1.

2 Japanese expansion in South-east Asia, 1931-1941

March 8, 2024 8:56 PM

3 Perspectives on what led to the Pacific War:

1) Japan had aimed to dominated Asia from the early 1930s and it could only be done through war, negotiations
could only delay international backlash. (Western countries being hypocritical)
2) War was not necessary for Japan's expansion as they were willing to negotiate. War with major powers could
be avoided, but if negotiations fail Japan needed to be prepared for war.
3) Japan was forced into war by the actions of the US. Japan had legitimate aims in the region but US and UK
were determined to contain Japan for their own interests.

Causes of expansion
1) Political instability in China 1931 The Manchurian Crisis
a. Jiang Jieshi's Nationalist Party (Guo Ming 1932 Japan bombed Chinese districts in Shanghai
Dang) started to focus more on defeating the Army officers revolt
Communists led by Mao Zedong in the all-out PM Inukai assassinated
civil war starting in 1927
1933 Manchukuo is created

2) Domestic political crises and growing influence of 1934
the military
a. As response to Jiang's Northern Expedition 1936
(1926), the Japanese govt decided to disarm
Zhang Zuolin, a Japanese backed warlord in
Manchuria, before his attempt of expanding
into Northern China fails. Japan could focus on
Manchuria while Jiang has China. 1937
b. The Kwantung Army, stronghold of the radical
Kodo-ha, assassinated Zhang. PM Tanaka was 1938
ordered by emperor to discipline the army, but
failed, and was forced to resign July 1929.
c. PM Hamaguchi Yuko was criticised heavily by 1939
the military circle after agreeing to decisions at
London Naval disarmament Conference (1930).
1940
He was shot by a right-wing radical November
1930 and resigned April 1931 due to the injury.
3) Domestic economic crisis
a. 1929 economic crisis after the Wall Street
Crash fostered distrust for democratic world 1941
order
b. trades and exports fell drastically, silk
industry hit the hardest (50%+ farmers relied on
silk)
c. desperate poverty, 3 million unemployed
d. 1930: Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act under
President Hoover (protectionist trade policies that
raised import duties by as much as 200% for Japanese
goods)
e. Boyle: Japanese people blamed its democratic
govt and Taisho internationalism
Repeal of naval treaties of Washington and
London by the Japanese navy
Japan signs the Anti-Comintern Pact with
Germany
Minseito Party elected
Attempted Kodo-ha coup
Start of Tosei domination of the govt
Marco Polo Bridge Incident
Beginning of the Sino-Japanese War
The National Mobilisation Bill
Proposal for the East Asia Co-Prosperity
Sphere
Imperial Rule Assistance Association formed
All political parties banned in Japan
Wang Ching Wei set up as puppet ruler of
Manchukuo
Japan signed Tripartite Pact with Italy &
Germany
Japan demanded access to bases in Vietnam
from France
Japan signed the Non-Aggression Pact with
the USSR
July: Japan invaded the rest of Indo-China
December: Japan attacked Pearl Harbour

The Move to Global War Page 1

Events in Manchuria
• Zhang Zuolin's son Zhang Xueling allied Security, a buffer Raw materials (eg. coal,
to Russia iron, timber)
with Jiang, and the Kwantung Army
plotted to seize Manchuria once and for all.
General Minami wrote a letter to restrain The attraction of Manchuria, "a lifeline"
them under the emperor's orders, but the
letter was held back intentionally by the
Markets to help withstand 4 times larger than Japan,
messenger. the impact of global living space for Japan's
depression population

18 September 1931: explosion on a Japanese-owned section of the South Manchurian Railway near Mukden
• the Kwantung Army used this excuse to force the Chinese to retreat from Mukden within hours and
entered Changchun the next day
○ there was evidence that the perpetrators were members of the Kwantung Army instead of the
Chinese
• Relishing in victories, the Kwantung Army ignored Prime Minister Wakatsuki's policy of "non-
expansion of hostilities" and pushed further into the Manchurian countryside

Results of the Manchurian Crisis:

• Deterioration of relations with the US and Britain, condemned to leave the League of Nations
• Abandonment of the Washington Treaty System
• Foreign Minister Uchida: the West is holding Japan back from its legitimate needs while their own
expansion goes unchallenged; (comparison to the Triple Intervention of 1895)
• Closer relationship with Nazi Germany, who have also walked out of the League of Nations
• USSR as a regional competitor => Anti-Comintern Pact (1936)

• After setting up the puppet govt of Manchukuo in January 1932, fighting broke out in Shanghai with
intense Japanese bombing over dense residential areas. Caused Chinese outrage and worsened Japan's
international image.

• GMD was occupied with fighting the Communists and called on the League of Nations. Jiang did not
directly negotiate with Japan and kept ceding territory, "selling space to buy time"

• Japan benefitted economically from the occupation of Manchuria, but the "Asia Monroe Doctrine" was still
stretching its resources thin. Japan had to increase taxation back home in order to prepare for defense
against US, China, and USSR

• Domestic nationalism rose with emergence of war "heroes" and grand celebrations of the Kwantung Army's
actions in China. The govt went with the wave of popular opinion. Foreign criticism & condemnation also
added fuel to fire.

The Move to Global War Page 2

 Years of turmoil: The descent into "the Dark Valley"

• growing military influence in domestic politics crisis with two prominent groups in internal contest for power

Koho-ha (Imperial Way Faction) Tosei-ha (Control faction)

preparing for - radical - moderate

major war with - want military dictatorship - imperialist - legal means to get military
the Soviet Union with the emperor - objective: influence in govt
- USSR is the enemy expansion - want good relations with
- spiritual training of the army in China the USSR
- modernisation of the army

"May 15th Incident" (1932): An attempted reactionary coup in which Japanese army and navy officers attacked
banks and party officer and police posts in Tokyo. Prime Minister Inukai was killed.
• caused general disillusionment with the current ruling political parties
• the military continued to dominate politics
• … when the Sino-Japanese War of 1937 ("not the war the army General Staff wanted) broke out after fighting at the
Marco Polo Bridge Incident in July 1937 (which escalated quickly), Prince Konoe was subject to what ever the
army commanders ordered, powerless to stop the military

Year Prime Minister Features of the period

1931 Wakatsuki Party Cabinet; undermined by the Kwantung Army taking over Manchuria
1931-32 Inukai Party Cabinet; assassinated in 1932
1932-34 Admiral Saito Moderate admirals; power struggle between Tosei-ha and Kodo-ha factions, which resulted in the
1934-36 Admiral Okada supremacy of the Tosei-ha and paved the way for more military control over govt
1936-37 Hirota Koki Growing militarism; concessions to the army
1937 General Hayashi
1937-39 Prince Konoe Unable to control the military; war with China started
1939 Baron Hiranuma
1939-40 General Abbe Japanese expansion in China and South-East Asia
1940 Admiral Yonai Tripartite Act (agreement to establish new order in Europe and Asia)
1940-41 Prince Konoe Diplomatic activity with the USA; failed to control militarists
1941 General Tojo Attack on Pearl Harbor

Japan quickly took over Beijing in July, forcing refugees along the Yangtze River (massive human exodus). The GMD
moved their capital to Nanjing, which fell on 13 December. "The rape of Nanjing" further worsened Japan's
international reputation. Jiang made new commitment to fighting Japan after popular outcry. In response, Prince
Konoe called for an all-out campaign to "annihilate" the nationalist regime, hoping that China could be quickly
defeated and folded into the new Asian order. His proposal of a Co-Prosperity Sphere in November 1938 was
rejected by Jiang.

Two centres of Chinese resistance developed as the war dragged on: Jiang in Chongqing (the most bombed city in WW2)
and Mao in north-west China. Japanese forces were stretched thinner and thinner into the interior of China,
became more vulnerable to guerrilla attacks, and struggled to end the war in its favour.
• Bix: this war set the stage of triumph of Communism in China

The Move to Global War Page 3

Pearl Harbor and the outbreak of war
• Domestic causes for Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor (7 Dec 1941):
○ increasing control of the military on the govt
○ the economic concerns rising from the US blockade on Japan as a result of its expansion into Indo-China
(took over Asian colonies of Britain, France and Netherlands in summer 1941)
○ boost in confidence from Hitler's early victory in Europe
• Key war supplies for conquest in China was withheld, leading to the option of conquering the European colonies
to gain resources
○ split in Japanese opinion: negotiations with USA continued, while the military made alternate plans to
prepare for war for "self defence and self-preservation" (Japanese navy)
○ Japan refused to back down from Washington's immovable demand to respect territorial integrity of its
neighbours, to be peaceful, and to maintain an "open door" policy of trade
 the Japanese army's morale was at stake
• when negotiations stalled, President Hara declared that it was inevitable to start a war with the US in a final
Imperial Conference on 2 November 1941

7 December 1941: Japanese bombers attacked Pearl Harbour in an attempt to destroy the American Pacific fleet, so
that Japan can control South East Asia before USA had time to rebuild its naval capability (a gamble)
→ huge American losses: 90% of the mid-Pacific air and sea power was destroyed or heavily damaged, 2403 US
military personnel and civilians killed and 1178 injured
→ the attack was considered treacherous and deceitful to the US as there was no declaration of war, and
negotiations were still going on; the US govt was outraged
→ Japan made the fatal mistake of missing the CVs out on manoeuvres
→ there were simultaneous Japanese attacks in South East Asia: seized control of Guam, Hongkong and Wake
Island by the end of December, and sunk two important British warships (Prince of Wales and Repulse)
→ mid 1942: Japan took Indo-China, Siam, the Dutch East Indies, Malaya, Singapore, and the Philippines

The Move to Global War Page 4

(p. 52-53)
Perspectives … (when did this war start?)
→ the attack, not in line with Japan's long-
terms plans, was caused by US provocation
(oil embargo, harsh demands in negotiation,
etc.) The war started in 1941. The US did
not act when Japan expanded in China in
the 1930s, but encouraged it.
→ the "militarist capitalist clique" was
responsible for starting the war. The
Japanese public was indoctrinated by pre-
war education. The "15-year war" started
in 1931.
→ Japan was freeing Asia from Western
colonialism, and caused successful post-war
The Move to Global War Page 5
→ the war began in 1937 after
Japanese aggression and expansion
(eg. Marco Polo Bridge incident). Japan
was responsible for causing the
Pacific War with imperialism &
militarism, like presented at the
Tokyo Crimes Tribunal. Pearl Harbor
was key evidence in Japan's breaching
of the Geneva Convention.
→ … the emperor's role: passive,
aggressive, or supportive? Could he have
→ Japan was freeing Asia from Western
colonialism, and caused successful post-war
independence movements. A "holy war"
that was a 100-year struggle with the
West after the American's arrival in 1853.
→ … the emperor's role: passive,
aggressive, or supportive? Could he have
intervened the expansionists?

*Hull's last note before Pearl Harbor …

demanded complete withdrawal of ALL Japanese
troops from French Indo-China and China;
irony …
unacceptable to the Imperial Japanese army
Kenneth Pyle: (Japan's history in this period
as a tragedy) all objectives were lost.
→ Traditional order destroyed, helped "build"
Communism in China, and led to first
ever military occupation in homeland after
WW2 by Americans

The Move to Global War Page 6