Preview

The Reasons Why Japan Embarked on an Aggressive, Militaristic Foreign Policy and Assess the Extent to Which This Was Successful in the First Half of the 20th Century.

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1099 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Reasons Why Japan Embarked on an Aggressive, Militaristic Foreign Policy and Assess the Extent to Which This Was Successful in the First Half of the 20th Century.
The Meiji Restoration was a great change to Japan. It bought an end to isolation an introduced them to westernisation with the industrial revolution. It was the end of feudalism and the beginning of a new government system known as “the diet” which was modelled around a German government system. Japans rapid rate of westernisation influenced them to want more and more power particularly after adopting the slogan “rich country, strong military”.

Japan had built itself up so well as a country that it was able to defeat both China and Russia in two successful wars, Sino-Japanese war (1894-95) and the Russo-Japanese war (1904-05) and annexing Korea in 1910. These successes boosted Japans reputation on the world stage. Japan had quickly gained a power which it had never had before. It was new to them. Since the Sino-Japanese war, Japan had proven to China that they could not be defeated and China was becoming weaker and weaker due to the Japanese. Japan took even greater advantage of China during the Great Depression. The Great Depression convinced many Japanese to protect their “special interests” in China at all cost. As a result the Japanese military provoked and incident in China allowing them to create a full-scale invasion of Manchuria, renaming it Manchukuo. The military re-installed the former Emperor of China, Pu-yi, as the first ruler. Pu-yi was known as a “puppet ruler” as the military had complete control over each decision he made, meaning that they were able to do what they liked with the area. The people of Manchukuo were not completely appose it as they had a Manchurian leading them, the military did not appear to be involved. The militaries bullying tactics of taking over China are similar to those of the Americans when they came to Japan, under the command of Commodore Matthew Perry, practically demanding Japan to go ahead with what President Fillmore wanted of them.

The next stream of events that proved success for Japan was World War 2. Japan



Bibliography: Investigating Japan book. Combat aircraft of World War 2, by Enzo Angelucci and Paolo Matricardi www.wikipedia.com www.wiki.answers.com

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Japan CCOT essay

    • 1090 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Japan’s cultural and political structure changed from being a weak isolated nation to a modern imperialist country. Before Japan westernized, it was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate. This was an agricultural economy with a population of 13 billion. Japan did not associate with any other country because they believed foreign influence was a destabilizing factor. This resulted in overcrowded farms and scarce minerals. In 1853, Commodore Perry came to japan with his big black ships. The technological advancements of the ships shocked the japanese. They ended isolationism and opened trade ports in order to avoid destruction. Failure of success, in 1868 the Tokugawa shogun was overthrown and emperor Meiji had complete power. During this time, Japan was very decentralized. There were several semi-independent feudal lords. The emperor saw how Japan was at a great disadvantage from being in isolation for so many years. He knew that in order to strengthen Japan, change was needed. This resulted in the Meiji Restoration. By 1912…

    • 1090 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    17. Domains were officially abolished, all feudal class privileges were ended, an army was formed, unified monetary and tax systems were established. All of these led to the success of Japan as a nation in the modern world.…

    • 947 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Japan began to Westernize during the Meiji Restoration to avoid domination, so they mimicked Germany’s government.…

    • 4278 Words
    • 18 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    restoration, Japan became a powerful country. So Japan won in that war. After that, the World…

    • 933 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    1800s Dbq Analysis

    • 794 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Similar to Great Britain, Japan was in desperate need of resources that they lacked because of their geography. Trade was and still is a huge part of Japan's economy. "Trade was necessary to the functioning of the Japanese economy. When Japan entered the first stage of its modernization in the nineteenth century, it had become dependent on other parts of the world for markets and raw materials... Iron for the steel industry was of particular concern as Japan was almost wholly dependent upon imports... The nearest major sources of iron were in Manchuria and northern China." (William Beasley, Doc. 8) Japan became an imperialist nation because of its lack of natural resources and because China was so close and prosperous they first traded with China and eventually invaded China in hopes to take control of it. In Doc. 9, the map shows the Japanese expansion from 1930 to 1939. During those nine years Japan invaded all of Korea, and a good part of China including one of China's big cities, Manchuria. "The protection of the nation's line of sovereignty and the defense of our line of advantage are essential if we wish to maintain our independence and security.... [W]e must reach as far as possible within the limits of our resources to achieve control of that position. As a result, it is essential that we begin to make significantly larger appropriations for our navy and our armed…

    • 794 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The imperialism of Japan was used to build a stronger military, advancing as a world power, and earn a high spot…

    • 753 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    While all eyes were on Europe and Hitler’s campaign to expanding his Third Reich, Japan was somewhat free to do whatever they pleased. They turned their sights to imperializing into the Pacific and many of the islands and colonies near Japan. Prior to this, Japan had already invaded Manchuria. Their next move was to conquer what was left of the rest of China. Much to their surprise, China put up a pretty strong fight and refused to surrender.…

    • 490 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Outline 31.1

    • 1219 Words
    • 5 Pages

    iv. Japan’s easy successes strengthen the militarists. In 1937, Japanese armies overran much of eastern China.…

    • 1219 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    China and Japan are two different countries with two different cultures. Both of their values are different and both of their economies are different. A lot of times, being in the United States, we really don’t understand the differences between two countries that seem so similar to us. Yet, in reality, they are so different that sometimes we need a better understanding of what really goes on behind the scenes of both countries.…

    • 991 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Before World War II, there was a massive spread of totalitarianism, which was a type of non-democratic authority that destroyed all social, legal, and political traditions the preceded it, used systematic terror to oppress all opposition, complete control of military forces and the economy, and held an all encompassing ideology, as a result of economic struggles and an overwhelmingly weak government. From this, Nazisim led by Adolf Hitler, communism led by Joseph Stalin, and fascism led by Benito Mussolini grew and took power. In a similar fashion, Japan struggled to supply themselves with the natural resources need for their economy to thrive. They combated this issue by creating an expansion policy for themselves, in which they took over territories solely with military force. The military’s power grew very…

    • 1486 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Before the Meiji Restoration, Japan was controlled by a feudal structure of power, where people would be given land in return for their money or services. When this was abolished, Japan moved into a new system of power called a constitutional monarchy. This advanced their society by getting rid of the samurai and many other traditions holding Japan back from advancing. Japan also built up its military under the Meiji which eventually overpowered the Russians in 1905. The British trained the Japanese army and the Germans trained the navy making it well trained and disciplined. The Meiji Revolution transformed Japan into an industrialized state by opening up it borders to trade, getting rid of feudalism and the samurai, and strengthening its…

    • 666 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    During the 1930’s, before WW2 had begun, the Japanese empire consisted of Korea, the southern half of Sakhalin Island, Kurile Islands (now part of Russia) and Taiwan. The empire was rapidly industrializing and militarizing and was under the slogan “Enrich the country, Strengthen the army”. Japan and its empire was then led to their demands of world power therefore Japan seized every opportunity to show complete dominance to the world by attacking countries that were a threat to their growing empire.…

    • 686 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Pearl Harbor

    • 580 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Japan felt that America was standing in the way of Japan becoming a world power. In 1938, japan announced a plan to create a new world order in East Asia. (Doc C) Japanese leaders believed that the old order controlled by United States and European countries was crumbling. It would be replaced by a new system and Japan would be the leader of the "new order". (Doc A) Also, the map in Document B shows that the new Japanese order was becoming a fact. Japan established Manchuria as a puppet state in 1932 and began its occupation of China in 1937. (Doc B)…

    • 580 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Japanese wanted more and more of the land and natural resources in the area. In 1931, they invaded Manchuria and used all the resources in that area to supply their war machine. Japan was aggressive and wanted to create an empire. They became a threat to the economic interests and influence of the U.S. and Europe in Asia.…

    • 661 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Meiji Constitution also established a bicameral legislature known as the Diet. Japan also began to model its military after that of the western powers. With these industrializations taking place, Japan was on its way to becoming a major power. With its newfound power, Japan was ready to challenge the powers of the rest of the world. Japan made plans to revise the unfair treaties that were forced upon them, in order to take back the dignity of their country. Japan, like the other world powers, was interested in gaining more power through imperialism. An example of Japanese imperialism has to do with China. China and Japan both had an interest in Korea, and there was a conflict. Japan came out victorious, and was even able to gain the island of Taiwan. However, a dispute with Russia (known as the Russo-Japanese war) over territory in Manchuria and Korea was the announcement to the world that Japan was now a force to be reckoned with. Japan’s victory surprised the other nations, and Japan gained more power through this victory. For Japan, Korea was a very valuable place to control, as Korea had needed resources, and was close to…

    • 522 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays