G11: Move to Global War: Japan: Foreign Policy

Overview: In less than 50 years, Japan went from a feudal society to one capable of building iron-clad battleships

To what extent did the political and military leaders who initiated Japan’s aggression in China and its attack on the United States and its allies let their assessments of their nation’s and soldiers’ superiority influence the decision-making process?

The period after the Manchurian Incident in 1931 witnessed a process by which pan-Asianist ideas and projects became part of Japan’s official foreign policy rhetoric

the Japanese coined the slogan ‘ Asia for the Asians’ as early as the Japan-Russia war of 1904-5.

With a total American resource embargo likely, Japanese militarists began looking at the oil fields of the Dutch East Indies as possible replacements for American oil.

In the wake of World War I, Japan shifted its foreign policy stance, particularly with regard to China, turning away from imperialism and seeking to act in concert with the other great powers.

In 1910, Korea was annexed by the Empire of Japan after years of war, intimidation and political machinations