Japanese military aggression
Japanese military aggression primarily refers to the actions taken by Japan in the early 20th century, particularly during the 1930s, as it expanded its influence in East Asia. The aggression began with the 1931 invasion of Manchuria, where Japanese forces, acting independently from Tokyo, staged an incident to justify military control and established a puppet state known as Manchukuo. This aggression escalated with further military actions, including the bombing of Shanghai in 1932 and the infamous atrocities committed in Nanjing in late 1937, known as the Rape of Nanjing.
The international response, particularly from the United States, was marked by the Stimson Doctrine, which refused to recognize territories acquired through aggression. Despite this stance, the U.S. initially took no direct action against Japan, although tensions mounted as events unfolded, including the Panay incident, which exacerbated U.S.-Japan relations. By the late 1930s, the U.S. began to impose economic sanctions and trade embargoes on Japan, setting the stage for the inevitable conflict that would erupt into war in the following decade. This period of Japanese military aggression significantly shaped geopolitical dynamics in East Asia and had lasting impacts on international relations.
Japanese military aggression
The Event Japan’s territorial expansion in Asia, eventually causing war between Japan and the United States
Date 1931-1939
Beginning with the Mukden incident (also known as the Manchurian incident) in September of 1931, the U.S. government commenced a series of reactions to Japanese acts of violent, military aggression and territorial expansion that continued for the rest of the decade, eventually leading to war between the two countries in the decade that followed.
On September 18, 1931, the Japanese Kwantung Army stationed in Manchuria in northeastern China, acting without the knowledge or consent of its home government in Tokyo, blew up a section of a Japanese-owned railway just north of the city of Mukden (now known as Shenyang). Claiming that the act had been the work of local extremists, the military leadership then used this event in the months that followed as an excuse for assuming control of the region. A puppet regime was established, and in March of 1932, the area was renamed Manchukuo.
In January of 1932, U.S. Secretary of State Henry L. Stimson responded to the events in Manchuria by setting forth what came to be known as the “nonrecognition policy” or Stimson Doctrine, stating that the United States refused to recognize territory gained by Japanese aggression. This policy remained the official position of the United States for the remainder of the decade, although no further action was taken against the Japanese at that time.
Additional acts of aggression by the Japanese in China followed. In January of 1932, Japanese planes bombed Shanghai, and the military sent troops into that city. At the same time, the fall of civilian governments and a series of high-profile political assassinations in Japan contributed further to the growing influence of the military. On March 27, 1933, Japan withdrew from the League of Nations in response to a report issued by the organization condemning Japanese aggression in Manchuria.
In March of 1933, Franklin D. Roosevelt took office as president of the United States, and Cordell Hull replaced Stimson as secretary of state. The Roosevelt administration generally followed the policy of the previous Herbert Hoover administration in its reaction to Japanese aggression and did not take additional actions against the Japanese.
The Japanese military presence in China continued to grow in the years that followed; in July of 1937, full-scale war broke out between the two countries. In October of 1937, although remaining sensitive to the strong isolationist sentiments existing in Congress, President Roosevelt reacted to the actions of both Germany and Japan in his famous “quarantine speech,” stating the need to “quarantine” countries involved in acts of international aggression. Again, however, no specific further action regarding the Japanese was taken.
In December of 1937, the Japanese army committed atrocities in the Chinese city of Nanjing, an event that is often referred to as the Rape of Nanjing. Furthermore, controversy ensued between the United States and Japan, resulting from the Panay incident. Although the Japanese government later apologized for the latter event—which involved an attack on a U.S. gunboat patrolling in international waters on the Chang River (also known as the Yangtze River) in southern China—the event led to a further deterioration in U.S.-Japan relations.
The following year, reacting to the events of the previous December, the Roosevelt administration began the first stage of its efforts to place economic sanctions on Japan for its acts of foreign aggression. In July of 1938, the administration urged a “moral embargo” on aircraft and parts shipments to the warring nation, and in July of 1939, it officially notified the Japanese government of its intention to end the 1911 commercial treaty in place between the two countries. War between the United States and Japan seemed to be the inevitable outcome.
Impact
The issue of Japanese aggression constituted a major foreign policy concern for the United States throughout the 1930’s. Although the matter ebbed and flowed during the course of the decade, the “nonrecognition policy” set forth by U.S. secretary of state Stimson in 1932 remained the basic position of the United States during the period. By the end of the decade, however, the U.S. government had implemented a series of trade embargoes and other economic sanctions against Japan that eventually led the two countries to war two years later.
Bibliography
Boyle, John Hunter. Modern Japan: The American Nexus. Fort Worth, Tex.: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1993.
Herring, George C. From Colony to Superpower: U.S. Foreign Relations Since 1776. New York: Oxford University Press, 2008.
LaFeber, Walter. The Clash: A History of U.S.-Japan Relations. New York: W. W. Norton, 1997.
McClain, James L. Japan: A Modern History. New York: W. W. Norton, 2002.