Indeed, ‘Shidehara diplomacy’ in this period was correlated to the rise of new liberalism. The postwar internationalist climate affected Japan internally. When Ito went to Europe in the 1880’s in search of a constitution, he found German principles most to his liking. In 1918, however, the democracies were strong and victorious. The popular Japanese image of the war was that of the Punch stereotypes: the bearded Kaiser of German militarism fighting the beautiful godness of liberty, who represented the Allied cause. The influence of this democratic current was felt as early as 1916-17 when school texts were revised to include an emphasis on internationalism. Therefore, Japan adopt a more compromising policy toward the West during the 1920s
The decade following the conference at the Versailles was a period of international cooperation for Japan. Japan joined the Washington conference and signed the four power pacific treaty, five power naval treaty, and the nine-power treaty. The signatories, United States, great Britain, France and Japan, to the four power pacific treaty agreed to respect each other’s ‘rights in relation to their insular possessions and insular dominions in the region of the Pacific Ocean.’ All these controversies were to be settled by a conference of the four powers. The earlier Anglo Japanese alliance was to be terminated upon ratification of this new treaty.
The five power pacific treaty limited the naval tonnage of capital ships of the signatories in 5-5-3-1.75-1.75 of US, Great Britain, Japan, France, and Italy respectively. The ‘Nine Power Treaty’ dealt with China. On the one hand it recognized unequal –treaty rights in china and tacitly recognized Japan’s position in Manchuria. On the other hand it confirmed the ‘sovereignty, the independence, and the territorial and administrative integrity of China.’ This shows the willingness of Japan to cooperate with foreign powers.
Although in the 1920’s party politicians did try to work with the powers abroad through internationalism, exercise greater control over the services, and carry out liberal measures, they had not advocated abandoning militarism and imperialism. For instance, no party politician ever suggested withdrawal from Korea, Taiwan or Manchuria. Indeed, there was rise of militarism idea in the late 1920s.
The Japanese want to search for glory and prestige. During the late1920s, there was a growing feeling of dissatisfaction with Japan’s foreign policy. After the First World War, Japan adopted a peaceful foreign policy. However, many Japanese resented the naval restrictions imposed on Japan at the Washington conference. The cancellation of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance and the return of Shandong to China also aroused strong feelings of frustration among the Japanese nationalists. In addition, the American Exclusion Act banned Japanese immigrants from entry into the United States. To many Japanese, this meant racial discrimination. As a result, the peaceful policy adopted by the party government weakened its popularity among the Japanese. Moreover, The banking crisis of 1927 furthered weakened the confidence of people towards the party government. Many people began to support the militarists for glory and prestige.
This saw the rise of the idea of militarism and imperialism in the late 1920s. In1927, the Prime Minister, Tanaka, presented a memorial to the emperor, in which he suggested a vigorous plan of Japanese expansion. The Tanaka memorial mainly stressed that, ‘ To conquer China, we must first overwhelm Manchuria and Mongolia. To conquer the world, we must first conquer china. If we are successful in conquering china, the remainder of the Asiatic nations and the South Sea countries will fear us and surrender to us….’ In fact, the success of the Northern Expedition in China worried Japanese militarists. They feared that after reunification, china would become strong enough to resist Japanese aggression. Her expansion towards Manchuria would be blocked therefore, Japanese militarists urged their government to strike before the Chinese gained strength.
The Japanese were worried by the growing influence of the Soviet Union in northern Manchuria in the 1920s. Soviet ambition was revealed in the formation of a special army in the Far East. The double tracking of the Trans-Siberian Railway further aroused the suspicion of Japan. All this paved the way for the rise of militarism in the 1930s.
As a whole, in the early period of 1920s, Japan’s effort in cooperating with other countries was apparent. Following the decline of the party government, there was a weakening in the policy of internationalism. In the late 1920s, marked by the Tanaka Memorial, militarism and imperialism rose up and this also contributed to the rose of extreme nationalistic idea in the 1930s.
Reference list:
Japan (revised edition) Reischauer.Craig
New certificate world history (volume 2) W.F.Wong
