Japan+in+the+20th+Century

=Japan in the Twentieth Century=



Within almost a century, Japan has transformed from a feudal, isolationist society to one of the most modern & richest countries. Beginning with the Meiji Restoration in the late 1800's, Japan industrialized & expanded throughout the 1900's. Fueled by both envy of other nation's empires & the lust for more resources, Japan invaded Manchuria in 1931. This event would eventually lead to Japan's involvement in WWII, specifically the Pacific Theater. American influence in the rebuilding of Japan after WWII would have a major lasting impact on the Japan we see today.

The Meiji Restoration Invasion of Manchuria World War 2 After World War

The Meiji Restoration
200 years before 1853, Japan was strictly an isolated country; foreign diplomats & trade seekers were turned away. In 1853, this policy would be forever changed with the arrival of an American ship containing guns, whiskey, farm implements, & clocks to trade. Civil war erupted between the samurai (Tokugawa Shoguns) who were against foreign influence & the supporters of Emperor Komei who supported foreign influence. The Shoguns were eventually defeated & Emperor Komei's son, Meiji, was now ruler. Meiji & his council now strive to change Japan from a feudal society to an industrial nation. Their first objective was to build & train an army. Military leaders from Russia, Germany, & France were brought in to train the army & warships from Britain were purchased. In addition to this, feudal farming laws were abolished & Japanese students were sent to foreign countries to gain valuable knowledge. The industrialization of Japan had begun.

Invasion of Manchuria
Trading tariffs implemented by Britain & America during the Great Depression threatened an economic collapse for Japan. To prevent this from happening, Japan needed a new source of raw materials. Seeing that Manchuria was close by & contained valuable resources, Japan invaded it on September 19, 1931. Within a year Japan had successfully gained Manchuria. International involvement & prevention was minimal. The League of Nations failed to take military action or impose economic sanctions. Great powers such as Britain & France were not concerned because it was far away from them. Because no one stopped the Japanese invasion, Japan felt confident enough to continue expanding in Asia & the Pacific. This imperialist expansion would lead to its involvement in WWII.

World War 2
By the beginning of 1941 Japan had expanded into mainland China & a large portion of Southeast Asia. media type="youtube" key="HAnOtWm5OrM" height="273" width="335" align="right"This aggressive campaign for land & resources had strained the relationship between Japan & America. In July 1940, America put economic sanctions on Japan; specifically aviation fuel, scrap metal & crude oil. The use of oil for warships & planes had become extremely important for the Japanese Empire. The American embargo of oil meant war for Japan. On December 7, 1941, Japan launched a pre-emotive strike on Pearl Harbor. The aerial attack was a major success with 5 battleships destroyed, 3 put out of action, & 200 aircraft destroyed. The War in the Pacific had now started.

The following months after Pearl Harbor would be a huge success for Japan. By May 1942, Japan had gained Malaya, Singapore, Burma, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Guam, & Wake Island. Japan was looking unbeatable until June 1942. The Battle of Midway would be the turning point in the Pacific War. Even though America was greatly outnumbered, it managed to destroy 4 aircraft carriers & 296 planes with only the loss of one aircraft carrier & 132 aircraft. This was a blow that Japan would not recover from. From now on Japan would be on the defensive.

After extremely tough fighting on various islands in the Pacific, America had fought its way to the main islands of Japan. President Truman decided that a land invasion of Japan would be too costly in time, money & lives. On August 6th, 1945, the 1st atomic bomb was used on a city. The bombing of Hiroshima & Nagasaki three days later, would kill over 160,000 people. Many of these people were ordinary civilians. These two events would have an everlasting impact on Japan & the world itself.

After World War 2
Japan unconditionally surrendered to America & the Allied Powers on August 14, 1945. The allied forces would then occupy the main islands of Japan until the San Francisco Treaty on September 8, 1951. A major condition of the surrender was that Japan was banned from maintaining any armed forces.

American influence was prominent in the rebuilding of Japan. American industrialists were sent in to help construct new factories for various industries, one of them being the car industry; American car businessmen helped the production & growth of car companies such as Toyota & Honda. During the occupation of Japan, American soldiers brought comic books & movies for leisure activity. These animations & cartoons have had a great impact on Japanese art. Manga & anime are both believed to be highly influenced by American cartoons such as Disney.

After the Allied occupation, Japan saw huge economic growth. Trade policy on encouraging local industrial development & limiting foreign company products lead to massive increases in exports. By 1980 Japan had the second largest industrial sector in the world.