Thursday, March 8

Starts on Slide #62.

Japan

Dictatorship also came to Japan

  • not through a political party but the military history
  • rich military tradition
  • feudal clans fought each other for dominance in Japan

 The Emperor presided over the Japanese government

  • came form divine origin
  • descendant of the Sun Goddess
  • played minor role in the government
  • he was above politics
  • shogun had the political power
  • ruled in the name of the Emperor

Japanese society

1. Landowning clans dominated

  • -protected by the samurai
2. Wealthy merchant class

3. Peasants
  • most of the people of Japan


Japan was very isolated until 1853 when US Commodore Matthew Perry sailed into Japan and forced them to open their ports

 

In the late 1800’s many Japanese were tired of being controlled by foreign countries.

-adopted western ways in hopes to keep Western Powers out of their country

1.    heavy industry

2.    modern army

3.    strong navy


Showed off new power in several wars

1.    Sino-Japanese War

  • 1894-95
  • Japan won

 2.    Russo-Japanese War

  • 1904-05
  • Japan shocked the world by beating Russia
  • gained partial control of Manchuria

 3.    World War I

  • allied with the US
  • gained German Islands in the Pacific after the war

 

1920’s

  • gave all men the right to vote
  • signed the 4 Power Pact - limit naval size 
  • 5 Power Pact- US, Great Britain, France, Japan would respect each other's land and colonies 
  • 9 Power Pact - Open Door Policy
  • joined the League of Nations
  • signed the Kellog-Briand Pact - outlawed war

 

1930’s

  • Great Depression changed everything
  • people blamed the government for tough times
  • military leaders stepped in and took control
  • said Japan had to expand in to Asia to help economy
  • assassinated political leaders that opposed them
  • took away people’s rights

 

Japanese Military Honor

1.    Fight to the death

2.    Commit suicide rather than surrender

3.    Gekokujo

  • open defiance of superior officers by junior officers
  • seen as a positive thing
  • shows the spirit of the soldier

Japanese Invasion of Manchuria

What did this situation prove?  
  1. The League of Nations could not enforce its authority
  2. A major power could get away with using force
  3. Great Britain and France wanted to avoid war at all costs
  4. Other powers would see thsi as a sign that they too could get away with the use of force
  5. The League also lost its most powerful member in the Far East--Japan

Franklin Roosevelt vs. Herbert Hoover


Good Neighbor Policy

  • Roosevelt realized we needed to become better neighbors with Latin American countries
  • It would benefit us regarding trade
  • Wanted to make sure those countries didn't turn to the 'dark side' and become allies with Italy and Germany
Ethiopia Invaded by Mussolini - 1936
  • Italy lost its Ethiopia colony in Africa at the 1896 Battle of Adua
  • One of the worst colonial disasters of modern history
  • February 23, 1935 - Italy sends large forces into Ethiopia
  • October 7, 1935 - League declared Italy the aggressor
Mussolini wanted to control Africa and the Mediterranean.  

Italy/Ethiopia Invasion

*Embargo = do not trade with them
  • November 18, 1935 - leagues sanctions begin
    • Arms embargo, financial embargo, non-importation of Italian goods
  • February 1936 - League could not agree on critical oil sanctions mainly because FDR refused - US controlled 50% world oil trade
  • February 29,1936 - FDR signed the 1936 Neutrality Act
    • Mandatory arms embargo with warring nations
    • Mandatory ban on loans to warring nations
  • May 5, 1936 - Italy occupied Addis Ababa (capital of Ethiopia) - annexed all Ethiopia May 9

Generalisimo Francisco France and the Spanish Civil War: 1936-39
  • Gave Hitler's troops and weapons experience
  • Hitler and Mussolini would help Franco win
  • Spain was neutral in World War II and Hitler saw them as an Allie

Rome-Berlin Axis - 1936

Official alliance between Germany and Italy (Hitler & Mussolini)


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