5 Decades of the Expansion of Japanese Military Imperialism 1895–1945

Abstract

This article traces the expansion of Japanese military imperialism within five decades between 1895 to 1945. The year 1895 when Japan won The First Sino-Japanese War marked the beginning of Japan’s military imperialism. The first phase saw Japan's efforts in establishing her own sphere of influence vis-à-vis Western imperialism, including success in the 1905 Russo-Japanese War, the incorporation of Korea into the Japanese empire in 1910, Japan's participation in World War I, and her success in coercing China into signing The Twenty-One Demand during 1914-1918. The success of early Japanese policies gave impetus to even more expansion of Japanese military imperialism during the second phase, as seen in the rise of the extreme nationalist movement that led to militarism during the 1920s and 1930s, the occupation of Manchuria (1931–1932), the second Sino-Japanese War (1937), and eventually to the concept of “New Order in East Asia” which developed into the plan for “The Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere” in August 1940. Since one of the main target of Japanese imperialism was the control of resources in Southeast Asia, an area already under the control of the Western imperialist governments, her policy brought her into direct conflict with the West, particularly Great Britain and the United States during World War II. When the United States decided to end World War II with nuclear bombings of Hirishima and Nagasaki, Imperial Japan officialy announced her surrender on 2 August 1945, thus marking the end of Japanese military imperialist expansion.