In the Marco Polo Bridge Incident, Japan demanded to search the Critique: However, survival was merely a rhetoric

er, survival was merely a rhetoric employed by

city of Wanping for a lost soldier. As this request was firmly
rejected by the Chinese garrison, the Japanese government
threatened war, hoping that the Chinese would give in to their
demands and gain quick diplomatic and territorial victories in
North China. However, China refused to compromise.
Japanese to disguise their true warmongering agenda; granted,
while we can give the benefit of doubt that initial Japanese
expansion such as the annexation of Manchuria into Manchukuo
were to secure self-sufficiency, Japan’s later conquests were
clearly motivated by its imperialist ambitions for expansion

Hence, this incident reiterated the fact that Japan’s ambitions, E.g. Japanese industries were forced to devote nearly all of its
which is her greed to acquire more land, clashed with Chinese production to meeting military needs to sustain its war efforts
nationalism, lead to the outbreak of war. instead of providing for domestic, commercial demands

While it is all too easy to attribute Japan’s motives for war to its internal domestic politics and issues as her drive to war was also, in part due to the necessity of
acquisition of resources and living space for national survival, the reasons for war are never quite so clear-cut. Instead, I argue that the Japanese decision for war
in 1941 was dictated by Japanese pride. Japan’s greedy and power hungry ambitions to establish itself as a world power through territorial conquest has thus
been blamed for inciting this long and bloody conflict. Ultimately, whether Japan had been forced to wage war depends on one’s view of Japan as aggressors or
victim. In my view, the existing circumstances leading up to 1941 was not necessary for a war to happen as when Japan was faced with the prospect of
subservience or a costly war with slim hopes of success, Japan went with the latter, due to their desire to be superior like the Western Powers as they valued
pride.

Japan was forced to wage war in
1941 to a small extent
Japan’s inferiority led them to
declare war in 1941
Japan’s discontentment with the status quo and
extreme disparity caused her to desire to be on
parity with the Western power, to stand head to
head with them. Such perception was evident
when the League of Nations, which
compromised primarily of Western nations,
refused to recognize the principal of racial
equality.
E.g. In 1919, Prince Fumimaro Konoe proposed
a racial equality clause to be included in the
covenant of the League of Nations at the Paris
Peace Conference. Japan’s demand for racial
equality was a result of discrimination against
Japanese immigrants in the USA. However, the
proposed clause was rejected as it did not gain
the approval of Britain and Australia.
This caused much unhappiness amongst the
Japanese who felt that the Western Powers did
not give them the respect. Hence, this hurt the
nationalistic sentiments of the Japanese and
they wanted to prove that they are as strong or
even stronger than the Western Powers, by
taking over Southeast Asia. Hence, rather than
being forced, Japan’s inferiority led them to
declare war.
To what extent was Japan forced to wage war in 1941?
Japan was forced to wage war
in 1941 to a large extent
Japan’s insatiable greed for land led Japan was forced to wage war for the
them to declare war in 1941 acquisition of raw materials and living
space for her own national survival
The outbreak of war in Europe 1939 meant that
the European Powers’ defenses in Southeast Asia Internal issues of lack of resources in
were critically weakened and depleted. With the Japan necessitated actions to expand
European Powers preoccupied by war in Europe, beyond its shores for the acquisition of
Southeast Asia was left defenseless as they were raw materials and living space via
busy defending their own motherland and thus means of territorial conquest in the
distracted from the security of their colonies. Pacific-Asian region, in order to secure
national survival. Hence, Japan was
E.g. British colonies of Malaya and Singapore driven by necessity for economic autarky
were one of Japan’s easy targets. On 10 December and self-sufficiency.
1941, Japanese bombers sank Prince of Wales and
Repulse in Singapore. However, the British did
E.g. Japan expansion into Manchuria was
not manage to send military reinforcements over
also motivated by its growing demand
due to the need to protect Britain first. As a result,
for living space and raw materials; the
Japan managed to secure a victory over Singapore
Japanese-Manchukuo Year Book for 1940
easily.
established targets for increasing the
production of soybeans, kaoliang, millet,
Hence, as the Japanese believed that they had a
maize and wheat “in order to assure a
decent chance of success if they attacked
sufficient supply to Japan”
Southeast Asia at that time, they decided to strike
while the iron was hot, to attack Southeast Asia
Hence, with the rising population, it is
when the colonial powers were too engrossed in
foreseeable that Japan’s empire would
the war in Europe so that Japanese would have a
collapse if she did not acquire resources
greater chance of winning the war. Hence, rather
and living space and thus Japan was
than being forced, Japan’s insatiable greed for
forced to wage war.
land led them to declare war in 1941.