How did Japanese Imperialism lead to WWII?

1. How did Japanese Imperialism lead to WWII? World Cultures Japan Unit

2. Japanese Imperialism • “Enrich the country, strengthen the military” • Why? • Lack of fertile land for agriculture? • Markets for finished products? • Need for the raw materials of industry? • Population growth? • Response to Western imperialism?

5. Reasons for Imperialism “The condition of foreign states is not what it once was…if we cling to our outdated systems, heaven only knows what disaster may befall our Empire.” 1. Desire to be a Western-style imperialist power 2. Concerns for security and safety 3. Belief in its leadership role for Asia 4. Provocation by Western powers 5. Security of economic interests

6. Meiji Japan at War • First Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895) • Gained: • Taiwan • Manchuria • Foothold and Influence in Korea • Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905) • Destruction of a Russian fleet • Finally respected as a world power • Japan is seen as a growing threat • Annexation of Korea (1910) • World War I (1914-1918) • Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945) • Included the Rape of Nanjing

7. “Asia for Asians” • “Liberating” Asia from Western imperialism • In reality, replacing Western imperialism with Japanese imperialism

10. American and European Opposition • Washington Conference (1922) • Size limits on navies • 5:5:3 ratio for Great Britain, United States, and Japan • Japanese resented these uneven limitations • U.S. - Japanese Exclusion Act (1924) • Four Power Pact (1933) • France, Great Britain, Japan, United States • One another’s colonial possessions would be respected

11. Effects of the Great Depression 1929 – Great Depression in United States • Japan’s economy depended on exporting products to other nations (mainly silks and mostly with the USA) • Depression decreased the number of exports to foreign countries. • Countries placing high tariffs on imports to protect their own industries 1929-1931 – Value of Japanese exports fell by 50% • Results: Factories closed and unemployment rose

12. Extreme Nationalism Emerges Japanese government couldn’t handle economic crisis as a result of the Great Depression • Extreme nationalists gained support • Claimed that Japan should have continued its efforts at overseas expansion – The West has gobbled up a large part of the world • Angry that laws were passed to prevent Japanese Immigration (Immigration Act of 1924)

13. Japanese Militarism on the Rise 1930s – Japan becomes a military dictatorship • New leaders promote glorification of the military • Revival of Samurai traditions (Bushido Code) • Loyalty to Emperor of Japan • Mission: Free Asia from western imperialism

14. War in the Pacific and Japan in WWII • Axis Powers include Germany, Italy, and Japan • Tripartite Pact, September 1940 • Allied Powers include Britain, France, and the Soviet Union • The United States remains isolated but responds to Japan by cutting off supplies of oil

15. Pearl Harbor: Results of the Attack • On December 7th, 1941, a day that will live in infamy, Japanese planes bombed Pearl Harbor • 8 U.S. battleships were destroyed and 2,500 Americans were killed • United States joins Allied Powers • 1942, policy of island-hopping forces Japanese to retreat from many Pacific Islands

16. Defeat of Japan in WWII • By 1945, Japanese economy is in ruins from the war • Refusing to give up the fight, Japan’s military leaders will not surrender • August 6, 1945 – American bomber dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima • 80,000 people dead by “Little Boy” • August 9, 1945 – Second bomb was dropped on the city of Nagasaki • 40,000 people dead by “Fat Man” • August 14, 1945 – Japan surrendered