Move to Global War - 1.2. Japanese expansion in South-east Asia
Between 1931 and 1941, Japan’s foreign policy continued to be defined by the growth of nationalism and the growing power of the military.
This led to intervention in China,
a deteriorating relationship with the West and,
ultimately, to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941.
Militarism and nationalism were popular with the Japanese.
This was boosted by success in wars against China and Russia.
The people saw Japan as the destined leader of Asia.
By the 1930s, Japan was fully modernized.
The military had the upper hand because of political instability in Japan.
China was weakened.
The Nationalist Party in China, called the Guomindang, led by Jiang Jieshi, began a campaign of national unification.
He called to the end of unequal treaties that China had been forced to sign.
The Communist Party, led by Mao Zedong, also had influence.
They had initially united with Jieshi to consolidate the central government and take power from the warlords.
This was called the Northern Expedition.
Warlords: local or regional military leaders that had their own armies. They would rule areas of China as their own territories. Rivalries and competition between warlords meant that at times they were at war with each other
Then both parties clashed in a civil war.
This forced Jieshi to focus on the communists instead of Japan.
The Northern Expedition was worrisome for Japan.
The warlord they had backed in Manchuria, Zhang, was growing powerful and wanted to expand his territory.
If Zhang was defeated by Jiang, it would hurt Japan's interests.
Japan wanted to use the Kwantung Army to force the warlord to retreat, and let Jiang have the rest of China.
Kwantung Army: Since 1906, the southern Manchurian railway had been guarded by the Kwantung garrison, which in 1919 developed into the Kwantung Army. The Kwantung Army became a stronghold of the radical Kodo-ha or “Imperial Way” faction, with many of its leaders advocating the violent overthrow of the civilian government to bring about a military dictatorship (see page 39). They also advocated a more aggressive and expansionist foreign policy.
But the Kwantung didn't agree with Japan. They halted the Northern Expedition and assassinated Zhang.
The Japanese emperor told his prime minister to punish the army, but he was unable to, so he resigned.
This proved the army could ignore Japan's government.
The next Japanese prime minister was assassinated because he mishandled funds to the civil and military sector, and halted Japan's naval growth.
The Great Depression called into question the whole international order, including the reliability of the USA and Japan's Parliament.
Japan depended on world trade, and its exports fell drastically.
The worst-hit sector was the silk industry.
Unemployment rose to 3 million.
Because of this crisis, Manchuria was even more important to Japan.
Manchuria was attractive because
Security, as a buffer to Russia
Raw materials, such as coal, iron, and timber
Living space for Japan's growing population
Markets, to help withstand the impact of the global depression
Zhang's son allied with Jiang, proving that it would be difficult to obtain Manchuria.
The Chinese rallied behind anti-Japanese propaganda.
The Japanese government wanted to obtain it through peace, but the Kwantung did not agree.
So the Kwantung acted on its own.
On September 18, 1931, there was an explosion on a section of the Japanese-owned South Manchurian Railway.
The Kwantung Army used it as an excuse to attack, claiming the explosion was caused by the Chinese.
But there is evidence that the Kwantung caused it themselves.
The Japanese government ordered them to retreat, but they were high on victory and did not retreat.
To the world, it seemed that the Japanese were deceitful in their claims of peace intent.
This deteriorated relations with the USA and Britain.
The West was also seen as a hypocrite, for only upholding international law when it suited their needs.
The West had colonies, but they wouldn't allow Japan to have colonies.
Admiration within Japan for the military prowess of Nazi Germany grew.
The Russians were a threat to their position in Manchuria.
Concerned by the relationship between the URSS and China, Japan signed the Anti-Comintern Pact with Nazi Germany in 1936.
By 1932, Manchuria was entirely under the control of Japan.
They set up a puppet government under the name of Manchukuo.
Fighting had also broken out between China and Japan in Shanghai.
The Chinese were forced to withdraw.
China's response was to call on the League of Nations.
Jiang wanted to focus on the communists, not the Japanese.
He also didn't try to negotiate with Japan directly.
The Chinese boycotted Japanese products.
This reduced sales in China by two-thirds.
This didn't stop Japan.
Japanese control of Manchuria was accepted in May 1933, in the Treaty of Tanggu.
Then Jiang conceded parts of inner Mongolia and the Hebei province in 1935.
Jiang believed that Japan wouldn't be able to occupy all of China, and that they would become tired.
His strategy was to "sell space to buy time".
Although Japan profited from Manchuria, the high cost of maintaining an army increased taxation back home.
They had to protect their China territory, plus defend themselves from Russia and the US.
Taking Manchuria was a decision taken by the army and not the government.
Monroe Doctrine: a 19th-century US policy, which set out to prevent the European powers from expanding their colonial interests in North or South America.
Japan’s version of the Monroe Doctrine would be a policy limiting European influence in Asia.
There was division not only between the government and the military but also within the military.
This destabilized the political situation in Japan and ultimately led to the descent into the "Dark Valley"
The military was divided into two factions:
Koda-ha (Imperial Way faction):
Wanted a military dictatorship.
Saw the USSR as an enemy, war as inevitable.
Emphasized national spirit over material force.
Tosei-ha (Control faction):
Wanted to look for legal means to get military influence in the government.
Wanted to keep good relations with the USSR.
Wanted to modernize the army to conquer China.
As part of this internal contest for power, three major assassination plots destabilized the government between 1932 and 1936.
The Tosei-ha leader was assassinated by the Kodo-ha.
The assassin was tried and executed.
In response, the Kodo-ha attempted a revolt, but they lost.
The result was that the Kodo-ha were discredited, so the Tosei-ha took control of the army and the government.
Year | Prime Minister | Highlights |
|---|---|---|
1931 | Wakatsuki | Party Cabinet; undermined by the Kwantung Army taking over Manchuria |
1931-1932 | Inukai | Party Cabinet; assassinated in 1932 |
1932-1934 | Admiral Saito | Moderate admirals; power struggle between Tosei-ha and Kodo-ha factions, which resulted in the supremacy of the Tosei-ha and paved the way for more military control over government |
1936-1937 | Hirota Koki & General Hayashi | Growing militarism; concessions to the army |
1937-1939 | Prince Konoe & Baron Hiranuma | Unable to control the military; war with China starts |
1939-1940 | General Abbe | Japanese expansion in China and South-East Asia |
1940 | Admiral Yonai | Tripartite Pact |
1940-1941 | Prince Konoe | Diplomatic activity with the USA; fails to control militarists |
1941 | General Tojo | Attack on Pearl Harbor |
It broke out on July 7, 1937 at the Marco Polo Bridge near Beijing.
In contrast to Manchuria, this wasn't caused by Japan.
The government couldn't contain the military.
By the end of July, the Japanese had taken Beijing.
The refugees fleeing Beijing amounted to the largest human exodus in history.
Japan was fighting a war on two fronts because they were engaged in the north and the south.
Nanjing fell to the Japanese on 13 December, and during the days that followed, Chinese soldiers and civilians were subjected to appalling atrocities.
The female rape victims, many of whom died after repeated assaults, were estimated by foreign observers at 30,000; the fugitive soldiers killed were estimated at 30,000; murdered civilians at 12,000.
Robbery, wanton destruction, and arson left much of the city in ruins.
The Japanese didn't want a war with the Chinese, they were preparing for one with the Russians.
But the Marco Polo incident couldn't be contained.
They hoped that China would quickly accept Japanese leadership.
This view underestimated Chinese nationalism and outrage of the Rape of Nanjing.
The Chinese refused to agree terms for peace.
Japanese lines became vulnerable to guerrilla attacks.
There were two centers for Chinese resistance: Chongqing under Jiang Jieshi, and another under Mao Zedong.
Prince Konoe announced a new cooperation between China, Japan, and Manchuko.
Jiang Jieshi refused.
This war set the stage for the triumph of Communism in China.
The militarists take control
Prince Konoye returned as prime minister in 1940.
But he couldn't take power away from the military.
The impact of the war in Europe
With Hitler's victories in Europe, the military was drawn to conquer Europe's colonies.
They sent troops to Indo-China.
In September 1940, the Japanese signed the Tripartite Axis Pact
This decided that Germany and Italy would take Europe, and Japan would keep East Asia.
They also signed a Neutrality Pact with the Soviet Union to protect its border.
The URSS could also focus its forces in Europe.
When the Japanese took Indo-China, which allowed them to threaten other colonies, the USA and Britain froze Japanese assets.
They also aided Jiang in China.
The economic embargo placed as a result of the Indo-China conquer had fatal consequences for Japan.
So they needed other colonies to get supplies to keep the war in China.
But opinions on continuing the war were divided.
The USA wanted Japan to respect the territory of its neighbors and maintain an open-door trade policy.
Japan could not agree to this, despite attempts to negotiate.
While negotiations were ongoing, the military made alternate plans.
"In the event that there is no prospect of our demands being met by the first ten days of October … we will immediately decide to commence hostilities against the United States, Britain and the Netherlands."
On 7 December 1941, Japanese bombers attacked US ships and installations at Pearl Harbor in an attempt to destroy the US Pacific fleet.
If successful this would have rendered the USA temporarily helpless to resist Japanese expansion.
The attack on Pearl Harbor did incur huge losses for the USA, with 90% of the mid-Pacific air and sea power either destroyed or badly damaged.
However, the Japanese had not destroyed the US aircraft carrier capability.
The duplicitous nature of conducting negotiations in the USA while simultaneously sending an attack fleet across the Pacific was as seen as deceitful.
Some historians argue Roosevelt provoked Japan into attack.
While Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, they also attacked Hong Kong and Singapore.
The next day, they attacked the Dutch East Indies, the Philippines, and Malaya.
By the end of December, they had control of Guam, Hong Kong, and Wake Island.
They'd also sunk two important British ships.
Between 1931 and 1941, Japan’s foreign policy continued to be defined by the growth of nationalism and the growing power of the military.
This led to intervention in China,
a deteriorating relationship with the West and,
ultimately, to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941.
Militarism and nationalism were popular with the Japanese.
This was boosted by success in wars against China and Russia.
The people saw Japan as the destined leader of Asia.
By the 1930s, Japan was fully modernized.
The military had the upper hand because of political instability in Japan.
China was weakened.
The Nationalist Party in China, called the Guomindang, led by Jiang Jieshi, began a campaign of national unification.
He called to the end of unequal treaties that China had been forced to sign.
The Communist Party, led by Mao Zedong, also had influence.
They had initially united with Jieshi to consolidate the central government and take power from the warlords.
This was called the Northern Expedition.
Warlords: local or regional military leaders that had their own armies. They would rule areas of China as their own territories. Rivalries and competition between warlords meant that at times they were at war with each other
Then both parties clashed in a civil war.
This forced Jieshi to focus on the communists instead of Japan.
The Northern Expedition was worrisome for Japan.
The warlord they had backed in Manchuria, Zhang, was growing powerful and wanted to expand his territory.
If Zhang was defeated by Jiang, it would hurt Japan's interests.
Japan wanted to use the Kwantung Army to force the warlord to retreat, and let Jiang have the rest of China.
Kwantung Army: Since 1906, the southern Manchurian railway had been guarded by the Kwantung garrison, which in 1919 developed into the Kwantung Army. The Kwantung Army became a stronghold of the radical Kodo-ha or “Imperial Way” faction, with many of its leaders advocating the violent overthrow of the civilian government to bring about a military dictatorship (see page 39). They also advocated a more aggressive and expansionist foreign policy.
But the Kwantung didn't agree with Japan. They halted the Northern Expedition and assassinated Zhang.
The Japanese emperor told his prime minister to punish the army, but he was unable to, so he resigned.
This proved the army could ignore Japan's government.
The next Japanese prime minister was assassinated because he mishandled funds to the civil and military sector, and halted Japan's naval growth.
The Great Depression called into question the whole international order, including the reliability of the USA and Japan's Parliament.
Japan depended on world trade, and its exports fell drastically.
The worst-hit sector was the silk industry.
Unemployment rose to 3 million.
Because of this crisis, Manchuria was even more important to Japan.
Manchuria was attractive because
Security, as a buffer to Russia
Raw materials, such as coal, iron, and timber
Living space for Japan's growing population
Markets, to help withstand the impact of the global depression
Zhang's son allied with Jiang, proving that it would be difficult to obtain Manchuria.
The Chinese rallied behind anti-Japanese propaganda.
The Japanese government wanted to obtain it through peace, but the Kwantung did not agree.
So the Kwantung acted on its own.
On September 18, 1931, there was an explosion on a section of the Japanese-owned South Manchurian Railway.
The Kwantung Army used it as an excuse to attack, claiming the explosion was caused by the Chinese.
But there is evidence that the Kwantung caused it themselves.
The Japanese government ordered them to retreat, but they were high on victory and did not retreat.
To the world, it seemed that the Japanese were deceitful in their claims of peace intent.
This deteriorated relations with the USA and Britain.
The West was also seen as a hypocrite, for only upholding international law when it suited their needs.
The West had colonies, but they wouldn't allow Japan to have colonies.
Admiration within Japan for the military prowess of Nazi Germany grew.
The Russians were a threat to their position in Manchuria.
Concerned by the relationship between the URSS and China, Japan signed the Anti-Comintern Pact with Nazi Germany in 1936.
By 1932, Manchuria was entirely under the control of Japan.
They set up a puppet government under the name of Manchukuo.
Fighting had also broken out between China and Japan in Shanghai.
The Chinese were forced to withdraw.
China's response was to call on the League of Nations.
Jiang wanted to focus on the communists, not the Japanese.
He also didn't try to negotiate with Japan directly.
The Chinese boycotted Japanese products.
This reduced sales in China by two-thirds.
This didn't stop Japan.
Japanese control of Manchuria was accepted in May 1933, in the Treaty of Tanggu.
Then Jiang conceded parts of inner Mongolia and the Hebei province in 1935.
Jiang believed that Japan wouldn't be able to occupy all of China, and that they would become tired.
His strategy was to "sell space to buy time".
Although Japan profited from Manchuria, the high cost of maintaining an army increased taxation back home.
They had to protect their China territory, plus defend themselves from Russia and the US.
Taking Manchuria was a decision taken by the army and not the government.
Monroe Doctrine: a 19th-century US policy, which set out to prevent the European powers from expanding their colonial interests in North or South America.
Japan’s version of the Monroe Doctrine would be a policy limiting European influence in Asia.
There was division not only between the government and the military but also within the military.
This destabilized the political situation in Japan and ultimately led to the descent into the "Dark Valley"
The military was divided into two factions:
Koda-ha (Imperial Way faction):
Wanted a military dictatorship.
Saw the USSR as an enemy, war as inevitable.
Emphasized national spirit over material force.
Tosei-ha (Control faction):
Wanted to look for legal means to get military influence in the government.
Wanted to keep good relations with the USSR.
Wanted to modernize the army to conquer China.
As part of this internal contest for power, three major assassination plots destabilized the government between 1932 and 1936.
The Tosei-ha leader was assassinated by the Kodo-ha.
The assassin was tried and executed.
In response, the Kodo-ha attempted a revolt, but they lost.
The result was that the Kodo-ha were discredited, so the Tosei-ha took control of the army and the government.
Year | Prime Minister | Highlights |
|---|---|---|
1931 | Wakatsuki | Party Cabinet; undermined by the Kwantung Army taking over Manchuria |
1931-1932 | Inukai | Party Cabinet; assassinated in 1932 |
1932-1934 | Admiral Saito | Moderate admirals; power struggle between Tosei-ha and Kodo-ha factions, which resulted in the supremacy of the Tosei-ha and paved the way for more military control over government |
1936-1937 | Hirota Koki & General Hayashi | Growing militarism; concessions to the army |
1937-1939 | Prince Konoe & Baron Hiranuma | Unable to control the military; war with China starts |
1939-1940 | General Abbe | Japanese expansion in China and South-East Asia |
1940 | Admiral Yonai | Tripartite Pact |
1940-1941 | Prince Konoe | Diplomatic activity with the USA; fails to control militarists |
1941 | General Tojo | Attack on Pearl Harbor |
It broke out on July 7, 1937 at the Marco Polo Bridge near Beijing.
In contrast to Manchuria, this wasn't caused by Japan.
The government couldn't contain the military.
By the end of July, the Japanese had taken Beijing.
The refugees fleeing Beijing amounted to the largest human exodus in history.
Japan was fighting a war on two fronts because they were engaged in the north and the south.
Nanjing fell to the Japanese on 13 December, and during the days that followed, Chinese soldiers and civilians were subjected to appalling atrocities.
The female rape victims, many of whom died after repeated assaults, were estimated by foreign observers at 30,000; the fugitive soldiers killed were estimated at 30,000; murdered civilians at 12,000.
Robbery, wanton destruction, and arson left much of the city in ruins.
The Japanese didn't want a war with the Chinese, they were preparing for one with the Russians.
But the Marco Polo incident couldn't be contained.
They hoped that China would quickly accept Japanese leadership.
This view underestimated Chinese nationalism and outrage of the Rape of Nanjing.
The Chinese refused to agree terms for peace.
Japanese lines became vulnerable to guerrilla attacks.
There were two centers for Chinese resistance: Chongqing under Jiang Jieshi, and another under Mao Zedong.
Prince Konoe announced a new cooperation between China, Japan, and Manchuko.
Jiang Jieshi refused.
This war set the stage for the triumph of Communism in China.
The militarists take control
Prince Konoye returned as prime minister in 1940.
But he couldn't take power away from the military.
The impact of the war in Europe
With Hitler's victories in Europe, the military was drawn to conquer Europe's colonies.
They sent troops to Indo-China.
In September 1940, the Japanese signed the Tripartite Axis Pact
This decided that Germany and Italy would take Europe, and Japan would keep East Asia.
They also signed a Neutrality Pact with the Soviet Union to protect its border.
The URSS could also focus its forces in Europe.
When the Japanese took Indo-China, which allowed them to threaten other colonies, the USA and Britain froze Japanese assets.
They also aided Jiang in China.
The economic embargo placed as a result of the Indo-China conquer had fatal consequences for Japan.
So they needed other colonies to get supplies to keep the war in China.
But opinions on continuing the war were divided.
The USA wanted Japan to respect the territory of its neighbors and maintain an open-door trade policy.
Japan could not agree to this, despite attempts to negotiate.
While negotiations were ongoing, the military made alternate plans.
"In the event that there is no prospect of our demands being met by the first ten days of October … we will immediately decide to commence hostilities against the United States, Britain and the Netherlands."
On 7 December 1941, Japanese bombers attacked US ships and installations at Pearl Harbor in an attempt to destroy the US Pacific fleet.
If successful this would have rendered the USA temporarily helpless to resist Japanese expansion.
The attack on Pearl Harbor did incur huge losses for the USA, with 90% of the mid-Pacific air and sea power either destroyed or badly damaged.
However, the Japanese had not destroyed the US aircraft carrier capability.
The duplicitous nature of conducting negotiations in the USA while simultaneously sending an attack fleet across the Pacific was as seen as deceitful.
Some historians argue Roosevelt provoked Japan into attack.
While Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, they also attacked Hong Kong and Singapore.
The next day, they attacked the Dutch East Indies, the Philippines, and Malaya.
By the end of December, they had control of Guam, Hong Kong, and Wake Island.
They'd also sunk two important British ships.
