case study of militarist japan

By howlinghorror
  • Period: to

    Emperor Meiji takes control of government; Meiji Period

    • implemented many policies to modernise and catch up with the West
    • did not want to be unstable and vulnerable like China
    • sent academics to the US and Europe to learn how they ran their governments, economies, and armed forces
  • Period: to

    Tokyo's population rose from 600,000 to 2 million

    • many were young people who migrated from the countryside for work

  • Japan becomes a constitutional monarchy

    • Emperor has to rule according to a set of laws
    • shares power with a group of special advisers (appointed elder statesmen) called the Genro, and the democratically elected civilian politicians in the Diet and the military (consisting of the army and the navy)
    • reverence of the Emperor was still encouraged
  • Period: to

    Japan goes to war with China over Korea; achieves victory

  • Period: to

    Japan goes to war with Russia; achieves victory

    • Russia worried Japan was too close to its borders
    • first time an Asian power defeated a major European power

  • Kwantung Army is created

    • created to protect Japan's assets in Manchuria

  • Japan annexes Korea completely and becomes a major power

  • Period: to

    Emperor Meiji dies; Taisho period

    • the new Emperor, Emperor Yoshihito was sickly and too weak to exercise authority over the Japanese government
    • many Genro also left due to old age
    • divisions between the military, court officials and civilian politicians worsened
    • the military started to act on their own because they opposed the internationalist policy and cutting of military budget
    • party politics within the Diet made it difficult to form Cabinets
  • Period: to

    Economic prosperity

    • many European powers were involved in WW1 at the time, thus no competition
  • Period: to

    Rice Riots

    • led by workers who were angered by the sudden increase in prices of commodities, especially rice
    • due to the support of the wealthy zaibatsu and neglect of the poor, pay gap widened

  • Washington Naval Conference

    • signed agreements with Britain, France and the US to limit the total number of warships being built
    • organised by the US who was not a member of the League of Nations
    • Ratio of capital ships by the ton of Britain, the US, Japan, France and Italy: 5:5:3:1.67:1.67

  • The Great Kanto Earthquake

    • devastated much of Tokyo, leading to loss of lives and increased economic hardships

  • Emperor Showa succeeds Emperor Yoshihito

  • Banking Crisis

    • Japan had many small banks that focused on a few borrowers that borrowed large amounts of money, these people tended to be from the same industry
    • after WW1 the industries weren't doing well, and they could not get their loans back, leading to banks not having enough money
    • this created panic and Japan fell into a financial crisis as people tried to withdraw their deposits
    • the collapsed banks led to more losses in savings among the people

  • Assassination of Zhang Zuolin

    • the Kwantung Army assassinated Manchuria's warlord, Zhang Zuolin, in an attempt to replace him with a more cooperative leader
    • they thought they could blame it on ongoing rivalries between the Chinese warlords, and force the government to let them take Manchuria
    • the Emperor criticised this and demanded the Prime Minister discipline them, however the latter had no proper control over the military
  • Period: to

    Japan's economy falls by 20%

    • demand for Japanese exports fell drastically due to the Great Depression
  • Period: to

    Income of farmers fall by average of 43%

    • exports fell, leading to lower income and lower demand for farmers' produce
    • some landowners tried to evict tenant farmers when they couldn't pay rent
    • led to farmers organising unions, holding protest meetings and taking the landowners to court

  • Wall Street Crash

    • US economy crashed, causing demand for exports to fall
    • economy suffers and resentment towards the civilian government grew
  • Period: to

    15-20% of workforce faced loss of jobs

    • businesses collapsed, causing mass unemployment
    • labour laws only entitled 14 days' pay when workers were dismissed
    • protests from the workers sometimes became violent

  • London Naval Conference

    • follow-up to the Washington Naval Conference to review the treaty
    • Japan demands to build more warships
    • forced to back down and reluctantly signed the London Naval Treaty
    • several ministers in the Cabinet refused to agree and were removed
    • the treaty is presented in the press as a form of betrayal by the government

  • Prime Minister Hamaguchi Osachi is shot

  • Principal Industries Control Law is passed

    • made it legal for the zaibatsu to form cartels to limit competition and regulate production and prices (to avoid competition between the zaibatsu and make profits at the expense of the country) later on the government controlled the cartels directly, instead of the zaibatsu

  • Mukden Incident

    • Kwantung Army blew up railway tracks at Mukden, blaming it on the Chinese government, using this as an excuse to take over Manchuria
    • the military supported their actions while the Prime Minister and the civilian government could not do anything
    • was also popular with the Japanese public as it was a solution to their economic problems

  • Campaign for Economic Revitalisation

    • launched by the Ministry of Agriculture, stressing the need to revive the spirit of co-operation in rural areas
    • encouraged farmers to utilise scientific farming methods instead of traditional ones, also received guidance on better managing crops and finances
    • helped to increase income
    • however the government was still more focused on industrialisation

  • Puppet government in Manchukuo is set up

    • in theory Manchukuo was an independent state, but in reality it was a Japanese colony

  • League of Blood murders former Finance Minister

    • one of the ultranationalistic and anti-democratic activist groups
    • included junior military officers that likely had the secret backing senior military commanders
    • also known as the Ketsumeidan, other groups included the Showa Restoration Faction, Cherry Blossom Society (Sakurakai) and the Imperial Way Faction (Kodoha)

  • Prime Minister Inukai Tsuyoshi refuses to officially accept Manchukuo

    • angers extremists with this refusal

  • League of Blood murders head of Mitsui corporation (zaibatsu)

  • May 15 Incident

    • a group of naval officers from the League of Blood and other activists assassinate Prime Minister Inukai Tsuyoshi
    • they also attacked the Mitsubishi Bank, Seiyukai headquarters and several power stations
    • tried to assassinate other government officials as well
    • an attempted coup d'etat, hoping the people would rise up and overthrow the government
    • League of Blood activists were arrested and put on trial, however the military effectively excused their actions and demanded political reforms

  • Navy admiral is appointed as new Prime Minister

  • Electoral purification

    • remove corrupt practices, aka remove individuals and groups that held views unacceptable to the government (communism and socialism)

  • Labour unions fell out of militarist government favour

    • forced thousands of workers to withdraw

  • February 26 Incident

    • young officers in the Imperial Way Faction led an attempt to assassinate key government leaders to restore Japan's glory through the Showa Restoration
    • coup failed and 19 leading figures in the Imperial Way Faction were arrested, tried and executed
    • they lost influence and allowed the Control Faction to seize control of the military
    • Control Faction was able to appoint an active general as the Minister for War, previously would've been a non-military person

  • Formation of Information and Propaganda Committee

    • worked with the Publications Monitoring Department to further control the media and promote their militarist ideas
    • materials that presented the military or the Emperor in a bad light were censored

  • Implementation of network of discussion councils in all workplaces

    • made up of worker and manager representatives
    • workers were told that companies are like families, where every member was equally valuable before the Emperor

  • Publication of Fundamentals of Our National Polity

  • Prince Konoe Fumimaro is appointed Prime Minister

  • Military leads invasion into China

  • Formation of Cabinet Planning Office made of mostly military officers

    • with permission from Fumimaro
    • finances were shifted from the civilian government into the hands of the military

  • Army minister General Tojo Hideki becomes Prime Minister

    • signalled military's total control over the Japanese government