Japanese expansion in East Asia: Events

Manchurian Crisis, 1931

Japan invaded Manchuria, a Chinese province, under the excuse of a Chinese attack on the Manchurian Railway.
Japan renamed Manchuria as ‘Manchukuo’ and installed Pu Yi, the last Manchu emperor of China, as a puppet emperor.
The League of Nations’ failure to act against this aggression implicitly encouraged further Japanese expansion.

Second Sino-Japanese War, 1937-1945

Sparked by the Marco Polo Bridge Incident, the war resulted in Japan’s occupation of most of eastern China.
The war featured extreme brutality such as the Rape of Nanking, where mass looting, rape, and murders were committed by Japanese soldiers against the Chinese civilians.
Japanese occupation caused deep resentment among the Chinese, fostering long-lasting tensions between the two nations.

Expansion Towards South-East Asia, 1940-41

Japan signed the Tripartite Pact with Germany and Italy in 1940. This Axis alliance further isolated Japan from Western democracies and emboldened its militarist leaders.
In July 1941, Japan occupied southern French Indochina to cut off supply lines to the Chinese Nationalists, triggering American, British and Dutch to place an embargo on key war materials.
Facing an energy crisis due to the embargo, Japan prepared for war against these Western powers to seize resource-rich colonies in Southeast Asia.

Pacific War, 1941-1945

Japan launched a surprise attack on the American naval base at Pearl Harbor in December 1941, dragging the United States into World War II.
Within months, Japan had occupied British, American, and Dutch colonial territories throughout Southeast Asia, including Singapore, the Philippines, and the Dutch East Indies.
However, following the turning point at Midway in 1942, when several Japanese aircraft carriers were destroyed, Japan was gradually pushed back by Allied powers until its final surrender in August 1945.