Survey
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
WWII: Military History Japan, Germany, the Soviet Union, England & the U.S.A. The Rise of Japan • Late 19th Cent.: Japan modernizes • 1895: Wins Sino-Japanese War – Conquers Korea • 1905: Wins Russo-Japanese War • WWI: Japan joins Allies • 1931: Generals seize Manchuria w/out govt. permission • 1939: Japanese occupy ¼ of China – 9/39 Nazis and Soviets invade Poland • Dec. 1941: Japanese attack Pearl Harbor The Militarization of Japan • “Keep Up or Fall Behind” – Late 19th Cent. Japan realized it had to modernize or be dominated by Western powers – Japan lacked natural resources • Post WWI – 1920s-30s saw Japan become increasingly militaristic – Moderate govt. became ruled by military – Emperor as “divine” figurehead Key Figures • Emperor Hirohito – Emperor of Japan during WWII • Hideki Tojo – Prime Minister who pushed for war vs. the west • Isoroku Yamamoto – Admiral who planned attack on Pearl Harbor • Hajime Sugiyama – Army Chief of Staff The Japanese Military in WWII • Start of War: 1,700,000 men strong – Well motivated and supplied – Endured extreme hardship during war • Allied blockades effective – Conscript army • Militarized society prepared people for war • Encouraged blind loyalty “BUSHIDO” • Hand-to-hand considered the highest form of combat Chinese Civil War (1927-1949) – Nationalists, led by Chiang Kai-Shek – Communists, led by Mao Zedong – Stopped fighting and focused on Japanese in 1937 – Communists win after WWII, Nationalists fled to Taiwan 2nd Sino-Japanese War • Japanese army fights Chinese Nationalists and communists – US supports Nationalist army w/advisors and war material • Chinese theater occupied large amounts of Japanese resources • Considered key theater of war for Japan • Japanese atrocities were rampant – Still sore point today Japanese Advances in WWII • Causes of Japanese Successes from 1941-42 – Allied unpreparedness – Technology • Japanese Zero – Well-trained military • Navy Japanese Brutality • Japan justified conquests with claims of “liberating” Asia from Western exploitation • Reality: Japanese govt. indoctrinated its citizens with belief that Japanese were racially superior to other Asians – Koreans, Chinese regarded as “sub human” – Execution of prisoners/civilians, human experiments, rape, common throughout territory occupied by Japanese Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere (Japanese Propaganda Poster) “With the help of Japan, China, and Manchukuo, the world can be in peace." Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere (REALITY) Germany