Download The Rise of Fascism in Japan

World History – Kelemen
Notebook Assignment #1: The Rise of Fascism in Japan Before World War II
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=it3nIEcpClw (Summary of Japanese Expansionism Before and During WWII 6 minutes)
The rise of militarism, extreme nationalism and aggressive expansionism in Japan by the 1930s was the outgrowth of a long
historical process. In simple terms, the roots of militarism laid with events of the earlier Meiji Era (mid 1800s to early 20th
Century), along with the failure of parliamentary democracy leading to Japan becoming a fascist state by the 1930s.
The rise of militarism in Japan can be traced back in the ancient military tradition of the samurai. Hundreds of years of feudal rule
by these men-of-the-sword had made the Japanese people ready to accept the claims of militarists to national leadership.
Fundamentally, Japan had a strong tradition of unquestioned obedience to authority. The spirit of honor and discipline known as
bushido had existed in the hearts of the average Japanese person for many generations. This “samurai code” or “way of the
warrior” ideology stressed the importance of loyalty, honor, self-sacrifice, duty and obedience in traditional Japanese society.
Militarists of the 1920s and 30s glorified the samurai history and bushido code from Japans past to strengthen their power.
Foreign threats to Japan also encouraged the rise of Japanese militarism. Japan in the 1850s had been forced to sign unequal trade
treaties with European powers, and her independence was threatened in an age of imperialism by the European powers. These facts
taught the Japanese the realities of power politics — that “Might Makes Right.” As such, Japanese Meiji era political leaders,
mostly ex-samurai, learned the necessity of industrialization and a strong modern military force as keys to power. In time, they
carried out important military reforms and created an army second in size only to Germany in the world by 1910. Not surprisingly,
these military leaders wanted to have decisive influence in the nation’s political affairs.
Political loopholes that weakened democracy further helped to increase the influence of the militarists. The Meiji Constitution of
1889 gave total independence to the armed forces. It stated that the military had the right of direct access to the Emperor, and thus
bypassing the elected parliamentary government. A second loophole was the 1900 Decree establishing that only army generals and
navy admirals could become military advisors to the emperor. This eliminated any civilian control of the military allowing army
and navy commanders to overrule actions of the democratically elected government. The lack of a tradition of civilian oversight
and weak democratically elected government encouraged the growth of military influence in Japan by the early 20th Century.
Another factor that strengthened the tradition of militarism was Japan’s victories in the China-Japanese War (1895) and RussiaJapanese War (1905). These two victories brought great benefits to Japan - in terms of money, territorial gains as well as
international status. The victories occurred largely due to Japan’s rapid industrialization and population growth during the Meiji
period. However, these military and economic advances stretched the natural resources of the island nation and encouraged the
search for additional living space, raw materials and markets abroad. The Asian mainland, in particular, costal China and Korea,
became Japan’s primary target for expansion by the 1910s and 1920s.
Meiji leaders, for the sake of national unity, strongly encouraged an extreme form of Emperor-centered nationalism among the
Japanese population. The Emperor was revered as a god like figure by the Japanese public. This form of hyper-patriotism placed
the Emperor in an unchallenged position of power and influence. Therefore, whoever acted in the name of the Emperor could
control the destiny of Japan. In theory, the armed forces were controlled directly by the Emperor, but military leaders were
qualified to speak for the Emperor. By making use of this absolute obedience to the Emperor, the militarists started to carry out
aggression against neighboring peoples in Korea and China in the early 1930s, stating that expansion served the will of the
Emperor and the nation’s interest.
Despite some achievements in the earlier years, the failure of democratically elected parliamentary government became apparent
by the late 1920s as Japan fell into an economic crisis. This failure of popularly elected political parties to provide effective
national leadership during the crisis gave the militarists their chance to rise to power. The failure of elected political parties
derived partly from their own weaknesses: internal disunity, corruption, weak popular support, and economic failures during their
leadership.
Also, there was strong reaction among the army officers against the “weak” diplomacy of the democratically elected government.
The military men resented any plan by the elected government to limit the size of the armed forces and regarded the government
policy of trying to improve relations with China as a sign of weakness. Militarists were especially unhappy with the 1930 London
Naval Disarmament Conference in which the Japanese government agreed to naval inferiority in the Pacific compared to Britain
and the United States. Shortly after this meeting, the Japanese Prime Minister was assassinated by an extremist militarist.
By the early 1930s, a number of diplomatic and economic developments accelerated the rise of militarism in Japan. First, China
was on the verge of being unified under the leadership of nationalist Chiang Kai-Shek. A unified and stronger China could threaten
Japan’s position in Manchuria and Korea. The Chinese nationalist government located in the city of Nanking was trying to bring
the region of Manchuria back into China’s control. In the eyes of the militarists, Japan had to act fast in order to safeguard its
interests and protect what they saw as their ethnic superiority over neighboring Asian peoples. Consequently, beginning in
September 1931, the Japanese Army seized control of the Chinese province of Manchuria. Later in 1937 following final victory in
the 2nd China-Japanese War, Japanese military force wanting to assert their dominance over the newly captured Chinese territory
systematically killed or raped tens of thousands of civilians– an event known as the “Rape of Nanking”.
Another significant factor that eventually helped the cause of the militarists were the lingering effects of the worldwide Great
Depression of the mid 1930s on Japan’s economy. This world-wide depression led to a collapse of international trade. This
development was very detrimental to Japan’s economy which depended heavily on export trade. Thus, between 1929 and 1931,
Japan’s exports dropped 50%, unemployment reached 3 million, and peasants’ real income dropped one-third as a result of falling
prices for silk. Then, there was a failure of rice crop in 1932. Such rural distresses intensified the discontents of the army officers,
many of whom had connections with the rural population. Militarists blamed the democratically elected political parties in power
and believed that parliamentary policies were ruining Japan. Consequently, there was growing popular support for military control
and expansion in the face of the economic crisis. Many Japanese people came to believe that overseas expansion was an effective
solution to economic problems and made the nation desperate for greater military expansion across Asia to areas controlled by
Europeans and Americans.
Japan’s expansionism was not an isolated event. In Europe during this same period, Germany and Italy also undertook territorial
expansion in Europe and North Africa. Theses aggressive actions echoed and reinforced each other’s, thereby drawing these three
countries closer together. By 1940, the so-called Rome-Berlin-Tokyo Axis alliance took shape and this became an important factor
for the outbreak of the Second World War.
Take notes below summarizing how each of the factors contributed to Militarists (aka fascists) takeover in Japan
Ideological Factors (Philosophy & Beliefs):
Political Factors (Government & Laws):
Diplomatic Factors (Relations & Policies toward other countries):
Economic Factors (Trade, Jobs and Finance):