Japanese Imperialism During World War II

During the 1800s, the island nations of Great Britain and Japan depended on their location to move them forward. Although they share many geographical similarities, they began handling their government policies very differently. While Japan's isolationist policies kept it locked in the past, imperialist Britain charged forward into a bright and powerful future. It would take the weakening of one Japanese government to bring about the rise of another, a government that would be far more modern and progressive than the last. Overall, when handled to their advantage, the geography of these island nations seemed to positively influence them.

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

For this assignment, we were asked to research, in pairs, the effects of foreign imperialism on two Asian societies. Chris and I chose China and Japan as our Asian societies.

Japan is a small island nation off the coast of Eastern Asia. Despite its size, Japan has proved to be formidable both economically and militarily. Since the expedition of Commodore Matthew Perry in 1853 opened up the past feudalistic and reclusive Japan, this nation has expanded and adopted many imperialistic policies as well as taken a more aggressive military stance. Japan has changed in many ways, but has also continued upholding traditional practices throughout 1853 and 1941.

During this time period, both India and Japan faced a new situation: the new imperialism of Europe. India was unable to defend themselves, thus leading to them becoming a colony of Britain. Japan however, selectively borrowed from the Europeans after proving themselves to be equals of the once superior Europeans. Despite having such contrasting fates, both India and Japan had similarities in the miserable work conditions for peasants. But because India was a colony while Japan was a country, India data was recorded by British officials and Japanese data was record by Japanese officials. Another difference was the source of labor for textile production. India had mostly men workers whereas Japan

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.

in the region. America’s presence in Guam and the Philippines and its support of China posed

It was just an ordinary, lazy, Sunday morning to the thousands of military personnel at the Pearl Harbor Naval Station. Then, the unthinkable happened. Over the loud-speaker a call came to warn the people about the impending attack that was about to take place only a few short minutes away. They were unprepared for what was about to happened. Within minutes, the Japanese planes flew over bombing the Naval station leaving a trail of total destruction. Because of this one horrific act, the United States of America joined the allies in what would be the beginning of a long, bloody war.

In Peter Duus’ Japanese Discovery of America, the author shows the learning experience that Japan went through in order to become one of the strongest countries in the early 20th century. From 1797 when the first American ship arrived in Japan, to 1879 when President Grant visited the Meiji emperor, Japan, not one of the strongest countries economically and militarily at the time, had interactions with multiple countries that included Russia, England and Portugal. However, Japan’s Confucianism belief and the development of the Tokaido Road served as roots for their quick rise to modernization. Even though multiple countries were cooperating with Japan, the relations with the United States proved to be the most

By the nineteenth century Western nations had developed superior military technology than other countries. Western countries were able to control other nations by coercing them into unfair trading treaties which would leave the country economically dependent on them. The countries rarely resisted successfully due to their insufficient military power. This occured often Asia with only Japan and Thailand remaining independent. Only Japan thrived however and became an imperial power. Japan was an isolated country until the United States forcibly opened it to trade. Japan experienced a regime change following a tumultuous time in which western nations coerced Japan into trade treaties. The new government favored capitalism and industry which lead to Japan industrializing impressively fast through “top down” government mandated modernization. Western imperialism forced Japan to modernize in order to remain a sovereign and successful state. Modernization in this case was synonymous with becoming more like the West. Imperialism drastically changed Japanese economic interaction as well as Japanese culture and class system because modernization included becoming more like the West in most aspects but their treatment of women remained the same because the West did not treat women very differently.

the practice by which powerful nations or social orders hope to create and keep up control or effect over weaker nations or society. By the 1800 's, the Western powers had central focuses in this technique. They drove the world in creative advances, giving them a quality while vanquishing distinctive countries. The European Imperialists made tries to vanquish China and Japan. In this methodology, they succeeded by affecting Japan immensely. In any case, they were not as productive with China.

The Japanese intrusion of Manchuria and ensuing push to increase control over bigger spans of Northeast China in 1931 headed President Herbert Hoover and his Secretary of State, Henry Stimson, to create the Stimson Doctrine, which expressed that the United States might not distinguish the domain picked up by animosity and in violation of universal assentions. With the Stimson Doctrine, the United States communicated concern over the forceful activity without conferring itself to any immediate association or mediation. Different clashes, including the Italian attack of Ethiopia and the Spanish Civil War, likewise brought about essentially no official duty or movement from the United

The age of imperialism was an important part of history, it was during the 19th and 20th centuries. During this time period, European countries were taking over great sections of the world. It wouldn't be long before they started to take over Asia. Some countries such as, India and China, went under European control and influence. While Japan adopted reforms to meet the western challenge. How was it possible that Japan was able to be strong while India and China couldn't?

The Japanese pursuit for an empire in South East Asia helped changed the balance of world power away from Europe, by taking their most lucrative colonies. Soon after the Japanese defeat in World War II, most of the colonies won their independence from their European masters. This essay will be arguing that despite the vast geographical distance and cultural, racial differences, as well as the different time periods involved, Japanese and European intentions were very similar, and that these similarities contributed to the weakening of Imperialism as a doctrine. To do so, this essay will be examining the reasons for the Japanese

had become a threat to the United States to the point that it had to