboration with the Chinese Communist Party, the ‘United Front’ succeeded in establishing a new central government in China

1930

Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act in the US raises tariffs on US imports, decimating Japanese exports to US

1931

The Manchurian Incident where a Japanese-planted bomb exploded giving excuse for invasion

1936

• February 26 Incident coup d’etat attempted by faction that wanted Soviet domination

• Anti-Comintern Pact with Germany due to mutual fears of USSR

1937

The Marco Polo Bridge Incident leads to the Japanese invasion of China and the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War

1932

• Stimson Doctrine announced

• The Shanghai Incident occurs as fighting breaks out between Japanese marines and GMD troops

1933

The Tanggu Truce is signed with China which gave Japan control of Jehol province and the Shanhaiguan Pass

the skin

What disease do the Japanese have?

the heart

What disease do the Communists have?

1940

• France falls to Germany after losing the Battle of France

• The US Export Control Act halted the shipment of airplanes, parts, machine tools, and aviation gas to Japan

• Tripartite Pact (Pact of Steel) with Italy and Germany

• The U.S. Export Control Act which also banned iron and scrap metal trade with Japan

1941

• The U.S. Lend-Lease Act launched a program for supplying Britain and other allies with ‘surplus’ armaments in return for bases

• Admiral Yamamoto Isoroku begins planning Pearl Harbor

• U.S. implements a total oil and gas embargo on Japan

• December 7th Pearl Harbor attack