Origins

• Factors contributing to Japan's nationalism and militarism


  • Determination to turn Japan into a Western-styled military power
  • Belief that it is Japan's destiny to lead the Asian sphere and become an imperial power
  • Need for raw materials due to a relatively small nation with a large population
  • Discrimination at the hands of Western powers
• First American fleet led by Commodore Perry arrived in Tokyo Harbor


  1853
• Japan did not want to see the same result as the Opium Wars in China, where China had to bow down to a more powerful Western nation
• Meiji Restoration in Japan, where the Japanese emperor was restored to preeminence over the government

  1868
• Impacts of the Meiji Restoration


  • Reforms based on Western models
  • Development of a Western-style constitution with a representative body called a Diet
  • Emperor as commander-in-chief of the military
  • Economic reforms to westernize and industrialize Japan
  • Education reforms to model German schooling and develop strong Japanese nationalist identity
  • Military reforms to turn traditional samurai warriors into modern Western-style military officers
• First Sino-Japanese War, where Japan defeated China


  1894
• Russo-Japanese War, where Japan defeated Russia

  1904-1905
• Japan's victory over Russia was its "coming out party" to the Western world
• Japan entered on the side of the Allies and launched attacks against German holdings in East Asia


  World War I
• Japan's participation in World War I pushed it towards being more nationalistic and militaristic
• After World War I, Japan received German holdings as League of Nations mandates, but its request for a racial equality clause was rejected
• Japan's move towards internationalism in the 1920s


  • Participation in the Washington Conference and agreements like the Four Power Treaty, Nine Power Agreement, and Five Power Naval Agreement
  • Fragility of the democratic Japanese government in the 1920s due to financial scandals, fears of left-wing radicalism, and opposition from conservative groups and the military
  • Economic slump in Japan in the 1920s and the impact of the Great Depression
• China was suffering from political instability after the fall of the Qing dynasty, with a rivalry growing between the Guomindang (Chinese Nationalists) and the Communist Party of China
• The instability in China emboldened Japanese militarists and nationalists to expand into Chinese and Manchurian lands