Figure 1.--
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Figure 1.-- |
Japan with the assistance of the weather was one of the few countries to wiyhstand the Mongol onslaught. Its island have allowed it to develop a destinctive civilization, if rent by internal war for long periods. Unlike many countries, Japan managed to strictly control European traders and military expansion. The Industrial Revolution change this by providing Europeans industrial and military power that the traditional civilizations of Asia could not resist. India was the first major Asian area to sucumb to European expansion. After the Napoleonic Wars, Europe began to use its growing military power to expand into Europe. China's weakness was made manifest in the Opium Wars. Following the Opium Wars in short order the other civilizations of Asia were brought within the otbit of the world economy dominated by Europe. Commodore Perry opened Japan with his famed black ships. The reaction in Japan, however, was radically different than that of the rest of Asia.
Japan with the assistance of the weather was one of the few countries to wiyhstand the Mongol onslaught. It was the seas that saved the Japanese from the Mongols (1281). Perhaps the most important military campaign in Japanese history is the defeat of the Wmperor Kubla Khan's invasion fleet. The Mongol Emperor of China was Kublan Kahn introduced to the West by Marco Polo. China at the time was the most poweful country in the world Mongul armies had conquered China and then swept all opponents and pushed into the Middle East and Eastern Europe. Kubla Khan controlled an empire streaching from Poland to Korea. He dispattched an invasion fleet to add Japan to his empire. Japan at the time was a primitive country made up of waring fiefdoms. The Hojo family usurped the authority of the Japan's emperor, establishing the Shoganate. When the Shogun refused to pay homage to the Mongol Emperor, Kubla Khan set his eyes on Japan. He launced a massice invassion in 1281. The invasion fleet was made up of 4,200 ships and 142,000 men--larger than the D-Day invasion at Normandy. The Japanese would have been no match for the hugh Mongol army and sophiticated battlefield tactics. Mongil sophisticate battle formations rather than individual Samuri The fleet was destroyed by a storm known as the Divine Wind (Kamikaze). This became the inspiration for the Japanese suiside pilots (Kamikaze) of World War II.
Its island have allowed it to develop a destinctive civilization, if rent by internal war for long periods.
The great European voyages of discovery of the 15th and 16th centuries were fundamentally economic enterprises. They were conducted by the European countries of the Atlantic coasts to establish direct trade contacts with China and the Spice Islands (Indonesia) that was being blocked by Byzantium/Venice and the Arabs. At the time, trade in silk, porcelin, and spices from the East carried over the Silk Road had to pass through Turkish, Arab, Byzantine, and Italian middleman, making them enormously expensive. The crusaders failed to break the Islamic wall separating still primitive Europe from the riches of the East. Circumventing the land Silk Road and the sea Spice Route would have profound economic consequences for Europe and the world. The ballance of power would shift from Eastern to Western Europe and eventualkly to northern Europe. Two nations led the early explorarions in the 15th century--Spain and Portugal. These two countries pioneered the sea routes that would lead Europeans to Asia and the Americas, but the Dutch, English, and French were to follow in the 16th century.
Unlike many countries, Japan managed to strictly control European traders and military expansion.
The Industrial Revolution change this by providing Europeans industrial and military power that the traditional civilizations of Asia could not resist.
India was the first major Asian area to sucumb to European expansion. After the Napoleonic Wars, Europe began to use its growing military power to expand into Europe. China's weakness was made manifest in the Opium Wars. Following the Opium Wars in short order the other civilizations of Asia were brought within the otbit of the world economy dominated by Europe.
Some of the most important historical trasures in Japan are fabulous castles. These castles were enormous forts as well as palaces. Here the samuri of the Shogun, Emperor and the Daimo struggled to control the country. Thet are enormous and solid, but archetecularly elegant structurs--unlike anything in any other country. Some were destroyed in battle and fires, but many survived and are located in carfully cared for parks. One of the most fabeled in Suri castle.
The seas brought the Europeans from whom the Shogun eventually decided the Japanese people had to insulated. The Shogun closed Japan off from ordinary contact with the outside world (1638). Columbus has sought China by sailing west. It was the Portuguese who first reached China and Japan by sailing east as they develooped the Spice Route. They were soon followed by the Spnish, Dutch, and English. With them the brought Christianity. The Shogun came to see the many Chistian converts as a threat to traditional Japanese values. He ordered the Christians killed and limited foreign trade to a small number of Chinese and Dutch traders and limited to a tiny island near Nagasaki. Japan began a period of self-imposed iosolation. Not only were foreigners not allowed to enter Japan, but the Japanese people were not allowed to leave Japan. Gradually skills like navigation and ship building disappeared in Japan. Japan became a hermetically sealed country, known in the west as the Hermit Kingdom.
Commodore Matthew C. Perry opened Japan with his famed black ships (1854). The Shogun ended the policy of closing Japan off from the rest of the world. The American naval vessels first called in 1853, but were resisted by the Japanese. Commodore Perry returned in 1854 and the Shogun's government agreed to open two ports to foreign ships. The Shogun in 1858 signed a detailed commercial treaty with the United States. Other European powers (the Netherlands, Russia, Britain, and France subsquently adhered. The reaction in Japan, however, was radically different than that of the rest of Asia. Throughout Asia old institutions were increasingly descredited. The old power structure resisted change clinging to the past. China in particular clung to the old ways while the Europeans carved out protected areas in the major trading ports. Younger elements began to debate whay should replace the ancestral practices. Japan's opening did not involve a military conquest. It was a great shock to the Japanese. It was clear to many that their military forces were not capable of resisting foreign intrusion. The Japanese decided that the appropriate response was to develop a modern economy and industrialize. Japan's response proved much more effective than any where else in Asia. What Japan did not change was its traditional social structure and traditional values. Thus Japan became a mixed society of traditional culture along side developing industrial technology and government which began to build a modern military force.
At the time of Japan's opening, China and Japan were controlled by traditional rulers, the Manchu emperors in China and the Tokugawa shoguns in Japan. They had shown themselves incapable of defending their countries from expanding European powers. A small clique of reformers set out to transforms society in both countries. The reformers failed in China, but gradually emerged to dominate and create a new Japan. A central element was the creation of a new industrial economy to equip a modern army and navy. Japan as an island country gave considerable importance to building a modern navy. An industru=ial economy can not, however, be built in a vacume. It requires planners, technicians, and workers with needed skills and knowledge. This created the need for a modern educational system.
The new economy and new education could not but affect traditional Japanese society.
Many even among the reformers, however, resisted changes to traditional society.
The Shogun's decession to open Japan under the guns of foreign ships undermined his credibility in the eyes of many Japanese. Patriotic warriors and clan leaders had long chafed under the dominant position of the Tokugawa family. The movement to unseat the Shogun focused on restoring the perogatives of the emperor.
Traditional Shintoism had developed into a more public religion in Japan. This provided considerable popular support for the restoration of the emperor who was seen as a revered or god figure by Shinto adherents. The moving force behind the movement to depose the Shogun were complicated informal alliances and rivalries within the military clans which dominatw Japanese society. The Shogun was further weakened by uncertainties over the succession. There were no direct heirs of the Tokugawa line. The individual Shoguns in the mid-19th century were were largely ineffective leaders. They were also uncertain about the new policy of opening the country to foreign commerce and thus the Shogunate was divided. In contrast, their oponents were more united and rallied around patriotic slogans and the emperor.
Despite the treary opening Japan, there were incidents involving attacks on Westerners. Anto-Western feeling was widespread among both the Shonganate and reformers. In additional individual Japanese resented the foreigners and their challenge to traditional Japanese culture. As a result of these attacks, a foreign naval force (American, British, Dutch, and French) naval force bombarded a number of Japanese coastal forts (1864). Comodore Perry had not engaged the Japanese. This fleet did and the power of the foreign navies and destruction left a deep imprint on Japanese leaders.
With the coup d'état in 1867, the Shogun abdicated. An energetic new, young emperor for the first time in centuries actually ruled Japan. He took the title Meiji for his reign (1867-1812). He soon showed himself to be both competent and strong-willed. He proved to be especially adept at choosing wise officials to positions of influence. Japan under Meiji rule pursue a consistent policy with considerable success. He installed men from the formerly "outside clans" into the key positions of power. The new Government had taken power in part becauuse of the Shogun's decession to open Japan. They cocluded, however, that given Western military superiority that convinced the men who took control in 1867 that anti-Western actions and policies, without the military power needed to defend the country, would be self defearing. They decided to mute their anti-Western attitudes while Japan built a modern military. Officiaks soon realized that this mean industrialization. (In the West, the Royal Navy played a key role in the Industrial Revolution.) This connection between industry and military power was soon recognized.
The new Government proceeded with the steps needed to create a modern army and navy. This mean the creation of a it turned out that this meant an entirely new industrial ecoinomy and educational, social, and political reforms needed to create the new industrial base. The population including elietes, peasants and commoners complied with remarkable acquiesemce. Within one single generation a new modern Japan had begun to emerge. The central aim of the Menji regime was to make Japan militarily strong so it could resist Western gunboat diplomacy. Menji officials soon realized that fundamental changes would be needed in still largely feudal Japanese society. This is interesting because the Menji Resoration was launched because of oposition to foreigners and changes in traditional Japaese feudal society. Menji officials soon concluded, however, that the only way to confront the Westerners was to fundamentally change Japanese society. After only a few years of seizing power, the Menji Reforms were launched. Ehe Emperor abolished feudalism (n 1869-71). This meant ending the privlidged position of the Samuri warrior class who could no longer collect rice rents from the peasantry. The Samuris received government bonds in compensation. Other rfeforms included a postal service, newspapers, and a ministry of education. The Emperor instututed universal military service as a step toward building a modern military.
Japan before the Menji Resoration had no real national education system. The vast majority of Japanese children received no formal education. The Menji reformers, however, saw that schools would be needed to train students in modern subjects such as mathematics and science that were needed for Japan's new industrial economy. Japan introduced universal elementary education opened. This also had profound social consequences.
Menji officials looked around the world for the best military establishment on which to base their new army. They first thought of the French, but eventually settled on the Prussian Army. The Emperor introduced universal military service (1872). This was a truly radical step. Manpower was needed on a large scale to make Japan a powerful military force. This step, however, had profound social consequences. The right to bear arms had been a jealously guarded right of Japan's Samuri class. Universal military service meant that men from all sectors of Japanese society. This included those from the bottom rungs of Japanese society including the peasantry and others which traditionally had been confined to menial tasks. The new Imperial Army introduced a radical approach into still largely traditional Japan. Appointments and advancement would be based upon merit and seniority rather than traditional status. The old Samuri class was apauled, even staging an aborted rebellion (1877). They were quickly defeated by the new Imperial Army. The Army attracted energetic young men from the peasant and working class eager to advance. This was the death of the Samuri class, but not of the mythology of the Samuri.
Japan as an island country has in many ways been shaped by the sea. It was the seas that saved the Japanese from the Mongols (1281). The seas brought the Europeans from whom the Shogun eventually decided the Japanese people had to insulated (1636). Much later it was the seas that permitted America to open the "Hermit Kingdom" (1853). Japapanese reformers decided that Japan must have a modern navy. Japan at the time of the arrival of Commodore Perry had no navy in a modern sence. The forces of the Shogun and Emperor deployed naval forces during the civil war. With the vicyory of the Emperor, these forces were reorganized intpo a new Imperial Navy. A Naval Academy was founded at Eta Jima, a small island near Hiroshima. The Academy and the Imperial Navy itself was modeled on the British Royal Navy. The Japanese even imported bricks indiciduall wrapped in paper from England so that theiur Academy would look like Dartmouth. The new Imperial Navy helped Japan seize its first colony from China--Formoisa (Taiwan) (1895). The battle history of the Imperial Japanese Navy lasted a mere 50 years. In that short time it demolished the Imperail Russian Navy (1905), drve the Royal Navy from the Pacific (1941) and the Indian Ocean (1942). The Japanese built the world's most powerful carrier force and with that brilliantly equipped and trained fleet came close close to defeating the American Navy, despite the massive difference in industrial power.
The Emperor proclaimed a new constitution (1899). Here the Emperor chose the German Imperial Government that Bismarck had helped contruct as a basis. Germany at the time was not a dictatorship, but was an authoritarian system. It was a parlimentary system in which the executive brach or Emperor (Kaiser) dominated.
The elected parliament Diet) had even more modest powers than in Germany. Sufferage was restricted to the monied classes. Even with its limited powers, the Duet did provide a platform,for the privlidged classes to make their desires and wants known. The Diet played a major role in cofdifing Japanese law on a European model. The new Government persued conservative economic policies and placed the yen on the gold standard, one of mant achievements adding to Japan's growing economic status.
The Meni Regime played a njor role in the country's hugely successful economic development. The government often introduced new industries seen as important, especially industries needed for producing military weapons and supplies. The Gopvernment would not operate these new industries over a long period. Once a plant had achieved some success, it was sold to private operators, not uncommonly at attractiove prices. Thus the Japanese Government was financing the creation of a capitalist economy. Many developing countries maintain high-import duties on foreign goods to promote the development of domestic industries. Japan did not do this. Thus Japanese industries developing in a competitive environment became highly efficient. It also meant that the companies could compete on the world market. Even before World war Japanese products had begun to compete with Western goods in China and other asian markets. The first Japanese industry to enter world markets was the textile market.
The Japanese shocked the Chinese when they emerged victorious in the Firsr Sino-Japanese War. Japan as a result annexed Formosa (Taiwan). The Japanese set out on a comprehensive program of imposing Japanese culture.
The Western countries with the opening of Japan had demanded extraterritorial rights in the same manner as in China where treay ports were carved out of China. These rights were allowed to lapse (1899)
Europe at the turn of the century was involved in amassive arms race. The European powers also signed treaties in an effort to build blocs of such power that no other power woild dare attack. The British with the world's largest fleet decided to sign an alliance with Asia's emerging naval power (1901). The Imperial Navy upon its founding had based itself on the Royal Navy. And the Royal Navy through vessel sales and various exchanges had played an important role in the development of the Imperial Navy.
With the decline of Chinese power, both Russia and Japan moved into Manchuria. This evitably created a clash. The world assumed that Russia would easoly deal with the upstart Japanese. To the surrise of the world community, the Japanese not only defeated the Russian Army, but also a large Russian fleet was defeated in a climatic naval engagement.
Korea like Japan had attempted to isolate itself from the rest of the world. For mich of its existence, Korea had been a Chinese client state, but with the decline of Chinese power, both Russia and Japan vied for influence. Japanm's victory in the Russo-Japanese War (1904-05) changed the power equation. Japanese interests became increasingly important in Korea, creating resentment among the Koreas. (Essentially like Western involvement created resentment in China and Ja[pam.) A revolt in Korea attempted to expel the Japanese. Military forces supressed the revolt and made Korea into a colony. As in Formosa, the Japanese sought to supress Korean culture. The schools were taught in Japanese.
The Emperor Taisho (1912-26) is generally seen as a weak emperor. During his reign the center of power in Japan shifted from the Emperor and the oligarchic clique (genro) around him to the Parliament (Diet) and the democratic parties.
Japan with little ebcouragement joined the Allies in World War I. The country played only a minor role in the War, but gained German possessions in the Central Pacific which they proceeded to turn into fortified bases. almost at the onset of the War (August 23, 1914). It seems surprising that Japan would have entered the War so quickly when the German Army was marching through Belgium and seemed likely to reach Paris. Japan had signed an Alliance with Britain (1902), but it was not aimed at Germany nor did it require Japan to join the Allies when war broke out in Europe. The British fearing that the German Far Eastern Squadron would disrupt trade, asked the Japanese for assistance. The Japanese Government for largely domestic reasons quickly agreed to the British request. Germany had acquired several colonial possessions, including concessions in China and Pacific islands. The Germans build a major naval base at Tsingtao. It was hear that the only major engagement in the Far East was fought. The Japanese supported by the British succeeded in seizing Tsingtao a very little cost in a conbined land sea operation (November 1914). More importantly for the future, the Japanese seized control of the formerly German owned Shantung Railway. Japan seized German Pacific islands without resistance, includung Palau and the Marshall, Caroline, and Marianas islands. This gave them the naval bases at Yap, Ponape, and Jaluit. Japanese naval surveyors subsequently discovered the potential fleet base of Truk, and after the war built a major naval base there. As agreed by the Allies, the Japanese seized German colonies north of the Equator while those to the south were seized by British and Dominion forces. A New Zealand force escorted by British, French and Australian warships seized German Samoa (August 28, 1914). A British ship seized the guano-mining island of Nauru. The Australian Navy seized the Bismarck Islands (September 1914). The German forces surrendered German New Guinea and the Bismarck, Admiralty, and Solomon Islands. After seizing the German bases, the Japanese Navy assisted the Allies in convoy protection from German raiders. There were small German military units in these colonies as well as civilians. We do not notice any attrocities by the Japanese during World War I like they committed during World War II. After the War, the Treaty of Versailles awarded Japan a mandate over the islands.
Japan as a member of the victorious Allied World War I coalition expected to be treated with considerable deferemce. Indstead they were largely ignored at the Paris Peace Conference. The convent of the League of Nations was part of the Versailles Treagty. Japan proposed adding a "racial equality clause" to the covenant of the League of Nations. This was rejected by the United States, Britain and Australia. President Wilson promoted national self determination at the Conference, but he was not ad advocate of racial equality. Racist attituides were also common among the other European powers.
Japanese diplomats at the Washington Naval Conference (1921) failed to achieve goals and this angered nationalist elements, especially in the Army.
Racist attitudes toward oriental people had plagued Western attitides toward both the Chinmese and Japanese in the 19th and 20th centuries. With the Japanese this began with Commodore Perry's opening of Japanese ports (1850s). Japanese emmigrating to America encounterted both racism and racist laws. Even so, a sizeable Japanese population flourished in both the Hawaian Islands and California. These laws were a sore point in American_Japanese relations. Incidents in the 1920s were widely reported in Japan. America after World War significantly restricted immigration. Restrictive quotas were established for European immigration. The United States enacted the Exclusion Act that prohibited further Japanes eimmigration (1924).
Manchuria is the northeaster province of China. The weak Imperial Chinese Government at the tirn of the 20th century was losing control of the Province. Both Russia and Japan were extending their influence there. This was a major cause of the Russo-Japanese War (1904-05). Japan at the time was persuing the same policies as the European powers, forcing the weak Imperial Governmrnt unequal treaties giving foreign countries virtual control of major Chinese ports. Japan's influence in Manchuria was strengthened by their victory in the Russo-Japanese war. The Chinese Nationalists which replaced the Imperial regime defeated the war lords and began to rebuild a strong central government. The Nationalists this began to challenge the Japanese occupation of Manchuria. The Japanese move toward war began when the Japanese Army in Manchiera seized what at the time was a Chinese province. Althoughh the Kwantung Army (Japanese military force in Manchuria) acted without Government authorization, the officers involved were not disciplines. The GHovernment in fact set up the puppet state of Manchuko (1932). The Japanese action fomented increased hostility in China toward the Japanese. Boycotts of Japanese goods were organized and anti-Japanese rioting broke out in somre cities. The Japanese bombarded the known-European sections of Shanghai as a punitive measure (1932).
The Tripartite Pact was signed September 27, 1940. The agreement allied Germany and Italy (which were at war with Britain) and Japan (which was at war with China). Germany and Italy has since 1939-40 been at war with Britain. Japan since 1937 had been at war with China. The alliance did not require the partners to join these wars, but it did require them to come to each other's aid if attacked. The alliance became known as the Berlin-Rome-Tokyo Axis alliance, or commonly the Axis. The three Axis partners German hegemony over most of urope; Italian hegemony in the Mediterranean, and Japanese hegemony in East Asia. After the Axis agreement was signed, several German allies joined the Axis, notably Vichy France and Fascist Spain refused to do so. Japan had no Asian allies, except or the puppet state of Manchukuo.
Japan with little ebcouragement joined the Allies in World War I. The country played only a minor role in the War, but gained German possessions in the Central Pacific which they proceeded to turn into fortified bases. Japanese diplomats at both Versailles (1919) and the Washington Naval Conference (1921) failed to achieve goals and this angered nationalist elements, especially in the Army. The Depression and resulting protectionist trade polivcies in America and Europe adversely affected the Japanese economy. The Japanese military increasingly advovated action to secure markets and raw materials. This process began with the Japanese Army seized Manchiera and set up the puppet state of Manchuko (1931). This brought international condemnation and Japan withdrew from the League of Nations. An Army revolt in Tokyo failed, but left the Army essentially in control of the Japanese Government (1936). The Japanese signed the Anti-Comentern Pact to protect their position in Manchuko (1936). Japan invaded China proper (1937). Many historians date this as the beginning of World War II. After the NAZI victories in Europe, Japan moved into French Indo China (1940). Japan formally joined the Axis (1941). The United States objected to Japanese expanonist policies and moved the Pacific fleet to Pearl Harbor and ininitated embargoes of strastegic materials. The Army had been the main force pushing for war, the Navy realizing they would have to fight the American and British fleets were less enthusiastic. Once the decession was made, however, the Navy dutifully prepared for war. Hitler as Soviet resistance stiffened expected Japan to join his anti-Bolshevik struggle. Instead the Japanese struck south with a devestating carrier attack at Pearl Harbor (1941). This brought America into the war and initiated a war of unprecedented savegery. The Japanese Army treated both POWs and civilians with unprecedented cruelty. As Japanese naval commander Yamamoto predicted, spearheaded by a powerful carrier force, Japan in 6 months swept ower Southeast Asian and the central Pacific with largely ineffective opposition. The decisive American naval vicvtory at Miday (1942) significantly weakened the Imperial Navy. This provided America's vast industrial strength to build the naval forces needed to seize the Pacific island bases to bring the war to Japan. America then laubched a desestating strategic bombing campaign vulminating in the dropping of the atomic bombs (1945). Most countries that played important roles in World War II have come to terms with the War. Japan is the principal country today which keeps the truth of the War from their school children.
Most countries that played important roles in World War II have come to terms with the War. Japan is the principal country today which keeps the truth of the War from their school children.
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