Japanese Foreign Policy and Pacific Tensions 1937-1941

Historical Foundations of Japanese Expansionism * Commodore Perry visited Japan in 1853, ending over $200$ years of Isolationism (Sakoku) and initiating Western trade. * The Meiji Restoration ($1868-1912$) transformed Japan into a modern, industrial world power to avoid Western exploitation. * Success in the first Sino-Japanese War ($1894-1895$) and the Russo-Japanese War ($1904-1905$) alarmed world powers. * The Triple Intervention of France, Russia, and Germany in 1895 forced Japan to relinquish the Liaodong Peninsula. * The Treaty of Portsmouth ($1905$) recognized Korea as a Japanese sphere of influence but denied significant gains in Manchuria. * In $1915$, Japan presented the Twenty-One Demands to establish hegemony over China; extreme clauses were dropped due to Western pressure. # Diplomatic and Military Tensions ($1922-1936$) * The $1922$ Washington Naval Conference limited Japan's fleet to a $3:5$ ratio against the U.S. and Britain, restricting aircraft carriers to $81,000$ tons compared to $135,000$ tons for Western powers. * By $1931$, global depression led to a military government favoring forced annexation to secure raw materials like oil and rubber. * Japan withdrew from the Washington Naval Conference restrictions on December $29, 1934$. # The Manchurian Crisis ($1931-1933$) * In September $1931$, the Kwantung Army orchestrated the Mukden Incident by bombing the South Manchurian Railway as a pretext for invasion. * By $1932$, Japan established the puppet state of Manchukuo with Emperor P’u Yi as ruler. * The League of Nations Lytton Commission ($1932$) declared the occupation illegal; Japan subsequently withdrew from the League on March $27, 1933$. * Manchuria provided essential resources ($coal$, $bauxite$, $iron$ $ore$) and served as a buffer against the Soviet Union. # Outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War ($1937-1941$) * Full-scale war began following the Marco Polo Bridge Incident on July $7, 1937$. * The Rape of Nanjing (December $13, 1937$) resulted in $200,000$ to $300,000$ Chinese victims, leading to the Japanese "Three Alls Policy" (Sankō Sakusen): "kill all, burn all, loot all." * Japan aimed to establish the "Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere" to remove Western influence and secure resources. * Strategy shifted toward Southeast Asia to acquire oil from the Dutch East Indies and rubber from British Malaya due to the draining war in China. # U.S. and International Response * The Stimson Doctrine ($1932$) refused recognition of territories seized by force. * Neutrality Acts ($1937$) banned arms and loans to belligerents but included a "cash-and-carry" provision for non-military goods. * The $1937$ Panay incident (Japanese sinking of a U.S. gunboat) ended with a Japanese apology and payment of some $2 million$ in reparations. * U.S. President Roosevelt delivered the "Quarantine Speech" in $1937$ to challenge isolationism. * In $1941$, the U.S. imposed an embargo on steel, scrap iron, and oil, which Japan viewed as a threat to its survival since it had only $6$ months of naval fuel stock. # Escalation to the Pacific War * Japan signed a Neutrality Pact with the Soviet Union on April $13, 1941$, to prevent a two-front war. * Hideki Tojo became Prime Minister in $1941$, steering the country toward unavoidable war with the U.S. * On December $7, 1941$, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto ordered the attack on Pearl Harbor under the code "Climb Mount Niitaka 1208" (Niitakayama Nobore 1208). * Atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima (August $6, 1945$) and Nagasaki (August $9, 1945$) to end the conflict and avoid an invasion of Japan. # Questions & Discussion * Explain the terms and purpose of the Stimson Doctrine and the $1937$ Neutrality Act. * How did the Japanese justify their occupation of Manchuria? * What action was taken by the League of Nations over Manchuria? With what result? * What evidence is there of the USA’s desire to avoid an open conflict with Japan in the $1920s$ and $1930s$? * What was the purpose and significance of Roosevelt’s ‘Quarantine Speech’? * Based on the illustration, what were the causes of conflict between the USA and Japan? Response: Steel, iron and oil embargoes; the oil embargo left Japan with only two years’ supply of oil, forcing a choice to give in to U.S. demands or invade the Dutch East Indies.