JAPAN
Emperor Hirohito
• Pledged “to preserve world peace
and benefit the welfare of the
human race”
• Ruled for 63 years
After WWI
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Japanese economy is on the rise after WWI
Exports rise greatly
Japan becomes an industrial power
Japan expands through out East Asia, while
western powers are distracted in Europe
• Japan takes over the land Germany had
possessed in East Asia.
1920s
• Japan becomes Democratic
• Members of the Japanese parliament use new
powers
• 1925- all adult men of any age able to vote
• Some changes added to women’s rights in
Japan
• The Zaibatsu bribe government
• Japans rapid expansion start to effect
relationship with Western powers
• Japan slows expansion to keep relationship
with Western powers
• 1922 – Japan agrees to limit it’s navy.
(agreement between France, Britain, and
United States)
• Also agreed to leave Shandong
Japans hidden problems
• Rural peasants were excluded in nations
prosperity
• Low wages for factory workers
• Lower class started looking to socialist ideas
(Marx and Lenin)
• Younger tradition revolting over tradition
– Adopts western fads and fashions
– Reject family athority
• Tension between military and government
• Conservatives and military officers angered over corrupted
government
• Condemned western influences
• Destructive earthquake hit Tokyo in 1923
• Earthquake plus widespread fires caused 100,000 deaths loss of
650,000 buildings
• Tokyo recovered slowly as Japan meets a worldwide economic crisis
– the Great Depression
• Great Depression causes Japanese exports to
fall, and peasants close to starvation
• Economic down fall causes more discontent
within the military officers and
ultranationalists
• Ultranationalists angered that Japan halted
expansion, felt the Japanese empire was
minuscule in comparison to western empires.
• United States, Canada , and Australia had
racial policies against the Japanese
immigrants, causing more of an outrage
within the country.
• Japanese nationalists continued to demanding
expansion, wanting to take over Manchuria,
China for its rich natural resources
Manchurian Incident
• Occurred in 1931
• Group of Japanese officers causes an incident, to make
an excuse to take over Manchuria.
• Japanese officers blow up tracks on a Japanese train
track, and blamed it on the Chinese.
• Without permission from their government they
stormed Manchuria.
• After conquering all of Manchuria they placed a puppet
state called Manzhougou putting a past Chinese
emperor Puyi as the head of state.
• Though the government was angered by the military’s
actions the people of Japan sided with the military.
• Japan leaves League of Nations due to the
opposition given by the other member states
over the aggression against China.
• Japan nullifies agreements to limiting naval
armaments
• Early 1930s ultranationalists gaining support from
the people.
• Many politicians and business men against
expansion were assassinated by members of
extreme nationalists
• By 1937 the military dominated the government
• Government starts to take down any socialist and
suppresses democratic freedoms
• People started to worship the emperor, forming a cult
• Started teaching children complete obedience to the
emperor and state at schools
• Taking advantage of the civil war in China Japan starts
to take it over expecting to conquer all of China,
though when WWII spreads into Asia they change their
plans.
• In 1936 Japan sides with Germany and Italy,
– signs the Tripartite Pact in September 1940 (the Axis
powers)