Essential Questions s2

IMPERIAL JAPAN 1890-1945

Essential questions

1. Is it ever justified to dominate another country?

2. What consequences might that domination have on both the stronger and weaker country? Any benefits to imperialism for either of the countries involved?

Japan Questions

1. What reasons (internal and external) did Japan have to become an imperialist/ expansionist power? Were those reasons valid?

2. Did Japan have the same 'right' to become an imperial power as England, Germany or the United States?

3. How is propaganda used during times of war?

4. Why did Japan attack the United States at Pearl Harbor?

5. Why did Japan make an alliance with Nazi Germany during WWII, especially considering the Germans felt Asians were inferior?

6. What was the impact of WWII on Japan?

Vocabulary

nationalism

militarism

Propoganda

fascism

modernization

oligarchy

Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere Events

1890: Rescript on Education. Education emphasizes loyalty to the Emperor and civic responsibility

1895-1896: War with China over influence in Korea

1904-1905: Russo-Japanese War. Japan shocks the world by narrowly defeating a great European power. Discontent in Japan as the peace treaty does not give Japan all the country believed they were entitled to.

1910- Japan annexes Korea; dominance lasts until Japan's defeat in 1945

1914: Japan issues its 21 Demands to China

1919- End of WWI. Japan expected more territorial gains than they received from the Allied forces

1919: Racial Equality Clause rejected by the League of Nations

1920s: Rise of democratic movements and political parties in Japan

1921: Hirohito becomes regent of Japan

1923: Great Tokyo earthquake compounds Japan's domestic problems

1924: U.S. bars all Japanese immigration to the United States- the only country the U.S. bars.

1929: Great Depression causes economic hardship in Japan. Military gains greater control over Japanese government

1931: Manchurian Incident. Japan's troops go into Manchuria.

1937: Japan invaded Manchuria after 'Marco Polo Bridge' incident (beginning of WWII in Asia)

1939: Germany invades Poland. WWII starts in Europe

1941: Japan attacks the United States at Pearl Harbor. The next day they move against Dutch East Indies in a search for oil/ resources.

1942: The British surrender Singapore to the Japanese

1941-1945: Pacific War rages. Ultimately after two Atomic bombs are dropped on Japan the country surrenders on September 2, 1945.