WW2 in Pacific: Causes of War Notes

WW2 in Pacific: Causes of War

Key Questions

1. What were the long term and short term causes of World War Two in the Pacific?
2. How can these be categorized into economic, political, ideological, and territorial causes?

Long Term Causes

1. Japan and Ultranationalism

Industrial and Military Modernisation

1. Under the Meiji Restoration, Japan rapidly industrialised using Western technologies. The government invested in railways, shipbuilding, steel production, and communication systems.
2. A modern conscription-based army and Imperial Navy were built along Prussian and British lines, respectively. Military service became a rite of passage, instilling national pride and discipline.
3. This technological and military progress reinforced the ultranationalist narrative that Japan was superior to other Asian nations and could rival the West.

Military Victories and Rising Prestige

1. First Sino-Japanese War (1894–1895): Japan defeated Qing China in a conflict over influence in Korea.
   1. The victory resulted in the Treaty of Shimonoseki, where China ceded Taiwan, the Pescadores Islands, and Liaodong Peninsula (though the latter was returned after the Triple Intervention by Russia, France, and Germany).
   2. This war demonstrated Japan’s emergence as a modern military power and inspired nationalist pride.
2. Russo-Japanese War (1904–1905): Japan shocked the world by defeating Tsarist Russia, the first time an Asian nation defeated a European power in modern warfare.
   1. The victory, sealed with the Treaty of Portsmouth, led to Japanese control over Port Arthur, southern Sakhalin, and influence in Manchuria and Korea.
   2. This fueled ultranationalist belief in Japan’s racial and civilisational superiority.

Educational reforms and indoctrination

1. The Imperial Rescript on Education (1890) was read aloud in schools and taught students to show filial piety, loyalty to the emperor, and readiness to sacrifice for the nation.
2. The education system increasingly emphasised militarism, ethnic homogeneity, and the glory of the Japanese Empire.
3. History and moral education textbooks were revised to glorify Japan’s past and its imperial mission. The youth were moulded into loyal imperial subjects.

Growing Japanese resentment towards the West: The Triple Intervention (1895)

1. Shortly after Japan’s victory over China, the Treaty of Shimonoseki awarded Japan control of Liaodong Peninsula, including Port Arthur.
2. However, Russia, Germany, and France pressured Japan to return the territory to China (under what became known as the Triple Intervention), claiming it would “threaten peace” in the region.
3. Japan complied, lacking the military strength to resist, but this was seen as a humiliating injustice. The West was viewed as hypocritical, allowing Western imperialism, but opposing Japan's.

Russia's seizure of Port Arthur (1898)

1. Just a few years after forcing Japan to give up Port Arthur, Russia took control of it themselves under a lease agreement with China.
2. This blatant contradiction enraged the Japanese public and government, intensifying anti-Western and especially anti-Russian sentiment.
3. The belief grew that Western powers treated Japan as racially inferior and unworthy of imperial rights.

Resentment towards Treaty of Portsmouth (1905)

1. Japan’s hard-fought and costly victory led to territorial gains (southern Sakhalin and leases in Manchuria), but no financial compensation from Russia.
2. Many Japanese expected significant war reparations, similar to what Western nations had demanded in past treaties.
3. The public was outraged, and violent riots broke out in Tokyo (the Hibiya Riots), targeting government buildings and symbols of Western diplomacy.
4. The Treaty of Portsmouth was brokered by U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt, who was seen as siding with Russia to preserve the balance of power in Asia.
5. Japan believed it had been denied full rewards due to Western fears of a strong Asian power.
6. This reinforced a feeling of racial discrimination and betrayal, despite Japan’s desire to be treated as an equal among imperial powers.

2. Japan and the First World War

Overview of Japanese involvement

1. Japan joined the war on the side of the Allied Powers (Britain, France, Russia) in 1914, under the terms of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance.
2. Its involvement was limited militarily but strategically important:
   1. Seized German colonies in the Pacific (e.g., the Mariana, Caroline, and Marshall Islands).
   2. Took control of Germany’s sphere of influence in Shandong Province, China.
   3. Japan used the war as a low-risk opportunity to expand its empire and influence in East Asia.

Expansion of Empire and Influence in China

1. In 1915, Japan issued the infamous Twenty-One Demands to China, seeking:
   1. Expanded rights in Manchuria and Shandong
   2. Control over Chinese political and economic affairs
2. Although the final version was reduced under international pressure, it alarmed Western powers and outraged Chinese nationalists.
3. For Japanese ultranationalists, it was proof of Japan’s rightful dominance in Asia: a “Monroe Doctrine for Asia.”
4. European powers were distracted by the war in Europe, so Japan's expansion in Asia faced little military opposition.
5. This boosted confidence among Japanese nationalists that Japan could act with impunity in East Asia, a major step toward militarist thinking in the 1930s.

Resentment Toward the West: Postwar Disillusionment

1. Japan proposed a Racial Equality Clause for inclusion in the Covenant of the League of Nations:
   1. It called for equal treatment of all races and nationalities within the League.
2. Despite majority support among delegates, the proposal was blocked, largely due to opposition from Britain (concerned about its empire) and especially the United States (reflecting domestic racial policies).
3. Japanese public opinion was furious. Many saw this as clear evidence of Western hypocrisy and racism, despite Japan’s contributions to the war effort.
4. Under the Treaty of Versailles, Germany’s rights in Shandong were handed to Japan instead of being returned to China.
   1. This sparked mass protests in China (the May Fourth Movement), while Japan celebrated the decision as a diplomatic victory.
5. However, when the U.S. and Britain later pressured Japan to return Shandong to China (in the Washington Naval Conference of 1921–22), it was seen as a betrayal by the West, deepening nationalist resentment.

Economic and Industrial Growth During the War

1. As European powers focused on the war, Japan became the main supplier of goods and arms to Asia.
2. The war created a massive economic boom in Japan:
   1. Exports quadrupled between 1914 and 1918.
   2. Industrialisation and shipbuilding surged.
3. This economic strength was taken as further evidence of Japan’s rising status and reinforced ultranationalist calls to resist Western constraints on Japan’s global role.

Growing Belief in Japan’s Special Destiny

1. Nationalists increasingly believed Japan was:
   1. Morally superior to the corrupt and self-serving Western powers.
   2. The natural leader of Asia, destined to overturn the Western imperial order.
2. The rejection of the Racial Equality Clause and diplomatic setbacks fed the narrative that Japan must act independently of the West to protect its interests.

Fuel for Future Militarism

1. The perceived slights and betrayals of the postwar settlement laid emotional and ideological groundwork for the aggressive policies of the 1930s:
   1. Support for military expansion in Manchuria and China.
   2. Growth of Pan-Asianist ideology, positioning Japan as the liberator of Asia from Western imperialism.

Short Term Causes

1. Japan and the Great Depression (Economic cause)

Why did the Great Depression hit Japan so hard?

1. The Great Depression, triggered by the 1929 U.S. stock market crash, caused a worldwide economic downturn.
2. Japan’s economy was heavily reliant on exports, especially silk, textiles, and manufactured goods.
3. By 1932, the value of Japanese exports had halved, devastating farmers and small industries.

Suffering in Rural Japan and Social Unrest

1. Rural areas, especially in northern Japan, were hit hardest.
2. Prices of rice and silk collapsed, leading to widespread poverty, starvation, and unemployment.
3. In some areas, impoverished families were forced to sell daughters into prostitution to survive.
4. This created a climate of anger, despair, and desire for radical solutions, which ultranationalists exploited.

Loss of Faith in Democracy and Civilian Government

1. Civilian political leaders were seen as ineffective and unable to address the economic crisis.
2. The Taishō democracy of the 1920s began to collapse under pressure.
3. The public and many in the military believed Japan needed strong leadership and decisive action, not Western-style parliamentary debate.

Rise of the Military and Ultranationalist Ideologies

1. The crisis strengthened military influence in government and politics.
2. Army officers argued that Japan must secure self-sufficiency by controlling resources abroad, especially in China.
3. Ultranationalist ideology gained popularity:
   1. Rejection of Western capitalism and democracy.
   2. Belief in Japanese racial and cultural superiority.
   3. Promotion of “Showa Restoration”, a return to military-led imperial rule centred on the emperor.

Search for Economic Security Through Expansion

1. Japan lacked key natural resources like coal, iron, and oil, which were essential for industry and military growth.
2. The military argued that Japan must take control of resource-rich areas, especially Manchuria, which had:
   1. Coal, iron ore, timber, and fertile farmland
   2. A key location for Japanese security and influence in northeast Asia
3. Expansion was framed as a way to solve Japan’s problems and reduce dependence on Western markets.

2. Japan's territorial expansion (Territorial cause)

Manchurian Incident (1931) and Invasion

1. In September 1931, Japanese army officers staged the Mukden Incident, a false flag attack on a railway line controlled by Japan’s South Manchuria Railway.
2. The army used this as a pretext to invade and occupy Manchuria, without authorization from the civilian government.
3. Within months, Japan established the puppet state of Manchukuo (1932), ruled in name by the last Qing emperor, Puyi.

Weak Civilian Response and Further Aggression

1. The Japanese government was too weak to stop the military’s actions.
2. The public largely supported the invasion, seeing it as a bold solution to the economic crisis and national humiliation.
3. The army gained enormous prestige, further weakening civilian control.

International Condemnation and Japan’s Defiance

1. The League of Nations investigated the invasion and condemned Japan’s actions in 1933.
2. In response, Japan withdrew from the League, showing its willingness to reject international norms and act unilaterally.
3. This moment marked a turning point: Japan began to pursue expansion through force, without concern for diplomacy or Western approval.

3. Sino-Japanese War and US reaction (Territorial and Political Cause)

Outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937)

1. Full-scale war broke out in July 1937 following the Marco Polo Bridge Incident, where a skirmish near Beijing escalated into open conflict.
2. Japan expected a quick victory but became embroiled in a long, bloody war against Chinese forces led by Chiang Kai-shek’s Nationalists and later the Communists.
3. Japan captured major cities like Beijing, Shanghai, and Nanjing (where the Nanjing Massacre occurred), but failed to force China to surrender.
4. By the late 1930s, Japan was bogged down in a prolonged and expensive war.
5. The Japanese military controlled large parts of eastern China, but guerrilla warfare and widespread Chinese resistance made control difficult.
6. Japan needed more manpower, resources, and oil to sustain the war effort, leading to increased militarisation and expansionism.

Economic Strain and the Need for Resources

1. The war strained Japan’s economy and military.
2. Japan imported over 80% of its oil from the United States, along with key materials like steel, rubber, and iron ore.
3. To sustain the war in China and secure future ambitions in Asia, Japan sought to control Southeast Asia, rich in natural resources (particularly Dutch East Indies for oil and British Malaya for rubber and tin).

U.S. Opposition and Economic Sanctions

1. The U.S. condemned Japanese aggression in China but initially took only limited action.
2. However, as atrocities like the Nanjing Massacre became known, and Japan’s alliance with Germany and Italy formed (the Tripartite Pact, 1940), U.S. opposition hardened.
3. In 1940–41, the U.S. imposed increasing economic sanctions:
   1. Scrap metal ban (1940)
   2. Oil embargo (July 1941), after Japan occupied French Indochina
   3. Freezing of Japanese assets in U.S. banks

Japan’s Strategic Dilemma and the "Southern Strategy"

1. Faced with dwindling supplies, Japan’s leaders had two choices:
   1. Withdraw from China and negotiate with the U.S. (seen as dishonourable and humiliating)
   2. Seize resource-rich colonies in Southeast Asia and fight the Western powers if necessary
2. The Japanese military favoured expansion, this became known as the Southern Expansion Doctrine.
3. To do this, Japan had to neutralise the U.S. Pacific Fleet based at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

Diplomatic Failure and Final Decision

1. In late 1941, negotiations between Japan and the U.S. failed:
   1. The U.S. demanded Japan withdraw from China and Indochina.
   2. Japan insisted on keeping its conquests and demanded an end to the embargo.
2. Japanese leaders concluded that war with the U.S. was inevitable, but that a surprise attack could delay U.S. interference and buy time to consolidate conquests.

Attack on Pearl Harbour (December 7, 1941)

1. Japan launched a surprise attack on Pearl Harbour, aiming to destroy the U.S. Pacific Fleet.
2. Simultaneously, Japan launched invasions across Southeast Asia: Philippines, Malaya, Hong Kong, and the Dutch East Indies.
3. Japan hoped for a quick knockout blow, forcing the U.S. to accept Japan’s new empire, much like its earlier strategy in China.