000594 ~ 111111/ :::::::::::: Imperlall-sm ; mmlllill flORIDA ATLANTIC.UHIVERSIT'( LlBM 111111 SOCIALIST -LABOR ~ ..... - m ~ m H m COLLECTION THE SECRET I H:::::::::: TANAKA . ~;;;;;;lilill III:::::: DOCUMENT rmmi~lfI ~~i :i!!~ 10. JAPANESE IMPERIALISM EXPOSED THE SECRET TANAKA DOCUMENT INTERNATIONAL PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK Copyright, 1942, by INTERNATIONAL PUBLISHERS CO., INC . "A date which will live in infamy."­ President Roosevelt, referring to the un­ provoked attack on Pearl H arbor ordered by the fascist J apanese governmen t. INTRODUCTION IN THE pages that follow we' reprint the notorious Tanaka Memorial, th e "Mein Kampf" of th e Japanese fascist ag­ gressors. H ere is the infamous "blood and iron" policy long pursued by Japan's rulers in th eir fanatical bid for world conquest. ' It is here that General Baron Tanaka, Prime Min­ ister of Japan from 1927 to 1929, declared : "For the sake of self-protection, as well as the pro­ tecti on of others, Japan cannot remove th e difficulties in Eastern Asia unless she ad opts a policy of 'blood and iron.' But in carrying out this policy we ha ve to face the United States. ... In th e future, if we want to control China, we must first cru sh the United States.... In order to conquer China we mu st first conquer Manchuria and Mongolia. In order to conquer the world, we must first conq uer China. If we succeed in conquering China, the rest of the Asiatic count ries and th e South Sea count ries wiII fear us and surre nder to us. .." In th ese pages is revealed the program that the J ap anese militarist-fascists actually put to work. In 1931 th ey committ ed unprovoked aggression agai nst Manchuria. This was quickly foll owed by the invasion of Inner Mongoli a. Sections of North China, below th e Great Wall, were then penetrated in prep­ aration for the great offensive against the whole Chinese nation which began in the summer of 1937. Faithful to th e Tanaka Memorial, the aggressors also spread southward. The hundreds of- islands in the J ap anese mandates, stretching to within two thousand miles of America's naval base at H awaii , 3 were, in direct contradiction to the regulations govern ing the administration of mandated areas, heavily fortified. In July, 1941, the program outlined in the Memorial was further advanced by the occupation, with Hitler's political aid and Vichy's venality, of French Indo-China. Immediately thereaf ter, through a threat of war, th e feebl e kingdom of Thailand was forced to turn over certain border areas valu­ able for strategic purposes soon to be utilized. And, finally, to crown this long record of infamy, Japanese for ces treacherously attacked Ameri ca's strongho ld at Pearl H arbor on the morning of Sunday, December 7, 1941. Simultaneously, Japanese troops swarmed over Thailand, and troops, pl anes and ships com­ bined in the invasion of the Malay peninsula north of Sin­ gapore, the Philippine Commonwealth, and the British out­ post of th e China coast, Hong Kong. The program of th e Tanaka Memorial was being pursued to its ultimate conclu­ sion of world conquest. The Japanese fascists had found more comfort and aid abroad than Baron General Tanaka may have anticipa ted. On the one hand, for ten solid years, ten of the most crucial years in world hi story, J apan had been steadily and con sistently appeased by her great potential enemies, Great Britain and the Commonwealths, and the United States. Not only had these nations permitted Japan's flagrant violation of treaty commitments, of world security, and of the flesh and blood of the Chinese nation to go unchallenged, except by word of mouth, but th ey had virtually been responsible for arming the aggressor through unrestricted trade in the raw materials of war. On the other hand, th e inglorious rulers of Japan had sought and found powerful, like-minded allies among th e most reactionary elements of Europe. In 1936 Hitler's Nazis and Mus solini's fascists formed a binding alliance with J apan. As President Roosevelt said in his message to Congress on Decem­ bel' 15, 1941, "This pa ct, as we all know, was nominally di­ rected against the Soviet Union; but its real purpose was to form a leagu e of fascism against the free world, particularly against Great Britain, France and the United States. Appeasement and the Axis alliance have given comfort to 4 the Japanese rulers in the bl ack days of their aggression, but other factors, which Baron Tanaka and his cronies fail ed to anticipate, have viol ently twisted their program of world con­ quest and now . threaten once and for all time to smash it. The heroic people of China, in four years of on e of the bloodi­ est wars in hi story, have fou ght th e invader to a standstill. Overcoming stu pe ndous odds, China has becom e weld ed into on e of th e great fortresses of freedom. R epeated blows from the superior-armed Japanese hordes have failed to break the will of the Chinese people. The Memorial suggested that Japan would not be able to control China without first "crushing" th e United States. But it did not anticipate that the Chinese people would rise up in such streng th as to threaten th e defeat of Japan th emselves! The Tanaka Memorial made another colossal miscalcula­ tion. It prophesied that since the Soviet Union was "engaging its attention elsewhere" the Japanese could expand at their expense without serious opposition. It also prophesied that the Soviet Union could be provoked into fighting a losing war in Manchuria. Little did th ese Japanese schemers realize that as early as th e middle 1930'S th e Soviet Union would not only be abl e completely to protect Outer Mongolia from threatened invasion but to adminster on two separate occasions (1938 and 1939) a severe thrashing to the Kwantung Army, which at­ tempted to invade Russian soil. The Soviet Union, moreover, clamped down a complete trade embargo aga inst Japan shortly after th e inv asion of China and from 1937 on gave more aid , in credits and materi als of war, to th e Chinese defenders than did all the other democracies put together. Little did T anaka realize that at exact ly the time when th e world-wide Axis offensive would finally be unleashed th e Soviet forces would be routing th e German army and air force on a vast front stretching across the continent from Leningrad to Sevastopoll Thirdly, th e Tanaka plan for world conquest never looked forward to th e unified opposition of all the people of the United States pl edged to a final and complete victory over fascism! T he Tanaka Memorial, presented In full In th ese pages, 5 was written in 1927 as a confidential document. It first cam e to l,igh t in 1929 after it had been purchased from a J apanese by Chang H sueh-liang, then the Young Marshal of Man­ churia. It was published in English by the China Council of the Institute of Pacific Relations and shortly thereafter printed in a Shanghai English-language newspaper. It was later re­ printed in quantities throughout the world. Certain internal inconsistencies, of an extremely minor nature, on e or two incorrect dates, and the misspelling of a oumber of place names, doubtless th e result of translation, have been cited as evid ence' of the non-authenticit y of th e , document. The Japanese took pains to point out that from th e nature of the memorandum, that is, th e directness and in ­ formality of the style, the document was plainly not a Memorial to the Emperor. This evidence may be dismissed as trivial. The text of the memorandum itself states that it results from a special confer­ ence called "in order that we may lay plans for the coloniza­ tion of the Far East and the development of our new con­ tinental empire" which met from June 27 to July 7, 1927. The "Fanaka Memorial is clearly the secret report of that con­ ference, the official program for the confidential information of the fascist cabal that enslaves the Japanese nation. Its authenticity is evidenced by the subsequent detailed carrying out of its plans. The Tanaka Memorial is today th e clearest, most authentic revelation of the treacherous ' Japanese plan for world conquest. It is the men, the ideology and the institu­ tions behind this infamous program that every American has pledged himself to smash. December, I94I. 6 THE TANAKA lVIEMORIAL INCE the European War, Japan's political as well as eco­ S nomic interests have been in an unsettled condition. This is . due to the fact that we have failed to take advantage of our . special privileges in Manchuria and Mongolia and fully to realize our acquired rights. But upon my appointment as premier, I was instructed specially to guard our interests in this region and watch for opportunities for further expansion. Such injunctions one cannot take lightly. Ever since I advo­ cated a positive policy towards Manchuria and Mongolia as a common citizen, I have longed for its realization. So in order that we may lay plans for the colonization of the Far East and the development of our new continental empire, a special conference was held from June 27 to July 7, lasting in all eleven days. It was attended by all the civil and military offi­ cers connected with Manchuria and Mongolia, whose dis­ cussions resulted in the following resolutions: These we re­ spectfully submit to Your Majesty for consideration.