Japan’s Rise to Militarism

1. Japan’s Rise to Militarism 1914-45

2. Japan is an island nation off theeast coast of the Asian mainland. They viewed themselves as the Asiatic-equivalent to Great Britain.

3. World War I1914-18 Japan helps Allies defeat Germany • provide ships to patrol the Indian and Pacific Oceans • capture the German naval base at Qingdao in ShandongProvince

4. Led to mass street demonstrations in China on 4th May 1919. Japan got Shandong province in China at the Treaty of Versailles as a reward for their support of the Allies in World War I.

5. Japan was also awarded with the Marshall Islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean.

6. Japan’s record Wins Losses 0 2 3

7. Washington Naval Treaty- 6th February 1922 - • aka the Five-Powers Act or the Five-Powers Naval Limitation Treaty • Great Britain, France, Italy, Japan and the United States — pledged adherence to limitations on the tonnage of capital ships and accepted a moratorium on new naval construction

8. All signatories pledged to maintain a balance in their respective capital* fleets under a predetermined ratio: • Great Britain • United States • Japan • France • Italy *Capital ships were those vessels exceeding 10,000 tons or bearing guns in excess of an eight-inch caliber, effectively denoting battleships and aircraft carriers.

9. Hirohito(1901-89) • emperor of Japan 1926-89 • allowed the military to dominate the Japanese government for the first 19 years of his reign

10. Japan and theGreater East AsiaCo-Prosperity Sphere

11. Sino-Japanese War1931 Manchukuo Japan invaded and “liberated” the rest of Manchuria, and sets up a puppet government under the last emperor, Pu Yi.

12. Japanese troops entering Mukden, Manchuria, in 1931.

13. Japan established an “independent” nation under the last Manchu emperor of Qing China, “Henry” Pu-yi.

14. Pu-yi was little more than a puppet in the hands of the Japanese.

15. Japan’s record Wins Losses 0 4 3

16. Sino-Japanese War 1937-45 Japan invades and conquers much of north and central China.

17. The Sino-Japanese War of 1937 erupted over an “incident” at the famed-Marco Polo Bridge near Beijing.

18. The Japanese attacked the city of Shanghai, the busiest port in China.

19. The Japanese moved quickly to occupy large parts of China. Shanghai

20. The Rape of NankingDecember 1937

21. Two Japanese army officers had an execution “derby”, seeing which one could behead one-hundred people the fastest.

22. Some Chinese were used for live-bayonet practice.

23. Other people were forced to dig their own graves before being summarily executed.

24. The level of savagery and barbarity reached unprecedented levels.

25. Pregnant women were raped and their fœtuses were ripped from their wombs.

26. At the height of the Rape of Nanking,the U. S. S. Panay, an American gunboatoperating on the Yangtze River, was“accidentally” sunk by the JapaneseSunday 12th December 1937.

27. As Japan began to eye additional conquests, they increasingly viewed the United States as an impediment to their plans for expansion. [Image source: http://www.library.vcu.edu/pdfgif/speccoll/sykes/sykes002.jpg]

28. Emperor Hirohito reviewing troops in 1938.

29. Japan’s record Wins Losses 0 4 5