Japan’s participation in World War I
– Japan joined the war as an ally of the Entente Powers.
– They played a crucial role in securing sea lanes in the Pacific and Indian Oceans.
– Japan took advantage of Germany’s preoccupation with the war in Europe to seize German possessions in the Pacific and East Asia.
– The Japanese Empire aimed to expand its sphere of influence in China during the war.
– The Imperial Japanese Navy gained significant political influence through its expansion in the Pacific.
Events of 1914-1916
– Japan proposed to the United Kingdom that they would enter the war if they could take German territories in the Pacific.
– The British government officially asked Japan for assistance in destroying the Imperial German Navy in Chinese waters.
– Japan declared war on Germany on August 23, 1914.
– Japan also declared war on Austria-Hungary on August 25, 1914.
– Japanese forces quickly occupied German-leased territories in the Far East and surrounded the German settlement at Tsingtao.
– Japan presented the Twenty-One Demands to China in 1915, aiming to reduce China to a Japanese protectorate.
– Japan faced international condemnation and withdrew the final group of demands.
– German efforts to negotiate a separate peace with Japan failed.
– Japan and Russia signed a treaty to consult and take common action in China if their territories or interests were threatened.
– Japan discouraged Russia from annexing Heilongjiang and began pushing other powers out of China.
Events of 1917-1918
– The British Admiralty requested naval assistance from Japan in December 1916.
– Japan agreed to provide military assistance in exchange for support of their territorial claims.
– Two cruisers and four destroyers were sent to Cape Town and Malta for military operations.
– The Japanese squadron carried out escort duties and anti-submarine operations in the Mediterranean.
– They made a total of 348 escort sorties, contributing greatly to the war effort.
– Japan extended its influence in China through the Nishihara Loans.
– Japan and the United States sent forces to Siberia to support Admiral Alexander Kolchak against the Bolshevik Red Army.
– The Imperial Japanese Army planned to send over 70,000 troops to occupy Siberia, but the plan was scaled back due to opposition from the United States.
– Japan filled orders for war material for its European allies, leading to a diversification of its industry and increased exports.
– Rice riots caused by rapid inflation erupted in towns and cities throughout Japan.
Events of 1919
– Japan’s representative Saionji Kinmochi sat alongside the Big Four leaders at the Paris Peace Conference.
– Tokyo gained a permanent seat on the Council of the League of Nations.
– The transfer of German rights in Shandong to Japan was confirmed.
– German Pacific islands came under a Japanese mandate called the South Seas Mandate.
– The Japanese delegation proposed a racial equality clause at the conference, but it was ultimately rejected.
Aftermath
– Japan’s prosperity after World War I did not last, and it returned to debtor-nation status.
– The ease of Japan’s victory, the Shōwa recession, and internal political instabilities contributed to the rise of Japanese militarism.
– Japan’s light industry secured a share of the world market during the war.
– The rise of Japanese militarism occurred in the late 1920s to 1930s.
– The negative impact of the Shōwa recession in 1926 contributed to Japan’s return to debtor-nation status. Source URL:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan_during_World_War_I
