Militarist Japan

Question 1

Political Developments -> Political Instability

Answer 1

• Emp Yoshihito too sickly
• Can’t exercise authority over Jap govt
• Genro also left political scene due to old age
• No strong Emp or Genro to unite Jap govt
• Divisions between court officals, civilian govt & military govt
  ——
  —- MILITARY GOVT———
  -Chosen by Emp, not PM
• PM can’t remove mili officials when they didn’t follow policies
• Mili opposed civilian govt’s policy of diplomacy & trade.
• Military resented civilian govt & PM for cutting their budget
• Refused to supply ministers for army & navy so cabinet can’t be formed
  ——
  ——— CIVILIAN GOVT———
• Composed of 2 political Rivals (Sei
• They always competed for power (to be the alpha)
• Hard for PM to gain support of majority
• as Opposition party could refuse to support PM
  ———
  HENCE
• ppl thought Civil govt inefficient, incapable & instable
• ppl unhappy, wanted stronger govt
• 1931. Mukden incident
• Jap ppl thought military govt would be stronger, more capable
• Rise of MM

Question 2

Econ Developments -> GD. Hint: FARMERS, BUSINESSES, CIVILIANS

Answer 2

• 1929, GD
• Jap badly affected due to reliance on foreign trade
• Demand for Jap exports fell
• Jap econ fell by 20%
• Affected income of ppl
  ——FARMERS
• Demand for farmers’ produce decreased
  -> Farmers less income, evicted by landlords who refused to lower rent.
  ——BUSINESSES
• Small Business struggled to attract customers
• 1930.. Twice as many Businesses closed compared to normal
• Claimed civilian govt who only seemed to care abt rich Zaibatsus & landowners
  ——CIVILIANS
• Mass unemployment
• 1930-1932. 20% of workforce lost job
  ——
  HENCE
• Many joined the Imperial Middle Class Federated Alliance to protest
• Thought Zaibatsu & civilian government in cahoots, being given $$
  -> Distrust
• Thought civilian govt biased & not capable
• Ppl began to support alternative govts military like militarism

Question 3

Social developments -> Rural urban divide

Answer 3

• A lot of support given by civilian govt to Zaibatsus
  -> BUT peasants continued to live in poverty
• Rich Zaibatsus & landlords carried out leisure activities like visiting hot springs
• While peasants struggled to get by
  -> Many unemployed & evicted
  ——
• 1918. Rice riots by poor workers towards the wealthy
        ——
        HENCE
• Dissatisfaction with civil govt as ppl thought they were corrupted
• Didn’t care about workers
• Ppl turned to alternative govts like the military govt
• 1931 Mukden incident
  -> Military govt seemed capable

Question 4

1930s Industrialisation -> Economic impact of Militarist Jap

Answer 4

• Jap wanted to expand rule over Asia
• Jap shifted focus from consumer industries to heavy industries like chemical production & building of roads & railways
  ——
• Hired many workers in these industries
• Combat mass unemployment from 1929 GD
• Militarist govt spent more to stimulate Jap econ
  ——
• More $$ set aside for Jap heavy industries
• which expand their manufacturing industries & strengthened their econ
  ——
  HENCE
• positive as many ppl now had jobs
• Militarism also allow Jap to develop industries
• Militarist Jap more self-sufficient & industrially strong state

Question 5

1930s Control of Labour Unions -> Neg Econ Impact of Militarism

Answer 5

• In 1920s,
• 1936, militarist govt had a diff attitude towards labour unions
• Forced thousands of workers to withdraw
• Workers had less rights
  -> May be underpaid / overworked / mistreated
  ——
  HENCE
• Militarism also has neg econ impact
• No labour unions to protect workers
• Workers less taken care of

Question 6

Control of Jap thought -> Social impact of Mili Govt

Answer 6

• Mili Govt wanted to promote loyalty to the state, & Emperor,
• as well as strong military spirit
  ——
• Campaign for Economic Revitalisation
• Emphasised trad values of peasants living in rural areas.
• Encouraged Trad domestic roles of women
  ——-
• Censorship of ideas that did not conform with or threatened the militarist govt’s beliefs
• The Publishing Monitoring Department
  -> published guidelines for all publishing companies
  -> & scrutinised all media
  —-
• 1936. Govt formed the Information and Propaganda Committee
• Controlled media to promote militarist ideas
  ——
• Kempeitai, secret police
• To silence those who did not conform

Question 7

Control of Edu -> Social impact of mili Govt

Answer 7

• Edu strong emphasis on nationalistic pride
• Shinto beliefs -> Loyalty to Emperor and Community b4 oneself
  ——
• 1937. Jap’s Ministry of Edu published a doc called Fundamentals of Our National Pride☹️ for tchers
• to inculcate trad beliefs in students