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Japan invades Manchuria
Japan invades Manchuria for the resouces that Japan didn't have. The Japanese then renamed Manchuria Manchukuo. Japan was critisized by the rest of the world for taking over land that belonged to China, but nobody stopped the Japanese. -
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Expansion of Japan
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Japan invades Eastern China
In 1937, Japan invades Eatern China so the Chinese government would have to escape to the central part of China. -
Greater East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere
Japan wanted oil, rubber, and other resources, so decided to take over Southeast Asia while the European milatary was involved in a war. The Japanese said that they were making a Greater East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere. The United States disliked this decision so stopped exporting to Japan. -
Pearl Harbor bombed
The Japanese bombed a US military base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. A Pacific War then broke out between the United States and Japan. -
Japan suffers major defeats from U.S.
Japan suffers its first major defeats from the U.S. This was one of the factors in Japan's loss of the war. -
Atomic Bomb
When Japan didn't surrender, the United States launched a new bomb called the atomic bomb on major Japanese cities. They bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Millions of Japanese were killed, and cities were badly damaged. -
1945-1951 General MacArthur Leads Japan
After War ended, an American army which was under MacArthurn that governed Japan. A democratic constitution was given to japan under MacAruthur's rule that ended the power of the military, -
Japan becomes allies with U.S.
Japan has signed a Treaty of Peace with the Allied Powers. On the coming into force of that Treaty, Japan will not have the effective means to exercise its inherent right of self-defense because it has been disarmed. -
Japan is an economic power
During the 1980s, the Japanese economy shifted its emphasis away from primary and secondary activities (notably agriculture, manufacturing, and mining) to processing, with telecommunications and computers becoming increasingly vital. -
Death of Hirohito
Hirohito's death occured in 1989 and his son Akihito became emporor.