INTERWAR YEARS Japan is tired of following the rules. They want to expand even further into Asia so they set their sights on China. They quickly grow tired of waiting for a reason to invade so they come up with their own plan..

Struggles in Japan •Economic: Challenges of industrialization -lack of natural resources •Social: Changes in Society -a result of new ideas from the West. -traditionalists resented the changes •People turn to the military -Economic crisis of 1927 -Lack of faith in government •Promotion of “fighting spirit” in Japanese “culture/society”.

1870’s Newspaper Cartoon Enlightened Half-Enlightened Un-Enlightened

Emperor Meiji Empress Haruko (1868- 1912) Western Influence on Culture Emperor Meiji Empress Haruko (1868- 1912)

BACKGROUND • During the 1930’s, while Italy & Germany were expanding in Europe & North Africa, Japan was expanding its power in Asia • The fascist Japanese military government had created detailed plans for the conquest & domination of all of eastern Asia • Japan’s plans for Asian domination began with the conquest of China

Japan Invades China ~ 1931 • The Japanese invasion of China began in September of 1931 after the "Manchurian incident," in which a bomb, actually planted by Japanese secret agents, destroyed a Japanese express train. • Japan used this incident as an excuse to invade & colonize Manchuria. They claimed the violence there was a threat to their security. • The League of Nations imposed economic sanctions, so Japan quit the League • From 1931-1937 Japan occupied Manchuria & exploited its rich resources and its huge supply of workers They announced that Manchuria was a under Japanese control and renamed it MANCHUKUO (man-choo-kwoh)

Japan Expands in China ~ 1937 • In July 1937, Japan escalated its attacks, launching an all- out war on mainland China. • Japan defended its aggressive militarism on several grounds. Japan claimed that: – it was in fact "protecting China from its inner turmoil” – Japan's overpopulation "necessitated" colonization of other lands – the long-term effect would be to strengthen all of East Asia – all of the world's powerful nations had made similar advances in the past, so Japan was simply following their example

Japan Expands in China ~ 1937 Chinese Refugees – What do you see? Japan Targets Nanking ~ 1937 • Prior to Japanese military activities in Manchuria, the population of Nanking had been approximately 250,000 • With Beijing under siege, Nanking had been made the capital of China • Its population was about one million by late 1937 • In the autumn of 1937, Japanese planes began bombing Nanking, concentrating their efforts on the downtown areas, which were most densely populated by civilians Chinese Refugees fleeing the Japanese invasion of Shanghai, 1937

Japan Targets Nanking ~ 1937 • On 9 December 1937, Japanese ground forces reached Nanking, where they were met with minimal resistance from overwhelmed and fatigued Chinese military units • By 13 December, with Japanese troops attacking the city from all angles, the Chinese forces were routed. • Many Chinese military men donned civilian clothing and retreated into the city. • It was on this day that a six- week stretch of atrocities against the civilian population of Nanking began Japan Targets Nanking ~ 1937 On December 9, 1937, Japanese soldiers marched into Nanking

Nanking Massacre 1937 • The first few weeks of barbaric rampage by Japanese troops were the grisliest. • Tens of thousands of Chinese men, women, and children perished as they desperately attempted to flee across the Yangtze River by swimming or using makeshift flotation devices, while Japanese soldiers fired upon and launched grenades at the scurrying masses. • On the city streets, soldiers who claimed to be searching for hidden members of the Chinese army were in reality shooting and bayoneting civilians at will. • Japanese troops also set fire to many buildings, looted homes and robbed citizens of their few possessions.

The Massacre Deepens • In the early weeks, there were mass murders with deaths numbering in the tens of thousands. • Civilians and suspected soldiers were rounded up and shot until their dead bodies piled atop one another, after which Japanese soldiers haphazardly bayoneted the mounds to make sure to kill any who had survived. • On some occasions, crowds of Chinese people were assembled & doused with gasoline and torched alive; frequently, Japanese soldiers eagerly tossed grenades into such crowds.

Brutality Beyond Description • The most famous example of this was a competition between two sub-lieutenants, who decided to have a race to see which of them could behead 100 victims fastest. • They had to extend this goal because it was unclear which one had committed his hundredth murder first, and then they eventually lost count. Picture from a Japanese newspaper covering the competition back home Brutality Beyond Description • The Japanese authorities were well aware of the horrors being performed by their men, but took no measures to stop them. • The soldiers’ behavior, especially the attacks on women, was considered an outlet for their animal urges, a boost to the morale of the soldiers. • Japanese soldiers made games of torturing their captives and finding new and cruel ways to kill them. In one effort to boost morale and make sport out of murder, the soldiers held contests to see who could rack up the most kills.

Note the smile on this officer’s face Note the smile on this officer’s face. This picture was taken as a souvenir, like a vacation photo.

Bodies dumped in mass graves

The Body Count Most historians now believe at least 300,000 civilians were murdered in a six week period (100 times the number of people killed on 9-11-01) The Rape of Nanking • Even with these horrors, it is for the crimes against the women of Nanking that this tragedy is best known • Over the six weeks of the massacre, Japanese troops raped over 20,000 women, most of whom were murdered thereafter. • Women of all ages (including children as young as seven and elderly women in their seventies) were brutally raped, many of them being gang-raped or attacked on multiple occasions. • Some women were held captive so that they could be repeatedly abused.

How Could This Happen? • How can seemingly normal, sane young men treat other people this way? • This was one of the effects of Fascism and the fascist society that developed in Japan in the 1920’s & 1930’s • Japanese youth were immersed in a racist culture that taught them that all other groups were inferior and insignificant. • The most fanatical members of the Japanese military believed they were waging a kind of racial holy war for their god-emperor

Next Step • In 1936 Japan and Germany grow closer. They agree to work together to stop the spread of Communism. • This agreement is known as the Anti-Comintern Pact. - They agreed to come to one another's aid if that country was invaded by the Soviet Union. Italy joined the pact the following year. Japan’s agression in Asia is viewed alarm by other nations. To be continued in WWII Unit…. The Next Step • Following their conquest of China, Japan turned its attention to the resource-rich colonies of Southeast Asia • Japan’s actions in the Interior of China were not widely reported until after the War • Japan’s brutal invasion of China led the USA to take a harder line towards Japanese expansion in Asia • American pressure on Japan and Japan’s continued aggression eventually led to war in the Pacific