Japanese Occupation of Borneo

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.

As the Kokoda fighting began in July 1942 , the scheme of both sides was in transition. The Japanese felt it was time to defend their gains, and halt the fighting and advancing. But the Allies were thinking differently. Having massive amount troops, ships, aircraft and supplies in New Zealand and Australia, they made the decision to launch a counterattack to defend and retake some of the islands that were occupied by the Japanese. Papua had no particular resource that they desired, but it was a useful link in the chain of defences of the newly conquered area of Japan. So because Japan was quickly gaining new lands closer to Australia, posing a threat to Australia’s safety, the battle of Kokoda was the most important Australian-fought victory, in terms of winning the war. The campaign helped to shape Australia’s post-war training practices and military operations. Although it was not they first victory against Japan, it allowed the allies to make thrust forward through ‘island hopping’ and ultimately win the war. Kokoda was the battle that ended Japan’s dominance and permitted the Allies to go on the offence. Australia greatly learned from their Kokoda experience, and subsequently improved their strategic thinking. They learned to not purely rely on naval defences, and realised that they cannot just let other countries dot the fighting. “…the modern Australian professional army was

The Darwin bombings were carried out so that naval ties would be cut between Australia and the US. The Japanese had intentions to conquer land in South East Asia and the Pacific in order to

While the initial sparks of Singaporean nationalism may have stemmed from being under the British colonial rule or arose due to the brutality that the people were put through during the Japanese Occupation between 1942 to 1945, it is difficult to ascertain exactly when the start of Singapore’s nation building efforts began. Characterized by the process where a large body of people associated with a territory commits to its own government, I would define the start of Singapore’s nation building process from the time its people started to strive for their independence. In this essay, I would argue about how the Japanese Occupation was indeed, a significant turning point that led to cultivation of Singapore as a nation.

The war in Europe was finished and America was still fighting Japan in the Pacific. The American people’s will to continue the war effort was falling and the government had to think of a way to end the war. They needed to take some of the Pacific to be able to get close enough to Japan to finish the war. They started by taking islands but ran into heavy Japanese resistance; soldier’s that were almost all willing to die for their emperor. That included fake surrendering, making and then hiding in elaborate cave systems, and killing other Japanese who were trying to surrender. This weighed heavily on the soldiers and made fighting incredibly hard. Even when they had an island there were Japanese who had hidden and still tried to kill the

Japan attacked Pearl Harbor on the Pretense of expanding their area of control. Document A the Japanese Ministry of Education on August 1, 1941, states “An old order … (European and American) … is now crumbling.” (Doc A). Meaning not only the Germans fighting the British, French and other European countries, including the US who supplies them, are losing the war. “The Benevolent Rule of the Emperor may be extended so as to embrace the whole world.” (Doc A). In this weaken world the Japanese are will take over and the kind and generous Emperor would then rule the world. A Map, Document B shows just how much the Japanese took in their plot for World domination. The Japanese took over Manchukuo, Taiwan, and the bottom half of Sakhalin by 1932, Tonking and stealing parts of

The Japanese empire was in great power by this time period, and they thought themselves as the king of the East Asian race. Japan, the “old order”, also believed that some day Europe and America would take over their power and become the “new orders”(Doc A). Japan was one

The retaliation of the Japanese had the world concerned by the oppression of military actions and to reveal power during the modern era (1900’s). The strategy of the Japanese

Australians have contributed in defense of the country and for allied countries in World War 2, displaying the significance of the fall of Singapore and Kokoda. The fall of Kokoda and Singapore were all related to a series of attacks from the Japanese and were counteracted by various campaigns Australia has formed. The intentions of the Japanese from both battles were distinctive, as throughout the second world war Japan was allied with Germany, who fought against Australia’s allied forces. From Kokoda and Singapore, the position of which alliances take part in are illustrated and the contributions to the various campaigns that are proposed. Thus, the role Australia plays can be distinguished and able to indicate the significance between both

The United States did not want the British controlling all of the trade in the Asian countries which in return, make the British even more powerful. So, the United States decided to spread its influence to Japan, as it was one of the few Asian countries that was not controlled by the British. Japan was weak because of its isolation and it was next to china so the U.S. would be able to participate in trade easier in the Asian region. The U.S. wanted to control Japan to gain many of its benefits, which are “The combination of it, advantageous geographic position and rumors that Japan held vast deposits of coal increased the appeal of establishing commercial and diplomatic contacts with the Japanese.” (Office of the Historian) The Japanese islands were just about everything the United States needed; the perfect geographic position, land in Asia, and a possible abundance of fuel. The U.S. was in need for more power and wanted to spread its influence to Japan in order to gain benefits. Japan was weak due to isolation and had no choice but to agree to what the United States wanted.

The United States along with our allies Britain and Dutch, provoked the Japanese to attack. In 1937 Japan declared war on China which aggravated the US. The US and its Allies formed a plan and cut off the oil supply for the Japanese military. No oil, meant no fuel for the war. By the US making the strategic plan to cut of the oil supply, left the Japanese finding oil elsewhere. So, they planned to invade into the Philippines and the Malaya territories. By moving into these locations with the hopes of finding a steady source of natural resources such as oil and rubber. In order to do so, the Japanese empire had to cripple the US military base that was 5,276 miles way. After months of planning, the Japanese Empire put their attack in motion. After many different red flag scenarios, the Japanese Bombers still managed to get the upper hand on us. With all of the red flags that’s presented hours, days, weeks before the attack why was the Pacific not

PEARL HARBOUR INTRODUCTION: As World War 1 came to an end and the war was nearly over, Germany suffered greatly and lost major industries and land. This humiliation gave rise to a great rising power led by it's dictators. The invasion of European lands by Hitler who was opposing the treaty invaded Poland in 1939. The Allies issued an ultimatum that Hitler remove his troops under the threat of war.

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

Throughout the work, Fujitani draws evidence from, and references, a plethora of different sources that add validity to his statements and accounts of not only what the Japanese and United States did, but also why they acted the way they did. In a time of war, both countries took different actions that were not readily understood. Japan

The foundation of Japanese imperialism, which eventually led to World War II was in the Meiji Restoration of the 1870’s. At that time, pro-war sentiment and desire for national strength and growth arose as the national attitude of the Japanese people. Certain groups, which advocated return to the traditional Japanese ways, began to grow in power. Shinto, the traditional religion of Japan, was revived with a new emphasis on emperor worship. By the time Emperor Hirohito assumed power in 1926, the nation was ready for a second restoration.1