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Home , Mukden Incident, Shandong Problem

The mukden incident

Berkeley Model United Nations Content Warning: The contents of this topic synopsis and anticipated discussion during committee will contain descriptions of violence, racism, r*pe, and other forms of brutality perpetrated during WWII that may be emotionally challenging to engage with.

Welcome Letter Dear Delegates, Welcome to BMUN 69! My name is Isabel Shiao, and I am so excited to be your Mukden Incident head chair, along with Nikhil Pimpalkhare and Ashwat Chidambaram as my vice chairs. I am currently a junior at UC Berkeley studying history with a concentration in the Interwar Era. Outside of BMUN, I’m also involved in a pre-law fraternity and the undergraduate history journal. I love to explore the city and experiment with cooking in my free time, and I spent this summer conducting research on during WWII. Nikhil Pimpalkhare is a senior studying Electrical Engineering and Computer. He has spent an entire decade doing Model UN, making him the world’s foremost expert in motioning to close debate. Outside of BMUN, Nikhil enjoys practicing gaveling, wearing suits for fun, and grading position papers. Ashwat Chidambaram is a sophomore who has been involved in MUN throughout his years on the high school circuit. Ashwat is majoring in Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences, and joined BMUN to share the same great experience he had in high school Model UN with all of you! Ashwat grew interested in the topic of the Mukden Incident due to his particular interest in historical events surrounding World War 1 and 2. Beyond MUN, Ashwat has a deep passion for aviation, drumming, listening to Logic and Bruno Mars, and playing basketball for fun! I chose the Mukden Incident as our topic in an attempt to illuminate voices that are forgotten massacres, and other atrocities carried out by Imperial Japan were arguably as atrocious as Nazi war crimes. It is estimated that between 3 million and 10 million civilians, of which 7.5 million were Chinese, were killed by Japanese occupation forces (McLean). The Nanking Massacre alone claimed 200,000 to 300,000 victims (McLean). Yet, these numbers are seldom mentioned in the

BERKELEY MODEL UNITED NATIONS 1 American high school curriculum in comparison to Holocaust statistics, resulting in a forgotten history of Japanese and prolonging the healing process for victims. I grew up hearing my intense resentment against the Japanese for acts of brutality against their fellow countrymen. war’s legacy across the world. circumstances that facilitated its outbreak. The Great Depression and aftermath of WWI left the world unstable and anxious. As nations sought alternatives to the traditional world order, fascism emerged as a viable option (Barshay). Japan’s rapid modernization and victory in major wars created a nation that could rival the Western powers, inspiring its leaders to pursue its expansionist goals in . This act of aggression raised concerns in the , an international organization designed to prevent another total war, but it was essentially left powerless to control Japan. In 1933, Japan withdrew from the League as Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini observed and eventually followed suit (Barshay). By 1937, it was clear that the League had failed to preserve peace. to do so by rewriting history for the better. I would like delegates to take into account the cultural, economic, and political context and expand beyond a eurocentric perspective of history. In doing Nations. Delegates will represent members of the League of Nations in 1931, immediately following the Mukden Incident and before the Lytton Commission (explained below) was issued. As you will read, the League was severely weakened by structural imitations: a unanimous vote needed for the inability to enforce policies, and the absence of the United States. All of these weaknesses but the last will be present during committee. We will follow standard BMUN crisis procedure, with the exception of one change: as a compromise between the usual simple majority needed for ratifying solutions and a historically accurate requirement for unanimity, a ¾ majority will be necessary for directives, and prevent Japan from withdrawing, removing the precedent that acts of aggression will go unchecked. BERKELEY MODEL UNITED NATIONS 2 Some of you may also notice that your country was not represented in the original League of Nations. I encourage delegates to consider why they were excluded, and how the outcome might have been different if they were represented. If your country was occupied by another delegation proposition for self-determination and represent your delegation as a self-governing territory. Ask yourself, would the League have been more successful if those excluded were involved in peace talks? As a history major of Chinese descent, I’m super excited to see what you come up with!

Sincerely, Isabel Shiao

Head Chair, The Mukden Incident

Topic Background

Imperial Japanese Fascism

The combination of WWI casualties and the Great Depression left most of the world in psychological and economic ruins. In the two decades prior to WWII, civilians and politicians felt a deep sense of urgency for an alternative to the world order that had brought them into total war. In Germany, Nazism emerged from the ashes of Europe. Adolf Hitler seemed to promise a solution Japanese fascism, a political ideology rooted in traditional agrarian values (Barshay). Though fascism is often used as a broad term to describe authoritarian regimes, few characteristics are universal in fascist states: anti-Enlightenment ideals, forcible suppression of opposition, control over all sectors of society, and ultranationalism (Barshay).

BERKELEY MODEL UNITED NATIONS 3 Source: Iasmania. “Fascism and Nazism Iasmania - Civil Services Preparation Online ! UPSC & IAS Study Material.”

was bound by kokutai. Directly translated as “the essence of the nation,” kokutai is essentially an “unmovable” cult of loyalty to the emperor (Tansman 151). All acts, from state laws to brutality merely asserting a ‘natural’ truth” (Tansman 168). This philosophy, which dates back to Japan’s feudal era, appealed to the agrarian sector of Japan as a reaction against the empire’s westernization and rapid industrialization (Barshay). forced Japan, previously isolated in international affairs for two centuries, to engage in trade and assuming the role of an economic giant exploiting the empire’s resources, in addition to other Western powers like Britain, France, and Russia (Britannica). As the empire was increasingly encroached upon by imperialist pressures, Japan realized it needed to transform itself into a nation as mighty as the Western powers (Britannica). The Restoration thus ensued in 1868 with a political revolution that brought an end to the Tokugawa shogunate, the hereditary military dictatorship (Columbia). Inspired by Western constitutions, the Meiji Constitution transformed Japan into an empire with a powerful army and navy, a rapidly growing industrial sector, and a bureaucratic government (Columbia). However, this intense modernization also brought a fear of the BERKELEY MODEL UNITED NATIONS 4 kokutai were necessary for the empire to maintain its values and suppress Western imperialism. Kokutai imperial government passed the Peace Preservation Law to suppress allegedly “dangerous” thought by declaring any attempt to “alter the kokutai through speech or action a crime against the state” (Tansman 151). Those that deviated from the accepted ideology were “chastised” with familial pressure, a practice known as “tenko” or reorientation (Barshay). Furthermore, on d’etat, assassinating key government leaders in the name of the emperor. They believed that the modernization that came with the Meiji Restoration corrupted Japanese society, and a return to bushido was necessary (Barshay). The incident marked Japan’s transition into a military dictatorship Rule Assistance Administration dissolved all political parties as a continuation of the 1938 National Mobilization Law, which nationalized all major industries such as the rationing and news media (Barshay). By the late 1930s, Japan had been transformed into a fascist state. The changes in Imperial Japan’s political structure can be attributed to the surge in nationalism. During the peace negotiations that produced the , Japan felt they were treated like a second-class nation (Barshay). Prior to WWI, Japan’s rapid industrialization, victory against Russia in the Russo-Japanese War, and involvement in the winning side of WWI demonstrated the empire’s economic and military might (Britannica). Prime Minister Fumimaro regardless of race, in the treaty to cement Japan’s position as a major power that could rival western nations (Barshay). Woodrow Wilson disagreed with Konoe, however, resulting in the clause’s failure to (Konoe 14). This, combined with the lingering anti-West sentiment from Matthew Perry’s expedition, caused another surge in Japanese nationalism. As William L. Swan wrote in his article for the Journal for Southeast Asian studies, the idea thus emerged for an East Asian federation that would become countries and peoples within would coexist in co-prosperity under the aegis of Japan” (Swan 139). Imperial Japanese troops would occupy various regions throughout Asia in the name of the emperor, liberating the territory from Western imperialism and gathering resources for the empire (Kitagawa). BERKELEY MODEL UNITED NATIONS 5 As the idea for a Greater Co-Prosperity Sphere grew increasingly popular among Industrialization had widened the gap between rich and poor, which meant that the slender middle class would be especially impacted by the economic depression (Barshay). At the time, Japan was a feudal society where farmers gave rice and silk to landlords as rent payment (Barshay). The Great Depression caused the prices to plummet, as demonstrated in the table below, making it nearly impossible for peasant farmers to afford basic necessities (Barshay). Additionally, the economic prosperity that followed the outbreak of WWI led to a population boom, with 45 million inhabitants in 1900 and 60 million in 1925 (“Japanese Imperialism and the Road to War”). As the overpopulated Japanese islands were scarce in resources, the country looked towards other territories, especially Manchuria.

Effect of the Depression on the Farm Economy Wholesale prices of Average farm family’s Year All commodi- Household Rice Silk Cash income ties expenditure 1926 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 1927 93.4 84.5 94.9 74.8 94.0 1928 82.2 81.2 95.3 87.5 91.1 1929 77.1 81.1 92.8 85.1 90.5 1930 67.4 53.1 76.4 59.0 67.4 1931 48.9 36.7 64.6 33.5 46.2 1932 56.1 41.5 67.9 37.1 47.1 1933 57.5 44.9 75.9 42.2 51.0 1934 78.9 31.4 75.1 43.7 53.7

Source: Calculated from Fumin Kyokai, Showa Nogi, app., tables, pp. 69 and 32-33.

International Context (Late 19th Century - 1931)

In 1904, a series of territorial disputes between Japan and Russia concerning the Korean Peninsula and Manchuria launched the Russo-Japanese War (Britannica). The war concluded in 1905 with the , largely orchestrated by US President Roosevelt. Russia ceded control over the Korean Peninsula to Japan and agreed to leave Manchuria (Britannica). Given that Russia BERKELEY MODEL UNITED NATIONS 6 emboldened those who wanted to pursue military expansion (Britannica). modern age and directly led to the establishment of the League of Nations. The combination of entangled European alliances and the Balkan Wars from 1912-1913 resulted in a massive global war. WWI began in 1914 following the assassination of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand and fragmented Europe into the Allied and Central powers. Seeing a clever opportunity to act upon their of Japan’s attempts to expand were highlighted through their “Twenty-One Demands” for . These demands encompassed various aspects of China that Japan wished to control, including but clauses were quite blatant attempts by Japan to seize power, it was primarily the last section (about In response, Japan attempted to amend their demands in order to get China to agree to them. drew condemnation from the United States (a fellow Allied Power) and Great Britain (Japan’s closest ally) (Twenty-One Demands). Nonetheless, it was clear that Japan had clearly established the intent of having a dominant relationship with China during WWI. Throughout the 1920s, the US stock market had been on an upswing, but in 1929, the market crashed due to runaway speculation. With all money in the stock market gone, everyone went to the bank and attempted to withdraw their savings. Since banks lend out the money that they keep stored, this rush of withdrawals led to dozens of bank closures, launching the United States into the Great Depression. As the worst economic downturn the world has ever known, its effects were felt worldwide. In Japan, the ripples from the collapse took the form of the Showa Depression, which lasted from 1930-1931. Because of a series of stimulus packages, Japan was able to escape the depression much earlier than many other areas of the world, allowing the nation to build its military BERKELEY MODEL UNITED NATIONS 7 and economy greatly during the 1930s, while the rest of the world was struggling to revive their economies(Causes).

Sino-Japanese relations were already tense prior to the invasion in 1931. From 1894 to 1895, the two nations were involved in a war over supremacy in that established Japan’s position as a major power and humbled the Chinese dynastic rule (Britannica). Japan was interested in the natural resources like coal and iron in Korea, a nation that had long been a client state for China (Britannica). With its new Western technology from the Meiji Restoration, Japan was able to force “Korea to open itself to foreign, especially Japanese, trade and to declare itself independent from China in its foreign relations” (Britannica). In 1884, pro-Japanese reformers attempted a coup d’etat to overthrow the Korean government, but war was avoided when both China and Japan agreed to withdraw troops from Korea in the Li-Ito Convention (Britannica). Despite these efforts, war eventually ensued after both nations deployed troops into Korea once again, aggravating the situation. Japan’s well-equipped and modern troops overwhelmed Chinese forces, as China was already weakened from the Opium War and internal government corruption (Britannica). The Treaty of Shimonoseki that ended the First Sino-Japanese War in 1895 granted Korea independence and ceded Taiwan and the Liaodong Peninsula in Manchuria to Japan (Britannica). Though China had long held its position as the “Middle Kingdom,” the war revealed its decline in the global theater. It became clear that China was at the mercy of foreign powers. China’s former glory, the out-dated elite political and social structures in the needed to be transformed. In 1911, Nationalist forces led by Sun Yat-sen led a successful revolt and established the Republic of China, ending nearly 2,000 years of dynastic rule (Yeh). Despite the Nationalists’ efforts to stabilize China, the Republic was unstable and still threatened by foreign encroachment (Yeh). The anti-imperialist sentiment from the presence of foreign concessions and “Unequal Treaties” from the Opium War escalated in the of 1900, when rebels blamed their poor standard of living on imperialists (Yeh). The Republic’s instability meant that the government was powerless to address this tension. This culminated in a mass demonstration held on May 4, 1919, where 3,000 students from

BERKELEY MODEL UNITED NATIONS 8 University protested against the “ Problem” (Yeh). China had long wanted to repossess Shandong, which had been given to Germany as a result of the “Unequal Treaties” in the Opium joined the war against Germany in 1917 (Yeh). With heavy casualties and losses, China felt it had earned the respect of Western nations and should receive Shandong back during peace negotiations. (Yeh). However, unbeknownst to China, the Soviet Union, United States, and the United Kingdom had secretly discussed dividing Chinese territory and awarded the Shandong previously held by German banks, thereby continuing the strong imperial presence in China (Yeh). Chinese citizens felt that they had been betrayed by their diplomats, and, more importantly, that Wilson’s belief in self-determination did not apply to them (Yeh). China was losing its agency, and realized that it needed to take a stand against imperialism in order to restore its former position as the “Middle Kingdom,” China’s self-appointed name that refers to its central position in the world economically, politically, and culturally. The May 4th movement not only “reawakened” the people, but it also catalyzed the formation of the and the revitalization of the , the Chinese Nationalist Party (Yeh). This worried Japanese militarists and ultranationalists, and they began to pursue a more aggressive policy towards China to prevent them from controlling Manchuria (Yeh).

The Mukden Incident

to Manchuria’s arable land and resources like iron, coal, soybeans, and salt that would allow Japan kokutai (Graham). When an explosion occurred along the South Manchurian Railway on the night of September 18, 1931, the Japanese blamed Chinese soldiers and marched into the territory in alleged self-defense, likely without the imperial government’s authorization (Ferrell 66). China’s newly formed Nationalist army, distracted by Nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek, therefore, commanded the Chinese army to pursue a policy BERKELEY MODEL UNITED NATIONS 9 of withdrawal and looked towards the League of Nations to resolve the Mukden Incident, as the invasion was later called by the Japanese (Burkman 167).

Japan Invades Manchuria, 1931 Japanese Empire 1942

League of Nations

Established in the aftermath of WWI, the League of Nations was an international body designed to prevent another total war. Its mission was based on that of its 19th century predecessor, the Inter-parliamentary Union, which also aimed to “promote international arbitration and world peace … [through] parliamentarian support” (UNOG). The destruction caused by WWI and the Woodrow Wilson strongly advocated for this at the Paris Peace Conference in 1918-1919 (UNOG). with 32 founding members (UNOG). The League was based in Geneva and consisted of an Assembly with all members and Council, a Permanent Court of International Justice, and a Permanent Secretariat appointed by the (UNGO). depended on the Great Powers to provide an army and keep economic sanctions, and had a voting

BERKELEY MODEL UNITED NATIONS 10 “limited by the United States’ refusal to join” (McLean). By the end of the war, only 43 states were still members of the League, “though for all intents and purposes it had ceased to exist” (UNGO). WWII demonstrated the League’s overall failure, (UNOG).

The Lytton Commission & Withdrawal

upheld that the Mukden Incident was an act of self-defense and the creation of the This had little validity, however, as China was previously ruled by Manchus for nearly 300 years and maintained that it was their rightful territory (Yeh). In February, the League conducted an compiled in the Lytton Commission, which concluded that Japan should leave Manchuria and that it would be run as a semi-independent country instead of returning to Chinese rule (Burkman 170). It also stated that “the military operation of the Japanese troops during this night cannot be regarded as measures of legitimate self-defense” (Burkman 170). Though Japan desired a compromise that would allow them to stay in the League, they heat” (Burkman 173). As peace negotiations were exhausted, the Japanese emperor issued a rescript on March 27, 1933, declaring that Japan had withdrawn from the League of Nations effectively preserve peace in East Asia, which has some truth to it because it was rooted in the same imperialist and racist logic that denied the Racial Equality Clause from being passed (Burkman 165). With Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini observing, the League had set the precedent that acts of aggression would be met with little opposition. Both soon followed suit, with Germany withdrawing in the same year (Connelly). Japan, Germany, and Italy now had the leeway to expand its fascist

BERKELEY MODEL UNITED NATIONS 11 policies and establish both indirect and direct forms of imperialist control throughout the interwar era with little international restraint.

Types of Imperialist Management Indirect Rule Direct Rule - enous to colonized territory in brought into administration from administration colonizer country Limited self-rule No self-rule Goal: develop future leaders Goal: assimilate to colonizer cus- toms

Consequences of Withdrawal The “China War”

Japanese troops stayed in following the empire’s withdrawal from the League (Britannica). Given Manchuria’s geographic location, the occupation allowed Japan to expand into more territories, especially in China, facilitating another surge in Japanese nationalism and Chinese anti-imperialist sentiment (Barshay). This ultimately led to the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937, “chastise” China and “pacify” the emerging threat of communism (Barshay). General Matsui Iwane, who led imperial troops in the Nanking Massacre, declared: “Asian family” … It has been my belief during all these years that we must regard this because we hate them, but on the contrary because we love them too much. It is just the same as in a family when an elder brother has taken all that he can stand from his ill-behaved younger brother and has to chastise him in order to make him behave properly (Maruyama 95).

BERKELEY MODEL UNITED NATIONS 12 Another general, General Araki, stated, “Every single bullet must be charged with the Imperial Way and the end of every bayonet must have the National Virtue burnt into it” (Maruyama even the elderly and infants were targeted for execution, while tens of thousands of women were raped. Bodies littered the streets for months after the attack … Determined to destroy the city, the Japanese looted and burned at least one-third of Nanking’s buildings” (History). Though there are 300,000 civilian lives (History). Every act of brutality committed by Imperial Japanese troops during the “China War” was embedded in kokutai and nationalism, convincing them that they were the “defenders of justice” (Azuma). During the Second Sino-Japanese War, the competing Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and occupation. The KMT, however, was overwhelmed by Japanese armies, and Chiang Kai-shek quickly ordered his troops to retreat as early as 1939 (Britannica). Communist guerrilla forces remained in between the two factions continued to escalate until China was launched into a civil war shortly after WWII (Yeh).

War Crimes

The development of bacteriological warfare was another crucial component in advancing Japan’s hegemony that utilized this psychology of dehumanization and “chastising their brother” state Manchukuo, led by scientist Ishii Shiro (PBS). A graduate of Kyoto University, Ishii studied bacteriological, serological, and pathological sciences (PBS). He travelled to 25 European and American countries following WWI, observing that “research on biological warfare had not advanced in Japan” (Wang 11). With Japan’s alleged second-class treatment by Western powers, he enthusiastically promoted the development of biological warfare weapons as the Kwantung Army’s Minister of Epidemic Prevention (PBS). It is important to note that, as with Nazi Germany, it was not politicians or military agencies that led the movement towards biological warfare. The nations’ leading scientists were the ones

BERKELEY MODEL UNITED NATIONS 13 to relentlessly advocate for its potential in devastating entire armies (Wang 11). As Japan did not ratify the 1925 Geneva Protocol, which called for the prohibition of biological weapons after WWI, and because Japan was no longer a member of the League of Nations, Ishii and his network of over 10,000 scientists were free to secretly conduct their research in Manchukuo (PBS). Sheldon Harris notes in his book, Factories of Death, Manchukuo was turned into “one gigantic biological and chemical warfare laboratory” (Harris 5). Between the years of 1939 and 1945, it is estimated that the development of biological warfare weapons “killed and poisoned more than a million Chinese, , Mongolians, and Russians” (Wang 4). Unit 731 was directly responsible for the death of more than 250,000 civilians as plague bombs were unleashed in the Chinese countryside and water sources were contaminated (Wang 4). Those who survived were left with rotten legs and often condemned to a life of poverty. Additionally, POW’s, of whom were mostly Chinese, were subjected to intense pressure chambers, live vivisection without anesthesia, and exposure to deadly diseases like anthrax and the bubonic plague (Harris). Ishii and his network reframed the intensity of these war crimes to detach themselves from the severity. Along with invoking kokutai, which persuaded them that they were advancing national goals, scientists referred to subjects as marutas, the Japanese word for “logs” (Harris). In doing so, they dehumanized each POW. Christopher R. Browning, author of Ordinary Men, provides another explanation for their brutality. Though his thesis is centered around Nazi war crimes, the same logic can be applied asserts that the perpetrators were not “professional killers,” but “ordinary men” who were molded into killers (Browning). He writes, “Brutalization was not the cause but the effect of these men’s behavior” that became normalized into routine (Browning 173). Browning cites socialization through [P]eople far more frequently invoke authority than conformity to explain their behavior, for only the former seems to absolve them of personal responsibility” (Browning 175). Above all, the authority invoked is that of kokutai. Ishii and the 10,000 scientists he led were indoctrinated with this ideology, hence their “unquestioned faith in the goodness of science and its contribution to progress” refusing to partake in research on the grounds of moral reproach was not only a sign of weakness, but also an act of treason against the emperor. BERKELEY MODEL UNITED NATIONS 14 Yet, despite the severity of these war crimes, the American government helped cover up the research and granted the scientists at Unit 731 immunity in exchange for their data, which would later be used in the Korean War. As a result, most of the members in Ishii’s network were not prosecuted or even tried. In fact, many rose to positions “that included Governor of , president of the Japan Medical Association and head of the Japan Olympic Committee” (Kristof). Ishii himself evaded prosecution and spent the rest of his life a free man until his death in 1959 (PBS). The was also complicit in the use of sex slaves during WWII. It is estimated that up to 200,000 women and girls, most of whom were from South Korea, were coerced into serving the army as “comfort women, a euphemism for women forced into prostition at Japanese military brothels before and during World War II” to boost morale within the troops (Al Jazeera). Furthermore, in 1942, Japanese guards forced about “78,000 sick and starving prisoners of war – 12,000 Americans and 66,000 Filipinos … – [to] walk 66 miles in the Philippines in April 1942. The U.S. Army Center of Military History estimates that 600 Americans and 10,000 Filipino prisoners

Current Relations

Though nature of Japanese fascism, from its emergence to its war crimes, is similar to that of Nazi Germany’s, its legacy is far less known. Japanese relations within Asia, especially with China and Korea, are plagued by the legacy of the Nanking Massacre, Unit 731, “comfort women,” and other atrocities (History.com). The tension is largely due to the Japanese government’s hesitancy to acknowledge and apologize for its actions. During the International Military Tribunal for the Far East in 1946-1948, also known as the Tokyo War Crimes Trials, Japanese militarists were accused of “perpetrating mass murder, rape, pillage, brigandage, torture and other barbaric cruelties upon the In the years since the end of the war, Japanese Prime Ministers have voiced their remorse of “comfort women,” for instance, there are only 23 survivors, underscoring the sense of urgency for proper compensation (Al Jazeera). Moreover, “politicians repeatedly shock survivors and the

BERKELEY MODEL UNITED NATIONS 15 antinuclear identity. But after sixty years, Japan’s neighbors still see bayoneted babies. Relations Whereas Germany has attempted to reconcile with its former enemies, Japan’s philosophy leans towards self-victimization. Many in Japan perceive Hiroshima and Nagasaki as worse, and while the atomic bombs dropped by the United States government must not be trivialized, the mentality that the past is the past is extremely harmful to the victims (Lee).

Source: Polling Data from Andy S. Lee, “The 5th Japan-South Korea Joint Public Opinion Poll (2017) Analysis Report on Comparative Data.” The

Genron NPO, International Relations Students Association at McGill.

Case 1: Cultural Context for Imperialism

towards imperialism and war. As mentioned previously, much of Japanese fascism was guided by the philosophy of kokutai, which literally translates to “national essence” and informally means “emperor state.” (Kitagawa) The idea of kokutai was primarily developed during the Edo period (1600-1868), during which the country was run by the Tokugawa shogunate, a distributed military government which replaced the previous emperor. During the Edo period, the emperor was a completely policy decisions(Song). The Tokugawa shogunate kept the country closed to the rest of the world, severely limiting foreign trade with nearly everyone except for the Dutch. Although this enabled the shogunate to keep complete economic control of the nation, this “closed door” policy prevented Japan from BERKELEY MODEL UNITED NATIONS 16 actively participating in the international economy, slowing the nation’s development compared to the rest of the world (Japanese Imperialism). The term kotukai was created during this time by political scholars who wished to see a return to the imperial structure of Japan. (Kitagawa) In 1853, the United States militarily forced Japan to end their policy of foreign isolationism and allow trade. Western nations, argued that reinstating the power of the emperor would be critical to modernizing return of the emperor seemed to be the only way to mobilize the nation. (Song) During the Meiji restoration, the concept of kokutai was enshrined in the Constitution of Japan. The emperor and the state became one and the same, and kokutai was to give the emperor a near-divine authority. (Kitagawa) This new culturally-boosted government system would enable Japan to rapidly militarize and expand in the 20th century (Song). The other key piece of Japanese culture which contributed to imperialism was a general sense of Japanese cultural superiority over others in Asia. Fukuzawa Yukichi, a respected professor who wrote extensively about kokutai in the 19th century, also wrote about Japan’s “manifest destiny” to become the leader of Asia. Many nationalist groups claimed racial superiority of the Japanese, making reference to Japanese religion to justify their claims. Japan’s victory over Russia in the Russo- Japanese War in 1905 further fueled this superiority complex, and Japan entered the 20th century convinced that it was fated to lead Asia. (Gordon) but it did not come from nowhere. Japanese militarization and radicalization was a cultural and political process developing for centuries, and the Manchurian incident was the catalyst.

Source: Britannica BERKELEY MODEL UNITED NATIONS 17 Case 2: Additional Japanese Motivatoins Based on Desires for Natural Resources

Although the Japanese invasion of Manchuria stands out as one of the more prominent historical events of the 20th century, Japanese territorial expansion and ambitions in China have dated back for many centuries. One of the key aspects which made Manchuria stand out was the perfect contrast in the eyes of Japan, which itself was densely populated and resource-poor. Some of these resources were iron, coking coal, soybeans, salt and most importantly land, all severely lacking within the Japanese empire in 1930 (Graham). In contrast, Japan’s mountainous terrain was only twenty percent arable, clearly demonstrating Manchuria’s value (Graham). As the population grew to 70 million in 1937, there was immense pressure to feed this population (Maeda). After had no means of accommodating this demand from within native Japanese land alone. To further exacerbate the issue, Americans and British realms were unwilling to accept immigrants at the time (Maeda). Ultimately, every factor at the time seemed to justify even more incentive for Japan to turn to Manchuria as the solution. Once they seized Manchuria, Japan began to invest heavily in the region. They spent 1.5 billion yen in 1931, a number that would rise to 3.7 billion yen by 1936 which surpassed the annual budget (Graham). The government invested in railroads, highways, and hydroelectric plants to improve the land, also discovering plentiful amounts of iron, aluminum, and other minerals (Graham). However, it would soon be apparent to Japan that unfortunately Manchuria was not the savior land they once thought it to be. Outputs of synthetic oil and coal production were quite modest, which were both vital industries that Japan was heavily reliant on foreign sources to provide. The failure of Manchuria to provide these crucial resources proved to be one of Japan’s greatest disappointments in the region. Furthermore, Japanese immigrants were no match to the cheap labor that Chinese locals within the area were willing to provide. Over time, these locals began joining their countrymen as supervisors, police, bureaucrats, soldiers, and foreman in Manchuria and soon, within China itself (Graham). Ultimately, Japan initially came into the region with high aspirations to build a land that would solve their problems of feeding and housing a rapidly expanding population, while also providing the key to a self-sustaining nation for many years and decades to come. Unfortunately, BERKELEY MODEL UNITED NATIONS 18 despite all the funding provided and resources extracted from the region, Manchuria simply could not live up to the many expectations Japan had imposed upon it, and eventually slipped through.

Japanese Balance of Payments (1910 - 1945) Delegation Profiles

Abyssinia (Ethiopia): Abyssinia joined the League of Nations in 1923 (Britannica). In 1935, Italian dictator Benito Mussolini conquered the country and proclaimed an Italian empire in East Africa, further demonstrating the League’s weakness (Hall). This altercation is rooted in Abyssinia’s proud history of resisting Italian conquest in the 1890s during the “Scramble for Africa” (Hall). Italian occupation continued until 1941, when East Africans expelled Italian troops with the help of British forces (Hall).

British Burma (Myanmar): Burma was not a historical member of the League of Nations (Britannica). Under British occupation from 1885 to 1948, Burma had a lucrative rice production industry and a surge of anti-imperialist uprisings (Ray). Japanese forces invaded and occupied Burma in 1942, where they massacred civilians and committed other atrocities (Cribb). From 1946-1947, the Burmese Trials convicted 85 Japanese war criminals (Cribb).

BERKELEY MODEL UNITED NATIONS 19 British Raj (India): India was historically represented in the League of Nations as a British colony, the British government decided to establish direct rule (Wolpert). India played an important role in WWI by volunteering men, money, and other goods like steel, and sustaining heavy losses on the

Commonwealth of the Philippines: The Philippines was not historically represented in the League of Nations (Britannica). As an American colony from 1898 to 1946, the Philippines was defenseless when Japanese forces invaded the territory in the absence of US General MacArthur (Chen). The 1945 massacre in Manila claimed between 100,000 to 240,000 victims and represents another

Czechoslovak Republic: Czechoslovakia joined the League of Nations in 1920 as a founding member (Britannica). The country was founded after the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1918, and remained a parliamentary democracy until it was invaded and annexed by Nazi Germany in 1939 (USHMM). The appeasement that allowed Hitler to continue to pursue his expansionist goals demonstrates another failure in the League (Connelly). Approximately 263,000 Jews from the annexed territory in Czechoslovakia were killed by the end of the war (USHMM).

Empire of Japan: Japan joined the League of Nations in 1920 as a founding member, but withdrew in 1933 (Britannica). In response to the surge in nationalism and the Great Depression, Japan Asia (Barshay). Japan withdrew from the League of Nations in 1933 and eventually joined Hitler and Mussolini in the (Barshay). During the war, Japanese troops committed countless atrocities, and most were tried for their crimes (Barshay).

French Third Republic: France joined the League of Nations in 1920 as a founding member (Britannica). After suffering heavy casualties in WWI, French diplomats strongly advocated for Germany to pay heavy reparations as punishment for the war (Connelly). French Prime Minister Edouard Daladier worked closely with British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain in appeasing Hitler BERKELEY MODEL UNITED NATIONS 20 before the outbreak of WWII (Connelly). Though France fought alongside the Allied Powers, Nazi forces successfully invaded in 1940 and established the collaborative Vichy regime (Connelly).

Greece: Greece joined the League of Nations in 1920 as a founding member (Britannica). The country was initially neutral in WWI but later shifted to the side of the Entente after a national schism (Clogg). With political corruption, a major refugee crisis, and other sources of tension, a dictatorship not too different from that in Germany and Italy was established (Clogg). Greece wanted to maintain neutrality in WWII, but Fascist Italy successfully invaded the territory in 1940 (Clogg). By 1945, 60,000 Greek Jews were killed in the Holocaust (USHMM).

Irish Free State: Ireland joined the League of Nations in 1923 (Britannica). Ireland gained its Ireland maintained a policy of neutrality, though Churchill considered ways to get the small nation involved in the war (“That Neutral Island”)

Japanese Korea: Korea was not historically represented in the League of Nations (Britannica). In 1910, Korea was annexed by Japan for labor and land (Britannica). Despite nationalist movements throughout the country, Japan enforced assimilation policies that attacked Korean culture, and forced hundreds of thousands of Korean women into being sex slaves for Japanese troops in WWII (Al Jazeera).

Kingdom of Belgium: Belgium joined the League of Nations in 1920 as a founding member (Britannica). In 1940, German forces conquered neutral Belgium as a part of their strategy to defeat Britain and France (Connelly). Occupation troops immediately enacted anti-Jewish laws, deporting nearly 25,000 Jews from Belgium to Auschwitz (USHMM).

Kingdom of Hungary: Hungary joined the League of Nations in 1922, but withdrew in 1939 the Soviet Union (Connelly). When it seemed Hungary was debating switching sides, German forces occupied Hungary in 1944 and incorporated Nazi collaborators into the government, who then committed Hungary to supporting the deportation and ghettoization of Jews (Connelly). BERKELEY MODEL UNITED NATIONS 21 : Italy joined the League of Nations in 1920 as a founding member, but withdrew in 1937 (Britannica). After suffering heavy casualties in WWI, Italian leaders felt the Treaty of Versailles did not adequately reward them for their efforts (King). Economic problems and the surge of nationalism resulted in several political crises, culminating in Mussolini’s rise to power as Italy’s fascist dictator (King). During WWII, Italy was a key player among the Axis Powers until the regime was overthrown in 1943 (Connelly).

Portuguese Republic: Portugal joined the League of Nations in 1920 as a founding member (Britannica). The country was ruled as a dictatorship since 1933, backing Nationalist forces during the it quietly favored England (Shercliff).

Republic of Austria: Austria joined the League of Nations in 1920 (Britannica). Prior to the war, Austria was aligned closely with Nazi Germany as its population enthusiastically supported annexation (Connelly). This occurred in 1938, representing another failure of the League’s appeasement efforts. Anti-Jewish laws were quickly extended to those residing in Austria (Connelly). Republic of China: China joined the League of Nations in 1920 as a founding member (Britannica). The Republic was established after the fall of the Qing dynasty, and aided the Entente in WWI (Yeh). Tense Sino-Japanese relations, as well as internal weaknesses in China, escalated to the outbreak (Britannica). In the Second Sino-Japanese war, Communist and Nationalist forces united against Japanese occupation, which had massacred millions of Chinese civilians (Yeh).

Republic of Poland: Poland joined the League of Nations in 1920 as a founding member economy was crippled by the Great Depression (USHMM). Hitler’s attack on Poland in 1939 represented another failure of the League and launched Europe into another world war (Connelly). Around three million Polish Jews were deported and killed in the Holocaust (USHMM).

Republic of Singapore: Although Singapore was another British colony, it was not historically BERKELEY MODEL UNITED NATIONS 22 outbreak of WWII (Royde-Smith). Attracted to its various commodities, Japanese forces invaded the country and occupied it until 1945 (Royde-Smith). Occupation troops exerted excessive control over the food supply, which ultimately led to violent raids for food, malnutrition, disease, and other forms of violence (Royde-Smith).

Siam (Thailand): Siam joined the League of Nations in 1920 as a founding member (Britannica). The country declared neutrality at the beginning of the war, but eventually gravitated towards an alignment with Japan (History.com). In 1942, Japanese forces established a collaborative government and Thailand became a loyal puppet state, offering aid and resources for the empire’s vision (Swan).

Spanish Republic: Spain joined the League of Nations in 1920 as a founding member, but withdrew in 1939 (Britannica). With the help of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, Francisco Franco led the country in a civil war that transformed Spain into a an authoritarian regime (Connelly). Spain did (Harrison). Swiss Confederation: Switzerland joined the League of Nations in 1920 as a founding member (Britannica). As the League was based in Geneva, Switzerland maintained a special status of “differentiated neutrality” throughout WWII, though it continued to trade with Nazi Germany (Andrews). The country hoped to maintain good relations with emerging totalitarian states, but later mobilized troops to combat Nazi expansion and defend its independence (Andrews).

Union of Soviet Socialist Republics: The Soviet Union joined the League of Nations in 1934, but was expelled in 1939 (Britannica). The 1917 Revolution ended 300 years of Tsarist rule and established a socialist republic (Connelly). Under Stalin’s leadership, the Soviet Union originally had a nonaggression pact with Germany, but later played a key role in the Allied Powers (Connelly). The hegemony in Asia (Barshay).

United Kingdom: England joined the League of Nations in 1920 as a founding member (Britannica). As with France, England suffered immense casualties in WWI and desperately hoped to appease BERKELEY MODEL UNITED NATIONS 23 Hitler and avoid another total war (Connelly). During the war, England called upon its colonies and civilians on the homefront to aid in the war effort (Britannica). German forces retaliated throughout night-time bombing raids in London, known as the Blitz, which caused enormous destruction to the city’s infrastructure and heavy civilian casualties (Connelly).

United States of America: Though the League of Nations was Woodrow Wilson’s idea, the United an isolationist policy after WWI (McLean). In the interwar years, the American economy boomed until the Great Depression (McLean). Despite providing money and weapons to the Allied Powers, America claimed neutrality until the Pearl Harbor bombing in 1941 (Oehser). President Franklin D.

Weimar Republic (Germany): Germany joined the League of Nations in 1926, but withdrew in 1933 (Britannica). The Weimar Republic was established at the end of WWI in 1918, shortly after the German Kaiser abdicated (Hoffmann). In the interwar years, Weimar Germany suffered psychological, economic, and social crises from the Great Depression and terms of the Treaty of Versailles (Connelly). This instability culminated in Adolf Hitler’s rise to power as Chancellor in 1933 and Fuhrer in 1934 (Connelly). Germany withdrew from the League of Nations in 1933, and Hitler pursued his vision of uniting the German race, working with Italy and Japan as key players in the Axis Powers (Connelly).

Questions to Consider

1. What made the League of Nations ineffective? What could it have done differently to prevent Japan from withdrawing? 2. Examine the hypocrisy in Western powers condemning Japan for invading Manchuria while 3. Whereas Germany has achieved some sort of reconciliation with its former enemies in the Western world, Japan’s actions in WWII still cause tension in the East. Why is this the case? What could be done to amend this?

BERKELEY MODEL UNITED NATIONS 24 4. Analyze the invasion through the lens of “self-determination.” How do Japan and China have different interpretations of this philosophy, and how did it lead to the breakout of WWII in the East?

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