Japan Between the wars

History 12 Ms Leslie

Problems

1. Though the Japanese government looked like the British system; Prime ministers were not decided by parliamentary majorities but by appointment of a few men on office.

2. There was a division of military and civil branches of government. This means the military operated outside civilian control (the parliament of Diet in Japan)

3. 100,000 people died in the 1923 Tokyo earthquake, this help modernized the city during the re-build.

4. The great Depression

Wants to be Western

1. showed the strength of democracy with allied victory in WWI

2. Western business philosophy infiltrated Japanese businessmen.

3. In 1925 reduced the size of its standing army from 21 to 17 divisions.

4. People from all classes educated themselves with Western Liberal thought.

5. The urban youth began to questions traditions of family solidarity, paternal authority and male dominance.

Japanese Family circa 1920

School System

o Stressed nationalism, the superiority of Japano Taught respect for the military which brought

acceptance of the military’s demand sin the 1930’s

Nationalism

Ultra-nationalist groups emerged and embraced terrorist tactics rather then electoral results.

The Kitta Ikki (Black Dragon Society) led the movement for a fascist reform of Japanese Society.

Want an authoritarian regime ruled by emperor

Disliked influence from the west Military wanted empire expantion

Men enlisted at the aged of 14 Most officers came from a rural landowning

background, junior officers tended to have a more fascist outlook.

This reflected the same resentment of frustrated nationalist goals, fear of socialism and resentment of capitalist excesses that

Japanese radicals still respected their emperor.

Bank Crisis - 1927

Stock market, 1929, crash makes Authoritarian movement stronger

American tariffs create tension between the two countries

Depression in Japan

o Rice growers faced competition from with in the empire, Korea and Taiwan.

o Silk producers no longer had American Buyerso Poor peasant farmers were forced to sell their

daughters into prostitution to avoid starvation

Solutions?

Invade Manchuria! Take their resources!!

Big Government spending

Imperialism

Great Britain, France, Holland, USA and USSR have empires… why can’t Japan?!

Felt they entered the imperial game too late

The size of Japan’s territory was seen as a population problem.

The Whites held lightly populated parts of the world and the Japanese were now excluded from emigration.

The only option was expansion in to Asian.

London Naval Treaty - 1930

cabinet forced the Navy to accept it Limiting Japan’s considerable fleet. All this did was provoke open

insubordination by the Navy.

Manchurian Crisis 1931 Manchuria was important for the mining of coal and

iron ore. Japanese military invaded with out letting the civilian

government know The military claimed Chinese troops tried to blow up a

railway. Within a few months a puppet government was

installed and Japanese troops were landed in Shanghai. The League of Nations protested and Japan simply

dropped out of the league.

raised the prestige of the Japanese military made it possible for the military to pressure

the civilian government to undertake a policy of imperialistic expansion.

This invasion was an attempt by the military to help solve the problem of the depression.

Government spending

The Minister of Finance, Korekiyo Takahashi, increase government spending by 20% in each year of 1932, 33 and 34.

This provided workers with jobs and wages to by manufactured goods and food.

By 1936 the economy was booming and there was little unemployment.

refused to increase the military budget and so army officers murdered him.

Japanese Military The military silenced many opponents through fear. In 1932 the Premier Inukai was murdered, the

rational was to free the emperor from evil advisors. Inukai was also a signer of the London Naval Treaty

and the head of one of the largest political parties. The military created a cabinet consisting of

bureaucrats, politicians and military people, thus ending true parliamentary democracy.

In July of 1937 the Military swept south from Manchuria to gain control of China’s ports and great cities and the Yangtze River.

By 1938 Japan controlled much of eastern China.

New markets needed to be found as well as raw materials.

Japan looked to the European colonies in Asia to fund her empire.

Sign of things to come

Tension between the US and Japan was furthered with the exclusion of Japanese emigration based on race.

The Greater East Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere.

Japanese leaders began to speak of “freeing” the Asian colonies of the European nations and bringing them into Japanese control

The Japanese clearly saw themselves and the champion of the people of Asia.

Anti-Western sentimento Western ballroom dancing was condemned and dance

halls closedo Golf and other luxury sports frowned ono An attempt to stop the used of English scientific wordso Bilingual street signs removedo Schools to only used rote learningo Women discouraged to participate in intellectual lifeo Political witch hunts against educators and statesmen

who were accused of being against the emperor.o Those who brought about disarmament in 1922 and

1930 were pushed out of office or assassinated.