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Causes of Japan's Loss in WWII

, confusion, exhaustion, and fear. Friction stems from the effects of time, space, and human nature; it is the fundamental and unavoidable force that makes war in reality differ from the abstract model of 'absolute war'" (Bassford 1).

In order to understand what led the Japanese to expand from their islands out into the surrounding countries of Asia and engage in the fateful attack on the United States that eventually brought about their own downfall, it is necessary to consider what their history, interests, and intentions were.

"Japan entered World War II with limited aims and with the intention of fighting a limited war" (Matloff 499). It's goals were similar to, and perhaps modelled on the colonial conquests of the European nations which originated from the voyages of discovery in the 15th century and continued well into the 20th century. It wanted to secure the resources that it sorely lacked on its island chain by militarily dominating its Asian neighbors.

In the late 19th century Japan was forced to open its trade with the West due to pressure from the U.S. Navy. Waking from centuries of insular isolation, the more progressive Japanese realized they were far behind the nations of the West in technology and political institutions, and a pro-Western faction seized power and began the Industrial Revolution in what had been a feudal agricultural society (Japan Reference 1).

Starting industrialization before its Asian neighbors gave Japan a significant advantage over them when it came manufacturing and military technology. It 1895 Japan seized Taiwan from China, in 1905 it took Manchuria in the Russo-Japanese War, and in 1910 annexed Korea. By 1937 it had invaded deep into China, and took control of Peking, Nanking, Shanghai, and other cities.

A strongly fascist ultra-nationalist and militaristic faction took control of the country, vastly rebuilding and strengthening its armed forces. These leaders began to coo...

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Causes of Japan's Loss in WWII. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 06:55, March 28, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1698963.html