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Outline
- Politics of Naming the War
- Going it alone
- Breaking the Washington Treaty System
- Declaration of the GEACPS
- Total War
- Erasing the line between combatants & civilians
- Modern Horrors
Naming the War (s)
- Greater East Asia War
- Official Japanese wartime name of war
- Claim to be in the name of Asian liberation
- The Pacific War
- American mandated name of war with Japan
- Focus on U.S. not China as main opponent of Japan
- World War II
- Later name linking European and Pacific theaters
- Emphasis in the West on developments in Europe
- The Fifteen Year War
- Later name of war often used by Japanese leftists
- From 1931 Manchurian Incident to 1945 surrender
- Emphasizes continuity of Japanese military actions in this
time period & importance of China
War Among Imperialists in Asia
- Japanese imperial forces primarily invaded Western colonial
possessions
- US: Hawaii, Guam, Philippines
- Britain: Malaya, Singapore, Hong Kong
- Dutch: Indonesia
- Exceptions: China (but focused on areas of economic
interest to Western powers) and 2) Thailand (but Thai leaders
seized opp. of war against Western powers)
- US sanctions against Japan really kicked in when Jpz. Army
moved into French Indochina
- US, Britain and Dutch only declared war when colonial
possessions attacked or under threat
From Accommodation To Unilateral Action
- From mid-19th century, Jpz. gov't saw three basic options for
preserving its interests in Asia:
- 1) Work within Western balance of power but insist on
preserving special Japanese interests in the region
- 2) Act independently of Western structure of power
- 3) Overturn this structure to establish a new order in Asia
to be headed by Japan
- To the 1930s: Japanese gov't pursued no. 1 & 2
- 1930s-1945: Japanese gov't pursued no. 3
1922 Washington Conference System
- Interlocking treaties to establish multinational consultation
and co-operation in the interest of preserving regional stability
in Asia
- China as lynchpin to Asian Stability:
- Nationalist Revolution in 1911
- Nationalist Regime promised to uphold unequal treaties
- Protect new regime to protect financial interests
- WCS preserved the status quo
- No colonies given up and some added after
- Furthered economic imperialism
- China first against WCS, but joined to buy time & get
international support (esp. against Japan)
- Replaced Anglo-Japan Alliance
- Brought halt to arms race among imperialist powers
- 5:5:3 ratio for battleships and Pacific fortifications
stopped
- Japanese fleet to be equal in size in Asia to combined Pacific
fleets of Anglo-American powers
- 1930 London Naval Treaty renewed & extended these terms
Diplomat v. Military View of WCS
- Diplomats:
- Stressed opportunities for increased flow of trade,
continuity in international relations
- Opportunity to save money by reducing military
- Military:
- WCS directly threatened Army and Navy share of budget (from
39% to 16% in 1920s)
- Kept Japan second-class, REGIONAL power, not world power
like US and Britain
- Direct confrontations with rising tide of anti-Japanese
sentiments in China
Military Dominance
- Military activists put "Control" or total war advocates in
Army and Navy in power in central government
- Manchurian Incidents
- Assassination Campaign and 2/26/36 Incident
- Military favored "Option 3" or the construction of a New Order
in Asia
- Japan announces this stance in 1933 by withdrawing from League
of Nations
The Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere
- Protectionism & economic blocks in the West
- Formalized as government policy in 1938
- Ideal: Asia for
Asians (No Western Imperialism)
- Appeals to Japanese idealism (our righteous cause)
- Appeals to many (not all) Asians
- Practical: Asia under
Japanese Control
- Japan as sole Asian industrial power
- Asia to produce raw materials for Japanese industry
- Asia to become a market dominated by Japan
Total War (1937-1945)
A New Kind of War
- Home front and battle lines linked for mobilization of every
possible resource for war effort (no more gentlemen's
agreements)
- Erasing the line btwn combatants & civilians
- Enforced homogeneity & spy fever in home islands
- Rationalization of any tactic to subdue enemy
population
- "Will over Matter"
- A rational irrationality or strategy for nations like Japan
with limited material and human resources
Toward Total War
- 1931-36 intermittent fighting between Chz. and Jpz. forces on
Manchurian border
- 1936 united front formed in China between Nationalists and
Communists
- Marco Polo Bridge Incident took both China and Japan by
surprise
- Nanjing not sure if ready for full-scale conflict
- Tokyo tried to negotiate way out of conflict
- Chz. Forces put up stiff resistance and Jpz. military
pushed for reinforcement
- Beijing: Chz. forces withdrew southward so relatively easy
& uneventful capture
- Shanghai: Nationalists tried to bomb Japanese warships
stationed there, but missed & hit the city instead;
outnumbered but better trained Japanese troops retaliate
thoroughly and brutally
- Jpz. forces promised good treatment for civilians in
leaflets
- Instead, mass murder and destruction ensued
- Estimates vary, but at least:
- 42,000 civilians killed in city
- 100,000 civilians in vicinity
- 20,000 women raped
- 100,000s homeless
- Later blamed on breakdown of military discipline, but
- Evidence of officer organization
- Full entry into Total War
- Self-fulfilling prophecy: no way to win support of any sector
of Chinese population after Nanjing
- Successful guerilla warfare tactics with support of local
population
- Kept Japanese control confined to RR and major cities
- Powerful stimulus to solidification of Chz. nat'lism
- Indiscrim. Targeting of Civilians
- Terror bombing of Shanghai, Nanjing, Chongqing, Singapore,
HK
- "Three Alls" "People-free Zones"
- Biological & Chemical Warfare
- Unit 731; millions of warheads in China
- Forced Labor
- Millions of Koreans & Chinese to Japan
- Millions of SE Asians for construction
- POWs
- Comfort Women/Sex Slaves
- At least 200,000
- To "prevent" rapes & STDs
- Distributed at ratio of 1 to every 35 men