WWII in Asia Pacific

why did japan invade Asia pacific and china ?

Social and economic crisis - Increase in population and Great Depression

The population of Japan rose from 40 million to 64 million from 1900 to 1930 . This rapid growth in population soon led to food shortages as well as shortages in housing as demand for housing , goods and products increased .
Much of Japan's land were mountainous , this means that only a small percentage of land was suitable for agriculture or settlement . This affected the output of crops to support the population and Japan had to import food from other countries .
In addition , the Japanese farmers practised traditional farming where the methods were extremely labour intensive and slow .
The lack of food led to discontent among the people and faith for the government was lost .
The demand for food , housing and goods was high and this fed the Japan's growing expansionist ambitions . The occupation of more territories meant more land for housing and agriculture as well as access to more resources .
The Great Depression in 1929 greatly affected Japan .
As many countries resorted to protectionism by raising taxes , demands for Japanese goods fell drastically . Japan relied on manufacturing for economic growth , USA , one of its key trading partner , could not afford to purchase most of Japan's silk and other luxury products . This led to the fall of the prices of Japan's goods by 20% from 1923 to 1932 .
The reduced income meant that Japan could not import enough food for its growing population .
Japanese manufacturing industries also did not have the necessary raw materials to function .
The occupation of other countries meant that Japan will gain access to food and raw materials to weather the problem of food shortages get the necessary raw materials for its manufacturing industries .
In china , there were many valuable resources like oil , coal and iron , which Japan needed. The control of Taiwan allowed the Japanese access to sugar . Korea was annexed to defend the Japanese Isles and provide a source of cotton and wool .Manchuria was in turn occupied to defend Korea as well as a source of minerals and wheat , and land for housing .

Political Reasons : Unhappiness with League of Nations

After WWI, Japan wanted to include a statement which states that all races are equal , however many Europeans felt that they were superior to Asians and thus the statement was not included in the League's convenant .
Japan saw this as racial discrimination and saw the League as unfair
Thus , in order to gain power and be on equal standing amongst the European powers , Japan pursued an aggressive policy to gain more territories .

Political Reasons : Unhappiness with the USA

USA had its own interests in Asia Pacific and did not consider Japan as an equal among the Western powers . This led to tensions between the two countries .
In the Washington Naval Conference , Japan was only allowed to build three ships for every five ships built by the British and USA ,Japan felt that it was being treated as a second rate power .
This encouraged Japan to build a colonial empire to prove that they are not a inferior race .
Racial discrimination was prevalent in the USA and the Americans made it clear that they did not want Asians in the country which included the Japanese . In 1905 , USA established the Japanese and Korean Exclusion League . Although from 1924 , USA allowed Japanese to migrate to USA , however it was a difficult process and this was seen as an insult by the Japanese .
In order to protect its local industries , USA imposed taxed on imports and this made Japanese goods more expensive and less attractive in USA , Japan was thus unhappy with USA .
If Japan captured China , Japan could rely less on USA and establish a market in China to sell their goods without any taxes or restrictions . Thus attracting Japan to invade China and other territories .

Political Reasons : Rise of Militarism / Fascist Government

In the 1920s , Japanese (politican) government were unpopular as they failed to solve the economic as well as social problems effectively .
The Democractic government was seen as weak and corrupted and they failed to solve the problems of the farmers .
Democratic leaders had to be elected to the Diet ( Legislature)
The Zaibatsus ( large industrial firms) sponsored their campaigns , and the close ties between the zaibatsus and political parties led to rumors of corruption.
The diet was then unable to function effectively .
Many people started to show support for militarists as they promised an end to their problems and it was very difficult for the government to go against the wishes of the army .
In May 1932 , the prime minister of Japan was assasinated and this gave the militarists an opportunity to introduce martial law and gain control of the government .
They believed that an aggressive foreign policy would solve Japan's problems by building up an overseas colony .
Thus,the army initiated the invasion of China , starting from Manchuria , to establish an overseas empire and show their power .

Seizure of Manchuria

On the night of 18 september 1931 , a bomb exploded on the Japanese owned South Manchurian Railway near Mukden . A train with Japanese and other passengers were blown up . It is highly probable that the explosion was planned and carried out by a few Japanese Army officers as an excuse to seize control of Manchuria . The army quickly occupied Mukden and other areas north of it . The Japanese Kwantung Army , which was based in China , invaded Manchuria without the prior authorisation of the civilian government in Tokyo , they did so in the belief that the militarists felt that there was a need for Japan to aggressively expand its territories , in particular in China . The Japanese government was unhappy with this incident but it was unable to stop the army . By December , the army had occupied the whole of Manchuria . The Army wanted to turn Manchuria into a Japanese Colony as part of the Japanese empire . Manchuria was renamed as Manchuko and placed under the rule of the last Manchu emperor , Pu Yi . From this point onwards , the army controlled and ran the government . The army's morale was raised tremendously as the people seemed to support its moves .

On september 30 , Japan agreed to withdraw its troops but did not do so . In December , the League of Nations sent the Lytton commission to visit Manchuria and investigate the situation . The commission had representatives from Britain , France , Germany , Italy and the USA . However, the commission only submitted the report a year after the Mukden Incident . It condemned the Japanese invasion and asked Japan to withdraw its troops . And Japan withdrew from the League . Economic and Military sanctions were not enforced upon Japan as Britain and France were relucant to comply as they were experiencing economic problems . The only two countries that recognised the new state Manchuko was Germany and Italy. This friendship grew and led to the Anti-comintern pact in 1936-1937. All three countries began to expand their territories in the mid 1930s and were hostile to the League of Nations .