...The Empire of Japan during WW2 The Empire of Japan during World War two seen great victories and expanding territories it also seen dramatic defeat. “At the height of its power in 1942, the Empire of Japan ruled over a land area spanning 2,857,000 square miles, making it one of the largest maritime empires in history (Colin, 1998).” It was the first and only nation to endure the atomic bomb twice. During this paper we will look at the rise and fall of the Japanese Empire. What kind of Government ran this nation? Was their economy a strong or weak economy at the start of the war and how did the war affect it? How did their military operate? The Empire of Japan’s government was a parliamentary constitutional monarchy. To better understand the dynamics of the Government during WW2 you have to travel back to the Meiji Restoration in 1868. “The Meiji Restoration was the political revolution that brought about the fall of the Tokugawa Shogunate (a feudal military government which existed between 1603 and 1868) and returned control of the country to direct imperial rule under the emperor Meiji (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2009).” Although, at the start of the Second World War the emperor did not have complete control of the government. The Emperor was the supreme ruler and head of state but the prime minister was the actual head of government. The Emperor was worshipped like a god similar to the Pharos of Egypt during ancient times. “Emperor Hirohito was the emperor from...
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...Japan’s Hostility in the Pacific Japan felt bitter and cheated on because they had entered WW1 to obtain territory, but gained less than they had wanted. The Treaty of Versailles negatively affected Japan. Japan had helped the allies win WW1 and defeat Germany, but in return received little to nothing. This angered them because when they got back from war they had political and social distress. The Treaty of Versailles was a major cause in WW2 with Japan. The treaty also influenced them to become power hungry for resourceful land and give up at little to no cost. Japan had started fighting before WW2 with the invasion of Manchuria. This started in 1931 and the Japanese fought through till 1945 (ushmm.org). China had already weakened from...
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...World War 1 (WW1), from 1914 and 1918, and World War 2 (WW2), which occurred between 1939 and 1945, were two significant battles known to almost all Americans today. These wars were caused by several factors, in which some are alike and some are different. Their causes differ in that one of World War 1’s reasons for war included the German U-boats sinking the Lusitania. On the other hand, one different cause of World War 2 was the Treaty of Versailles. Both wars are alike in that they both were caused due to militarism, imperialism, and nationalism. In analyzing the causes of both wars, it’s crucial to know that there were similarities and differences because of their time periods of occurrence (for different events happening) as well as the...
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...their families by December 1914 victorious, yet what started out with high expectations ended more than four years later than the original hope. According to Jennifer Rosenberg (n.d), “World War 1 was an extremely bloody war, with huge losses of life and little ground lost or won“ (para 1). Soldier’s that fought in WW1 were fighting their enemies by hiding trenches firing artillery and lobbed grenades, but when ordered the soldiers would have to leave the safety of the trenches and venture in to what was called “ No Man’s Land “ (Rosenberg, (n.d), para 4) to lead a full on attack. Millions of young Men’s lives were lost do to the lack of armor protection and the lack of evolved weaponry. In 1897 the French introduced early in WW2 the French 75mm cannon that had rapid firing power up to 20 rounds a minute,...
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...on Hiroshima, Japan. For years, there have been feuds relating to the justification of the bombing. Was the U.S justified? The United States was justified due to the unprovoked attack and bombing of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, which occurred three years prior to the bombing of Hiroshima, it was necessary to stop the war because it saved thousands of American lives. Until then, the fight had never been on United States soil. Innocent men, women and children did not have to worry about being killed on their land until the infamous day: December 7, 1941, the attack of Pearl Harbor. On that day, the Japanese took to the skies with 423 planes, arriving in Pearl Harbor, killing a total of 2,403 and wounding 1178. Hitting 18 U.S ships, it crippled the U.S naval fleet in one day. Little known to the people, the bombing also destroyed 180 fighter jets used in the U.S Air Force. This was an unjustified, barbaric act and dropping the bomb on Hiroshima was justified. The United States was justified in dropping the atomic bomb on Hiroshima due to the unwarned attack on civilians and docked naval ships at Pearl Harbor by the Japanese. For example, the bomb displayed the power the U.S wielded when they dropped it on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It showed other countries that the United States had weapons, and would use them. This especially threatened the Soviet Union, our current ally, and emerging enemy. The day after the Pearl Harbor bombing, the United States declared war on Japan, and had ultimately...
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...of Asia and go would Go west. They would invade many parts of China. In 1937, Japan would sign an act with Germany and Italy to join the Axis Powers. Germany would negotiate with Japan and say that if they defeat the U.S. then they could keep Hawaii and its natural resources so on December 7, 1941 the Japanese would surprise the American Navy in an early day y with an air intrusion. The Japanese would attack the headquarters of the U.S. Navy which is in Pearl Harbor. The Navy actually did intercept a telegraph message from the Japanese saying that they would attack the U.S. but the Navy didn’t know where. After the attack, only half of the Japanese planes that were sent only came back. This would shock the...
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...start of World War II (WW2). In 1902, a man named Benito Mussolini moved to Switzerland from Italy to avoid going to jail. He was an avid socialist news reporter. While earning a reputation as a political journalist and public speaker, he produced propaganda for a trade union, proposing a strike and advocating violence as a means of enforcing demands. (Hibbert, Foot. Jan 12, 2000). He had got into a lot of trouble with the Switzerland police due to his writing. Mussolini had been arrested and sent back to Italy, then being set free moved back to Switzerland. He got arrested again and was drafted into the military and completed his time. Once out of the...
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...They say the world wouldn’t be how it is today if it weren’t for certain people. One of these people was Louis Zamperini. Without him we may be in a worse place. It all began in 1943 when an Air Army Corps plane crashed into the Pacific Ocean. After being marooned on a raft for 47 days, a Japanese War Ship came and abducted them. They tortured them for 2 years until WW2 ended. Only two of the original eleven crewmates made it back home. Louis Zamperini grew up in Torrance, California, which is not one of the best place in the world. His bad surroundings shaped his personality and thoughts. (Leopold, CNN) He was born January 1917 to Italian parents Anthony and Louise in Olean, New York. He had 3 siblings, 2 younger sisters Sylvia and Virginia, and an older brother Pete. He moved to California in his preteen years, so about 10 or 11. Being grown in a nasty part of California he had to be competitive to survive and wary. This caused him to have the new kid clique, gets bullied a lot, and has no friends. As result his father taught him how to box as a form...
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...The Paris Peace Conference The Paris Peace Conference, convened to build a lasting peace after World War I, approved the proposal to create the League of Nations (French: Société des Nations, German: Völkerbund) on 25 January 1919.[24] The Covenant of the League of Nations was drafted by a special commission, and the League was established by Part I of the Treaty of Versailles. On 28 June 1919,[25][26] 44 states signed the Covenant, including 31 states which had taken part in the war on the side of the Triple Entente or joined it during the conflict. Despite Wilson's efforts to establish and promote the League, for which he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in October 1919,[27] the United States did not join the League. Opposition in the U.S. Senate, particularly from Republican politicians Henry Cabot Lodge and William E. Borah, together with Wilson's refusal to compromise, ensured that the United States would not ratify the Covenant." In other words it was created BECAUSE of WW1, to premote the peice and stop anything like that from happening again. "Germany expected a treaty based on these fourteen points. However, negotiations between the 'big four' Lloyd George of England, Orlando of Italy, Clemenceau of France and Woodrow Wilson of America did not go smoothly. Wilson believed that his fourteen points was the only way to secure everlasting peace. The French however, wanted the defeated nations to be punished severely and believed Wilson's plan too lenient. Privately...
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...1914 there had been no major war for over a century, that is to say, a war in which all, or even a majority of, major powers had been involved, the major players in the international game at the time being the six European ‘great powers’, the USA and Japan.” (Hobsawm p. 22). The French lost 20 per cent of their men of military age. “One quarter of Oxford and Cambridge students under the age of twenty-five who served in the British Army in 1914 were killed.” (Hobsawm p. 26). The British lost 500,000 men under the age of 30. Both sides tried to win the war by developing new technology. The Germans brought poison gas, and hydrogen-filled airships. The British developed the tank. Both sides developed their own submarines. At the end of the war the Treaty of Versailles was signed which dealt with the rise of Russia as an alternative regime, the need to control Germany, and the search for the kind of settlement which would prevent another war. WW2 was a result of the failure of the treaty of Versailles. Germany was forced to limit its army to 100,000 men, pay for the entire costs of WW1, and give up its overseas colonies. Germany felt this was unfair. Japan and Italy were also major aggressors into the start of WW2. The losses from WW2 were many times greater than the first one. “In short, 1914 opens the age of massacre” (Hobsawm p. 24) Chapter 3 – Into the Economic Abyss Each state trying to protect their economies from the outside, globalization stopped inter-war (Hobsbawm p. 88)...
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...district in Tokyo, Japan. There is also a conversation between the narrator and his dad while the drive from the airport to his house. In the beginning they are sitting inside in the tearoom. Later the narrator and his sister, Kikoku, take a walk around the compound. They spend some time at the well. Later the father and narrator take a walk around the house. They all eat together in the dinning room. The atmosphere is tense. You feel that the relation between the father and his children is not the best and certainly they don’t feel comfortable around him. The tension between the narrator and his sister is much more relaxed but only when the father is not around. Environment: It seems like the family is well educated and doing fairly well – high social status. The father has been doing serious business but his firm went down. He still has a very big house so he must still be affluent. The narrator has been living in America and the sister is about to finish her studies. All have a high level of education. It’s also mentioned that the family have some samurai blood in their veins. The father is proud about that fact. The story takes place in the old family house and Kikuko and the narrator haven’t been there for long. It seems like they didn’t want to go there before now when their mom died. That setting creates an atmosphere with a tense. The story takes place on a sunny autumn day, in the evening. It takes place after the war, which should mean WW2. The story possible...
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...“Hiroshima” is a New Yorker article that was published in 1946. John Hersey is the author of this article, and he talks about the six Hiroshima residents who survive the atomic bomb. The six survivors tell the interviewer what they were doing before the atomic bomb hit Hiroshima. Each survivor talks about the effect that the atomic bomb had in their town. The survivors were expecting an attack from the Americans, but they never thought there would be many deaths from this attack. As soon as the atomic bomb hit, the air became dust. One of the survivors was Dr. Fujii, he and his friend question why the victims had terrible burns on their face and arms. There were only two fires according to Dr. Fujii, so the victims couldn’t get burn from...
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...Growing up farming with poor eyesight wasn't easy, but to then go to WW1 the most bloody war so far because of the trench warfare. Stabbing, punching, and shooting, mostly done by trench shotguns. These where what you had in WW1, so imagine fighting like that with poor vision and glasses that didn't even help that much. After surviving that he went on to do amazing things in life and continue to help by being a judge in Missouri. After being a judge for many years he was elected to vice president in 1945 and to senate in 1948. In 1948 he won the election over Thomas Dewey. He took over during WW2 so he had a lot to handle when he was elected. There was something going on that Truman did not know about though, there was atomic bombs that were...
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...Causes WW2 Treaty of Versailles: * Peace treaty after WW1 * 28 June 1919 * The treaty was registered by the League of Nations * The League of Nations was established in 1920 after WW1. It should prevent the outbreak of another war * Germany: * Germany saw the treaty as a punishment * Had to give up part of their territories (Rheinland) * Germany had to admit the war guilt for WW1 * Pay preparations cost to France and Britain Rise of fascism: * Fascism is a totalitarian form of government: * Glorifies the state * Has one leader and one party * All aspects of society are controlled by the government * No opposition or protests are tolerated * Propaganda and censorship are widely practiced * Italy: Benito Mussolini (1922) Great depression, unemployment level high * After WW1 many countries had to suffer from unstable European economy * However to boom in the U.S. helped to sustain worldwide trade * 1929 stock market crashed (Great Depression) * Unemployment level rose * Power leaders and government promised success through military buildup and imperialism Japanese Expansionism: * 1931 Japan invaded Manchuria for raw materials * Sino-Japanese war 1937 * 1938 Japan and Soviet war Fascism Vs. Communism * Production is controlled by the government * Media and all other aspects of society are property of the government *...
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...The war with Japan was occurring throughout WW2, and while Germany was fighting with Britain, France and the US, Japan was thinking of invading Australia. Eventually, the Imperial Generals deemed their manpower to be constrictive, and worried of the US help that Australia would receive, and instead decided on attempting to isolate Australia from help. They would do this by taking Samoa, Fiji, and most notably Papua New Guinea (PNG). At this point in time, PNG was considered Australia, so this would be the first, and last time that Australia was threatened on home soil. Some changes had occurred to force Japan’s invasion to switch from a sea invasion to a daring push across land. imperial navy had been severely hindered in the Coral Sea battle, were 4 of her 6 aircraft carriers were sunk, and one seriously damaged....
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