The Causes and Effects of Chinese-Japanese conflicts in the 1930s

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The Causes and Effects of Chinese-Japanese conflicts in the 1930s

IB World History

Mr.Middleton

Dec. 10th , 2010

In the time period before 1930s, the status in Asian-Pacific region was gradually changing. The rise of the Empire of Japan was the biggest change. At the height of its power, the Japanese Empire ruled over a land area spanning 7,400,000 square kilometers, making it one of the largest maritime empires in history. Meanwhile, China was really weakened by the ruler and the wrong policies. They could hardly protect themselves. Lots of problems kept China from modernizing as fast as Japan did. Therefore, as grow of a strong country, Japan was hungry for land and resources which they were lacked of. As a result of a long time desire and campaign, Japan had plenty reasons of declaring wars on China. It was clear that the main reasons were Japan’s eager for land and then the invasions. So that the paper will focus on the causes and effects of the Chinese and Japanese conflicts in the 1930s.

What were the causes and effects of Chinese/Japanese conflicts in the 1930s? It is a hard question to answer, because there were many small things happened that were unfamiliar with the western world since East Asia was politically different and kind of being isolated at the time; but on the other hand, it seemed connected with the rest of the world closely in some way. For example, “Shina” is the word Japanese used to call China before and during World War II. It was seen as an insult because Japanese explained the word as “slave”. As the use of “Shina” was spread day by day, the atmosphere in the two countries changed. Also on 18 September 1931, a small number of Japanese and Chinese soldiers clashed outside of Fengtien (Mukden) in southern Manchuria- an event which soon developed into what was to be a long, drawn-out, intermittent war between China and Japan. Dissimilarly to China, Japan had not always been an international loner. On the contrary, the country’s leadership and national opinion had emphasized the cardinal importance of establishing Japan as a respected member of the community of advanced powers. Until conflict arose between Japan and the League of Nations over the 1931 Manchurian Incident, the League was a centerpiece of Japan’s policy to maintain accommodation with the Western powers.

In fact, the change in both countries started as early as 1800s when Europe also was experiencing revolutions and changes. Chinese people have to admit that Japan before the war was much stronger than they can estimate. The imperialism produced an empire but also brainwashed their people which could be effective now a day. There was one emperor that made the main contribution to the found and prosperity of The Empire of Japan who was called Emperor Meiji. Meiji was emperor during 1868- 1912, he was the 122nd emperor of Japan. The time when Meiji was in power was the start of the rise of Japan. At the beginning, Emperor Meiji sent out his ministers to the world and asked the other countries to renegotiate the unequal treaties. This was only the aim on the surface, the deeper goal was to let the ministers have a close study to the western countries’ governments, such as, the US, and Europe. While the renegotiation was unsuccessful, the observation of other systems inspired the ministers, and they brought back an idea of modernize Japan. Emperor Meiji supported the idea by strengthen the economics and military power, later on military powers even became the most important part in the country. After 1889, the Imperial Japan was founded when signing the constitution of the Empire of Japan, it was more and more like a western power politically. Eventually under the rule of Emperor Meiji, Imperial Japan became the only non-Western  and a major force in east and Southeast Asia in less than 30-50 years as a result of such powerful development. As writer Albrecht Fürst von Urach comments in his booklet "The Secret of Japan's Strength," which was written during the Axis powers period. “The rise of Japan to a world power during the past 80 years is the greatest miracle in world history. The mighty empires of antiquity, the major political institutions of the Middle Ages and the early modern era, the Spanish Empire, the British Empire, all needed centuries to achieve their full strength. Japan’s rise has been meteoric. After only 80 years, it is one of the few great powers that determine the fate of the world.” Even though a parliament was established after Meiji’s restoration, neither it the emperor wielded real power. The control of the country was done by the Genro imperial advisors, an oligarchy of seven elder statesmen, who collectively made the most important decisions. Itō Hirobumi and Yamagata Aritomo, were the most prominent of the seven. Yamagata Aritomo, who became field marshal and was war minister during the Sino-Japanese War, was heavily influenced by the success of Prussia in the Franco-Prussian War and is considered the father of Japanese militarism. With Yamagata's instigation and encouragement, many ultra-nationalistic secret societies were built.

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The earliest start of Chinese decline would be the Opium War (1839-1842). As China was disastrously defeated by the British, the first treaty was signed. The Treat of Nanjing signed in 1842, it was the first of a series of agreements with the Western trading nations later called by the Chinese as the “unequal treaties”. The treaty was followed by other incursions, wars, and treaties that granted new concessions and added new privileges for the foreigners. The actual ruler of China after the death of the Xianfeng Emperor in 1861 was Empress Dowager Cixi. Cixi was extremely conservative and refused reform ...

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