1. The causes of world war ii in the pacific

2. JAPAN S RESPONSABILITY FOR WAR IN PACIFIC [DEBATE]
World War II ended up being two wars : War in Europe and War in Asia
Some historians say that Japan planned a war from early 1930s and that the empereor was involved.
Other historians argue that Japan was pursuing a more traditional European style imperialist policy in Asia
The counter argument to Japanese responsibility can be seen in the Japanese declaration of war in which they stated that USA was the one responsible for the pacific war.
Some historians support a line of argument that sugest that japan’s aim was to liberate asia from western domination
Unlike Hitler’s Germany , the lack of a clear leader , makes it difficult for historians to decide whether or not japan had intended to cause the pacific war . Although the head of state was the empereor. He was not held responsible by the allies in 1945

3. JAPAN AND THE LONG TERM CAUSES OF WWII IN THE PACIFIC
From the mid 17th Japan had been isolated from the outside world, a deliberate policy of Japan rulers – shoguns – in response to the threat to their civilization posed by Christianity.
For 200 years the japanese remained separate. Politically, economically and socially, japan functioned as a feudal state until the arrival of American commodore Matthew Perry in 1853.
Perry arrived determinate to create treaties of commerce with the Japanese.
The Japanese were duly awed by the impressive might of Perry s American gunboats.
Japan could not take on the technologically advanced west , and attempting to do so would be suicide.
Japan became a limited democracy and stripped away its feudal system.
A new and modernized army was developed with the adoption of German military principles.
Japans second victory was over Russia which competed with japanese interest in Manchuria and Korea. The result of this was far reaching as they encouraged japanese nationalism and expansionism.

4. Japan and Versailles: a mutilated victory.
Japan aimed to increase its gains, and demanded an annexation of the German Pacific territories.
Japan felt that it had not gained what it deserved from Versailles.
Japan maintained its position in Shandong and it gained some of Germany´s former colononies in the Pacific.
Japan had also benefited economically from World War I.

5. Japan´s influence over China was still causing concern to both the USA and Britain.
In 1921, the Americans initiated the Washington Conference primarily to discuss tensions in China.
Three key agreement were signed: the Four Power Pact ended the alliance between Britain and Japan, and the Five Power Naval Treaty set the following ratios between each power´s capital ship tonnage.
The final agreement was the Nine Power.
In the 1920s relations were relatively cordial, but this was due to more «peaceful» outlook of the liberal goverment in Japan, a situation that was to be short-lived.

6. What was the impact of Japan’s Relationship with the USSR?
Japan's relationship with the USSR had been tense, apart from the period when they were both in alliances with Britain.
After the revolution and the creation of the USSR, Japan was threatened not only territorially by the Russians, but also ideologically.
Some historians have suggested that Japan considered the USSR as their only real enemy, and military planning in 1937 focused on this threat.
During the initial stage of the Sino-Japanese War, the Soviets were the predominant suppliers of aid to China, and there was fighting between Japanese and Soviet troops on the Manchurian border in 1939.

7. Japan's isolation ended with the increase in hostility between Germany and the USSR in early The Russians were now focused on the threat posed by Hitler, and Japan willingly signed its own version of the Neutrality Pact with the USSR in April With the launch of Operation Barbarossa in June 1941, the Russian threat to Japan ended. Japan attacked south instead of joining in the assault on the USSR, and it was not until the last week of the war, in August 1945, that the Soviets declared war on Japan.

8. Japan and the short-term causes of the Pacific War: «the dark valley»
The more liberal era during the 1920s was short-lived, as the army reasserted itself in the 1930s.
As the military gained more and more influence, so Japan became increasingly aggressive.
The increasing power of the military led Japan down the road to war.
The attack on Manchuria in 1931 resulted from a plot devised by the Kwantung Army, not the Japanese government.

9. Relations between Japan and the Western democracies deteriorated in the 1930s for the following main reasons:
The West was alarmed by the bombing of Shangai in 1932.
In 1933, Japan left the League of Nations after the Council accepted the Lytton Report.
In 1934, Japan, unhappy at having to have an inferior navy to that of the USA, pulled out of the Washington Naval Treaty and refused to attend another conference.

10. Sino Japanese War: No retreat
Japan signed a truce with chinese nationalists until 1937
The military had failed in attempt for expansion in northern China But then grew in power.
China was to lead directly to the pacific War but didn’t have a plan.
Britain and France did not want to become immersed in a conflict in Asia
The Americans cancelled the commerce and navigation treaty with Japan.

11. Immediate Causes of The War
In June 1940, with Britain undermined by Hitler´s swift victory over France, the Japanese forced the closure of the Burma Road, which was an important supply route for the Chinese.
In september, the Japanese signed the Tripartite Pact.
Japan’s military was now divided over which specific territory should be targeted next: the USSR or the colonial territories of the Western powers in South-East Asia.
Japan appeared willing to negotiate, but the USA’s demand for Japan to withdraw from China was unacceptable to them.

12. What was the impact of Japan´s relationship with Germany?
Japan and Germany had some common interests, particularly in perceiving the USSR as an enemy, which led to the Anti-Comintern Pact of 1936.
Nazi-Soviet Pact of 1939 pushed Japan into real isolation.
On December 11, 1941, three days after Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hitler declared war on the USA.

13. The liberal 1920; a peaceful Japan?

14. In late 1920s, with the unification of China under the Kuomintang, Tokyo feared the possible cooperation between the government of Chiang Kai-shek (Jian Shi Kai) and the US, and the modernization of China.
This panorama fears intensified anti-US feelings caused by the limitations of Japanese emigration to the United States after the war, and at the same time strengthened the Pan-Asian ideology that favored the hegemony of Japan in the Pacific.
The military successes during World War reinforced the nationalistic spirit of the Japanese military.
The economic potential of Japan was strengthened by the war. Import substitution, driven by the collapse of world traffic, favored domestic production. The decline of European companies allowed Japan to capture much of the Asian markets.

15. Furthermore, in contrast with the other allies, Japan was not beholden to the United States.
Between 1924 and 1932, governments were established by the leaders of political parties. This period is known as the Taisho democracy.
It was a democracy conditioned by the power in the hands of traditional leaders and major economic groups.
Parliamentarism was temporarily suspended in 1932 due to political chaos that led to the Great Depression, the military intervention in Manchuria and terrorist acts.

16. Taisho period

17. To what extent was the U.S.A responsible for the war in the pacific

19. In the middle of 19th century relations between the two nations had at times been strained, but were also often cordial , with the japanese embracing American culture and trading relations.
Japan was very offended when the National Origins Act was passed by the American Congress in May The act set quotas on immigration to the U.S.A , and Japan was not set a quota – this meant that immigration from Japan to the U.S.A was to cease.
It had a serious negative impact on their relations.

20. The role of the emperor in Japan’s road to war
-At the end of WW2, the American demand for total surrender meant that there was no guarantee of the Emperor’s exclussion from the Tokyo War Crimes tribunal.
-General Douglas MacArthur, however, convinced the US government that Emperor Hirohito was needed to facilitate a stable Japan.
-Hirohito would not stand trial as a war criminal and he would not be held responsible for causing the war in the Pacific.
-The official view was that Hirohito had basically been a prisioner of the militarists- he had had no choice but to follow their policies.
-Bergamini also identified evidence of Hirohito ‘s responsibility in the diary of Japan´s wartime Army Chief of Staff, General Hajime Sugiyama, who commited suicide when the war ended.