5: Outbreak of World War II in the Asia-Pacific

Introduction: The Road to War in the Asia-Pacific

• The period 1930s saw a cascade of events that moved the Asia-Pacific region toward World War II (WWII), causing devastation in China, Japan, and Southeast Asia.
  • These crises simultaneously undermined the credibility of the League of Nations.
  • Western European powers (Britain, France, Netherlands) and the United States had held extensive colonial and economic interests in Asia since the mid-1800s, particularly coveting China’s “untapped economic potential.”
  • Japan observed China’s military weakness and turned “to the West” for models of modernization and power consolidation.

Emergence of Japan as a Rising Ultranationalist & Expansionist Power

• Desire for Equality with the West
  • The Washington Naval Treaty of 1921 imposed a naval tonnage ratio that forced larger cuts on Japan than on the United States or Britain, which Japanese elites judged “unfair.”
  • National humiliation over such unequal treaties stoked a fierce ultranationalism whose popular base had already applauded the conquest of Korea in 1910("Greater East Asia" rhetoric).
• Ideological Foundations of Ultranationalism
  • Rejection of “selfish Anglo-American individualism.”
  • Promotion of collective duty, sacrifice, domination, and territorial expansion.
  • Narrative: Japan must defend Asia from Western imperialism by creating its own empire.
• Natural & Economic Constraints as Motive Forces
  • Geography: “Most of Japan is covered by high mountains,” leaving minimal arable land for a fast-growing population.
  • Resource scarcity: Lack of domestic iron ore, coal, and many key minerals forced heavy dependence on imported raw materials—chiefly from China.
  • Ultranationalists framed expansion as the only path to acquire the resources necessary for modern military-industrial strength.
• Impact of the Great Depression
  • Global collapse (post-1929) produced “terrible unemployment” and delegitimized civilian parliamentary parties.
  • U.S. Smoot-Hawley-style tariffs in the early 1930s (e.g.
  • 25\% tariff on Japanese electric light bulbs ⇒ direct 25\% price rise in the U.S. market)
    deeply damaged Japan’s export sector.
  • Military leaders used economic misery to argue that democracy had failed and territorial expansion was the only viable solution.

Weakness of the League of Nations

• Manchurian Crisis (1931–1933)
  • Japanese Kwantung Army staged the Mukden Incident, occupied Manchuria, and created the puppet state “Manchukuo.”
  • The League dispatched the Lytton Commission; its 1933 report declared Japan an aggressor and recommended a Chinese restoration of sovereignty.
  • Japan rejected the report and formally withdrew from the League on 27 March 1933.
• Structural Limitations
  • Economic sanctions were toothless without U.S. cooperation (the U.S. was not a member).
  • Britain prioritized maintaining commercial relations with Japan; France feared similar reprisals.
  • Members would not agree to an arms embargo; even the USSR sold its northern Manchurian railway to Japan.
  • Britain & France, preoccupied with European tensions, would not deploy military force; only the U.S. or USSR possessed sufficient capacity, yet both abstained.

Extension of Japanese Influence & Exploitation of Chinese Instability

• Domestic Chinese Fragmentation
  • The death of Guomindang (GMD) founder Sun Yat-sen in 1925 intensified the civil conflict between the GMD and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
  • Continuous warlordism offered Japan multiple entry points for covert or open intervention.
• "Strategy of Provocation"
  • Japanese-aligned warlords stirred local unrest ➔ Chinese authorities appeared incapable of restoring order ➔ Japanese troops “invited” in as peacekeepers, cementing occupancy.
• Psychology of Success
  • The easy conquest of Manchuria validated expansionist doctrines and emboldened the military to pursue deeper penetration into mainland China.

Impact of the European War & Deteriorating Japan–U.S. Relations

• European Distraction = "Golden Opportunity"
  • Outbreak of war in Europe (1939) forced Britain, France, and the Netherlands to prioritize the struggle against Germany, leaving vast Southeast-Asian colonies under-defended.
  • Hitler’s invasion of the USSR in 1941 further absorbed Soviet resources.
  • By 1941 Japan had occupied French Indochina, gaining access to rice, rubber, and potential bases for further moves toward Malaya and the Dutch East Indies.
• Japan’s Strategic Gamble vs. the United States
  • Despite earlier triumphs, Japanese leaders feared the United States’ industrial capacity would eventually overwhelm them if left unchallenged.
  • Tokyo’s calculation: seize a resource-rich empire quickly, fortify it, and present Washington with a “fait accompli.”
  • Culminating action: the bombing of Pearl Harbor on 7\, December\, 1941, intended to cripple the U.S. Pacific Fleet long enough for Japan to consolidate its “Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere.”

Ethical, Philosophical, & Practical Implications

• Ethically, Japan’s ultranationalist ideology justified aggressive war and colonial domination under the veneer of “Asian liberation,” echoing—but also resisting—Western imperialist logics.
• Politically, the failure of collective-security mechanisms (League of Nations) highlighted the necessity for enforceable multilateral commitments (foreshadowing the creation of the United Nations post-1945).
• Practically, the interplay between economic crisis (Great Depression) and militarist policy offers a case study in how domestic poverty and perceived slights foster external aggression.

Numerical & Statistical Highlights (Quick Reference)

• Washington Naval Treaty tonnage ratios: 5 (U.S.) : 5 (U.K.) : 3 (Japan)
• Tariff on Japanese light bulbs: 25\% (raised price by 25\% in U.S. market)
• Key Years: 1910 (Korea annexed); 1921 (Naval Treaty); 1925 (Sun Yat-sen dies); 1931–1933 (Manchurian Crisis); 1939 (European war begins); 1941 (Indochina occupation & Pearl Harbor).

Conceptual Connections & Exam Tips

• Link Japan’s resource scarcity to the broader theme of “imperialism as economic survival,” paralleling German and Italian motives in Europe.
• Compare League of Nations paralysis in Manchuria with its failure in Abyssinia (Ethiopia)—a recurring exam comparison.
• Use the “strategy of provocation” as an illustrative example when asked to distinguish between direct invasion and indirect manipulation.
• Remember chronological causality: Depression ➔ ultranationalist ascendancy ➔ Manchurian success ➔ League impotence ➔ European distraction ➔ U.S. confrontation.