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September 19, 1931 - February 18, 1932

Description of the Event:  This was the seizure of the Manchurian city of Mukden by Japanese troops, followed by the occupation of the rest of Manchuria.  In order to access Mukden, Japanese troops had to travel far inland.

Importance to Japanese Expansion:  The Mukden Incident contributed to Japan’s power over China and its international isolation. This expansion into Chinese territory was crucial to Japan’s increasingly aggressive foreign policy and represents a precursor to WWII.

International Response: China brought this to the attention of the League of Nations, but they were unwilling to do anything drastic.  This was due, in part, to Japan’s status as a member nation as well as Britain and France having colonies  in Asia.  When the LON finally decided  Japan should withdraw, Japan refused and left the League.  This was a crucial turning point which encouraged other countries (Italy and Germany) to try to solve their own economic problems through aggressive and expansionist foreign policy.  These countries noticed how Japan had been able to secure new territory for itself through clear aggression and a verbal censure from the League of Nations.

image link-  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mukden_Incident

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November 25, 1936

Description of the Event: This was an anti-Communist pact between Germany and Japan, focused against the Communist International. Japan signed this hopes of it serving as an effective alliance against the USSR, as it included a mutual agreement that no treaties with them would be made under any circumstances.

Importance to Japanese Expansion: This agreement also explained that if either Japan or Germany was attacked by the Soviet Union, the other countries would come to their aid. This gave Japan more confidence to aim for Soviet territories for expansion.

International Response: The threat of Japanese expansion into Soviet territories or China concerned the USSR, so they signed a new treaty with China that involved sending military aid to the GMD army.

image link-  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Comintern_Pact

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Konoe Fumimaro Becomes Prime Minister of Japan

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Konoe Fumimaro Becomes Prime Minister of Japan

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June 4, 1937

Description of the Event: Before becoming Prime Minister of Japan in June 1937, Konoe Fumimaro expressed  expansionist views in regards to foreign affairs.  As Prime Minister, he was prepared to abandon Japan’s policy of international cooperation and replace it with  a policy for an  ‘autonomous bloc,’ or Japan's empire.  Konoe was initially seen as a moderate, but after becoming Prime Minister, he began to take more hard-line positions.

Importance to Japanese Expansion:  One of Konoe’s primary ambitions as part of his strategy to turn Japan from a “have-not” nation into a “have” nation, was to increase its territory via an “Asiatic Monroe Doctrine”.  This attitude of self-importance and the need for an Asiatic Monroe Doctrine led to the outbreak of war in China one month after he became Prime Minister.  Konoe believed the Japanese Empire needed a totalitarian, single-party state which would allow Japan to successfully conclude the war against China and further expand Japan's empire.

International Response: Previously, the US had accepted Japan having special interests in China, so they felt the concept of the Asiatic Monroe Doctrine had already been accepted.  While the LON did not support Konoe, they were unwilling to take any action against him because of their concern over Hitler in Germany taking all their energy. On July 7, 1937, one month after Konoe became prime minister, Japanese troops provoked a minor clash between themselves and local Chinese forces at the Marco Polo Bridge.  Konoe publicly blamed the Chinese for the incident and announced the sending of more troops, becoming the catalyst for the Second Sino-Japanese War.

image link-  https://prabook.com/web/fumimaro.konoe/1717798

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August 1927 - December 1936; March 1946 - August 1950

Description of the Event: The Chinese Civil War was launched by the nationalist Kuomintang (KMT) party against the Chinese Communist Party (CPC). It began with the Shanghai Massacre and fall of the First United Front.

Importance to Japanese Expansion: China was not a source of serious resistance to Japan and their attempts at expansion. Due to this past, the Chinese government was not able to resist the Japanese invasion of Manchuria. By November 1937, Japan occupied Shanghai and in December, Japan seized Nanjing.

International Response: Stalin sent help to China in order to prevent Japanese aggression in the Sino-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact. The USSR also sent troops and loans. The Nine Power Treaty Conference in 1937 also decided that Japan was in the wrong, but adjourned indefinitely without producing any measures that would stop Japan.

image link-  https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Chinese_Civil_War

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July 7, 1937

Description of the Event: Starting in 1931, Japan occupied Manchuria. With tensions high, a small Japanese force demanded entry to the walled town of Wanping, near the Marco Polo Bridge. The Chinese guard refused, and the two sides began firing. This escalated and continued to grow into the Second Sino-Japanese War.

Importance to Japanese Expansion: This incident is seen as the inciting event of the Second-Sino Japanese War. Prime Minister Konoe publicly blamed China for the incident and sent more troops, villainizing China in order to rationalize war.

International Response: There were protests in China, but the lack of any strong centralized government prevented effective military response. Japan had basically no internal opposition, but  was still unable to quickly win the war. The US chose to keep a low profile in this incident, and Britain did not have the strength to intervene without US support.

image link-  https://www.thatsmags.com/shanghai/post/10568/this-day-in-history-the-marco-polo-bridge-incident

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July 7, 1937

Description of the Event: The Second Sino-Japanese War began when Japan invaded China in response to the Mukden Incident. This developed into a full war following the Marco Polo Bridge Incident.

Importance to Japanese Expansion: The invasion of China was done in order to achieve Japan's own internal interests, including the acquisition of raw materials and increasing both Japanese militarism and nationalism.

International Response: China looked to the League of Nations for help, but they only offered  "spiritual support". Key members of the League of Nations, including Britain and France, were preoccupied with Hitler and they were reluctant to challenge Japan.

image link-  https://www.nipponnews.net/archives/wwii-archives-second-sino-japanese-war/

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December 13, 1937

Description of the Event: After its initial invasion of China, the Japanese military continued to move forward, arriving outside the city gates of Nanjing. There, mass killings and rapes were committed by Japanese soldiers whose general, Matsui Iwane, made no attempt to control their behavior. This was most likely result of the sense of racial superiority that had been taught in Japan for decades. An estimate of 20,000 to 80,000 women were sexually assaulted, notably the worst Japanese atrocities committed in Nanjing.

Importance to Japanese Expansion:  The capture of Nanjing, the capital of China, was a significant step to increased Japanese territory and a dramatic turning point in the Second Sino-Japanese war. Due to this event, Japanese forces effectively took control of most of North China. By the start of 1938, there were over 1 million Japanese troops in China, focused around the most fertile areas. The capture of Nanjing forced Jiang to retreat and establish a new wartime capital at Chongqing.

International Response: Western powers predicted that any assistance they could offer China would would be useless because they thought  China was too economically, militarily, and politically disadvantaged.  China pleaded to the LON to take control of its conflict with Japan, but they could not formulate any effective sanctions against Japan other than a statement of “spiritual support” on October 4th.  Great Britain and France were also reluctant to challenge Japan, and the U.S. could not intervene on behalf of the League because it was not a member of it.  The U.S. became involved in the conflict after Roosevelt’s deliverance of the "Quarantine Speech," bringing much needed hope to Chinese forces.

image link-  https://www.facinghistory.org/nanjing-atrocities/atrocities/december-13-1937

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May 11 - September 16, 1939

Description of the Event: This was the engagement of the undeclared Soviet–Japanese border conflicts, fought between the USSR and Mongolia against Japan and Manchukuo.  Due to disagreements over the border line between Mongolia and Manchuria, this conflict took place, becoming the climax of the Soviet-Japanese war. It resulted in the defeat of the Japanese Sixth Army, and an approximate 20,000 Japanese troops died. A cease-fire was called September 16, 1939.

Importance to Japanese Expansion:  After their occupation of Manchuria, Japan turned its interests to Soviet territories that bordered that area.  However, this battle led Japan to realize that attempts to capture Soviet territory were extremely costly. So, efforts for Japanese expansion turned to the Pacific and Southeast Asia instead, striking “South” instead of “North.”  As a result of Soviet military resistance along the Manchurian border and Japan's problems with the war in China, Japan and the USSR signed the Japanese-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact in April 1941, officially stopping Japan from expanding northward.

International Response:  By the end of the Battle of Khalkhin-Gol, the invasion of China was proving costly for Japan, and an increasingly large army was needed in China. This provided some relief for the USSR, and at the time of the signing of the Japanese-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact in April 1941, in which both countries mutually agreed to respect the border area of conflict in the Battle of Khalkhin-Gol, Germany was preparing to invade the Soviet Union. They did so on June 22, 1941, taking advantage of Soviet forces in Manchuria and Mongolia in order to launch an effective attack.

image link- http://csef.ru/en/oborona-i-bezopasnost/423/eshhyo-raz-o-halhin-gole-6876

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September 22, 1940

Description of the Event: After a short, undeclared confrontation between Japan and France in French Indochina, Japan invaded with the intent of importing arms and fuel.  An agreement was reached between the respective governments, but troops still fought for several days.

Importance to Japanese Expansion:  This is an example of Japan attempting to expand by weakening China.  Japan did not abandon the goal of occupying Indochina and, later in the war, when France was busy with their own problems (namely D-Day), Japan struck again.  Restricted exports of vital oil supplies after July 1941 also contributed to Japan's decision to invade, as well as the chain of events that  culminated in Japan's decision to launch the attack on Pearl Harbor.

International Response: Initially, both Britain and the US hoped that Japanese expansion would be directed against the USSR, but both these countries were soon angered when Japan decided to use its forces against China. There were verbal condemnations of Japan's actions and public attitudes in the US were sympathetic to the plight of China and its people. US policy towards Japan became harsher, and it strengthened is ties with Jiang and the GMD government in China. The US and Britain also implemented bans in response to Japan's expansion into Indochina. Despite continued fighting in China, it was several more years before the US restricted exports to Japan. These bans were taken because Japan had extended its expansionism into Indochina and the Pacific

image link- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_invasion_of_French_Indochina

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Plan for Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere announced

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Plan for Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere announced

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June 29, 1940

Description of the Event: This plan embodied a Japanese imperial concept created for occupied Asian populations by the Japanese government and military. It promoted  cultural and economic unity of the East Asian race, in addition to declaring intentions to create a self-sufficient 'bloc' of Asian nations led by the Japanese and free of Western powers.

Importance to Japanese Expansion: The creation of a “New Order” in East Asia pushed for Japan to place emphasis on building their military and to try to conclude the war against China. This was purposefully arranged to prepare for expansion across Asia and the creation of a greater empire.

International Response:  On August 1st, 1940 Japan's plans for a Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere were publicly announced.  Two months after this announcement, Konoe's  government concluded the Three-Power Axis Alliance with Germany and Italy by signing the Tripartite Pact in September 1940.

image link-  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_East_Asia_Co-Prosperity_Sphere

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September 27, 1940

Description of the Event: This was an agreement between Germany, Italy, and Japan that created a defense alliance. Largely, it was intended to deter the United States from entering the conflict.

Importance to Japanese Expansion:  Through the mutual assistance of its allies, Germany and Italy, Japan expanded its empire in Asia.  Japan hoped that the conquering of Asian nations would provide increased living space for its overcrowded population and secure  resources from their own territory- rather than have to import them from foreign nations.

International Response:  Although Nazi Germany launched in invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941, Japan decided against joining in this attack, despite the sign this pact. Instead, Japan and the USSR remained peaceful throughout WW2, until in August 1945, the Soviet Union abandoned their Non-Aggression Pact of 1941, declaring war on Japan and invading Manchuria.

image link-  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tripartite_Pact

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April 13, 1941

Description of the Event:  This was a non-aggression pact signed by the USSR and Japan- originally enemies. Both countries ended their border war and pulled troops from Manchuria, Mongolia, and East Asia. This pact was designed to prevent the Soviet Union from entering a war against Japan and Nazi Germany at the same time. It also included agreements to recognize the territorial rights held by Manchuria and Mongolia. This pact ended before the attack of Germany on the USSR and the start of the war between Japan and England and the US.

Importance to Japanese Expansion: Due to the security provided with this pact, Japan was able to focus on preparing for a war against Britain, the US, France, and the Netherlands in the Pacific and continue to expand southward. The end of this pact left Japan slightly vulnerable to the Soviets, as they had been preparing for a war against countries other than the USSR.

International Response:  This caused Soviet aid to Japan, as well as the opening up to both Japan and the USSR to attack each other. They would end up on opposite sides of World War 2, with Japan joining Nazi Germany (and later Italy) and the USSR joining England and the rest of the Allies.

image link-  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet%E2%80%93Japanese_Neutrality_Pact

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December 7, 1941

Description of the Event:  A preemptive military strike by the Japanese Navy on the United States, who was neutral at the time. This occurred at the Pearl Harbor Naval base in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Importance to Japanese Expansion: this event was intended to destroy major U.S. fleet units to prevent the Pacific Fleet's interference with Japan's  seizure of the Dutch East Indies and Malaya and ultimate conquest of Southeast Asia

International Response: The United States declared war against Japan and became involved in World War II.

image link-  https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/pearl-harbor

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Attack on Pearl Harbor
Attack on Pearl Harbor
December 7, 1941
 Description of the Event:  A preemptive military strike by the Japanese Navy on the United States, who was neutral at the time. This occurred at the Pearl Harbor Naval base in Honolulu, Hawaii.
Importance to Japanese Expansion: this event was intended to destroy major U.S. fleet units to prevent the Pacific Fleet's interference with Japan's  seizure of the Dutch East Indies and Malaya and ultimate conquest of Southeast Asia
International Response: The United States declared war against Japan and became involved in World War II. 
image link-  https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/pearl-harbor