-
Japan joins WWI on the side of the Allies
Japan delivers 21 Demands to China Japan occupy German-leased territories in Shandong Peninsula) and Marshall Islands. -
Riots in Asia
Inflation, low wages and commodity speculation leads to riots in July. -
Japan joins the League of Nations and gains the Liaodong Peninsula
-
Japansese recession begins
-
Period: to
Washington Naval Conference
Japan’s navy is limited to three-fifths the size of USA and Britain in the Washington Naval Conference. 20,000 worker strike at shipyards in Kobe to demand better working conditions. -
Japanese Communist Party was founded in Tokyo
-
The Great Kanto Earthquake
The Great Kanto Earthquake takes place in Sept and results in 140,000 killed. -
Creation of Publications Monitoring Departmen
Publications Monitoring Department of the Home Ministry was created with separate sections for censorship, investigation and general affairs. -
Communist Party is banned.
-
General Election Law
The General Election Law was passed in the Diet in May. It extends suffrage to all males aged 25 and over. It was proposed by the Kenseitō political party . The law increased the electorate from 3,341,000 to 12,534,360. -
Peace Preservation Law
Peace Preservation Law introduced in April 22 1925. Special Higher Police (Tokko) was created to deal with ideological offenses (i.e. thought crimes) against the nation. They are are allowed to supress socialists and communists. Any party/group which tries to change kokutai(national essence) can face criminal prosecution. Criticism of the system of private property is also criminal. This is a form of “thought control” and more than 70,000 are arrested between 1925 to 1945 -
The Showa Restoration begins
with the reign of Emperor Hirohito -
Japanese Banking Crisis
-
Period: to
The Northern Expedition enables the Guomindang to unify China.
It ends the rule of local warlords -
Wall Street Crash and the Great Depression begin.
-
Cherry Blossom Society (Sakurakai) forms
Advocates establishment of a military government. -
PM Hamaguchi is shot
for ratifying London Naval Treaty -
Principal Industries Control Law is introduced
The government can compel important industries to force all firms in an industry to join a cartel when more than two-thirds requested it. It was legal for zaibatsus to form large businesses to limit competition and to reghlate the production and prices of products they made and sold. Ship building, electric power, textiles, coal mining. -
Lytton Commission formed
LON formed to investigate the causes of the Mukden Incident -
Manchukuo is created as a puppet state.
The Mukden (Shenyang) Incident takes place -
Period: to
Assassination attempts on businessmen
Japanese wealthy businessmen and liberal politicians are targeted for assassination by the Ketsumeiden (Blood Brotherhood League) -
PM Inukai Tsuyoshi assassinated
by 11 junior Naval officers for trying to stop army actions in Manchuria. Mitsubishi bank, the Seiyukai HQ and several power stations are also attacked. League of Blood activisted were arrested and put on trial. Military commanders were not condemned in the rebellion and pardoned. -
Appointment of Admiral Okada Keisuke as PM
10 cabinet members are military officers. It is a turning point in militarism in Japan -
Japan withdraws from the League of Nations
-
Tokyo rebellion
Japanese soldiers rebelled and occupied centre of Tokyo. Finance Minister and keeper of the Privy Seal were assassinated but the coup fails to gain imperial support. Imperial Way Faction carry out the coup and try to assassinate key figures.19 are arrested and tried in secret military court and executed. Imperial Control Faction gain influence and appoints active general as Minister for War. -
Period: to
Koki HIrota is PM
Hirota placated the military by reinstating the system by which only active-duty Army or Navy officers could serve in the Cabinet posts of war minister or navy minister. -
The Kokutai no Hongi / Our National Polity (like Mein Kampf) is published.
It focuses on national unity and expresses its wish to end internal disorder and dissatisfaction with political realities; It also tries to justify Japan's wartime nationalism. -
Marco Polo Bridge Incident
Takes place near Beijing on 8 July. It leads to full-scale war between Japan and China. -
The Cabinet Information Bureau
The Cabinet Information Bureau is formed an apply censorship to all media. All print media needs to take cues from the Committee which issues all official press statements, and which worked together with the Publications Monitoring Department on censorship issues. -
Rape of Nanking
-
Period: to
Senjūrō Hayashi as PM
He was Japanese Army Commander of the Japanese Korean Army during the Mukden Incident and the invasion of Manchuria. -
Period: to
Fumimaro Konoe is PM
He tries to secure pardons for the ultranationalist leaders of the 26 February incident, He refuses to appoint ministers from the political parties. -
USS Panay Bombing Incident
causes US public opinion to turn against Japan -
Period: to
State General Mobilization Law
Japan’s national economy put on wartime footing. The laws gave the government the authority to use unlimited budgets to subsidize war production, and to compensate manufacturers for losses caused by war-time mobilization. The law was attacked as unconstitutional when introduced to the Diet in January 1938