JAPANESE IMPERIALISM Chapter 27.3 Notes

Japan in the 1920’s Economic Challenges  After WWI Japan came out a world power  Japan’s economy had undergone changes under the Meiji restoration and create problems  Peasant’s and rural workers had not shared in the nation prosperity  After WWI many industries slowed down Workers got laid off Unrest began  The island did not have the natural resources need to industrialize  They were forced to import  To pay for imports that sold manufactured goods to other countries Many countries had passed tariffs after the war and it made it difficult for Japan to make enough money to continue industrialization and growing population

Japan in the 1920’s Social Changes  Democracy began to flourish and many political parties emerged  Young people adopted western fashion, beliefs, and began questioning Japanese traditions of obedience, respect, and loyalty  Many conservatives who were military leaders believed that this progresses way of life would corrupt and ruin their country

Growing Military Influence The Military Vision  Because of the economic troubles of the 1920’s and the Great Depression in the US, Japanese people lost faith in their gov’t and looked to the military in the time of crisis  Military leaders envisioned a united Japan that were dedicated to their emperor and ruled my military control so they began to take control of citizens lives Foreign Relations  Military power grew because the Japanese people opposed the governments foreign policy  Gov’t made treaties with the west to decrease their navy size  Stopped Japanese expansion  1924 US banned Japanese immigration  This offended the Japanese pride and made them question their relations with the west This led the Japanese to put their faith in the military to make a strong unite Japan

Japanese Aggression Building a Fighting Spirit  WWI showed that modern war would rely on technology and industry  Japan knew it would not be able to contend with other countries if they went to war because they didn’t have the ability to industrialize further and they were forced to decrease the size of their navy  They focused on a different kind of weapon. Soldiers.  They promoted the fighting spirit with their troops  They believed this bravery could make up for modern weapons  They instilled in their troops that surrendering and retreating were not an option  They also instilled this spirit in the civilians  Military personnel in the public schools to shape the thinking of Japanese children

Japanese Aggression Taking Over the Government  Military leaders planned to take over the government and est a military dictatorship  In the 1930’s military leaders and activist assassinated many gov’t officials  The government slowly gave in to the demands of the military and soon is was controlled by them Conquering Manchuria  Manchuria was a region in northeastern China, rich with natural resources of iron and coal  They believed it would help free them from their dependence of the west to import iron and coal  Japanese forces moved quickly to gain control on Manchuria and the people supported it  Japanese troops set up a gov’t in the region  Turn to page 818

Japanese Aggression Forming New Alliances  The League of Nations strongly condemned Japans actions in Manchuria  Japan withdrew for the LN It then increased it’s size of it’s navy  Japan was growing closer to Germany  In 1936 they signed the Anti-Comintern Pact- they agreed to work together to oppose the spread of communism  They promised to come to the aid of the other if the USSR attacked  In 1937 Italy joined the pact

Japanese Aggression War in China  Japan seized more territory in eastern China  They believed that China would join forces with the USSR and attack Japan  This led to open warfare in China, this was the second Sino- Japanese War  One of the war’s early battles was in Nanjing  After the Japanese captured the city that went on a murderous rampage  100,000 Chinese men, women, children, and soldiers were killed at the Nanjing Massacre

Japanese Aggression A Move toward Wider War  The Second Sino-Japanese war was very costly and long for both China and Japan  Japan then looked to southeast Asia for natural resources to supply its military needs  Rubber and oil  In 1940 Japanese foreign minster proposed the Greater East Asia Co- Prosperity Sphere  It was proposed to be good for all the nations in the region to help reduce their independence on the west  However, it only benefited Japan  Japanese aggressive actions in Asia were viewed with alarm by the other nations. They did not welcome the expansion of a Japanese empire