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- 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
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- many were young people who migrated from the countryside for work
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- 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
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- Russia worried Japan was too close to its borders
- first time an Asian power defeated a major European power
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- created to protect Japan's assets in Manchuria
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- 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
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- many European powers were involved in WW1 at the time, thus no competition
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- 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
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- 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
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- devastated much of Tokyo, leading to loss of lives and increased economic hardships
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- 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
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- 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
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- demand for Japanese exports fell drastically due to the Great Depression
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- 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
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- US economy crashed, causing demand for exports to fall
- economy suffers and resentment towards the civilian government grew
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- businesses collapsed, causing mass unemployment
- labour laws only entitled 14 days' pay when workers were dismissed
- protests from the workers sometimes became violent
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- 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
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- 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
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- 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
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- 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
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- in theory Manchukuo was an independent state, but in reality it was a Japanese colony
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- 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)
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- angers extremists with this refusal
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- 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
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- remove corrupt practices, aka remove individuals and groups that held views unacceptable to the government (communism and socialism)
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- forced thousands of workers to withdraw
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- 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
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- 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
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- made up of worker and manager representatives
- workers were told that companies are like families, where every member was equally valuable before the Emperor
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- with permission from Fumimaro
- finances were shifted from the civilian government into the hands of the military
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- signalled military's total control over the Japanese government