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Japan, the League of Nations, and
the road to WW II
Japan is a relatively small country in area (it's about the size of California). But it has always had a large population. Currently Japan has about 130 million people, which makes it the tenth largest country in the world. Not only has Japan been a crowded country, it has very few natural resources. In fact only 15 percent of Japan's land is suitable for farming. That is one reason seafood is such a large part of the Japanese diet. Japan also does not have very good supplies of coal, iron, and oil. But if we remember back in the 1800's when Commodore Perry went to Japan with his fancy coal burning ships; the Japanese have been trying to modernize to keep up with the western nations (European and American). This attempt at modernization is called the Meiji Restoration. After the Meiji Restoration, Japan started its own version of the Industrial Revolution. But, as mentioned before; Japan had few natural resources to fuel their industry. So they began to look to other countries for resources. The Japanese began to be imperialist, just like the Europeans and Americans. They began to bully others to get the resources they wanted. And this Japanese bullying really took off after World War I. Military leaders took control of the Japanese government and in 1931 they invaded Manchuria, a northern province of China. They went to Manchuria because it was an area rich in iron and coal. Then about six years later there was a full scale war between Japan and China, with Japan defeating the Chinese even though they were greatly outnumbered. The Japanese invasion of Manchuria was one of the first steps that moved the world toward World War II. After WW I, the world was weary of war. So many people died that no one wanted another war. So the League of Nations was formed. The League of Nations was kind of like an early version of the United Nations. It was an organization that tried to use communication and diplomacy to keep nations from fighting each other. Many countries belonged to the League of Nations, including Italy, Germany and Japan. But these three nations all began to display warlike tendencies. Japan was the first to be aggressive when it invaded Manchuria in 1931. The League of Nations criticized Japan for the invasion, but it could not do anything about it. Japan eventually withdrew from the League of Nations two years later. The Italian dictator Benito Mussolini noticed that this relatively new League of Nations was ineffective, so he invaded Ethiopia (in Africa) in 1935. Like Japan, he was invading in search of raw materials for industry. Ethiopia pleaded with the League of Nations for help, but nothing was done to prevent the Italians from invading. Over in Germany Hitler noticed that the League of Nations was ineffective, so he began to build up the German army, in direct defiance of the Treaty of Versailles. No one did anything to stop him so he continued his aggression by moving German troops into the Rhineland (the area right next to France). The French were furious, but no one would do anything to stop it. World War II was rapidly approaching. |