Conflict in the Pacific - 1937-1951 Flashcards
• Growth of Pacific tensions, including:
Survey
- Economic and Political issues in the pacific by 1937
Things that ignited Japanese tensions against the world (specifically US)
o USA’s Open-Door policy to protect China - Japan directly rejected this in their 21 Demands (1915 - demanding numerous territorial, political and economic rights in China).
o Britain and the US rejected the demands in the Washington Conference (1921-22) - which further angered Japan against the west.
o Treaty of Versailles (1918)- Japan received few territorial mandates, the Navy was significantly reduced, and anti-racism policies were rejected.
o The Japanese completely breached the Washington Naval Conference agreements launching an invasion of China and leaving the League of Nations
Japan’s problems
o Great depression, crop failure, lack of land for agriculture, overpopulation - Western influence was blamed for the severity of these problems
o Nationalists dominated politics and challenged democracy - supporting aggressive expansion into China and militarism
o Japanese race superiority over Chinese and Koreans
• Growth of Pacific tensions, including:
Survey
- Japanese foreign policy 1937-1941
o Japan’s invasion in China was unsuccessful, they were unable to break resistance and could not exploit the conquered areas. Japan still needed raw materials resources, & still wanted to establish the Sphere, so Japan moved its intentions to South-East Asia. A southern advance would:
Cut the Chinese off from Western aid by capturing British, French and Dutch colonies
Provide a source for raw materials that otherwise would have to be purchased from the United States (sanctions may have impeded this)
o They introduced cooperation policies like the ‘New Order’ and ‘Co-prosperity sphere’, Chiang Kai-Shek rejected this proposal. Greater East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere
Promoted cultural and economic unity as a self-sufficient “bloc of Asian nations led by the Japanese and free of Western powers
Corrupted by militarists and nationalists to justify Japanese ethnocentrism
The Japanese saw this as an expression of pan-Asian ideals of freedom and independence from Western colonial oppression
Directly breached trade policies (i.e. Open Door policy in China) and threatened the strategic/economic position of Western colonial powers in Asia
o In order to successfully occupy this region Japan needed to remove resistance from Europeans and Americans who owned colonies there.
o The Tripartite Act - meant that if the United States gave assistance to Britain or China, it could find itself at war with all three Axis nations in both the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.
o Neutrality Pact - w/ Soviet Union meant for five years, both nations would not interfere with each other’s conflict. Japan did this so they could free up troops used for Russo-Japanese conflict and use them for this new conflict.
• Growth of Pacific tensions, including:
Survey
- US and British policies in the Pacific 1937-1941
US policies
o Following the casualties and disruption of WWI to American society, U.S foreign policy throughout the 1920s and 30s pursued isolationism. However, being such a large nation they were still concerned with preserving international peace.
o During the Great Depression, the US was more corned with the 25% unemployment than world affairs
o The US was concerned by Japanese expansionism after the Manchurian invasion where they violated the Open-Door policy of the Nine Powers Act
o The Neutrality Act of 1935 meant that belligerents could only purchase non-military goods and had to pay cash and transport the goods themselves. It was designed to avoid naval warfare. (Cash and carry)
o Isolationism declined throughout the 1930s, but the policy was still popular and restricting Roosevelt’s military movements.
o In the Atlantic Charter of 1941, Roosevelt met with Winston Churchill they stated that, in the event of the United States going to war, Hitler’s Germany would be defeated first. Roosevelt said that he would not be the one to declare war, and an incident must happen first for him to open hostilities. However, he later initiated an undeclared war with German submarines.
o Placed a total oil embargo on Japan in July 1941 due to Japan’s advances into Southern Indochina
British policies
o From WWI Britain had lost 1 million men and come close to bankruptcy. They really did not want to get involved in another war and planned to keep peace for the next 10 years, and emasculated the military.
o After facing world depression in the 1930s, unemployment went up to 20%
o The peace movement became popular in propaganda in the 1930s, denouncing re-armament. But by the Munich conference in 1938 Britain had overtaken Germany in the pace of rearmament.
o Britain no longer had the financial resources or an economic base to carry on rearmament to the scale that it needed to undertake imperial defence
o Japanese imperialism posed 3 major issues:
Threatened British colonies in South-east Asia
Japan’s growing naval power threatened Britain’s dominance of the seas
The invasion of China challenged Britain’s support of Chiang Kai-shek and an independent China, which it supported since 1920
o In June 1940, Japan demanded the closure of Britain’s Burma Road supply route to cut off Western power in Asia
o Britain accepted Japan’s request and closed the Burma Road to avoid provoking another war
• The outbreak and course of the Pacific War, including:
Focus
- Strategic and political reasons for the bombing of Pearl Harbour, and the US response
Strategic
o Although Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto feared war with the U.S, the attack was prepared to knock out the American Pacific Fleet for a period long enough for Japan to occupy resource-rich areas of South-East Asia. (A similar strike attack defeated the Russians in 1904)
o Destroy aircraft carriers
o Achieve the surprise effect (attack minutes before declaring war)
Political – 7 December 1941
o “When the Americans, British and Dutch placed economic embargoes on Japan in July 1941 it became urgent for Japan to reach an agreement with the United States to renew trade. Otherwise, seizing their colonies resources in South-East Asia, would be the only way for Japan to avoid slow economic strangulation.”
o It would secure Japan’s imperial growth and the Great East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere
o Would demonstrate vulnerability of the west, reaffirm Japanese racial pride
o Provoked by the Hull Note on November 26, 1941; “This is an ultimatum” – Hideki Tojo
The Attack
o It was agreed in September 1941 that the Japanese would fight the U.S if their talks failed to make progress by October.
o When Tojo, an aggressive militarist came into head of the government on 15 October, the attack was now likely.
o The declaration of war was meant to be delivered 30 minutes before the attack but wasn’t deciphered in time and the Imperial Japanese Navy attacked before a declaration of war.
o The US declared war the next day, followed by Britain, Australia and New Zealand
Impact
o Successful surprise attack
o Failed to effectively delay the US war effort by two years → only six months
Two aircraft carriers avoided the attack by being out at sea, and would be pivotal to the future conflict
Some facilities and bases were not eliminated
o Broke US isolationism and united the US people with unanimous voting to declare war
US response
o Japan had shown multiple signs they were considering an attack on Pearl Harbor in the 1930s, i.e., the attack was mentioned in military academies
o The U.S. Navy also believed that Pearl Harbor was vulnerable to attack, describing the location as difficult to defend and a probable target in any Japanese offensive.
o There were many different interpretations of the attack on Pearl Harbor, some were nationalistic, blaming Japan with hatred and revenge, some blamed Cordell Hull bringing on the attack through his racial chauvinism, some blamed Roosevelt as he was aware of the possibilities of an attack.
o Americans united against the Empire of Japan in response to calls to “remember Pearl Harbor!” A poll taken between December 12–17, 1941, showed that 97% of respondents supported a declaration of war against Japan
• The outbreak and course of the Pacific War, including:
- Japanese advance 1941-1942 and the impact of the fall of the Philippines, Singapore, Burma and the Dutch East Indies
o The Japanese occupied French Indochina in July 1941 this was a key position in Southern Asia, and they could control supplies reaching China and prepare to invade the Dutch East Indies.
o The western powers responded to the Japanese occupation of Indochina with economic embargoes, as they didn’t like Japan’s position in Indochina as their colonies were in range of bombers.
o The embargoes had serious effects on Japan’s economy, and they no longer had vital resources for fighting the war - they would have to seek them somewhere else.
“The objective of these carefully coordinated attacks was to cripple American military power and establish an unbroken line of Japanese air and naval bases across the western Pacific, behind which Japan could implement the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere. Once the United States was immobilised, the Japanese could occupy the Philippines, overrun Malaya and capture the powerful British naval base at Singapore. They would then be free to capture and exploit the oilfields in the Dutch East Indies, so essential to the Japanese war machine.”
Philippines
o Douglas MacArthur was a famous American General who came out of retirement to control the defences in the Philippines, he vast number of military resources and men at his disposal, and the initial plan was to use aircraft to attack the Japanese invasion force before it came to shore. However, they failed to act on the warnings that hostilities had begun in Pearl Harbor, and the Japanese destroyed most of their air force in the Philippines while it was on ground.
o Although the Japanese had less troops, they had a vantage position, air force and naval supremacy (from Pearl Harbor).
o On the same day as the attack on the Philippines and Hawaii, the Japanese also attacked the Americans on Guam and Wake Island.
Impact
o Devastated US air force and gave Japan a strategic position and access Java’s materials
Singapore
o Britain’s principal naval base in Asia was in Singapore, and Japan needed to defeat the British if they wished to capture the resources of Southeast Asia and establish the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere.
o Their strategy move as quickly as possible down the Malayan Peninsula, with a ‘lighting war’. They had tanks and troops with much better training and experience then the 88,000 British, Indian, Australian, and Malayan soldiers.
o Singapore fell on 15 February 1942 - it:
led allied countries to reconsider their loyalties to the British Empire
Destroyed the idea that Singapore was an impregnable fortress for the safety of Australians Destroyed the legend of white man’s superiority, leading to a chain of independence in South-East Asian countries
Gave Japan control of Malaya’s vast resources such as tin, iron, gold, bauxite, rubber and especially oil from Sumatra. They could now ship these resources back, as well as from other newly conquered territories, without British interference. And establish plans for the Sphere. 138,000 troops surrendered to only 35,000 Japanese troops
Burma
o Conquering Burma (under British control) would remove the threat of an Allied attack to Japan’s newly won Malaya. Control of Burma Road could also starve the Chinese of vital supplies from the allies, and they might be able to be finally beaten.
o Japan conquered Burma in December 1941, after defeating Chinese and Allied resistance.
o British reputation was shattered
Dutch East Indies
o Japan had started invasions of the Dutch East Indies in December 1941 and began to invade Sumatra once Singapore fell. Next was Java, a world source of oil and minerals - vital to Japan’s war efforts
o Japan was able to conquer the islands quickly through island-hopping and easily Despite detailed allied plans of defence.
o Used 98,000 POWs to build Burma-Thailand railroad
Japanese success in conquering these territories because
o Innovative and effective military tactics: island-hopping, lightning invasions
o ‘Zero’ long-range aircraft
o Experienced soldiers from Sino-Japanese war
(However, there was a lack of communication between army and navy which later impacted their loss)
Allies lost because
o Poor leadership - MacArthur’s inability to at on warning in the Philippines
o Unprepared/poorly trained troops for guerrilla warfare in Southeast Asia
• The outbreak and course of the Pacific War, including:
- Turning points in the war: Battle of the Coral Sea, Battle of Midway, Battle of Guadalcanal, New Guinea
Despite quickly and easily capturing these islands, Japan was encountering some major problems in early 1942:
o They still needed to beat the British and the United States, maintain supply lines spread out across east Asia, and rule conquered territories of more than 140 million people, including guarding more than 300,000 POWs after the fall of Singapore in February.
o There was also a lack of internal military cooperation, where most of the army was dedicated to China, and the Navy to the East Asain War.
o There was no plan to consolidate the gains already made, instead the Japanese seized whatever opportunities to expand across Asia, with the hope that Britain and the U.S would lose their will to fight.
Battle of the Coral Sea 7-8 May 1942
o Port Moresby (New Guinea) was the only town of any size north of Australia that the Japanese did not occupy. Whoever controlled its airfield could control and patrol the sea lanes north of Australia, it was an obvious gap in Japan’s defensive operations and therefore crucial for the Allies.
o A Japanese invasion force sailed towards Port Moresby in May 1942, and the Americans intercepted. A battle commenced, launched entirely from aircraft, where ships never came in sight of each other. The U.S using their remaining air carriers that escaped Pearl Harbor. This foreshadowed the significance of airpower.
o Although the losses were similar on both sides, this was a turning point for the war as the Japanese turned back, unsure of America’s strength. It was the first Japanese fail. And the Allies still had the crucial town of Port Moresby.
Battle of Midway 4-7 June 1942
o After the defeat in the Coral Sea, the Japanese set up a trap to destroy the American Pacific fleet. However, it was decoded using ‘Magic,’ and the Americans, led by Chester Nimitz, set up an ambush of their own. Americans entered the battle with a good picture of where, when, and in what strength the Japanese would appear.
o On 4th of June the Japanese attacked Midway Island and Nimitz executed his own trap.
o Four Japanese aircraft carriers were sunk while the Americans only lost one.
o The advantage the Japanese gained at Pearl Harbor was now lost and the Americans a vital advantage in carriers and air support.
o The victory gave the Americans the opportunity to move onto the offensive
Battle of Guadalcanal
o The Japanese base at Guadalcanal had the potential to dominate the Solomon Sea and control important sea lanes to Australia.
o U.S marines landed on the island on 7th August 1942, they maintained their strategic advantage of ‘magic’.
o The Japanese suffered more significant losses when combined with Midway
o Japanese began to have internal conflict between the army and the navy
o Japanese withdrew in February 1943, the first gaps in the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity sphere were appearing. This was the U.S marines moment of glory.
New Guinea
o The Japanese had been in New Guinea since March 1942 and sent troops up the Kokoda track in July.
o A combined Australian and American force inflicted Japan’s first defeat of the war on land.
o The Australians were poorly equipped conscripts, many without training and still in their teens.
o They fought in severe conditions with jungles, swamps, steep mountains, and diseases
o The Australians gained native support while the Japanese inflicted mass atrocities against them.
o The Japanese managed to get in sight of Port Moresby, but they over-extended their supplies and the threat of the Japanese in New Guinea was eventually removed.
o Australia’s moment of glory.
• The outbreak and course of the Pacific War, including:
- Strategies used by Allied forces against Japan 1942-1945
Political strategies
o The first decision that shaped strategy against Japan was shaped by the ‘Germany first’ policy of August 1941 reached by Roosevelt and Churchill. At first, defeating Nazi Germany was top priority, even if conflict raised with Japan.
o However, in January 1943, Roosevelt called for the ‘unconditional surrender’ of Germany, Italy and Japan. Meaning they would destroy their enemies completely, occupy their territories and then impose peace, rather than negotiating an armistice before a treaty (as done in 1918).
Military strategies
While the Allies faced prompt defeats in the beginning of the Pacific War, with the loss of the Philippines, Burma, Singapore and the Dutch-East Indies, when they began to implement innovative military strategies starting at the Battle of the Coral Sea, they saw a turning point in the war.
‘Magic’
o Intelligence decoding system that allowed Allies to intercept codes
o Used at Midway & Guadalcanal amongst other battles
Island hopping:
o After New Guinea & Guadalcanal, the Allies resorted to ‘island hopping’, only capturing islands of strategic importance as it would be too slow and costly to capture each island at a time. This also reduced frontal assaults and American casualties.
o Used on Marianas chain to capture Saipan and Iwo Jima.
Strategic bombing
o Bombing of Tokyo (B-29 bombers launched from Saipan) 88,000 dead but no surrender bc bushido code and willingness to fight to last man
o ^However, continued with bombings with the A-bomb. Brought tragedies on innocent lives and Hiroshima and Nagasaki and destroyed Japanese industry production significantly (Allied industrial superiority)
o Proved to be of great significance bringing an end to the war
Chindits (Re-capturing Burma)
o The British made use of ‘Chindits’ in recapturing Bumra, small, specialised troops trained in jungle warfare. They worked behind enemy lines, disrupting Japanese supply lines and attacking isolated posts.
o The British were able to retake Yangon (capital of Burma) in May 1945 and supply the forces to China.
Battle of the Leyte Gulf
o October 1944, largest naval battle in history. Japanese could not match the quality or quantity of American aircraft and lost four aircraft carriers while the Americans only lost one. The Imperial Japanese Navy virtually ceased to exist as an effective force.
o With Americans now close to Japan’s sea lanes, the vital Japanese resource supply from south-east Asia dramatically reduced. Japanese manufacturing collapsed.
Saipan / Battle of the Philippines Sea / Marianas’ ‘Turkey Shoot’
o The American fleet attacked Saipan in June 1944, an island within the Japanese ‘national defence sphere’ that would provide airfields and refuelling bases for the Americans.
o Saipan became a launch point for retaking other islands along the Marianas chain The Japanese lost 405 out of 430 aircraft (Marianas’ Turkey shoot’) and with these newly established island bases, the Americans, were now in range to launch raids on Japan itself - with their B-29 bombers.
• Civilians at war, including:
- Social, political, and economic effects on civilians in occupied territories in South-East Asia
Asia
Japan’s initial aims of occupying Asian nations under the East-Asia Co-Prosperity sphere was to free south-east asia from western domination and white man’s rule. However, any real desire to help other nations was forgotten in the struggle to win the war.
Political effects
o Superficial independence was offered to countries to boost nationalism, anti-Western sentiments, and appeal of the CoP Sphere
o Political leaders had no choice but to cooperate with Japan
Economic effects
o Occupied zones were pillaged for materials and labour
o Trade was only permitted with Japan,
o Tremendous destruction to property and infrastructure
o Mass starvation was prevalent with huge inflation, rations and food prioritised for Japanese military
Social effects
o The Japanese portrayed themselves as protectors and liberators, freeing these countries from European exploitation, and making the region and economic powerhouse with mutual benefit.
o Japanese killed enormous numbers of people in occupied territories through labour. Estimated 300,000 Asians died working on the Thai-Burma Railway
o The Japanese army’s sense so racial superiority destroyed the idea of cooperation. And European populations were treated brutally, some 50,000 Chinese were murdered, ethnic Malayans and Burmese were forced into slave labour.
o Youth organisations were created to teach children in occupied countries to admire the Japanese, Japanese history and language was taught in schools
o Estimated 200,000 ‘comfort women’ were forced into sexual slavery for the Japanese military
o Death rates rose as epidemics broke out
o Social control was implemented to eliminate dangerous thoughts through neighbourhood organisations and propaganda against western nations, with ideas of ‘Asia for Asians’.
• Civilians at war, including:
- Life under occupation: collaboration, resistance, the use of slave labour
Collaboration and resistance
o The decision for occupied nations to collaborate was a matter of survival.
o Nation leaders of occupied countries formed puppet governments which were controlled by the Japanese, they defended this decision to collaborate with Japanese as the best way to temper Japanese brutality and fight for resistance.
o Resistance grew in Malaya with communist groups and unions causing damage through sabotage and other tactics. This resistance later helped British re-enter south-east Asia in 1945.
Prisoners of War and the use of slave labour
o It is estimated 100,000 people died per month from starvation, overwork or violence in areas occupied by the Japanese throughout the war.
o The Japanese transported slave labourers, especially Chinese, Korean and Indonesains back to Japan to work in the hardest jobs, tens of thousands died due to beatings, work accidents or simply being worked to death.
o Allied soldiers became POWs during the Japanese advance through south-east Asia 1941-42. They were also treated with disregard and brutality - starved, bashed, worked and tortured to death
o Two examples of the treatment of Allied POWs would be the Bataan Death March, and the slave labour construction of the Thai-Burmese railway.
o POWs were treated harshy, as the Japanese believed it was a disgrace to surrender, this was enforced in the bushido code, Japanese soldiers were expected to commit suicide then surrender.
o The Japanese also considered themselves racially superior, especially to dark skinned races.
• Civilians at war, including:
- The effect of the war on the home fronts in Japan and Australia
Japan
o Government censorship was implemented to protect public morale and foster anti-Western sentiment. In order to make the civilians of the Homefront strive harder for victory, Japanese defeats were unreported, or described as strategic withdrawals. For example, Midway was described as a Japanese victory.
o Police had immense power and were feared, they could imprison anyone for nonconformist beliefs
The military police, kempetai waged a campaign of terror to root out disloyalty.
The thought police, tokko, arrested civilians for political or ideological reasons.
The tonarigumi were small neighbourhood organisations with extensive power in eradicating anti-war sentiment by distributing propaganda and organising patriotic rallies.
o Women and children were required to take a greater role with the absence of men.
14 million Women volunteered to join the workforce
Children were organised into volunteer labour units, evacuated to the countryside to help with farming.
o Increasing sickness and fatalities (especially Tuberculosis)
o Food became hard to find without trading and farmers being conscripted. Rice and fuel rations reduced, and a black market also developed.
o Cars were scrapped for war materials, by the end of the war, city people just walked or used public transport.
Australia
Australia’s military was small unprepared when WWII broke out and quickly formed a Second Australian Imperial Force (AIF). Compulsory military service was introduced.
o The National Security Act of 1939 gave the government powers to deal with military emergencies but also suspended some civil liberties.
Enemy aliens (Germans, Japanese, and Italians) were believed a threat and placed in internment camps
Censorship was applied (to overseas letters, newspapers and more) by the Department of Information in fear the plain truth would weaken morale.
Men in reserved occupations could not change jobs.
o The Australian economy responded successfully for the needs of the war, began producing its own weapons and war supplies and production soared in all heavy industries.
o The government introduced rationing with overseas goods in short supply. Australians were encouraged to save money and not waste anything, sacrificing expensive wardrobe details.
o Conscription was controversial in Australia, it was initially opposed by the government, but as the Japanese approached and American conscripts were dying protecting Australia, Prime Minister was obliged to introduce it in February 1943.
o Women joined the armed forces, assisting in transport, communications and maintenance but not combat areas. Women also replaced men in munitions, shipbuilding, and maintenance industries. And many other areas of the workforce.
o Darwin was bombed by the Japanese on 19 February 1942 resulting in hundreds of casualties, and later other northern cities were bombed. Sydney and Newcastle were shelled by submarines, but ships were mainly targeted.
o The United States was crucial to Australia’s defence, and Australia became an American military base in March 1942. The Americans brought new foods and tastes and influenced some Australians to think of themselves independently and not as British subjects.
o After a disagreement between John Curtin and Winston Churchill about where Australian soldiers should be placed, the Federal Parliament rethought its adaptation of the Statue of Westminster. And Australia was later given the power to make decisions on its own interests.
• End of the conflict, including:
- Reasons for the use of the A-bomb
o Japan showed no sign of wanting to surrender, negotiate a peace treaty or an armistice, despite the appalling statistics of the Bombing of Tokyo. The Japanese were educated to fight to the last man, the invasions of Iwo Jima and Okinawa and kamikaze raids proved this and forewarned the costs of an Allied invasion.
o There were plans of an Allied invasion of Kyushu, however, military advisors warned President Truman the US could suffer 1 million casualties. And codebreakers revealed the Japanese had correctly predicted the locations of Allied invasion beaches.
o Truman wanted to end the war quickly on America’s terms, before the Soviets could intervene. On 26 July the Allies issued the Potsdam declaration, informing the Japanese they must surrender unconditionally or face ‘prompt and utter destruction
o With no reply to the Potsdam declaration, an American B-29 bomber dropped a ‘Little Boy’ on Hiroshima on 6 August 1945, between 60,000 and 80,000 people died
o On 8 August the Soviet Union declared war on Japan, invading Manchuria.
o Despite Hiroshima, there was no communication. On 9 August, Americans dropped ‘Fat Man’ on Nagasaki. 35,000 people were killed, but radiation still causes genetic defects, miscarriages, cancer and other illnesses.
o The bombings also caused the destruction of Japanese industries, contributing to their defeat
o Soviets made a lightning advance through Manchuria and North Sakhalin and re-occupied Port Arthur, lost in the Russo-Japanese war.
o The Japanese Supreme War Council was split 3-3 and Hirohito was forced to break the deadlock, and Japan decided to surrender. Initially on the condition the emperor would be safeguarded but this was denied, and they eventually surrendered unconditionally on 14 August 1945. Many officers committed harikari.
o There was controversy over the use of the A-bombs:
The inhumanity of bombing innocent civilians and cities.
It started a nuclear arms race between the US and Soviet Union
The bomb could have been dropped on a deserted island - however, the impact/message of this may go unnoticed or the Japanese would be able to easily take the bomb for their own use.
The creation of the A-bomb was incredibly expensive - however, the price of continuing to fight and launching a potential invasion in Japan may have been more costly.
The scientist behind the bomb, signed a petition stating the A-bomb was a means of “ruthless annihilation,” and may provide other nations with new means of destruction and potentially starting a nuclear war. They believe the use of the A-bomb could be justified if Japan is informed of the terms that will be withheld on them after the war and giving an opportunity to surrender.
• End of the conflict, including:
- Reasons for the Japanese defeat
- Unsound assumptions. Japan believed that
o Germany would win the European war and so prevent the United States from using its full force against Japan
o The US lacked fighting spirit
o Pearl Harbor would be a onetime decisive battle, causing the US to surrender
o The US would take a long time to recover from the defeats (shocked by Guadalcanal) - Japan was weakened by
o Rivalry between the army and the navy (Army committed to China - Navy committed to Southeast Asia)
o Lack of cooperation between the civilian government and armed forces,
o Lack of cooperation between the axis powers
No global strategy
Rival claims of racial superiority
Japan’s refusal to attack the Soviet Union - Japan failed
o To defeat China - absorbed 1 million Japanese soldiers
o To revise war strategies in responses to new allied tactics.
o To develop new weapons and equipment
o Failed against Allied technological advances of ‘Magic’ and failed against A-bomb and Soviet invasion of Manchuria - A-bomb
o Japanese bushido ideology meant that they planned to fight till the last man or for the Allies to wear our before they would surrender.
o Therefore, the A-bomb was effective in promptly ending the war and reducing costs of an invasion.
o The A-bomb brought tragedies to innocent lives and Japanese industry
o “The bomb seemed necessary to shock (Japan) into action (surrender)” - Weakening of the Japanese economy
o Allies stopped the flow of war materials to Japanese industry
US production increased rapidly
Japanese could not replace equipment as quickly as the Allies
Therefore, Allies had a superiority in material
o The failure of the Great East-Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere
Japan could not enrich the region
- Too many fronts, Japan could not concentrate its forces against the Allies
o 1 million soldiers needed in China alone
o Controlling all conquered populations was difficult e.g., supervision of 300,000 POWs - Brutality of the Japanese lost the respect from Asian nations
- The Japanese government lost support at home
o Japanese people were severely deprived of the material and resources needed to stay alive.
• End of the conflict, including:
- War Crimes Tribunals and the status of the emperor
Tribunals
Japan could not pay reparations to the nations they conquered - all money was spent in war and equipment, or machinery of value was destroyed in the American bombing.
The first action by General Douglas MacArthur was to destroy Japan’s ability to wage war again, by eliminating militarism from Japanese life and institutions. Militarism was diminished in Japan by:
o Making the extent of defeat known to Japanese civilians
o Disarming Japanese troops
o Closing ministries of war, disbanding military units and occupying bases
o The destruction of Japanese ships, guns, samurai swords, and armament factories
o The Japanese empire was broken apart, Japan lost all its newly conquered territories (Korea, Manchuria, South Sakhalin and Pacific islands)
o War leaders were put on trial, and many hanged in 1948, including Tojo. Hundreds of others were sentenced to life imprisonment.
The allies were determined to exact revenge for such crimes and atrocities committed in the Rape of Nanking, the Bataan Death March, and the Thai-Burma Railway.
There was some element of ‘revenge’ and ‘victors justice’ in the trials, but the stated aim was to ensure that any future conflicts would be prevented by punishing war criminals.
Statues of Emperor
MacArthur was aware of the divine position that the empire held to the Japanese people, and to avoid inciting rage against the Americans, he protected Hirohito from prosecution as a war criminal to ensure a smooth transition to new democratic Japan
He did, however, also draw up a new constitution with two radical reforms:
o Sovereignty was now in the People and the Emperor was seen as a constitutional monarch not a god or supreme authority.
o The connection between the military and the emperor was broken, and members of the cabinet had to be civilians.
o Other points of the constitution were to relinquish Japan’s power to wage war or maintain military forces that could threaten other nations.
• End of the conflict, including:
- Allied occupation of Japan to 1951
The American officials in SCAP had the opportunity to reform numerous aspects of Japanese civil society in the Allied occupation of Japan in 1951.
o Women - Female suffrage was introduced, women could enter any profession of their choosing, and divorce was liberalised. Discrimination against race, creed, sex social status or family origin was prohibited in the new constitution
o Land reform - The Land Reform Act of 1946 meant that peasants could now own their land and weren’t subject to tenant farmers, this also increased support of the new government from farmers, who were previously strong supporters of the military and right-wing politics.
o Economy - the power of the military supporting zaibatsu who provided Japan the tools needed to wage war, was heavily reduced, making radical changes to Japan’s industrial economy. The Korean War of 1950 proved to be great for Japan’s economy, as they supplied goods and areas for the UN troops fighting in Korea.
o Trade Unions - SCAP encouraged trade unions and the right to strike was passed. Number of unionists significantly increased by 1950. The Labour Standards Act of 1947 fixed working standards for men, women, and children, including rates of pay, conditions, insurance and more.
o Police - the police who had radical authority to commit police terrorism, were controlled by localising police officials.
o Education - Teaching militarism and Japanese racial superiority was banned; liberal and democratic ideals were encouraged. Schools became co-ed and there was a massive expansion of universities and colleges, with excellent reputations
The Korean War of 1950 impressed leaders of the importance of a strong Japan in north Asia to fight against communism and thus plans to end occupation quickened. On 8 September 1951, the peace Treaty of San Francisco was signed, officially ending WWII.
Through the treaty:
o Japan gained full independence
o Japan’s was stripped of all territory gained since 1868
o Japan had to pay reparations to the nations who had suffered at the hands of Japanese forces
The end of occupation and treaty ensured that Japan would be a liberal, democratic nation with the western alliance against communism.
