Road to WWII in Asia - Comprehensive Notes

May 16, 2025

  • Turn-In: Nothing today
  • Take out:
    • Unit #6 Student Guide (yellow)
    • 838-840 Sp TB Handout (white)
    • Japan's Actions Handout (yellow)
    • Place to take WWII Notes
  • Agenda:
    • Road to WWII in Asia ~ Part I (the part we missed at the end of last unit) will cover the war in a 5-part series over the coming weeks.
  • Objectives:
    • Explore what happened when the Axis Powers had the chance to rule most of Europe and much of Asia.
    • Examine how & why the war unfolded in the manner it did, & what resulted in the various successes & failures.
  • Upcoming Dates:
    • 5. 19: Spielvogel 838-840
    • 5. 23: Who's Who Axis & Allies
    • 5. 27: Spielvogel 855-861
    • 6. 5: WWII Battles Presentations
    • 6. 9: US Massacre at Dachau CR
    • 6. 13: Unit #6 Exam
    • 6. 20 or 6.23: Semester 2 Block Finals

World War II: Part I

  • 5 Part Lecture Series that will take us through a broad understanding of the war
  • In this part the road to war in Asia ~ which many will consider the first battles of World War II

WWII Overview

  • Broad overview of WWII - 5 parts
    • Part I ~ Asia Origins
    • Part II ~ Axis domination
    • Part III ~ Homefront & Resistance (not chronological)
    • Part IV ~ Turning point of the war
    • Part V ~ End of the war

World War II Deaths

  • World War 2 is the deadliest conflict in human history.
  • It directly caused over 70 million deaths.
  • Geographically it was the most widespread war, with major land combat on 4 continents.
  • Colored in black is axis controlled territory in September 1942.
  • Deaths in every theater of war:
    • AMERICAN THEATER: LESS THAN 100 DEATHS
    • ATLANTIC OCEAN THEATER: 80,000 DEATHS
    • AFRICAN THEATER: 5,000 DEATHS
    • INDIAN OCEAN THEATER: 20,000 DEATHS
    • PACIFIC THEATER: 30,000,000 DEATHS

China in the 20th Century

  • What role does China play in the global and Asian sphere in the 20th century?

Century of Humiliation

  • Treaty of Nanjing:
    • Opium War & Treaty of Nanjing
    • Taiping Rebellion
    • Boxer Rebellion
    • End of Qing Dynasty
    • Republic….

China: Spheres of Influence and Treaty Ports, c. 1900

  • Spheres of influence: territory is not a colony but is under political and economic control/ exploitation of foreign powers
  • Concessions (in China): small enclaves within major Chinese cities that were governed & occupied by foreigners

China: 1900-1940’s

  • Xinhai Revolution, 1911
    • Failing Qing Dynasty is overthrown by Pro-democracy & New Republic
    • Sun Yat-Sun, the “father of modern China”, President
  • 1912-1949: Warlord Era
    • Army General rises to power, tries to establish himself as a new emperor
    • Republic fragments with his death
  • The Republican gov’t is weak; Communist Party is rising
    • The communist movement is purged from Shanghai in 1927
    • Civil War between the Gov’t and Communist party begins
  • China is fractured by this infighting; Japan is hungry for resources

The Establishment of Chinese Communist Party & the First United Front

  • Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was formed in 1921
  • 1924: The First United Front
    • Alliance made between the KMT and the CCP to end warlordism in China
    • KMT & CCP together formed the National Revolutionary Army and set out on the Northern Expedition (1927)
    • KMT & CCP both had their own goals for this alliance

Japan and the Rise of the Military

  • Share what is going on in Japan in the 1920's & first two - three years of the 1930s.

Contextual Issues

  • Pseudo-colonization of China
  • Threats of unequal treaties
  • Unstable democracy
  • Independent military
  • Limited resources and weakened economy
  • Rising nationalism and militarism

Pseudo-colonization of China

  • Forced spheres of influence created fears of similar foreign influence in Japan
  • Growing unification of China presents threat to Japanese interests
  • Repeated conflicts over Manchuria

Threats of Unequal Treaties

  • Trade barriers enforced by Great Depression
  • Unpopular reduction in military forces under foreign treaties and League of Nations

Japanese Political Instability and Militarism - Context

  • Japanese government wanted to use Kwantung Army (Japanese Army stationed in Manchuria to protect Japanese leased land and the railroad) to force Zhang back to Manchuria.
  • Instead, without any orders, some Kwantung Army leaders military engaged Chinese army and assassinated their leader in 1928
  • This will establish an unstable political conflict between the government and the military in Japan that will remain throughout WWII.
  • Emperor Hirohito ordered Prime Minister Tanaka to discipline the army but he resisted the order worried it would weaken the prestige of the army. Instead, he was forced to resign.
  • The next PM, Hamaguchi Yuko, was elected upon the promise to end corruption, establish good relations with China, and disarmament. All of this enraged the military.
  • When Hamaguchi cut military salaries due to the Great Depression and then agreed to decisions made at London Naval Disarmament conference to limit naval growth, his military opposition exploded
  • He was assassinated by a right wing radical in 1931.

Unstable Democracy

  • New emperor in 1931
  • Assassination attempts
  • Assassination of Prime Minister by military extremists

Independent Military

  • Separately appointed staff with equal power to war ministry
  • Reported directly to emperor
  • Ministry appointments granted undue influence over civilian governments

Japanese Domestic Unrest after 1932

  • Two main groups/factions developed within the military
    • Imperial Way Faction – Koda-ha
      • Radical
      • Believed in military dictatorship that would deliver state socialism
      • Soviet Union seen as main enemy
      • War with USSR seen as inevitable
      • “Strike North” – expand into Siberia and beyond
      • Conquest of Manchuria necessary
      • National spirit over material force
    • Control Faction – Tosei-Ha
      • Moderate
      • Against terrorism to remove the government
      • Wanted good relations with USSR
      • Objective - they supported conquest in China, but that required modernization of army and military

Limited Resources And Weakening Economy

  • Japan was small
  • Increased expansionism focused attention on Manchuria
  • Manchurian incident would lead to invasion and takeover of region
  • Condemnation would lead to withdrawal from League of Nations
  • Great Depression and foreign tariffs tank silk trade
  • Divide between cities and rural areas

Manchurian Incident Context

  • Expansion to Manchuria became the ‘lifeline’ and ‘our only means of survival’ according to Japanese foreign minister.
    • Manchuria was over four times the size of Japan, had low population and abundance of natural resources
  • Kwantung army wanted to take over Manchuria entirely.
    • Despite the Emperor’s attempt to stop the Kwantung army plan to arrange a reason for takeover, they went through with their plan.

Manchurian Incident (Mukden Incident) 1931

  • On September 18, 1931, a bomb exploded on the South Manchurian Railway (Japanese owned) outside the largest city of Manchuria, Mukden.
  • It was a minor incident – it did not even prevent trains from passing
  • The Kwantung army claimed that Chinese blew up the railway and attacked Chinese forces in Manchuria and moved to occupy all of Manchuria.
  • There is relative consensus that this was a false flag attack by the Kwantung.
  • This was not approved by any government organization
  • Hirohito and new PM Wakatsuki’s government, ordered a stop to Kwantung’s expansion into China, but Kwantung army did not follow orders from Tokyo, and expanded further.
  • Japan established the state of Manchukuo, a puppet state

League of Nation’s Response

  • Difficult situation: both China & Japan members of the League
  • Britain & France – most powerful members of the League- had colonies in Asia
  • Most notable was French Indochina that led France to want a weaker China so as not to threaten their hold.
  • Japan claimed initial military actions were to protect their interests & investments from attacks by “bandits”
  • It was clear this wasn’t true and didn’t justify expanded military expedition
  • Japan actually was the one to suggest Commission of Inquiry
  • They clearly had a plan to get favorable findings

The Lytton Commission

  • The Lytton Commission was headed by the 2nd Earl of Lytton of the UK and included members from the US, Germany, Italy, and France.
  • US had a member observing the LoN Council meeting about the Chinese complaint, and subsequently was asked to be on the commission, despite the fact that the US was not a member of the LoN
  • The group spent six weeks in Manchuria in spring 1932 investigating the “incident”.
  • Japan continued to expand their holdings during the commission and actually declared the state of Manchukuo while the commission was there.

Who's Who Axis & Allies

  • Please complete, by hand, PAGE 1 of each Who's Who handouts ~ electronic files on Canvas in case you misplace
  • You are REQUIRED to use the following SHS Databases as the source of all of your information (NOT A.I. or the general internet as it will give you TOO MUCH information that you do not need to know for this class):
  • First use: "Biography in Context" > "Encyclopedia of World Biography Online" ~ see me if having any issues finding this source
  • If you can't find them or there isn't much information, THEN go to: ABC-CLIO: World History The Modern Era AND USE THE FIRST ENTRY in the search OPTIONAL ~ Then, if you would like, complete page 2 for both for a few extra credit points in both Language Arts and Social Studies (up to 5 depending on how much you do ~ half a point for each figure on page two that is FULLY completed).
  • Again, use only the sources in the order described above and it is due the same day as page 1 ~ no late assignments will qualify for extra credit.
  • Note ~ This is the ONLY extra credit opportunity for this semester.

The Lytton Report

  • Issued 1 year after “incident”
    1. Japan did have valid interests in Manchuria– but the use of the army was unjustified
      Report completely ignores the actual “incident” and just states that China was responsible Japanese actions seen as “not self-defense”
    2. China was partially to blame due to anti-Japanese propaganda and boycotting of Japanese goods.
    3. Japan should give up territory and withdraw
    4. Manchukuo was not a state
    5. Manchuria should become independent under Chinese sovereignty

Japanese Response & Implications

  • Japan gave formal notice of its withdrawal from the League of Nations on March 27, 1933.
  • They then ignored the whole of the Lytton Report and claimed Britain and France were hypocrites for issuing it.
  • They also claimed racial prejudice influenced the report.
  • The League did nothing in response.
  • This contextually set the stage for German and Italian expansion, as well.
  • Kenneth Pyle, a historian, said Manchurian crisis was turning pt. for Japan
  • It led to Japanese isolation because Japan abandoned Washington Treaty System
  • Japan perceived West holding back the legitimate needs of Japan for racist reasons.
  • Japan benefited economically from the occupation of Manchuria
  • Cost of sending troops to China was high, which forced them to increase taxes, which lessened public support for government.
  • Following the Manchurian crisis, there was little hope that Japanese government would gain upper hand in controlling the military, and there was a huge public support for the Kwantung Army’s actions in China.

Rising Nationalism and Militarism

  • Growing problems come to a head with assassination of Prime Minister
  • Military takes advantage of situation
  • Repeated attempts at military coup
  • Manchurian incident mostly independent military action
  • Invasion of China
  • Rape of Nanking

Domestic Unrest

  • As part of this struggle for power within the Japanese military, assassination plots destabilized the government between 1932 and 1936
  • In May of 1932, army and navy officers attacked banks, party offices and the police headquarters in Tokyo. They assassinated Prime Minister Inukai Tsuyoshi in what became known just as the May 15 Incident.
  • The trials of conspirators showed that there was wide public support for their actions
  • This public support only emboldened the military
  • For the next 4 years, the government was ran by Admirals favoring one military faction or the other, but not keeping either in check.
  • In February 1936, 1500 Koda-ha officers marched into Tokyo, took over the parliament buildings, police headquarters and Prime Minister’s residence and brutally murdered many officers.
  • Martial law was proclaimed and the plotters surrendered after emperor stated he would not support the coup d'état
  • Tosei-Ha emerge as dominant faction
  • Japanese political leaders became wary of opposing the military, so although the coup did not succeed in establishing a military state, the result of the attempted coup was to greatly increase army influence over the government.

Military Take-Over

  • Hirota Koki became PM after the attempted coup
  • He was weak, and made many compromises with the military
  • In May 1936 he agreed ministers of army and navy have to be serving officers, and gave most PM decision making powers to the military
  • He also signed Anti-Comintern Pact with Hitler in November
    • If attacked by USSR, Germany and Japan will consult each other for protection.
    • Japanese became “Honorary Aryans”
  • Japanese parliament (Diet) alarmed & removed Hirota “in order to restrain the army”.
  • Not necessarily because the Diet was against expansion.
  • It became apparent that the Diet was divided with strong Tosei-Ha ties, and the subsequent leaders the Diet placed could not stop the power of the Tosei-Ha.
  • In July 1937, Tosei-Ha General Tojo Hideki, became chief of staff of Kwantung Army, and he ordered the invasion of China without any approval of the Japanese PM or Diet.
  • Historically debated as to whether PM Prince Konoye even wanted to restrain Tojo.

2nd Sino Japanese War

  • The Battle of Shanghai during the war is considered by some historians to be the first battle of WWII
  • August 1937: Japanese forces invade Shanghai
  • Brutal Fighting ~ Japanese start the view that ALL Chinese are COMBATANTS
  • Japanese victory allowed them to launch an attack on China from the north (Manchuria) and Southern Coast(Shanghai)
  • Japanese forces advance on Nanking (the capital)
  • High point of Chinese Nationalism

Nanjing Massacre

  • Also called “the Rape of Nanjing”
  • Dec 1937- Jan 1938
  • Rampage through the Capital of China, Nanjing by the Imperial Japanese Army
  • City was indefensible so government & Chinese Army abandoned it as the Japanese approached
  • Deaths estimated between 200,000 – 300,000
  • Mostly Civilians or POW’s
  • Comfort Women
  • Lasting legacy and impact in modern Chinese – Japanese Relations

War in Asia/Pacific

  • 1928 ~ assassination of Zhang
  • 1931 ~ Japanese invasion of Manchuria
  • 1932 ~ Manchuria become Manchukuo
  • 1933 ~ Japan Leaves the LoN
  • 1936 ~ Japan signs anti-Comintern Packet w/ Nazi Germany
  • 1937 ~ 2nd Sino-Japanese War begins in July; 'Rape' of Nanjing
  • 1938 ~ Boarder War with USSR
  • 1941 ~ Japan invades south Indochina & US trade bans start + US assets frozen in July; Japanese attack Pearl Harbor in December

Comparing Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan

  • Similarities:
    • Weakened economy
    • Unstable government
    • Growing nationalism
      • With a populace primed to embrace it
    • Strong military with too much power

Historiography

  • July Crisis Inevitable
  • Summer of 1914 reactions -
    • key figures
    • Great Brit-Splendid Isolation
    • German Expansion
    • Alliance System

WWII ~ Pie Chart o' Blame

  • Who (countries, not leaders)
  • What was to blame for the outbreak of World War II?
    • person's specific actions, concepts, group's actions, etc.
  • In table groups–make a pie chart of blame… putting in what the possible causes and percentages were
  • Then, include specific & relevant SHOWING evidence to support your percentages
  • Add in using sticky notes, text drawing arrows (do what works for your group) and loosely cite
  • Evidence should come from lecture or class readings, BUT do not do any outside research
  • Read the handout
  • Then, on the back side of your pie chart write:
    • Write about which school of historiography your pie chart follows or if it isn't in line with either
    • Write about why you answered what you answered for 2.a.
    • Make sure your name is on the pie chart & submit to Turn-In Box