Introduction
Japan is often mentioned as one of the major aggressors in the Second World War. This is because of going against the treaties that had been signed after the First World War, and going ahead with conquests. The conquests resulted in massive suffering, which combined with the aftermath of the Second World War.
The conquest of China by Japan began in the late 1930’s and proceeded into the early years of the 1940’si. The Japanese invasion of China is one of the greatest landmarks in the history of the World Wars, as well as the transformation of the political landscape of Asia, which had been dominated by Japan.
This paper discusses the Japanese invasion of China in the year 1942. The paper begins by picking up the events that culminated in the invasion of China by Japan. The paper explores the historical developments in the Japanese invasion of China through a critical observation on the map, which shows the progression of the invasion. The paper brings out the impacts of the developments and their implications.
An overview of Japanese Invasion of China
The Japanese invasion of China, which is also referred to as the Pacific War, is one of the historic events that are closely linked to the Second World War. It is critical to observe that there were a lot of activities, mostly diplomatic, that were going on during the time when Japan was planning and executing its attacks on China and other parts of Asia.
This observation is rooted on the fact that countries in the world had just come out of the First World War and were still recovering from the impacts of the First World War. It can, thus, be said that the countries needed peace in order to concentrate on reconstructionii
The invasion of China by Japan in the year in 1942 was a result of a series of actions that were implemented by Japan from the beginning of the 1920s. The 1920s marked the period of diplomacy in order to minimize aggression, which had been cited as the main cause of the First World War that ended in 1919. As noted on the map, the invasion of China resulted from a series of moves and mini-conquests by Japanese troopsiii.
Notable among the events that led to the full conquest and the subsequent invasion of China by Japan is the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong and the invasion of Manchuria, one of the provinces of China, by Japanese forces. It should also be noted that each step that was taken by Japan was closely monitored by other countries, especially the countries that formed the western block during the First World War.
The attacks and invasions that were made by Japan were accompanied by key decisions by the government of Japan, which marked a diplomatic stalemate in the region. An example of such decisions was the withdrawal of Japan from the League of Nations over the disagreements that arose from the country’s invasion of Manchuria provinceiv.
Developments in the Japanese Invasion of China
Prior to the First World War, Japan was considered to be one of the strongest countries in Asia. Therefore, most analysts argue that the invasion of China by Japan was caused by the imperialist behavior of Japan. Japan wanted to dominate Asia, and the main way to do so was to capture a number of regions in China, which proved to have an extensive amount of resources.
The country showed its interest of conquering other states in Asia in order to advance its imperialistic tendencies in the region. The imperialistic tendencies of Japan can be traced back to the 1860s. The proliferation of arms was one of the main things that were critical to the conquests that were done by Japan on different statesv.
What comes into the minds of a wide section of political analysts is why Japan was allowed to go on with the acts of imperialism, which had been the main cause of the First World War. This concern cannot be addressed without an analysis of the map that shows the military advancement that resulted in the invasion of China by Japan. It is evident that the invasion of China did not take place in one day, but occurred through a series of conquests and defilements of the ceasefire treaties that had been signed during the First World Warvi.
According to Husdon, Rajchman and Taylorvii, the positions of Japan and China were critical to the advancement of Japan’s troops in the course of their conquest of China. While the terrain is seen as a motivating factor and a facilitator for the Japanese conquest on China’s states, a substantial number of people argue that Japan did not face any major resistance in the course of its conquest of China.
What comes out in historical texts is that there was only a little diplomatic intervention to the conquest, mostly through an alarm that was raised by the Western allies, the United States being of them. Was it worth for the other countries to see Japan advancing its imperialism in Asia and causing massive killings and damaging property?
One can pick a justification of the bombing of Japan in the course of the Second World War as a calculated move that was meant to make Japan pay for the atrocities that it committed during the invasion of China. While the impacts of the Japanese bombing by the allied forces of Western Europe had devastating impacts on Japan, a number of people still maintain that it cannot justify the atrocities that were committed by Japan in Asia.
However, it is should be noted that there was some sort of physical resistance to Japanese conquests. An example was the presence of British troops in Malaysia, which was unable to stop Japanese forces from invading the countryviii.
It is critical to point a number of events that created room for the final conquest of China by the Japanese forces. During the course of the invasion of China, a lot of Asian states were attacked and conquered by Japan.
These states include Malaya, Singapore and Hong Kong. It is argued that Singapore was one of the busiest ports in South East Asia, thus it offered a strong fortress. On the other hand, Malaya was rich in raw materials that were essential for backing the invasionix.
Significance of the conquering of Hong Kong
As mentioned earlier, the attack on Hong Kong by the Japanese forces and its subsequent invasion was a great step towards the invasion of Hong Kong. As a border town in Japan, as shown in the map, the country was strategic as it could aid the conquest of Shanghai, which was one of the economic Hubs of China. The invasion of Shanghai was aided by a direct attack, as well as the access and the inflow of the Japanese forces that followed the border between Japan and Hong Kong.
The supporting factor for the Japanese forces’ movement in Shanghai was the neutralization of Hong Kong. The attack on Hong Kong by the Japanese forces came at a time when China was under the rule of the British Colony. Therefore, the surrender of the country to Japan was an indicator of a number of things. First, this was an indication of the military strength of Japan at that point in timex.
The military strength of Japan resonated from its actions, which went against the post World War I treaties that were meant to check the proliferation of arms by countries. Japan came to surrender its occupancy of Hong Kong after it had been weakened by the direct impacts of the Second World War on its power. What should be noted is that Hong Kong was not in the initial plans of states to be attacked by Japan.
However, its proximity to the mainland of most of the Chinese states made it a critical part of the invasion of China by Japan. The first attack on Hong Kong by Japan is often termed as an accident. The argument that is advanced is that the bombs fell on Hong Kong in the operation that was aimed at bringing down the state of Shenzhen. Japan was well aware of the fact that Hong Kong was a British territory, and would have no reason for advancing attacks on Chinaxi.
Historians have noted that the invasion of Hong Kong by Japan was one of the main threats to the colonial rule of Britain. It denoted the weakness and the ill preparedness of Britain since it was unable to prevent the attack and subsequent invasion of Hong Kong; a colony that was being controlled by Britain until that particular time.
Earlier on, the United States had raised concerns over the imperialist activities by Japan in the Asian Region. As one of the allies of Western Europe, the concern meant that other Western European allies, including Britain, were against the activities that were being advanced by Japan in the region. It is reported that Britain had already sided with China in order to help China resist the invasion of the Japanese.
However, the agreement made between China and Britain did not auger well as the two lacked coordination, thus they could not prevent Japan from attacking Hong Kong. Japan had already established military bases in a substantial number of locations in the region, which were critical in aiding to reinforce its attacks.
This is a pointer to the fact that Japan had consolidated its power from the end of the First World War, and this was a major threat to the balance of power in the world. It meant that no country could solely deter Japan from advancing its imperialism, more so its desire to establish its imperialistic rule in Chinaxii.
The full invasion of China took three years, during which it was heavily backed by the fact that Japan had pursued a military strategy that had neutralized other Asian Pacific countries, among then China itself. Meanwhile, the United States, which had gone quiet, was planning a mission to put a stop to the imperialistic actions of Japan.
The bombing of the two towns by the United States shook the power of Japan. Therefore, the country had no option but to back off from its invasion. The impacts of the two atomic bombings had devastated the citizenry of Japan, who became the major forces in demanding for the withdrawal of the country from Chinaxiii.
Conclusion
This paper has explored the developments of the Japanese invasion of China. The invasion of China by Japan in one of the main landmarks of the imperialist activities of Japan that begun in the mid of the 18th century. In the paper, it has come out that the invasion of China by Japan took place in the late 1930s, although the events leading to the main conquest of China began even before the end of the First World War.
The aim of the invasion of China was the need for Japan to expand its territory to China. Most of the provinces of China had a lot of resources that attracted Japan. The attack of Hong Kong and its capture helped steer the capture of the mainland China.
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i Werner, Gruhl, Imperial Japan’s World War Two, 1931-1945, (New Brunswick: Transaction Publishers, 2007), 158.
ii Lawrence, Sondhaus, World War I: The Global Revolution, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011), 32
iii Geoffrey, Francis Husdon, Rajchman Marthe and Taylor George Edward, An atlas of Far Eastern Politics, (New York: John Day Company, 1942), 132
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v Werner, 158
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vii Geoffrey, Rajchman and Taylor ,132
viii China, China Yearbook, (Taipei, Taiwan: China Pub. Co., 1943), 82
ix Michael, MaMandelbaum, The Ideas That Conquered The World Peace, Democracy, And Free Markets In The Twenty-First Century, (New York: Public Affairs, 2004), 157
x Michael, 158
xi Karl, Patrick O’Brien, Atlas of World History, (New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2007), 234
xii Steve, Yui-Sang Tsang, A Modern History of Hong Kong, (London: I. B. Tauris, 2007), 119-121
xiii Steve, 121-122