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Versailles Peace Conference
President Wilson agrees to Japanese demand for control over Shandong Province in Northern China. The Chinese feel betrayed. -
May Fourth Movement
Chinese students protest the Versailles decision and Japan's Twenty-One Demands, accepted by Yuan Shikai. The Movement called for democracy, science and "Modernity." It produced many leaders who founded the People's Republic. -
Washington Conference System
The Washington Conference system refers to various treaties signed by the nine major powers("Pact of Nine"), including Japan, the United States, Britain and China. The signatories agreed to uphold China's independence and integrity; maintain the principle of equal opportunity; and provide an environment for the development of a stable government. It also provided for multinational consultation when stability was threaten. Japan's failure to work within this system is a reason why it went to war. -
Japanese Invasion of Manchuria
The Japanese army fabricate the bombing of its railroad in Manchuria, and then use the incident to attack Chinese army. They subsequently create an independent state called "Manchukuo" headed by the puppet, Henry Puyi, the last Qing Emperor. -
Lytton Report and the Failure of the League of Nations to Act
After the Japanese invasion of Manchuria in 1931, the League of Nations' Council failed to issue sanctions against Japan. It approved the Lytton Recommendation that Japan's military action was unjustifiable. -
Japan Invades China
Japan invaded China, starting with an incident near the Marco Polo Bridge in Beijing, then the Japanese military bombed Shanghai and moved to Nanking. -
Bombing of Shanghai
After Beijing, the Japanese navy and air force bombed Shanghai to secure the landing of another army and to engage in a pincer movement on Nanjing. -
Brussels Meeting Ends in Failure
The Pact of Nine met in Brussels to discuss action against Japan for the 1937 invasion of China. The US vetoed economic sanctions against Japan, and the meeting ended with only mild support for China. President Roosevelt was facing a strong isolationist sentiment in the country represented by groups like America First led by Charles Lindbergh, and decided America was not yet ready for an aggressive role in international conflicts. -
Raping of Nanking
As the Japanese army moved south, it stopped in Nanking in December. The Japanese murdered as many as 300,000 Chinese civilians, including mothers and young children. -
September 6, 1941 Memorandum
Japanese leaders and the emperor made critical decisions about going to war in the Pacific. They decided to go to war against the US in October unless the US and Britain agreed to desist from providing aid to China; refrain from establishing military bases in SE and Far East Asia; restore normal trade relations with Japan and not interfere with theirs in Thailand and Dutch East Indies, where they would get oil to supply their ships and planes. -
Secretary of State Cordell Hull's Four Principles for negotiations with the Japanese
Cordell Hull made these four principles pre-requisites to negotiations with the Japanese:
1) Respect for the territorial integrity and the sovereignty of each and all nations.
2) Support for the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries.
3) Support for the principle of equality, including equality of commercial opportunity.
4) Maintenance of the status quo in the Pacific except for the peaceful alteration of the status quo. -
Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor
Prime Minister, General Tojo, military and emperor agree that further negotiations with US and Britain would be useless since they would not agree to rescind oil embargo against Japan, refrain from supporting China, or desist from attacking Japan. These terms were inconsistent with Hull's four principles for negotiations. On December 1st, the emperor endorsed the decision to attack the US at Pearl Harbor. -
Resources
Iriye, Akira. The Origins of the Second World War in Asia and the Pacific. New York: Longman, 1987.
Murphey, Rhoads and Stapleton, Kristin. A History of Asia. New York: Pearson, 2014.
