G11: Move to Global War: Japan: Rising Nationalism

The political structure of Japan at this time was inherited from the Meiji era and was increasingly dominated by the military.

Anything the government perceived to be harmful to “public safety” or “public morality” was banned. Thus, the government tried to eradicate Western cultural influences from Japanese society.

The key planners in the Japanese Imperial Army from the 1880s until the end of World War II were a group of elite staff officers, who studied at a post-graduate school called the Army War College

Japanese militarism and imperialism steadily developed for five principal reasons.

From 1931 onward Japanese military and political leaders projected Japanese dominion beyond the "turbulent frontiers" of Japan's original empire

Throughout the 1920s and early 1930s Japanese students were taught about their nation’s new status as a world power and the responsibility they held in sustaining this status.

While Japan was giving the appearance of being a good neighbour in the western Pacific during the 1920s by involvement in treaties designed to preserve peace, extremist elements in Japan's government, military and civilian population had privately never renounced the use of force to expand Japan's territory.

History in Dispute article. From home, you'll need the Gale password.

Extensive book review examining the factors behind Japan's turn towards fascism. From home you'll need the password.