Wartime Japan, 1931-1945

Meiji Restoration

• 1868• Emperor “restored” to power• Creation of a modern nation state

Getting to Empire

• Victory in Sino-Japanese War (1895)

Getting to Empire

• Victory in Sino-Japanese War (1895)– Taiwan– Pescadores– Liaotung Peninsula (returned after Triple

Intervention)

Getting to Empire

• Victory in Sino-Japanese War (1895)– Taiwan– Pescadores– Liaotung Peninsula (returned after Triple

Intervention)• Victory in Russo-Japanese War (1905)

Getting to Empire

• Victory in Sino-Japanese War (1895)– Taiwan– Pescadores– Liaotung Peninsula (returned after Triple

Intervention)• Victory in Russo-Japanese War (1905)– Korea becomes a protectorate (annexed 1910)– Liaotung Peninsula– Southern half of Sakhalin

Early Stages of the War

• 1931 September, Manchurian Incident• 1932, Creation of puppet state of Manchuguo• 1937 July, China Incident• 1937 December, Nanjing Massacre• 1939 September, Hitler invades Poland• 1941 December, Pearl Harbor Attack

Puppet State of Manchukuo (1932)

US-Japan Relations to Pearl Harbor

• 1885 Mass Japanese emigration to Hawaii and the mainland

• 1905 California Oriental Exclusion League established with 78,000 members

• 1908 Gentlemen’s agreement• 1913 No Japanese “aliens” can purchase land• Japanese cannot become naturalized US

citizens (until 1952)

Japanese American Internment

• Dec 7, 1941, Pearl Harbor attack• Dec 7, 13,000 Issei (first generation)

imprisoned• Dec 8, US declares war• Feb 19, 1942, Executive Order 9066 issued

Racism in California

Tanforan Relocation Center

Tule Lake Internment Camp

Minidoka camp, Idaho

Moving In

Manzanar, CA

Sources for Teaching

http://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/object-groups/japanese-american-internment-era-collection?ogmt_page=behind-barbed-wire

Internment Documents and Sources

• John Okada’s novel, No no Boy

War in the Pacific

1941 12.7 Pearl Harbor

War in the Pacific

1941 12.7 Pearl Harbor12.13 Guam Falls to Japanese12.20 Wake Island Falls to

Japanese12.25 Hong Kong (Japan)

1942 1.2 Manila (Japan)2.15 Singapore (Japan)

War in the Pacific

1941 12.7 Pearl Harbor12.13 Guam Falls to Japanese12.20 Wake Island Falls to Japanese12.25 Hong Kong (Japan)

1942 1.2 Manila (Japan)2.15 Singapore (Japan)

1942 June Midway: turning the tide1944 June Saipan

Ending the War

• Germany surrenders, May 1945• Potsdam Declaration, July 1945

Potsdam Declaration

• Signed by US, Great Britain, China• July 1945• Called for unconditional surrender of Japan,

specifically…..

1. (6) removal from government of those leaders responsible for leading the Japanese people on a path of military expansionism

2. (7) the occupation of Japan until war making powers are destroyed, and a new order of peace, security and justice is established

3. (8) limitation of Japanese sovereignty to Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu, Shikoku, and such minor islands as decided upon by the three powers

4. (9) complete disarming of the Japanese military forces

5. (10) the punishment of war criminals, development of democracy, establishment of freedom of speech, religion and thought and respect for fundamental human rights

6. (11) restriction of Japanese industries to those that would allow for sustaining of economy and payment of reparations, but not so much as to allow for re-armament

War in the Pacific

• 1945 March, Tokyo air raids• 1945 April, Battle of Okinawa• 1945 July, Potsdam Declaration

War in the Pacific

• 1945 March, Tokyo air raids• 1945 April, Battle of Okinawa• 1945 July, Potsdam Declaration• August 6, atomic bombing of Hiroshima• August 8, USSR enters the war against Japan• August 9, atomic bombing of Nagasaki• August 15, Japan surrenders

Surrender

• August 15, Japan surrenders

Why Was the Atom Bomb Dropped?

• Goal of unconditional surrender

Why Was the Atom Bomb Dropped?

• Goal of unconditional surrender• Belief that Japanese atrocities justified use of

bomb

Why Was the Atom Bomb Dropped?

• Goal of unconditional surrender• Belief that Japanese atrocities justified use of

bomb• Belief that dropping the bomb would save

American lives

Why Was the Atom Bomb Dropped?

• Goal of unconditional surrender• Belief that Japanese atrocities justified use of

bomb• Belief that dropping the bomb would save

American lives• Warning signal to the USSR

What ended the War?

• Atomic bombs?• Soviet entry?

• Japanese cabinet War and Peace Factions:– Preserving the kokutai

Atomic Bomb short films