4. The Pacific War 1941/2-1945 Flashcards
What effect did the two centuries of isolation during the Tokugawa Japan period have on the country?
- Japan unified under military rule – a system that lasts until the mid-20th Century
- Period of the Samuri
- Persecution of foreign influences in Japan
- Two centuries of prosperity and peace but Japan falls behind in technological advancements
- Strong sense of national identity
What happened when Commodore Matthew Perry went to Japan in 1853?
- Forced Japan to open their ports to foreign countries – ends Japanese isolation
- U.S. citizens allowed to live in Japan
- Japan only allowed to enforce a 5% tariff on imports
- Formation of the Sonno Joi (Honour the emperor, Expel the barbarians (1817-87)
- Regional lords seize land in 1868 which ends Tokugawa Japan and puts the Emperor back in power
Who were the Meiji and what were their aims?
- Emperor Mutushito
- Want Japan to resist foreign influences
- Don’t want to be westernised but they need to adopt western technology in order to expel the Americans
How successful was U.S. trade in Japan?
- Imbalance between imports and exports, Japan had a large trade surplus
- Japan and the UK benefitted, not the U.S.
- Lack of business creativity, failure to research the Japanese market
- Kerosene
- Took Japan until 1899 to reverse treaties and to get control of their tariffs
What conflicts were the Japanese Imperial Army involved in between the 1890s and 1910s and why was Japan interested in expansion?
- Western powers are colonial = Japan needs colonies to modernise
- Sino-Japanese War – acquires Korea, Taiwan and Port Arthur under the peace treaty
- European powers unnerved and reverse the treaty – Japan keeps Taiwan
- Japanese resentment against Europe
- Russo-Japanese War (1904-5) = Japanese victory
- Treaty of Portsmouth (1905) – U.S. influence
- Japan gets political recognition of its control over Korea (1910), Manchuria and Port Arthur
What was the Taft-Katsura Agreement of 1905?
- Open door policy in Machuria
- USA recognises Japanese control over Korea
- Japan recognises U.S. control of the Philippines
Describe Japanese militarisation post-1905.
- Under Emperor Hirohito
- Modern army creation linked with industrialisation
- Alfred Mahan’s ideas on navy expansion are implemented
Why was there growing U.S. Japanese rivalry in the Pacific post-1905?
- Both expanded into the same area
- Japan unhappy with the annexation of Hawaii, the Philippines and U.S. missionaries in China
- Not enough tension to justify a war
What part did Japan play in WW1?
- Japan on the Allies side
- Provides Japan the chance to expand – acquires former German territories in the Pacific including territory in China and Micronesia – supported by the UK
- Anglo-Japanese offensive at the Siege of Tsington (1914)
How did U.S. immigration policies change after 1910?
- Anti-immigration policies against both Chinese and Japanese citizens
- 1913 = California tries to stop Japanese immigrants owning land
- 1923 = Federal government tries to stop non-whites moving to the U.S.
- Negative depiction of the Japanese by the U.S. press – portrays atrocities committed in Japanese colonies
- Press also warns of a Japanese invasion of the U.S.
How did the Washington Conference (1921/2) address the growing naval rivalry between Japan and the U.S.?
- For every 5 warships the U.S. and UK had Japan could have 3
- 1922 Open Door policy in China – Japan wanted to limit European involvement in China
- Prevention of foreigners visiting Japanese military bases in the Pacific = conspiracy theories by the U.S.
- 1923 Lt Colonel Earl Ellis dies in Palau of “fever”
- 1937 Disappearance of Amelia Earheart over Japanese islands, never recovered, U.S. press sensationalise
What effect did the Great Depression have on both the U.S. and Japan?
- U.S. = neo-isolationism, less foreign interests
- Japan = high unemployment, rise of Japanese ‘fascism’ and militarism, people look to the military for help as the government seems weak
How did the Mukden Incident in September 1931 increase Japanese power in Manchuria?
- Japan says Chinese insurgents blew up railroads in Manchuria – perhaps a play by the Japanese as an excuse to take over fully in Manchuria
- Japan keeps large army in Manchuria to guard the railroads
- Declares Manchuria as an independent state from China
Describe U.S. involvement in the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945).
- Rape of Nanking, December 1937, 300,000 Chinese civilians massacred
- Highly portrayed in the U.S. press
- U.S. aid to China, gives loans and supplies, allows U.S. volunteers to use U.S. planes to give supplies (14th Air Force)
- No ‘overt’ involvement
- F.D. Roosevelt bans trade with Japan, mainly of oil and scrap metal which provokes Japan
Describe Japanese foreign affairs in the run up to WW2.
- Japanese Tripartite Pact (aka Three Powers Pact) with Germany and Italy gives Japan free reign in Asia
- Second Russo-Japanese War (1939)
- 1941 peace treaty with Russia
What happened on the 7th December 1941?
- Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour
- 350 Japanese planes involved
- 200 U.S. aircraft destroyed
- 18 ships damaged or destroyed
- American aircraft carriers out of the port and therefore undamaged and battle ready
Briefly describe the actions of Japan and the U.S. during the Pacific War.
- Naval war
- Japan takes Guam, Burma, Wake, the Philippines etc. between 1941/2
- 1943 U.S. starts winning, especially after cracking Japanese military codes – Coral Sea, Midway
- Solomon Islands – working with the Australian forces the U.S. are not defeating the Japanese but are slowing their expansion
- Furious Japanese resistance, Philippines, Gilbert Islands, Okinawa – fight to the last man
- Mainly U.S. forces with minor contributions from the UK and Australia
- Total war on Japanese cities no they have the islands back
How effective was U.S. bombing of the Japanese mainland?
- fire storms, kills thousands of Japanese civilians, wooden buildings, more killed in one of these attacks than by the atomic bomb
- However the Emperor refuses unconditional surrender
Why did Japan ultimately surrender in August 1945?
- U.S. dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
- Emperor accepts unconditional surrender
