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Paris Peace Conference
Japan was recognized as one of the 5 great powers, its chief delegate Saioji Kinmochi sat with Wilson, Lloyd George, Clemenceau and Orlando. In the settlement that emerged from the conference, Japan was awarded control over Germany's former possessions in Chinas Shantung Province and a permanent seat on the council of the LON. -
Japan Proposes the Racial Equality Clause
Japan was the only non-Western great power and proposed the 'racial equality clause' that was supported by Fr/It/Brazil. Britain did not as most of its empire consisted of nonwhite people and countries like the USA had laws against Japanese immigration. Wilson realized it would be more difficult to convince the USA to join the lon with such a clause and rejected it as it needed unanimous agreement. Japan expected more respect as they played a big role in WW1, the LON was now unpopular in Japan -
The Return of Shantung Province
Japanese anger and resentment increased when following an appeal from the Chinese gov (May 4th movement) the peace conference reversed its decision on Shantung giving it back to China. Although through deals with local warlords Japan was technically in control the decision made was interpreted by many as another example of Western powers exerting their dominance on Japan. -
The End of the WW1 Economic Boom
The boom as a result of the war ended as European industry had been revived and was recovering lost markets. The war had artificially boosted the demand/price of Japanese exports leading to the rapid expansion of industrial output. After the war, it was clear the Japanese products were not internationally competitive in terms of quality and price thus Japan began overproducing leading to a fall in prices. -
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Price of Japanese Goods Falls
Between January and December 1920 the price of Japanese cotton fell by 60% and that of silk by 70% many companies went out of business whislt others had to reduce their workforce. Unemployment began to rise and farmeres were hit by falling prices. Attempts by these groups to form political parties were stopped. -
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Washington Naval Conference
Despite the Shantung issue, Japan agreed to limit the size of the Japanese navy to three-fifths the size of the US and British fleets. Historians argue over why Japan abandoned its expansionist policy but it is said that it was forced to it could not win a naval arms race with the USA. Others say that politicians, Japan's US ambassador, realized the benefits such cooperation would bring (security, economic expansion in China) These policies were at odds with Japanese public opinion. -
Japanese Exclusion Act
This act ended further Japanese immigration to the USA, this was extremely unpopular in Japan leading to mass protests and increasing anti-Western opinions. The Japanese were extremely nationalistic and saw this as disrespectful. (political factor ending democracy) -
Japanese Males Allowed to Vote
In spite of elections, the emperor had enormous power and remained commander of the armed forces with the right to dismiss the diet. But Japan was moving towards a political system similar to Western democracies. However political and economic problems emerged in the 1920s and early 30s the democratically elected gov seemed not to be able to handle. -
Steep Economic Depression
Following the Wall Street Crash of 1929 rural areas became impoverished and prone to famine. Japan's economy was reliant on the export of textiles and international demand for this product declined during the depression, as a result, Japanese textile exports fell by 50% between 1929 and 1931. Unemployment rose and poverty spread with most Japanese blaming the gov. -
Chiang Undermines Sino-Japanese Treaties
Since 1928 Chiang's KMT gov had claimed that various treaties between China and Japan were invalid. In some parts of China, Japanese settlers were being expelled without compensation. This is one reason for the attack on Manchuria -
Assasination of the Manchurian Warlord
The Manchurian warlord Chang Tso Lin was threatening Japanese interests in Manchuria thus Chang was assassinated by a Kwantung officer. To the Kwantung army, it seemed that Chinese were trying to reduce Japanese influence over trade and business in Manchuria and this would have been as serious blow the recovering Japanese economy. (cause for Manchurian crisis) -
Creation of the Sakurakai (military group)
The sakurakai (Cherry blossom Society) was created with the aim of ending party politics and restoring the emperor as head of a military dictatorship. Concerned that politicians were dividing rather than uniting the country, many Japanese supported such groups. By the early 1930s Japans trial of democracy was coming to an end -
The Manchurian Crisis
Japan had trade and investment interests in Manchuria that were protected by the Kwantung army. In Sept 1931 the army took control over the whole of Manchuria establishing a puppet state known as Manchukuo. This action was taken without the gov permission and the Prime Ministers' criticism led to his assassination. Emperor HiroHito disaproved of the move but did nothing to stop it, he was afraid his prestige would be reduced among the people if the army ignored him which they were likely to. -
Chinese Events of 1931 (Manchurian crisis)
The events in China provided the perfect opportunity for the invasion of Manchuria as China was preoccupied with the floods and the ongoing civil war between the KMT and CCP. Whilst Europe and the USA were busy dealing with their own problems brought by the depression. (Cause for Manchurian crisis) -
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Strained Sino-Japanese Relations
Under the Boxer Protocol of 1901, Japan and other countries had the right to station troops near Peking to guard important railway lines and communication systems. However it was clear that the number of Japanese troops exceeded those allowed by the protocol, and Japanese attempts to extend economic interests in China led to skirmishes between the opposing troops but these were minor. -
Japan Becomes Military Dictatorship
Following the invasion of Manchuria, it was clear that the already unpopular constitutional gov had lost control of the armed forces. The emperor and his advisers decided the democratically elected could no longer provide Japan with stability, thus emperor Hirohito appointed a National Unity gov under Admiral Makoto Saito and Japan became a military dictatorship. -
Assasination of the Japanese Prime Minister
Before this event, they had been prior attempts from secret society to undermine the authority of the constitutional government by assassinating leading politcians. This all came to a head when Prime Minister Inukai Tsuyoshi was assassinated by a group of 11 young naval officers. At their trial, they stressed their loyalty to the emperor and used the opportunity to criticize the gov. They were let off with lenient sentences further reducing the credibility of the gov. -
Japan Withdraws from the LON
Japan ignored the report from the Lytonn Commission and poured more military resources into the invasion. In anger, the Japanese delegation stormed out of the council and never returned. Japan was now isolated. Lon's weak response led to some leaders calling for further inroads into China. Others thought it would be best to prepare for war from USSR and also had an interest in Manchuria. Japan further rejected arms control, nulling all agreements made at the Washington Naval Conference. -
Japan signs Anti- Comintern Pact
Japan signed the anti-Comintern pact with Germany thus providing a guarantee that the USSR would receive no German assistance if it went to war, this pact was soon signed by Italy in 1937. The pact ensured Japan had some allies, however it increased political tensions. -
The Beginning of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War
It all came to a head with the Marco Polo Bridge incident when Japanese training exercises were misinterpreted by the Chinese as genuine military action. Immediately realizing their mistake China issued an apology but the Japanese gov used this as an excuse to declare war. Well-equipped and organized Japanese groups paired into China and took over major cities like Shanghai forcing China's gov to relocate to W.China. -
Japanese Invasion of Indo- China
When Japan invaded Indo-China the USA had imposed some economic sanctions but these were restricted to military equipment e.g airplanes. From as early as the 1931 invasion of Manchuria USA was wary of Japan's expansion as it posed a risk to USA interests but was pursuing a policy of isolationism and chose to do nothing but express disdain. -
Japan sings Axis Alliance Pact
Japan signed the pact with Germany and Italy, thus becoming a formal member of the Axis alliance fighting in Europe whilst continuing to negotiate with the USA for trade concessions. This increased tension between USA and Germany -
Japan Extends Control over French Indo China
USA changed its attitude towards Japan when it extended its control over French Indo-China. Tojo claimed this action posed no threat to the USA and that Japan was keen to maintain peace with the USA. However, the American intelligence had broken the Japanese diplomatic code and President Roosevelt was aware of Japan's plans for further territorial acquisitions in the Pacific region which threatened American interests. -
USA ends American Oil exports to Japan
American oil was important to Japan's military, Roosevelt believed that this would be enough to force the Japanese to stop bc it was militarily weak as seen in its failure to quickly defeat China. He believed the presence of British/American forces in the pacific would deter Japanese aggression. These assumptions were wrong as Japan pursued both a diplomatic settlement and its aggressive policy. Like Hitler, Tojo pursued negotiations with American diplomats while preparing his forces for war -
German attack on USSR
Japan didn't know what to do after the outbreak of WW2 some leaders argued Japan should continue its aggressive policy and seize Dutch/British/French territories in Asia. Success here would provide Japan with vital resources. Others like Prime Minister Konoye were concerned about attacks from USSR and did not want to take a risk with so many troops in China. This ended when Ger invaded USSR. Hitler- admirer General Hideki Tojo replaced Konoye making Japan completely a military dictatorship. -
USA demands Japan to cease Military Build up in the Pacific
When Roosevelt made this demand Tojo broke off diplomatic relations with the USA and issued a statement announcing this. By then a fleet of Japanese ships was 3 weeks into its journey toward the American naval base in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Onboard were a wide range of military equipment with the aim to destroy the American Pacific fleet, a plan devised by Admiral Yamamoto. Despite the obvious threat this posed, the ships went undetected and the naval base was not ready for the attack. -
Pearl Harbor Attack
183 Japanese aircraft attacked and by 1:30 PM when the attack was over USA lost 2402 men and 190 aircraft with major damage to 8 ships. This was such a surprise that only 4 US aircraft were able to defend in the 1st wave. This could be bc of a decoding delay, Roosevelt's self-interest, time differences, miscalculated target. Japan did this as a pre-emptive strike, to reduce USA morale, to allow Japan to continue its policy, and to undermine the USA's ability to fight a war in the Pacific. -
USA Declares War Against Japan
Roosevelt declared war against Japan after Pearl harbor. This was a testament to Japan's destructive foreign policy in which it acted in defiance of treaties. It had withdrawn from the LON, it had allied itself with fascist nations, and adopted similar expansionist policies. Japan also became involved in a nonbeneficial war in China and developed close links with Ger conflicting with Western nations e.g Br The Pearl Harbor attack made Japan the enemy of the most powerful nation, the USA. -
The end of the 2nd Sino Japanese War
The war reached a stalemate as the 2nd United Front created more opposition. As Japan moved toward the Chinese interior its supply and communications line became stretched and a target for sabotage from CCP guerilla tactics. In w.China, Japan faced many counter-offensives from KMT equipped with Russian weapons. Japan committed major atrocities in Chinese cities and some countries considered economic sanctions. But, Britain was preoccupied with Nazi Germany and the USA was isolationist.