As Japan Joined The Global Community, Its Leaders Realized

Japan benefited from this because it could keep the land it needed to receive resources. In 1940, The Co-Prosperity Sphere plan is recommended according to doc1(doc 1, N.d, line 12). This plan benefited Japan because in their perspective they saw themselves as superior to other countries they have defeated, and so they get this sense of Nationalism. In Document 11 japan stated “It is necessary to cause East Asia to return to its original form of Independence and Co-Prosperity by shaking off the Yoke of Europe and America in the

Starting in the early 1930’s, the Japanese began to display their great imperialistic dreams with ambition and aggression. Their goal was to create a "Greater East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere" where they controlled a vast empire in the western Pacific.1 In September of 1939, Japan signed the Rome-Berlin-Tokyo Axis Treaty, allying themselves with Germany and Italy in an effort to safeguard their interests in China from the Soviet Union. Japan’s only major obstacle left lay in the significant size of the United States Pacific Fleet. To rid themselves of this, Japan attacked the United States Pacific Fleet in hopes of crippling it enough to prevent any further hindrance from the

They attacked China, Manchuria, fought with Russia in the Russo-Japanese war, took control of Korea, and once again attacked China. Soon, they required more raw materials as the West began to take notice of Japans rising status in the Far East. They were an ally during WWI, but soon after the war, they sought more independence, a release from what they considered unequal trade agreements, and more autonomy. Dutch and British concerns over their oil reserves in the East Indies became an issue in the

During the Imperial Conference of December 1, 1941, Prime Minister Tojo announced that “The United States not only refused to make even one concession” but that “At the same time, the United States, Great Britain, the Netherlands, and China increased their economic and military pressure against us” (87). This gave Japan no choice but to begin a war with the U.S., Japan, and the Netherlands. Additionally, Foreign Minister Togo emphasized that Japan could not accept the proposal made by the U.S. because the conditions would hinder and put at risk the success of the Japanese Empire. In order for Japan to not only continue working towards establishing a New Order for East Asia, but to also maintain their position on an international level, war was the necessary step to take because if they continued to try to negotiate then they would most definitely have regressed.

For starters, Japan’s imperialistic interests could be due to multiple reasons such as their beliefs and fears. As a matter of fact, according to Doc. A,”The ideals of Japan… are represented by the principle that the

Japan had half the population of the U.S. with less land than Sweden (Background Essay). The need for more land did not leave them with many option; those options being genocide or taking land they chose the latter. They started their conquest by creating the new order. The new order stated that “Manchuria is its reservoir and East Asia (including China) is its paddy field (Doc A).” This is important because it is saying that Manchuria and East Asia are theirs for the taking.

A).With that being said, Japan tried to gain power so that it could achieve the apex of the world.

Japan's idea of a new world order was the biggest reason why they attacked Pearl Harbor. In Doc. A Japan explains that they have a new idea which is the new world order. The new world order is that Japan rules the world and that everyone follows them. The old order was the U.S. And Europe are the rulers of the world. The U.S was getting in the way of Japan's plan and they felt threatened that they would not be able to take over the world so Japan, destroy Pearl Harbor and the U.S. could not stop them.

After the United States of America forced Japan to open up its borders in 1853, Japan was subject to ‘unequal trade treaties’, where Japan gained little in the deals. The people saw this as an insult to their national pride and were convinced that the Americans and other Western nations like Britain and Russia were looking to conquer Japan to dominate in Asia. The people held riots in protest. Consequently, Japan forcefully acquired three major foreign territories: Taiwan in 1895; Korea in 1905, then as a colony in 1910; and the Kwantung Leased Territories in 1905. Many of the residents in Japanese-occupied territories complained of exploitation of labour, marginalisation of history and culture, and environmental exploitation. Despite these claims, the Japanese people were proud of their international achievements as the defeat of Russia gave Japan a new standing as a world superpower and their nationalistic idea of superiority was achieved. Thus, nationalism amongst the Japanese people was beneficial to restoring national pride, although it destabilised conquered

Leading up to the events at Pearl Harbor, let’s talk about the Japanese; they were a rising power in the East. They renounced the Five Power Treaty they has signed in 1922 along with the US, Great Britain, France, and Italy, and began building their pathway towards an “Empire of Asia”. They “began an aggressive military build-up in anticipation of expanding its control on Asia” (Tindall, 2013). Sadao Araki, a general in the Japanese military is quoted having said, “It is Japan’s mission to be supreme in Asia, the South Seas and eventually the four corners pf the world.” Japanese leaders called this unquenchable thirst for power the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere, or Co-Prosperity Sphere for short. The Co-Prosperity Sphere was a group of nations in Asia, led by Japan, who used propaganda to gain members. “The leaders spoke of “Asia for Asians,” the need to liberate Asian countries from

Leading up to 1941, many countries were in all-out war because of World War II. One of these countries, Japan, was seeking to “dominate Southeast Asia for political and economic reasons” (Bruce and Cogar 1). They wanted to take revenge on the Allies and the rest of the world because of how they were treated at the peace negotiation after World War I. They felt they were ignored or excluded by the other superpowers of the

According to Japanese Ministry of Education, states that the old order (European and American) is crumbling. So, they needed to make a new order. According the Japanese Expansion, Japan was planning on taking over the Netherlands East Indies or the oil filled countries when they finished attacking Peral Harbor. According to "Peral Harbor and the Coming of the Pacific War", "Japan declares its policy to establish a new order in East Asia." Although Japan wanted to take over those countries to get the oil, they felt threatened by America. To conclude, Japan wanted to start a new

In 1926 Emperor Hirohito took control of the throne and changed the dynamics of the countries’ policy (History, Imperial). The power within the country started and ended with the emperor. There were previously feuds for loyalty to a faction of ones’ choice but that ended with the Peace Preservation Law in 1925 which officially ended political freedom in Japan (History, Imperial). All loyalties in Japan now lied with the state. The state was ran by the emperor so his word and will became reality within his borders. This change brought on more conflict. Between 1932 and 1936 Japan spawned the idea of the “Greater East Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere” which called for the unification of Asian nations but under Japanese control (History, Imperial). The bottom line of this plan was for Japan to have absolute imperial control throughout the Far East. This propelled Japan into campaigns on many fronts spreading their military over vast areas. Though they were successful in these campaigns with China and Russia, their resources were running thin, forcing them to look for alternate

This academic journal by Martha Chaiklin, analyzes the efforts taken by various countries that eventually lead to the ending of Japanese isolationism. She first invalidates the notion that Commodore Perry with his gunboats were solely responsible for the opening of Japan. In contrast, the Dutch and liberal policies were greatly attributed if not solely responsible for the opening of Japan. Even the American led event that is attributed to the opening of Japan was in fact not a unique policy “ The United States was not the first to attempt to open Japan since all Westerners except the Dutch had been expelled in 1639. Both the British and the Russians had made several attempts in the preceding two centuries that had all ended in failure” (Chaiklin

The growing tension between Japan and the west stemmed from a conflict of autonomy and responsibility. Japan saw its actions as part of a national quest for autonomy, self-sufficiency, and European rivalry. The United States and Europe, however, saw Japanese expansion as irresponsible. From their perspective Japanese imperialism violated treaties, which set down the acceptable code of conduct of nations. The United States in particular saw Japanese occupation of East Asian countries as a violation of those countries’ own rights to autonomous leadership and self rule.