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1. Chinese Civil War (April 1927- May 1, 1950)

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1. Chinese Civil War (April 1927- May 1, 1950)

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The Chinese Civil War began just after the end of the First United Front, when Jiang Jieshi, after defeating warlords controlling the north of China, broke the alliance between the GMD and the Communist Party, rounding up and slaughtering many Communists. While these actions allowed him control over the South of China, it also started a Civil War. Between the rebelling Warlords, the GMD, and the Communists, the war had the unfortunate consequence of destabilizing China.

This consequence was unfortunate to all but the Japanese. China's instability meant that it was ripe for Japan to invade: the conflicts between the warlords dispersed all attempts to unite China, the government remained weak with no central leadership and no national armed force. Thus of course, Japan did, green lighting what would become the beginning of two decades of Japanese expansion into China.
As Japan used the chaos from the Civil War to invade China, other countries responded in their own ways. The USA responded to the Civil War by recognizing Jiang Jieshi's Nationalist government in China. The Soviet Union, fearing Japanese expansion into its borders, signed a military treaty with the Nationalist government. Response from the League, particularly Britain and France, was limited, as the western powers were hoping that Japan would expand into the Soviet Union.

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2. Konoe Becomes Prime Minister of Japan (June 4, 1927)

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2. Konoe Becomes Prime Minister of Japan (June 4, 1927)

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Konoe Fumimaro was a prince, related to many influential families in Japan. He was mostly seen as a moderate, however he ascribed to expansionist views. As Prime Minister he advocated for the formation of its own autonomous bloc- a sort of Asiatic Monroe Doctrine- in order to push Japanese influence forward. Konoe also believed that Japan needed to become a fascist, single party state.

Konoe is significant to Japan as he helped to allow Japan to conclude the war against China. He also allowed Japan's empire to expand further, as well as found and become the leader of the Imperial Rule Assistance Association, a semi-fascist organization designed to promote the aims of the 'New Order' movement.
International response to Konoe's support of expansionist aim boiled down to nothing. Japan's expansion went almost unopposed by the League of Nations, which had become reluctant to anger it. Britain and France in particular had business interests with Japan, and the US had no motivation to fight Japan's expansion.

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4. Anti-Comintern Agreement Signed (November 25, 1936)

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4. Anti-Comintern Agreement Signed (November 25, 1936)

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The Anti-Comintern Agreement was an agreement signed between Japan and Nazi Germany, and later Italy, to oppose the Soviet Union as well as Communism.

The pact is significant to Japan, as it allowed it more assurance in its military expansion northward through China and into Russia, and would eventually lead its military to clash with that of the Soviet Union, suffer a crushing defeat at the Battle of Khalkhin-Gol, and ultimately decide instead to expand southward into the pacific.
As far as international response, the Anti-Comintern Agreement led the Soviet Union to sign a military treaty with China, fearing a two-pronged attack from both Nazi Germany and Japan.

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5. Marco Polo Bridge Incident (July 7-9, 1937)

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5. Marco Polo Bridge Incident (July 7-9, 1937)

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The Marco Polo Bridge Incident was a small clash between Chinese and Japanese soldiers on the Marco Polo Bridge which became the trigger of the Second Sino-Japanese War. It occurred after Japanese soldiers claimed that the Chinese had fired upon them outside Wanping before launching an attack on several army bases near Beijing, meeting resistance at the Marco Polo Bridge.
The incident was the spark which would become the Second Sino-Japanese War.

The Marco Polo Bridge Incident's significance to Japan is in that it allowed Japan an excuse to continue its invasion of China, taking more land and beginning another war.
Other than the slow and unhelpful Lytton Commission, there was very little foreign response to the Incident. The League, particularly Britain and France, did not want to ruin their own foreign interests in the area, and so failed to punish Japan for their invasion. This showed to both Japan and the rest of the world that the League would be unable to stop expansionism, and so encouraged them to expand further.

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6. Start of Second Sino-Japanese War (July 7, 1937)

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6. Start of Second Sino-Japanese War (July 7, 1937)

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The first Sin-Japanese war was in 1894-95. This second war was the culmination of decades of Japanese imperialist policy which aimed to dominate China and access its food and raw material resources. Japan had been modernising its armed forces since 1868, while China barely had a unified government due to conflicts by warlord. The war began with the Marco Polo Bridge Incident. One of the most notorious parts of the war was the 1937 Rape of Nanjing.

In Japan, there was much nationalism and popular support for Pana's military. Even Japan's press called for China to be punished. When the Rape of Nanjing happened, it was a result of racial superiority which had been an important part of the Japanese schooling system and nationalism.

Nazi Germany - which wanted Japan to focus on Russia, offered to mediate negotiations between Japan and China. But Japan insisted on harsh terms. When China rejected, all further negotiations were ended and war was resumed.

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After the Japanese occupation of Manchuria in 1931, Japan turned its military interests to Russia. Clashes between Japanese and Soviet forces frequently occurred along the border of Manchuria. This was a major engagement between Japan and the Soviet Union as part of these Soviet-Japanese border conflicts of 1939. The conflict was named after the river Khalkhyn Gol, which passed through the battlefield. It was a defeat for Japan and a victory for the Soviet army.

The combined defeat of Japan as well as the great loss of soldiers due to military doctrine that prohibited surrender, played an important part in subsequent Japanese conduct in World War II. Combat would no longer escalate without direct authorization from the Japanese government. Japan's Chief of the Army Ministry wrote that the experience of Soviet fire-power at Khalkhin-Gol convinced Japan not to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.

In August 1941, Japan and the Soviet Union reaffirmed their neutrality pact. Because of this, Japan's focus was ultimately directed to the south, leading to its decision to launch the attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December. Although the Soviet Union had gained victory over the Soviet-Japanese conflicts and secured a Neutrality Pact, Soviets remained cautious, commenting : “If the Japanese enter the war on Hitler’s side… our cause is hopeless.”

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9. Plan for Greater East-Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere Announced (August 1, 1940)

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9. Plan for Greater East-Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere Announced (August 1, 1940)

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A document which called for the establishment of a New Order in East Asia, even if it involved military conflict with Britain and the US. Emphasis was placed on building up armed forces, ending war in China, and greater economic planning.

Japan had been angered by Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact and was distrustful of Nazi Germany, which had tended to support China rather than Japan for a while. This step would help towards a greater three-way alliance with Germany and Italy. Japan eventually signed the Tripartite Pact after relations began to improve with the Axis Alliance.

Two months after the announcement of Japan's Plan for Greater East-Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere , Germany and Italy signed the Tripartite Pact which concluded the Three-Power Axis Alliance.

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10. Japanese occupy northern French-Indochina (Sept 26, 1940)

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10. Japanese occupy northern French-Indochina (Sept 26, 1940)

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An unannounced Japanese invasion of northern France by the Japanese, in an attempt to prevent China from obtaining weaponry from Europe through intervention in France. France asked Germany to act as a mediator between France and Japan, but refused to do so, further invigorating the incident between France and Japan.

It resulted in hostile foreign policy between Japan and France, and friction between Japan and Frances allies such. Military action was isolated between France and Japan in the Gulf of Tonkin region, which was a contributor to the engagement lasting only 4 days.
An official apology was given by Japan for their aggression on France, and all land that was captured by Japan during the incident was returned to French control.

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11. The Signing of the Tripartite Pact (Sept 27, 1940)

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11. The Signing of the Tripartite Pact (Sept 27, 1940)

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An agreement between Germany, Italy, and Japan in Berlin to create a protectionist alliance.

The Pact was significant as it would eventually become the Axis powers. Comprised of debatably the three weakest Euro/Asian states at the time, their idea to unite in the hope to create an ally system which could be exploited for expansion.
For foreign response see #9. The reading does not specify an foreign response from other nations. The Signing of the Tripartite Pact simply served to unite the Three Axis Powers into an alliance.

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An incident where a bomb exploded near Mukden, on the South Manchuria Railway. This led the Japanese to accuse the Chinese of sabotage, despite evidence that the Japanese were responsible.

Either way, the Japanese used the explosion as an excuse to advance the army further into China in what would become known as the Manchurian Crisis.
In response to the incident, China appealed to the League of Nations.
However, the League was slow in responding, allowing Japan to advance further into China and encouraging other nations to turn to aggressive expansionist policy.

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7. Japanese captured Nanjing, China (December, 1937)

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7. Japanese captured Nanjing, China (December, 1937)

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During the Second Sino-Japanese War, Japan met little serious resistance. In December 1937, after three months, Japanese forces captured the capital of China. There, commanding generals made no effort to control the behavior of troops in the city and, as a result of a sense of racial superiority, Japanese atrocities were committed as well as abuses of human rights to civilians in Nanjing.

The ideas of racial superiority in Japan were similar to those of Italian fascists and German Nazis who used their racist views to justify expansionist foreign policy. The war in China required brutal actions, and this had a brutalising effect on those involved in the fighting, which pushed them to behave violently. After the capture of Nanjing, Japan was able to take over most of North China by the end of 1937. This forced the Chinese to retreat and establish a new capital.

50% of Japan's army was involved in China when the attack on Pearl Harbor happened. This created problems for Japan, which had to pull out some of its armed forces, thus making Chinese resistance significantly less pressured and weakened.

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12. Attack on Pearl Harbor (December 7, 1941)

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12. Attack on Pearl Harbor (December 7, 1941)

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A mistakenly surprise attack on Hawaii, USA by the hand of Japan.

The significance of this event lies within the Japan's necessity to come to a quick conclusion of their military action in China, to prepare for war with the US and the Allied states.
(explain international response ((in different color)))
Furthermore, Japanese foreign policy became more aggressive with the western hemisphere. The military action between the US and Japan would be carried out in the 'Pacific Theatre', during a war for control over pacific nations.

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13. Japanese-Soviet Neutrality Pact is concluded (April, 1941-1946)

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13. Japanese-Soviet Neutrality Pact is concluded (April, 1941-1946)

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An agreement between Japan and the Soviet Union to maintain their peace, regardless of Germany's invasion of the USSR. It was Japan's decision to remain at peace with the Soviet Union even though their fellow Tripartite member, Germany, declared war.

The nonaggression pact allowed both nations of Japan and Russia to free up large numbers of troops occupying disputed territory in Manchuria and Outer Mongolia to be used for more pressing purposes in the European and Pacific Theaters.
The international response to the initial signing of the Neutrality pact was that of support as it was a move away from an even larger global war. However, the Pact did not last all 5 prescribed year. In 1945, the pact proved no longer meaningful when the Soviet Union launched an assault on Manchuria and declared war on Japan at the urging of the US. Faced with the choice of destruction or surrender, Japan chose the latter.