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WWII: Military History. Japan, & the U.S.A. The Rise of Japan. Late 19th Cent.: Japan modernizes 1895: Wins Sino-Japanese War Conquers Korea 1905: Wins Russo-Japanese War WWI: Japan joins Allies 1931: Generals seize Manchuria w/out govt. permission
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WWII: Military History Japan, & the U.S.A.
The Rise of Japan • Late 19th Cent.: Japan modernizes • 1895: Wins Sino-Japanese War • Conquers Korea • 1905: Wins Russo-Japanese War • WWI: Japan joins Allies • 1931: Generals seize Manchuria w/out govt. permission • 1939: Japanese occupy ¼ of China • 9/39 Nazis and Soviets invade Poland • Dec. 1941: Japanese attack Pearl Harbor
The Militarization of Japan • “Keep Up or Fall Behind” • Late 19th Cent. Japan realized it had to modernize or be dominated by Western powers • Japan lacked natural resources • Post WWI • 1920s-30s saw Japan become increasingly militaristic • Moderate govt. became ruled by military • Emperor as “divine” figurehead
Key Figures • Emperor Hirohito • Emperor of Japan during WWII • Hideki Tojo • Prime Minister who pushed for war vs. the west • Isoroku Yamamoto • Admiral who planned attack on Pearl Harbor • Hajime Sugiyama • Army Chief of Staff
The Japanese Military in WWII • Start of War: 1,700,000 men strong • Well motivated and supplied • Endured extreme hardship during war • Allied blockades effective • Conscript army • Militarized society prepared people for war • Encouraged blind loyalty “BUSHIDO” • Hand-to-hand considered the highest form of combat
Chinese Civil War (1927-1949) • Nationalists, led by Chiang Kai-Shek • Communists, led by Mao Zedong • Stopped fighting and focused on Japanese in 1937 • Communists win after WWII, Nationalists fled to Taiwan
2nd Sino-Japanese War • Japanese army fights Chinese Nationalists and communists • US supports Nationalist army w/advisors and war material • Chinese theater occupied large amounts of Japanese resources • Considered key theater of war for Japan • Japanese atrocities were rampant • Still sore point today
Japanese Advances in WWII • Causes of Japanese Successes from 1941-42 • Allied unpreparedness • Technology • Japanese Zero • Well-trained military • Navy
Japanese Brutality • Japan justified conquests with claims of “liberating” Asia from Western exploitation • Reality: Japanese govt. indoctrinated its citizens with belief that Japanese were racially superior to other Asians • Koreans, Chinese regarded as “sub human” • Execution of prisoners/civilians, human experiments, rape, common throughout territory occupied by Japanese
Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere(Japanese Propaganda Poster) “With the help of Japan, China, and Manchukuo, the world can be in peace."