Japanese Impact On World War ll - Essay Example

The Role of Japan in World War II Introduction The Second World War began in 1939 and ended in the year 1945. Before the war began, the United States and Japan were not in the best terms. In 1931, Japan had occupied Manchuria and converted it to Manchukuo. This posed a threat to the Versailles system directly. The United States refused the recognition of Manchuria’s take over by Japan (Black, 2003). In 1933, because of being condemned for taking over and bombing shanghai, Japan withdrew from the world League of Nations. The main reason for Japan seizing Manchuria was due to lack of natural resources for feeding its industries. Japan started a war with China in 1937. In an effort to end the war of Japan against China, President Roosevelt shut off American trade with the Japanese, which made Japan more aggressive than before. The Japanese increasingly continued to look for strategic resources and raw materials southwards. However, the United States stood firmly, in Japan’s path. The United States pacific fleet at the Pearl Harbor was the only threat force with the capacity of challenging the Japan’s navy (Black, 2003). The American bases located at the Philippines also threatened the contact lines linking the East Indies and Japan islands. Every oil tanker heading to Japan had to pass through American-held Luzon. From these constraints, the Japanese war plans emerged. In analyzing this assignment, the assignment will discuss the role played by Japan in World War II. Based on this, background information on Japan that triggered the World War II will be discussed. In addition, the outcome of the war will also be discussed. Background of Japan that Caused World War II Japan stood ready to overcome the whole South Asian Peninsula and the Dutch Indies, which was rich in oil. This planned conquer was as a result of Japanese lacking raw materials for its growing industries (Williams, 2005). The desire to conquer the Dutch Indies and the South Asian Peninsula angered the United States and an embargo developed between Japan and the United States. Negotiations targeted at ending the differences between the two countries failed since the countries were at odds with each other. The United States used force to make Japan withdraw from war against China and renounce alliance with Italy and Germany in 1940 (Williams, 2005). The Japanese were against the move by the United States; Japan was secretly planning an attack on the Philippines, Hawaii, and Guam. In 1941, the Japanese attacked the Pearl Harbor, which was viewed as a desperate action by Japan to escape from an earlier choice imposed by the United States. The attack of the Pearl Harbor is believed to be a tragic event in the American history since it led the United States into joining World War II. After the attack of the Pearl Harbor, Japanese took control over a vast area of the Pacific; Philippines, Burma, Aleutians and Solomons. Japanese enjoyed the possession of interior communication lines, but did not have adequate ships and planes to defend all their points. Lack of adequate ships placed the United States at a super position to face the Japanese. The war continued until the United States defeated the Japanese. Bombings by the United States made Japan surrender the war in 1945, which marked the end of the ever fought Great War in the human history. Details of the World War II The World War II was a global conflict that started in 1939 and came to an end in 1945. The war involved various nations; with all the super powers being involved. The war involved the formation of two military alliances, which opposed each other; the axis and allies. Although, in 1937, Japan was already in war with China, the Second World War is said to have begun in 1939. The war began with Germany invading Poland, which subsequently made France and countries of common wealth and British Empire declare war on Germany (Adams, 2009). Most of continental Europe was conquered by Germany. Britain and the commonwealth countries remained the only principal force fighting against the Axis. In 1941, the European Axis began an invasion of Russia, which tied down the main part of the Axis’ forces. Then, in the same year, Japan, with the intentions of dominating Asia, attacked the United States conquering most of the West Pacific. The advances of the Axis were stopped in 1942, after the Japanese lost series of battles and the defeat of European Axis troops in North Africa (Fensch, 2001). With the continuous defeats of Germany in the Eastern Europe and victory of America in the Pacific, the Axis lost the battle initiative and strategized for retreats. In 1944, the France was invaded by the Western Allies while Russia regained all its losses and invaded Germany together with its allies. In Europe, the war ended with the capturing of Berlin by Russia and with surrendering of Germany in 1945. The war in Asia ended when the Japanese gave in to the United States in 1945. Before the breakout of the war, Japanese had previously been involved in war with China, Mongolia and Soviet Union. Japan had captured Beijing after the Marco Bridge Incident. The Japanese were hoping to win the war by defeating of the Chinese forces, but the Chinese prepared their military for, which made the defeat of China intolerable. Instead of the war ending, it continued. The invasion of the Soviet Union by Japan in 1938 gave Japanese an exceedingly hard time to defeat the Soviet army (Lyons, 2009). Victory emerged on the Soviet side, but Japanese dismissed the war as inconclusive, thus arguing the war to be an inconclusive draw with no defeat. Hence, the main trigger of the war was the need for nations supporting their allies. In the side of Axis and Allies, there were nations supporting each group. For example, with the attack of Asian countries by Japan, the United States was against the Japanese, in favor of the Asian countries. Results of World War II The war ended with the weakening of the Axis and strengthening of the Allies. The war resulted to the creation of crime courts. Although many innocent individuals died during the war time, there were no standard courts to judge the perpetrators. When the camps throughout Europe were investigated, a total of twelve million individuals were declared murdered by Hitler and his conspirators (Fensch, 2001). This number of murdered individuals did not include the tortured individuals and those used by the camp guards for medical experiments. By the time, there were no laws put forward to rule on such mass killings. The Nuremberg Trials saw a need to develop laws, which will help in judging individuals who commit such crimes in the future. End of World War II resulted in the formation of the United Nations (UN, with the chief objective of promoting international peace and security. After the World War I, the Allies had formed the League of Nations (L.O.F), which was charged with the responsibility of keeping peace and stability within Europe. Although the League of Nations was the first global organization, it faced various problems that led to the World War II. With the formation, of the UN, power was split among five key countries rather than two or three as the League of Nations had done (Lyons, 2009). The war resulted in the emergence of new superpowers. When the UN was formed, the five main countries that obtained power were the United Kingdom, China, France, USSR, and the United States. Among these five key powers, only two countries were economically stable and powerful after the war. The war had injured the natural resource supplies and the economies of the Western Europe countries, mainly, France, Britain and Germany. These countries had dominated the world’s economy and market, but now two countries, which had been relatively unharmed after the war took their place. These countries are the United States and the USSR (Adams, 2009). The USSR was only damaged on the western side; the eastern side was totally unharmed. On the other hand, the United States only sent its forces to Europe, but none of the fighting took place on the American soil. Hence, the two countries became the new superpowers after the end of the Second World War. The war resulted in a major achievement of women’s rights. During the war time, different countries drafted nearly all men to serve in the armies. Many men served in the army; this left vacancies in other areas and fields such as factories, farms and offices (Adams, 2009). This gave an opportunity to women to work in these areas. Most of the women who had never worked had a chance of accessing jobs. As the war progressed, women continued to hold positions in offices and farms, which made women, become financially independent (Lyons, 2009). With the end of the war, governments were forced to allow women to continue working in various places and attracting similar pay as pay for men. This was a crucial step in women achieving some rights. The war resulted in some economies worsening while others experienced rapid economic growths. The United States emerged richer than any other country involved in the war. By 1950, the GDP per head in U.S. had grown higher than any power. The UK was on the economic ruin after the war, and the economy declined for quite a long time. The Soviet Union and Japan experienced rapid economic growth. China, on the other hand, returned to its pre-war production in 1952. Conclusion The Second World War commenced in 1939 to 1945. The war involved various nations; with all the leading powers taking part. The war involved the formation of two military alliances, which opposed each other; the axis and allies. Although, in 1937, Japan was already in war with China, the Second World War is said to have begun in 1939. The war began with Germany invading Poland, which subsequently made France and countries of the commonwealth and British Empire declare war on Germany. Most of continental Europe was conquered by Germany. Britain and the commonwealth countries remained the only principal force fighting against the Axis. The advances of the Axis were stopped in 1942, after the Japanese lost a series of battles and the defeat of European Axis troops in North Africa. With the continuous defeats of Germany in the Eastern Europe and victory of America in the Pacific, the Axis lost the battle initiative and strategized for retreats in 1945. References Adams, S. (2009). World War II. London: Continuum. Black, J. (2003). World War Two: A Military History. London: Routledge. Fensch, T. (2001). World War Two: U.S. Military Plans for the Invasion of Japan. New York: New Century Books. Lyons, J. M. (2009). World War II: A Short History. New York: prentice Hall. Williams, B. (2005). World War Two. Minneapolis: Lerner Publications. Read More