And in , over 1, soldiers mutinied in Tokyo, seizing the army ministry and murdering several high-ranking politicians. In , Japanese army officers initiated the so-called Manchurian Incident by detonating a railway explosion and blaming it on Chinese bandits.
They then used the event as an excuse to take over Manchuria in northeastern China and set up a puppet state there. Excursions into other areas of the country soon followed, and by war had broken out. That winter, the Japanese army massacred an estimated , civilians and prisoners of war in and around the city of Nanking.
Rape is thought to have been commonplace, and women throughout Japanese-controlled regions of Asia were brought in to serve as prostitutes. He also sanctioned the use of chemical warfare and the uprooting of peasants.
In September , Japan signed the Tripartite Pact with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, in which they agreed to assist one another should any of them be attacked by a country not already involved in the war. Japan sent troops to occupy French Indochina that same month, and the United States responded with economic sanctions, including an embargo on oil and steel. A little over a year later, Hirohito consented to the decision of his government to battle the Americans.
On December 7, , Japanese planes bombarded the U. The United States declared war one day later. But the tide started turning at the June Battle of Midway and soon after at Guadalcanal. A postwar constitution preserved the monarchy but defined the emperor as a mere symbol of the state. All political power went to elected representatives. Unlike many among his top military brass, Hirohito was not indicted as a war criminal, in part because U.
From to , Hirohito toured the country and oversaw reconstruction efforts. The American occupation ended in , after which Hirohito served largely in the background while Japan went through a period of rapid economic growth.
He died on January 7, , having spent nearly 64 years on the throne—the longest imperial reign in Japanese history. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us!
At the same time, SCAP dismantled the Japanese Army and banned former military officers from taking roles of political leadership in the new government.
In the economic field, SCAP introduced land reform, designed to benefit the majority tenant farmers and reduce the power of rich landowners, many of whom had advocated for war and supported Japanese expansionism in the s. MacArthur also tried to break up the large Japanese business conglomerates, or zaibatsu, as part of the effort to transform the economy into a free market capitalist system. By late and early , the emergence of an economic crisis in Japan alongside concerns about the spread of communism sparked a reconsideration of occupation policies.
Occupation policies to address the weakening economy ranged from tax reforms to measures aimed at controlling inflation. However the most serious problem was the shortage of raw materials required to feed Japanese industries and markets for finished goods. The conflict also placed Japan firmly within the confines of the U. The United States declared war on Japan the following day, December 8.
This forced the United States to enter a two-front war. In the first months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Japan had great military success. A turning point came in June at the Battle of Midway. It was the first time that Allied forces were able to make headway in the Pacific.
As a result, approximately , civilians died. Japan formally surrendered in September Japanese expansion in East Asia began in with the invasion of Manchuria and continued in with a brutal attack on China.
On September 27, , Japan signed the Tripartite Pact with Germany and Italy, thus entering the military alliance known as the " Axis. Faced with severe shortages of oil and other natural resources and driven by the ambition to displace the United States as the dominant Pacific power, Japan decided to attack the United States and British forces in Asia and seize the resources of Southeast Asia.
The attack severely damaged the American fleet and prevented, at least for the short term, serious American interference with Japanese military operations. In response, the United States declared war on Japan. Pacific Theater. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, Japan achieved a long series of military successes.
Japanese troops also invaded neutral Thailand and pressured its leaders to declare war on the United States and Great Britain.
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