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The First Sino Japanese War
This occured from 1894-95 due to the conflict between China and Japan where Japan emerged as the major power and showed the weakness of the Chinese Empire. The war was caused by the supremacy for Korea between the 2 countries. Korea has always been China's client state however Japan was attracted by Korea due to the close distance it had along with its resources. -
The Anglo Japanese Alliance
This was the alliance that bonded Britain and Japan to help one another in safeguarding their interests in China and Korea. This alliance was run for 5 years and later then renewed. It was primarily directed against the potential shared nemesis, France and Russia in the Far East. -
The Russo Japanese War
The conflict between Japan and Russia lasted from 1904-05. This occured since Japan forced Russia to ban it's expansionism on to the Far East. Not just that but what sparked the war was the rivalry between these 2 countries in the hopes of the domination of China and Machuria. The war ended with Japan being the first ever Asian nation to win a battle against any European power. -
Treaty of Portsmouth
This treaty was the official formal end towards the Russo Japanese War of 1904-05. It was signed at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine in USA. The peace conference began with President Roosevelt as the one playing the neutral card in deciding negotiations between the 2 conflicting countries. The conflicts were subjected around the topics of Manchuria and China. -
Japan Annexed Korea
Japan successfully conquered Korea with a peace treaty (The Japan Korea Treaty) signed by Korean Priminister, Lee Wan-yong and the first Japanese Governer-General of Korea, Terauchi Masatake. Korea gave Japan the full control and authority over itself thus Korea then became an official colony of Japan. -
Japan seizes German possessions in Shandong
To allow Japan to enter the war, it made a deal with Britain to take control over Germany's Pacific Territories. Japan attempted this approach by sending Germany an ultimatum however it was completely ignored by Germany. Japan then formally declared war on Germany and Austria-Hungary as they refused to withdraw from the Austro-Hungarian cruiser from Japan. Japan later occupied areas in the Far East including Shandong and other colonies during September to October of 1914. -
The 'Twenty One Demands' made on China
To put an end to the animosity between Japan and China, Japan sent a secret ultimatum to gain regional ascendency over China. The agreement was set into 5 groupings which required China to immediately cease its territories to foreign powers and to ascent to Japanese control over Manchuria and Shandong. China was forced to agree with Japanese demands since they did not have the sufficient income to wage a war against Japan. -
The Siberian Expedition
This occured from 1918-22 where Japanese military dispatched the maritime provinces of Russia. This was a part of the larger effort by the Western Powers and Japan to support White Russians during the Russian Civilian War. However the Japanese troops continues to take over Siberia even after the Allied Forces withdrawed in the 1920s. -
The Treaty of Versailles confirms Japan's war gains
As a result of the Treaty of Versailles, Japan got to keep their control on German colonies in the pacific. Although some Japanese were glad with this outcome, other were not satisfied since they felt that they should have the privilege to expand their colony all the way into China. -
The Washington Conference
This was the international conferece called by the US to come to an agreement on the security in the Pacific. The conference involved signing major and minor treaty agreements. This was signed by the Four Power Pact (USA, UK, France and Japan) where they agreed to confer the rights or possessions of any of the four countries if threatened in the Pacific. A Nine-Power Treaty was also signed by China, Belgium, Italy, The Netherlands and Portugal along with the Four-Power Treaty countries. -
The Peace Preservation Law
This was a series of laws enacted during the Japanese empire. These laws were made to supress political dissent. It was enacted under the administration of Kato Takaaki against socialism, communism and anarchism. -
Reign of Emperor Hirohito
When Emperor Taisho passed away, it was the chance for Hirohito to rise as emperor. This was celebrated with a revival of the idea that the emperor was equivalent to god. Nationalism revived amongst the lands of Japan and it then sparked the ideology that Japan was the special destiny in the world. -
Japan and The Great Depression
When The Great Depression hit US due to the New York Stock Exchange Crash, it affected the whole world but most importantly Japan. Japan had no natural resources of its own so it had to import materials to keep its military and industry alive. However, the situation gradually worsen that Japan became more agressive towards the situation. One solution of their were to expand Japanese territory in order to gain more resources for its economy. -
Mukden Incident
Japan had control over Korea and also the Manchurian railway. Japan claimed that Chinese soldiers were sabotaging the railway thus had them executed when in fact it was just Japanese spies. China did not retaliate since they knew that Japan was just finding a reson to invade Manchuria. Eventhough the civilian government of Japan told the army to withdraw from the plan, they still attacked starting from Shanghai. -
Japanese invasion on Manchuria
This occured when the Kwantung Army of the Japanese Empire invaded Manchuria after the Mukden Incident. Japan then established a puppet state known as Manchukuo. This invasion lasted until the end of World War 2. -
Marco Polo Bridge Incident
Due to the conflict between China and Japan on the Marco Polo Bridge on the outskirts of Beijing, this developed into the warfare between two countries in the Pacific during the times of World War 2. After the Japanese invasion on Manchuria, China grew an anti-Japanese movement which became so strong that Chinese communists and nationalists made an agreement to end the civil war by a United Front against further agression of the Japanese. -
Rape of Nanjing
This occured during the Second Sino-Japanese War where mass murders and rape by Japanese troops were done against Chinese civilians. The massacre was held for six weeks where the Japanese murdered and raped around 40,000 to 300,000 Chinese civilians. However this event was kept secret amongst the Japanese and thos who were involved in the masacare choose to believe that the doings was a minor violent crime. Some Japanese extremists also believe that the event never occured. -
The Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbour
Japan planned an attack on US Naval Base at Pearl Harbour , Hawaii Territory. This killed more than 2,300 American civilians and attacked 12 ships and 160 aircrafts. This news was then broadcasted all over American radio stations. US had a plan to stay neutral through out the war and to only supple war weapons to allies, however after this event hit Japan, President Franklin Roosevelt formally declared war on Japan the day after; 8th of December 1941.
