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The Black Ships open Japan
Small fleet of American Warships commanded by Commodore Matthew Perry , steamed into the bay at Edo (Tokyo). Japanese at the time thought they were there to trade with other nations, but were later threatened by the massive warships that resulted in them signing a trade treaty. -
Ruling Shotgun was Overthrown
15 year old emperor named Mutsuhito claim the throne. In his 54 years of reign, Japan went a long way to achieve both of their goals. By the end of the nineteenth century the nation had a new political system with a parliament and a constitution, a modern army and navy, and growing industries. -
U.S. and Spain Fought a Brief War
Direct cause was that the U.S. supported rebels on the Caribbean island of Cuba who wanted independence from Spain. The biggest impact of the U.S. victory over Spain, however, was about thousands of miles away in the Pacific. The U.S. took over Spain's Pacific possessions, including the Philippine Islands. Also in 1898, the U.S. took the islands of Hawaii as an American territory. -
The 1929 New York Stock Exchange Crash
Failure of important European banks plunged the entire world into an economic depression. With really no natural resources, the nation had to import oil, iron, steel, and other commodities to keep its industry and military forces alive. In order to purchase these things, they had to export goods for sale abroad. This became harder to do in the early 1930s as nation after nation, including the U.S., raised tariffs (taxes on imports) to protect their own struggling industries. -
China and Japan Went to War
Although Chinese forces resisted, Japan advanced farther and farther into China. The conflict ended up bringing great suffering to the Chinese people. -
Japan responded to America's Actions
Japan responded to America's actions by joining Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy in the Tripartite Pact. For this agreement, the two European dictators approved Japan's goal for an Asian empire. The three countries pledged to support one another if any one of them was attacked by the U.S. President Roosevelt answered this challenge by seizing Japanese money and property in the U.S. and placing an embargo on exports of oil, steel, and iron to Japan. -
Japan Bombs Pearl Harbor
Japan bombs Pearl Harbor ; Hideki Tojo became prime minister. Tojo was not afraid to challenge Britain and the U.S. for power in East Asia. Japan began planning for surprise attacks all across the Pacific -- from Hong Kong to Hawaii. The attack on Pearl Harbor was one of the riskiest operations in military history. From decoded documents, it became obvious that Japan was planning a major military strike somewhere in the Pacific. But it still wasn't clear when or where the attack would come.
