Chapter 7

War in the Asia Pacific

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Timeline

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Key Issues
#1: Reasons for Japan’s aggressive policy
this comes out most frequently)
(

Example Question: To what extent did the rise of militarism in Japan cause Japan to invade
Manchuria?

Remember “PARTIMe”

1. Political unrest in China (use in Manchuria/China specific questions)

2. Appeasement / Reluctance of the West to go to War / Failure of League

3. Racism / Worsening relations with USA and other countries

4. The Japanese economy

5. Increase in the Japanese population (can be combined with #4)

6. Militarism’s rise
#2: Reasons for failure of League of Nations to deal with Japan

Example Question: How far do you agree the reason for the failure of the League to deal with
Japan was because it was too weak from the start?

Remember “Japan Was Insatiable (Greedy)”

1. Japan’s determination to pursue an aggressive foreign policy

2. Withdrawal of Japan from League

3. Inherent weaknesses of the League

#3: Reasons for attack on Pearl Harbour

Example Question: “Japan attacked Pearl Harbour out of revenge.” How far do you agree?

Remember “DAM”

1. Designs on Southeast Asia

2. Antagonism and revenge against US foreign policy

3. Militarism
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#4: Impact of attack on Pearl Harbour

Example Question: Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbour was a mistake. How far do you agree?

The good:

1. Crippling of US Pacific Fleet

2. Japan could easily overrun Southeast Asia

3. Diverted Allied attention away from Europe

The bad:

4. Japan started a conflict which it had little chance of winning

5. Nazi Germany now had to directly fight the USA

#5: Reasons for Japan’s defeat

Example Question: To what extent did opposition from the Asian people cause Japan’s defeat?
Example Question 2: “Japan was defeated because of her weaknesses, rather than her
opponent’s strengths.” How far do you agree with this statement? Explain your answer.

Remember “LOL, Japan Attacks USA”

1. Lack of resources

2. Opposition from the Asian people

3. Logistical problems

4. Japan’s tactical errors

5. American entry into the war/ recovery after Pearl Harbour

6. Use of Atomic Bomb

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Issue #1: Reasons for Japan’s aggressive policy

Point Elaboration, Explanation, and Link Back

Political unrest in A Chinese military commander, General Chiang, gained control of China
China (use in and demanded an end to all concessions that foreign powers had enjoyed
Manchuria/China in China.
specific questions)
Frequent strikes and boycotts of Japanese goods hurt Japan’s economy.

Japanese Army officers stationed in Manchuria proposed that Japan

occupy Manchuria and North China before anti-Japanese feelings became
too strong.

This was supported by many Japanese. Nationalism in China thus

encouraged the Japanese military to become aggressive.

Appeasement / The West’s reluctance to intervene against Japan’s aggression

Reluctance of the emboldened the Japanese militarists. The League of Nations failed to
West to go to War respond effectively to Japan’s invasion of Manchuria in 1931. It took over
/ Failure of League a year for the League to investigate Japan’s invasion. Even after the report
criticized Japan, Japan simply ignored the League’s recommendations.
Neither the Western powers nor the League took action and this gave the
Japanese confidence to stay in Manchuria and continue aggressive
measures in China.

Worsening As time progressed after the First World War, the Japanese were
relations with the increasingly aware that the West was never serious about giving more
West/ power or recognition to the Asian powers. When the Japanese asked the
League of Nations include a clause declaring equality of all races, the
Racism League did not agree—this made the Japanese feel slighted. It heightened
at the Washington Naval Conference when the Japanese actually thought
that they would be equal footing at the conference. However, the
Conference decided that Japan could only build 3 warships for every 5
warships America built. The ratio set out by the Western powers clearly
showed that they did not intend to treat the Asians as equal. The situation
heightened when the Americans introduced an immigration act that
stopped the Japanese from entering Hawaii, where many Japanese had
migrated in the early 1900s. Relations with the Americans became
increasingly sour due to this perceived racism.

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The Japanese Japan was searching for economic security and stability. It had no raw
economy materials and a shortage of arable land where the people could grow
crops for food. Thus, they were facing food shortages. With the rise in
population and the Great Depression, there was also a high
unemployment rate. By attacking the Asia Pacific, Japan would have
access to more land for its rising population and raw materials such as coal
and iron which were essential resources for the building up of arms. China,
for example, could also provide a huge market for its goods and this would
in turn solve Japan’s economic woes. Therefore, Japan attacked the Asia
Pacific to solve its economic woes.

Increase in the In 1900, the Japanese population stood at 45million but by 1930 it grew to
Japanese 64million. The big jump in population posed a big headache for the
population government as it had limited land and little resources. So Japan had to
depend on even more imports to feed the people since its own farmlands
were already exploited to the full. However, Japan was soon inclined to
end its reliance on imports by taking overseas territories for herself. She
thus adopted a more aggressive policy towards Asia.

Militarism’s rise By the late 19th century, the Japanese army and navy were keen to be
placed on par with their Western counterparts and wanted to achieve
colonies on their own in China and Manchuria. They enjoyed support from
the patriotic societies and became more popular when they achieved
military successes. They began to have considerable influence and power
in political decision-making. Very often, the Japanese government felt
pressured to support their aggressive plans. This was seen in the
autonomy of the Kwantung Army and its actions in the Mukden Incident
and the Marco Polo Bridge Incident. Thus, this demonstrates that the rise
of the military had contributed to Japan’s aggressive policy in the Asia
Pacific.

Level 5:

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Note:

If the given factor is the Great Depression, here is a suggested way to phrase the answer.

The Great Japan’s economic strength was dependent on her modern industries. As
Depression Japan did not have natural resources to support these industries, most of
the raw materials had to be imported. At the same time, the market for
Japanese manufactured products was very small as many Western
government restricted Japanese exports to protect their own economies.
Japan therefore suffered from a trade imbalance. Hence the Great
Depression hit Japan very badly as her economy shrank resulting in
massive unemployment and labour disputes. The loss of incomes for
many workers and farmers also meant hunger as food was scarce and
very expensive. The Japanese people blamed the government for their
problems. They felt that the government supported the big businesses
and the upper and middle classes and did not care about the sufferings
of the underprivileged masses. Thus they lost confidence in the
democratic government and turned to the military for support. Many
believed that the only way Japan could solve her problems was by using
force to create an overseas empire of colonies that would support
Japan’s industries and population. Hence this led to the rise of Japan’s
aggressive foreign policy.

**Do NOT use the Japanese economy as another factor if you already have used the Great
Depression.**

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Issue #2: Reasons for the failure of the League to control Japan

Point Elaboration, Explanation, Link Back

Japan’s Due to the rise of militarism in Japan, Japan was determined to use an
determination to aggressive foreign policy to meet its domestic needs of providing food and
pursue an land for the people as well as raw materials and markets for its economy.
aggressive She engineered incidents such as the Marco Polo Bridge Incident and the
foreign policy Mukden Incident in order to create reasons to invade China. Because of
Japan’s insistence on aggression, it was very hard to control Japan.

Withdrawal of Japan withdrew completely from the League of Nations completely in 1932
after it had failed to follow the recommendations of the League to withdraw
Japan from the
from Manchuria.
League of By withdrawing from the League, Japan was not obliged to follow-up with
Nations the recommendations of the League. She continued to rule Manchukuo and
refused to negotiate with China.
Thus, it became apparent that the League of Nations was not able to halt
the move to war in the Asia Pacific because of Japanese withdrawal from
the organisation.

Inherent - Lack of membership

weaknesses of
the League of Powerful countries were often not members of the League. In particular,
Nations the USA was never a member of the League. The USA was the strongest
(you can read up country in the world and commanded respect. Its absence made the League
more in Chapter far less prestigious. It, along with the absence of other countries, were
2 or Chapter 6) crucial missing links.

- Lack of power to enforce

The League of Nations had no power to enforce decisions. Members who

were unhappy with the League’s decisions could ignore them or withdraw
from the League. The League also had no standing army. All this meant that
Japan could effectively ignore it.

- Bureaucracy

The Lytton Commission took over 1 year to present a report on Japan’s

invasion of Manchuria. Its slowness in attempting to resolve the situation
meant that it could not be effective in dealing with aggression.

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Issue #3: Reasons for attack on Pearl Harbour
Point Elaboration, Explanation, Link

Designs on USA had a large Pacific fleet to protect its territories and trading ships.
Southeast Asia The Americans had increased the size of its Pacific fleet upon seeing Japan’s
expansionist policy.
The Japanese military leaders felt that Japan had to attack the Pacific fleet
so as to cripple the USA’s ability to fight a war in the Pacific.
Japan would then be in a better position to fight off any American attack
because it would have gained enough time for it to rebuild its troops and
protect its conquered positions in Southeast Asia.

Antagonism and US had placed an embargo on steel, scrap iron and oil when Japan invaded
revenge against China.
US foreign policy The Japanese considered that act as a threat to its survival because Japan
could no longer continue its war with China.
America refused to sell to Japan unless Japan ceased war with China and left
China immediately.
However, this act provoked Japan into seeking antagonism and revenge for
the difficulties and humiliation America had placed on Japan.

Militarism The new military government led by Hideki Tojo adopted an aggressive
foreign policy.
America’s growing influence and power in the Pacific region directly
threatened Japan’s security and influence. The US had taken many
territories such as the Philippines and Guam, and Japan was worried that it
would American power would increase further. The Tojo government
believed that in order to make America less influential, American influence
had to be reduced in Southeast Asia and the Pacific.

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Issue #4: Impact of attack on Pearl Harbour
The good:

Point Elaboration, Explanation, and Link Back

Crippling of US Pacific Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbour resulted in 3 battleships being sunk
Fleet and 300 aircraft destroyed. This decreased US naval power in the
Pacific, making it hard for the US to take any effective action in the
Pacific region for some time. She could not even adequately supply or
defend her colony, the Philippines.

Japan could easily Due to the temporary crippling of the US Pacific Fleet, there was no
overrun Southeast Asia other major power to oppose the Japanese Army when she invaded
Southeast Asia. The European colonial powers were all distracted
with the war in Europe. Thus, Japan easily overran Malaya and
Singapore in seven weeks, along with other areas such as the
Philippines, Burma, and the Dutch East Indies.

Diverted Allied Drawing the US into a war in the Pacific, this meant that the Allies
attention away from could not concentrate on fighting in Europe. They had to focus their
Europe attention on two separate theaters of war.

The bad:

Point Elaboration, Explanation, and Link Back

Japan started a conflict The attack on Pearl Harbour moved President Roosevelt to declare
which it had little that it “was a date that will live in infamy” and thus declare war
chance of winning against Japan. Realistically, the Japanese had little chance of winning
a war against a country with double its population, and ten times the
amount of factories, not to mention better technology. Thus, it could
be said that the attack on Pearl Harbour was a foolish mistake.

Nazi Germany now had Because of Nazi Germany’s alliance with Fascist Japan, Hitler was
to directly fight the USA obliged to declare war on the USA. By bringing Germany into a direct
conflict with the USA, the Japanese sabotaged their allies and put
them in a worse off position by making them fight an additional
enemy. For example, American troops took part in the invasion of
Africa in 1943 and the Normandy landings in 1944, with devastating
effect.

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Issue #5: Reasons for Japan’s defeat

Point Elaboration, Explanation, Link Back

Lack of resources The Japanese only had 10% of the number of factories as the USA and
her population was only half of the USA. Until 1941, Japan was directly
dependent on the USA for oil. She thus started the war on a very
unequal footing and was disadvantaged compared to the USA.

Opposition from the There were many resistance movements in the occupied territories of
Asian people Southeast Asia. For example, the Malayan People’s Anti Japanese Army
(MPAJA) sabotaged Japanese infrastructure and tried to kill Japanese
officials. Likewise in Indonesia and Burma, resistance groups
undermined Japanese rule using similar methods. This opposition from
local groups made it much harder for the Japanese to extract resources
from Southeast Asia and also forced her to divert resources to control
insurgencies. Valuable troops that could have been deployed to fight
the British and the US were instead stationed to counter insurgencies.
Thus undermined the Japanese Army’s strength.

Logistical problems Japan’s military was over-committed due to the size of its empires.
(size of Japanese Japan was fighting a war on many fronts, with troops fighting the
empire) British and Commonwealth forces in Burma and India, and fighting the
US forces from Australia to New Guinea. Japanese troops were also
fighting in China. Ammunition and soldiers were expended, and this
weakened Japan more quickly than if Japan had just been fighting on
one front.

Japan’s tactical errors The Japanese made a series of tactical errors during the war. The
Japanese Army suffered a huge blow in the battle of Guadalcanal, and
the most of the Japanese Navy was lost in the Battle of Midway and the
Leyte Gulf. The weakened Japanese military could not fight a war.

American recovery The seeds of Japan’s defeat were sown when Japan attacked Pearl
after Pearl Harbour Harbour on 7 December 1941. This was the catalyst which led to the
(US entry into the USA’s entry into the War. Although Japan successfully sunk three
war) battleships and destroyed 300 aircraft, it failed to cripple the US Pacific
Fleet. There were US aircraft carriers and other battleships which
escaped the attack, and they were used to defeat the Japanese navy
later in major battles such as the Battles of Midway, the Coral Sea and
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 Leyte Gulf. US planes and submarines also attacked Japanese ships
carrying goods from mainland Asia to Japan, preventing vital supplies
from reaching Japan. This crippled Japan’s ability to fight back.

Use of Atomic Bomb The USA dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August
1945, thus sealing the outcome of the war. The massive destruction
and devastation caused by the atomic bombs compelled Japan to
concede defeat.

**Note that the factor “Use of Atomic Bomb” can be merged with “American recovery after
Pearl Harbour”

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Exercises

Was Japan’s lack of resources the main factor that shaped Japan’s attitude towards the rest of
the world? Explain your answer. [Presbyterian Prelim One]

Was Japan’s conquest of Asia mainly motivated by the desire to build a huge empire? Explain
your answer. [Unity]

To what extent did deteriorating relations with the West lead to Japanese expansionist policy in
Asia? Explain your answer. [YTSS]

How far was the withdrawal of Japan from the League of Nations a reason why the League failed
to halt the move to war in the Asia Pacific? Explain your answer. [Presbyterian Prelim One]

How important was the entry of the USA in causing the defeat of Japan in World War II? Explain
your answer. [Unity]

"Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbour was for its territorial expansion in Southeast Asia.”. How far do
you agree with the statement? Explain your answer. [Woodlands]

**“The Japanese had no choice but expand the war to the Asia Pacific in 1941.” Do you agree?
Explain your answer. [Jurong]

** This question is not directly covered by any key issue. Instead, it requires a good
understanding of the entire chapter.

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