In the autumn of 1939, when the war broke out and the Western European countries one after another began to suffer defeat and become the object of occupation by Nazi Germany, Japan decided that its hour had come. Having tightly tightened all the screws inside the country (parties and trade unions were liquidated, the Association for Assistance to the Throne was created instead as a paramilitary organization of a fascist type, designed to introduce a total political and ideological system of strict control in the country), the highest military circles, led by the generals who headed the cabinet of ministers, received unlimited authority to wage war. Military operations in China intensified, accompanied, as usual, by cruelty against the civilian population. But the main thing that Japan was waiting for was the surrender of the European powers, in particular France and Holland, to Hitler. As soon as this became a fact, the Japanese proceeded to occupy Indonesia and Indo-China, and then Malaya, Burma, Thailand and the Philippines. Having set as their goal to create a gigantic colonial empire subordinate to Japan, the Japanese announced their desire for "East Asian co-prosperity."
After the bombing of the American base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii in December 1941, Japan found itself at war with the United States and England, which, despite some initial successes, eventually led the country into a protracted crisis. Although the Japanese monopolies gained a lot by gaining uncontrolled access to the exploitation of the wealth of almost all of Southeast Asia, their position, like the Japanese occupying forces, was precarious. The population of the occupied countries came out, often with weapons in their hands, against the Japanese occupying forces. The maintenance of troops simultaneously in many countries, the conduct of the ongoing and increasingly obvious futile war in China required considerable funds. All this led to a deterioration in the economic balance and to an aggravation of the internal situation in Japan itself. This manifested itself with particular force at the beginning of 1944, when in the war on Far East there has been a definite break. American troops landed in one or the other of the island regions and ousted the Japanese from there. Japan's relations with the USSR also changed. In April 1945, the USSR denounced the 1941 neutrality pact with Japan, and in August of the same year, shortly after the atomic bombing of Japan by the Americans, Soviet troops entered the territory of Manchuria and forced the Kwantung Army to surrender, which meant not only defeat Japan, but also the beginning of revolutionary transformations in Manchuria, and then in the rest of China.
The surrender of Japan in August 1945 led to the collapse of the plans of the Japanese military, the collapse of that aggressive foreign policy of Japan, which for several decades relied on the economic development and expansion of Japanese capital, on the samurai spirit of the past. Like the samurai at the end of the last century, the militarists of the first half of the 20th century. suffered bankruptcy and were forced to leave the historical stage. Japan lost all its colonial possessions and conquered territories. The question arose about the status of post-war Japan. And here the Americans who occupied the country had their say.
The meaning of the transformations that were carried out by the Allied Council for Japan, created by them, was reduced to a radical restructuring of the entire structure of this country. A series of democratic reforms were implemented, including the revival of parties, the convening of a parliament, and the adoption of a new constitution that left the emperor with very limited rights and cut off the possibility of a revival of Japanese militarism in the future. A show trial was held with the conviction of Japanese war criminals, not to mention a thorough purge of the state apparatus, police, etc. The education system in Japan was revised. Special measures provided for limiting the possibilities of the largest Japanese monopolies. Finally, a radical agrarian reform of 1948-1949 was carried out in the country, which eliminated large land ownership and thus completely undermined the economic position of the remnants of the samurai.
This whole series of reforms and radical transformations meant another important breakthrough for Japan from the world of yesterday to new conditions of existence that corresponded to the modern level. Combined with the skills of capitalist development developed during the post-reform period, these new measures proved to be a powerful impetus that contributed to the rapid economic revival of Japan, defeated in the war. And not only the revival, but also the further development of the country, its vigorous prosperity. The wounds of World War II were healed fairly quickly. In new and very favorable conditions for it, when external forces (such as “young officers” filled with the militant spirit of samurai) did not exert their influence on the development of Japanese capital, it began to increase growth rates, which laid the foundation for the very phenomenon of Japan, which is so good known today. Paradoxical as it may seem, it was precisely the defeat of Japan in the war, its occupation and the radical transformations in its structure related to this that finally opened the doors for the development of this country. All barriers to such development were removed - and the result was amazing ...
It is important to note one more significant circumstance. In its successful advance along the path of capitalism, Japan has taken full advantage of all that democratization of the European-American model can provide for such development. However, she did not give up much of what goes back to her own fundamental traditions and which also played a positive role in her success. This fruitful synthesis will be discussed in the next chapter. In the meantime, a few words about Korea.
Japan in World War II
In the autumn of 1939, when the war broke out and the Western European countries one after another began to suffer defeat and become the object of occupation by Nazi Germany, Japan decided that its hour had come. Having tightly tightened all the screws inside the country (parties and trade unions were liquidated, the Association for Assistance to the Throne was created instead as a paramilitary organization of a fascist type, designed to introduce a total political and ideological system of strict control in the country), the highest military circles, led by the generals who headed the cabinet of ministers, received unlimited authority to wage war. Military operations in China intensified, accompanied, as usual, by cruelty against the civilian population. But the main thing that Japan was waiting for was the surrender of the European powers, in particular France and Holland, to Hitler. As soon as this became a fact, the Japanese proceeded to occupy Indonesia and Indo-China, and then Malaya, Burma, Thailand and the Philippines. Having set as their goal to create a gigantic colonial empire subordinate to Japan, the Japanese announced their desire for "East Asian co-prosperity."
After the bombing of the American base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii in December 1941, Japan found itself at war with the United States and England, which, despite some early successes, eventually led the country into a protracted crisis. Although the Japanese monopolies have gained a lot by gaining uncontrolled access to the exploitation of the wealth of almost the entire South-East Asia, their position, like the Japanese occupying forces, was precarious. The population of the occupied countries came out, often with weapons in their hands, against the Japanese occupying forces. The maintenance of troops simultaneously in many countries, the conduct of the ongoing and increasingly obvious futile war in China required considerable funds. All this led to a deterioration in the economic balance and to an aggravation of the internal situation in Japan itself. This manifested itself with particular force at the beginning of 1944, when a certain turning point was outlined in the war in the Far East. American troops landed in one or the other of the island regions and ousted the Japanese from there. Japan's relations with the USSR also changed. In April 1945, the USSR denounced the 1941 neutrality pact with Japan, and in August of the same year, shortly after the atomic bombing of Japan by the Americans, Soviet troops entered the territory of Manchuria and forced the Kwantung Army to surrender, which meant not only defeat Japan, but also the beginning of revolutionary transformations in Manchuria, and then in the rest of China.
The surrender of Japan in August 1945 led to the collapse of the plans of the Japanese military, the collapse of that aggressive foreign policy of Japan, which for several decades relied on the economic development and expansion of Japanese capital, on the samurai spirit of the past. Like the samurai at the end of the last century, the militarists of the first half of the 20th century. suffered bankruptcy and were forced to leave the historical stage. Japan lost all its colonial possessions and conquered territories. The question arose about the status of post-war Japan. And here the Americans who occupied the country had their say.
The meaning of the transformations that were carried out by the Allied Council for Japan, created by them, was reduced to a radical restructuring of the entire structure of this country. A series of democratic reforms were implemented, including the revival of parties, the convening of a parliament, and the adoption of a new constitution that left the emperor with very limited rights and cut off the possibility of a revival of Japanese militarism in the future. A show trial was held with the conviction of Japanese war criminals, not to mention a thorough purge of the state apparatus, police, etc. The education system in Japan has been revised. Special measures provided for limiting the possibilities of the largest Japanese monopolies. Finally, a radical agrarian reform 1948-1949, which eliminated large land ownership and thus completely undermined the economic position of the remnants of the samurai.
This whole series of reforms and radical transformations meant another important breakthrough for Japan from the world of yesterday to new conditions of existence that corresponded to the modern level. Combined with the skills of capitalist development developed during the post-reform period, these new measures proved to be a powerful impetus that contributed to the rapid economic revival of Japan, defeated in the war. And not only revival, but also further development country, its vigorous prosperity. The wounds of World War II were healed fairly quickly. In new and very favorable conditions for it, when external forces (such as “young officers” filled with the militant spirit of samurai) did not exert their influence on the development of Japanese capital, it began to increase growth rates, which laid the foundation for the very phenomenon of Japan, which is so good known today. Paradoxical as it may seem, it was precisely the defeat of Japan in the war, its occupation and the radical transformations in its structure related to this that finally opened the doors for the development of this country. All barriers to such development were removed - and the result was amazing ...
It is important to note one more significant circumstance. In its successful advance along the path of capitalism, Japan has taken full advantage of all that the democratization of the European-American model can provide for such development. However, she did not give up much of what goes back to her own fundamental traditions and which also played a positive role in her success. This fruitful synthesis will be discussed in the next chapter. In the meantime, a few words about Korea.
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When we talk about World War II, we most often think of the European theater of operations. Meanwhile, in the vastness of Asia and the Pacific, where the Japanese were allies of the Germans, battles unfolded, which also had a considerable influence on the outcome of the war and the further fate of the Asian peoples.
lightning strike
Military operations in Asia began for the Japanese a few years before they entered Poland. Taking advantage of the weakness of China, where there was a struggle for power between several military groups, Japan already in 1932 successfully captured Manchuria, creating a semblance of independent state. After 5 years, the descendants of the samurai started a war already for the capture of all of China. Therefore, the main events of the Second World War in 1939-1940 took place only in Europe, and not in the Asian expanses. The Japanese government was in no hurry to disperse its forces until the leading colonial powers capitulated. When France and Holland were under German occupation, preparations for war began.
Country rising sun had very limited resources. Therefore, the main emphasis was on the rapid capture of territories and their colonization. It can be said that Japan in World War II used tactics similar to the German blitzkrieg. After the capitulation of the French and Dutch, the USSR and the USA remained the most serious opponents in this region. After June 22, 1941, the Soviet Union had no time for Japan, so the main blow had to be delivered against the American fleet. On December 7, this was done - in the attack on Pearl Harbor, almost all American aircraft and ships were destroyed. pacific ocean.
This event came as a complete surprise to the Americans and their allies. No one believed that Japan, occupied with the war in China, would attack some other territory. Meanwhile, military operations developed more and more rapidly. Hong Kong and Indochina quickly found themselves under Japanese occupation, in January 1942 British troops were driven out of Malaysia and Singapore, and by May the Philippines and Indonesia were in the hands of the Japanese. Thus, under the rule of the descendants of the samurai, there was a vast territory of 10 million square kilometers.
Japan's early successes in World War II were also aided by well thought-out propaganda. it was suggested that the Japanese had come to liberate them from white imperialism and build a prosperous society together. Therefore, the occupiers at first supported the local population. There were similar sentiments in countries that had not yet been conquered - for example, in India, to which the Japanese prime minister promised independence. It was only later, when he saw that at first glance, “their own” aliens are no better than Europeans, locals launched an active rebellion.
From victories to defeats
But the Japanese blitzkrieg collapsed with the same crash as the Barbarossa plan. By the middle of 1942, the Americans and the British came to their senses and launched an offensive. Japan, with its limited resources, could not win this fight. In June 1942, the Americans inflicted a crushing defeat on the enemy at Midway Atoll, not far from the famous Pearl Harbor. Four Japanese aircraft carriers and the best Japanese pilots went to the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. In February 1943, after several months of bloody fighting, the Americans occupied Guadalcanal.
For six months, the United States, taking advantage of the lull at the front, increased the number of aircraft carriers many times over, and launched a new offensive. The Japanese left the Pacific archipelagos one by one under the onslaught of the enemy, who outnumbered them in armament and numbers.
At the same time, it is worth saying that these victories were not given to the Americans easily. The battles that Japan lost in World War II brought many losses to the enemy. The soldiers and officers of the imperial army, in accordance with samurai traditions, were in no hurry to surrender and fought to the last. The Japanese command actively used this resilience, a vivid example of which is the famous kamikaze. Even the besieged units blocked on the islands held out to the last. As a result, by the time of the surrender, many soldiers and officers of the Japanese army simply died of starvation.
But neither heroism nor selflessness helped the Land of the Rising Sun survive. In August 1945, after the nuclear attack, the government decided to capitulate. So Japan was defeated in World War II.
The country was quickly occupied by American troops. War criminals were executed, parliamentary elections were held, and a new constitution was adopted. The agrarian reform carried out forever eliminated the samurai class, which already existed more in tradition. The Americans did not dare to abolish the monarchy, fearing a social explosion. But the consequences of the Second World War for other Asian countries were such that they forever changed political map this region. The peoples who fought against the Japanese no longer wanted to endure the colonial authorities and entered into a fierce struggle for their independence.
2.2 Japan during World War II
After Germany occupied France and Holland in 1940, Japan took advantage of the favorable situation and seized their colonies - Indonesia and Indochina.
On September 27, 1940, Japan entered into a military alliance (Triple Pact) with Germany and Italy directed against the USSR. England and USA. At the same time, in April 1941, a neutrality treaty was concluded with the USSR.
After the German attack on the USSR in June 1941, the Japanese greatly increased their military potential on the border in this area - the Kwantung Army. However, the failure of the German blitzkrieg and the defeat near Moscow, as well as the fact that the Soviet Union constantly kept combat-ready divisions on the eastern borders, did not allow the Japanese leadership to start hostilities here. They were forced to direct their military efforts in other directions.
Having inflicted a defeat on the troops of England, the Japanese in a short time captured many territories and countries of Southeast Asia and approached the borders of India. December 7, 1941 The Japanese army suddenly attacked the US Navy base Pearl Harbor (Hawaii) without declaring war.
The surprise attack on US naval installations, located more than 6,000 km from the Japanese islands, caused enormous damage to the US armed forces. At the same time, Japanese troops invaded Thailand, began military operations to capture Burma, Malaya and the Philippines. The first stage of the war unfolded successfully for the Japanese militarists. After five months of war, they captured Malaya, Singapore, the Philippines, the main and islands of Indonesia, Burma, Hong Kong, New Britain, the Solomon Islands. In a short time, Japan captured the territory of 7 million square meters. km with a population of about 500 million people. The combination of surprise and numerical superiority provided the Japanese armed forces with success and initiative in the early stages of the war.
Playing on the desire of these peoples to free themselves from colonial dependence and presenting themselves as such a "liberator", the Japanese leadership planted puppet governments in the occupied countries. However, these maneuvers by Japan, which mercilessly plundered the occupied countries, establishing police regimes there, could not deceive the broad masses of the people of these countries.
The main reasons that kept Japan from attacking the USSR were its military power - dozens of divisions in the Far East, plight Japanese troops hopelessly stuck in a grueling war in China, whose people waged a heroic struggle against the invaders; victory of the Red Army in the war with Nazi Germany.
However, the situation soon began to change. The Japanese command underestimated the importance of using submarines and large aircraft carriers, and soon the American and British units began to inflict significant losses on them. In 1944, after the loss of the Philippines, massive bombardments of Japan itself by US aircraft began. Tokyo was almost completely destroyed. The same fate befell most large cities. However, even in 1945, Japan was not going to surrender and the troops resisted very fiercely. Therefore, the United States and Great Britain were forced to abandon plans to land their troops directly on the territory of Japan, and America made atomic bombing Hiroshima and Nagasaki - 6 and 9 August 1945
The situation changed radically only after the USSR entered the war. The Soviet Union August 9, 1945 Started hostilities against the Kwantung Army. It was defeated in a short time and already on August 14, 1945, the Emperor was forced to announce his surrender. The act was signed on September 2, 1945. On board the USS Missouri… / recent history countries of Asia and Africa, part 1, 2003, p. 51-70/.
On August 14, 1945, the government and military command unconditionally accepted the terms of the Potsdam Declaration and capitulated to the allied states represented by China, the USA, England and Soviet Union. It was a long and unjust war. It lasted 14 years from the moment the aggression began in Manchuria, 8 years from the time of the aggression in China, and 4 years from the start of hostilities against other peoples. During this war, millions of people were killed in China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Siam, Burma, Malaya and Indonesia.
Preparing for war ruling classes Japan gradually deprived its people of their rights and, in the end, took away all freedom from them. Initially, before the incident in Manchuria, communists, advanced workers and peasants were subjected to illegal arrests, torture, imprisonment and executions. Then, after 1933, repression spread to liberals and democrats. Freedom of speech, assembly, unions was destroyed. People who until 1936-1937. they thought that only the “Reds” were being persecuted, that these repressions would not affect them, that the revival of the economy caused by the war was salutary, during the war they realized their mistake. Many of them were forced to change their profession and forcibly sent to work in the military industry.
All economic life was regulated by the military, officials and big capitalists. The unemployed did not really become. But this happened because several million people were doomed to slave labor in military enterprises. More than 3.5 million young people, including students and 12-year-old schoolchildren (boys and girls), were mobilized into the military industry and Agriculture. In short, 80 million Japanese were condemned to forced labor in a huge military prison / Inoue Kiyoshi et al., 1955, p. 257, 258/.
By the end of the war, the vast majority of Japanese territory was completely in ruins. The Allied bombardments practically destroyed the main urban centers, including many cities that did not have a military or strategic purpose. Even more tragic was the fate of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which were virtually wiped off the face of the earth. During the years of hostilities, the Japanese army lost more than 2 million people / ibid., p. 259, 260/.
This led to the fact that the next sharp increase in oil prices in the late 70s did not have a significant impact on the Japanese economy. The second half of the 70s and 80s is the transition to a moderate pace model economic development, the most important features of which was the creation of knowledge-intensive production. The main attention began to be paid to industries working for export ...
contradictions. As a result, the Far Eastern outskirts of Russia are also becoming an arena of class struggle, a place of ripening driving forces bourgeois democratic revolution. International situation in the Far East in the second half of the XIX century. Despite the high rates of economic development in the post-reform period, Russia continued to lag behind such capitalist states as England, France, ...
The capitalist development of Japan, and the capture of Fr. Taiwan and the Penghuledao Islands was the beginning of the creation of the Japanese colonial empire. 6. Foreign policy at the beginning of the 20th century. Preparing Japan for World War Japan's international influence was growing. Japan got the European powers and the United States to cancel the unequal treaties. England was the first to refuse such an agreement - July 16, 1894. At the end ...
Human. The process started in Helsinki was continued at subsequent meetings of representatives of the OSCE participating States. However, further actions of the Soviet and American leadership led to the fact that in the second half of the 70s. the discharge process faded and resumed " cold war". The USSR decided to replace the obsolete SS-4 and SS-4 missiles with new, more powerful SS-20 missiles. The new missiles were ...
After Germany attacked the Soviet Union, Japan, despite the neutrality pact concluded with the USSR in April 1941, began to behave far from the spirit of this pact. The Japanese press unleashed unbridled anti-Soviet propaganda, calling for the inclusion of the Soviet Far East and Eastern Siberia Japan's East Asian sphere of influence.
At the same time, the Japanese General Staff was developing a plan of attack from the east. As can be seen from the materials of the trial of Japanese criminals, according to this plan, a surprise attack from Manchuria was supposed to seize Soviet Siberia up to Lake Baikal.
To accomplish this task, the Kwantung Army of the Japanese in Manchuria was intended, numbering about a million people in its composition with one thousand tanks and one and a half thousand aircraft. To this we must add 200 thousand policemen and gendarmes and almost 200 thousand army of the puppet state of Manchukuo.
In carrying out its plan, the Japanese high command was preparing to use bacteriological weapons on a large scale both against the Soviet Army and against the civilian population (primarily large centers - the cities of Voroshilov, Khabarovsk, Blagoveshchensk, Chita). For this purpose, by decree of the Japanese emperor, two large secret centers were created on the territory of Manchuria, encrypted under the name of the 731st and 100th detachments. These centers were directly subordinate to the Commander-in-Chief of the Kwantung Army. Numerous branches of these detachments were located in the directions of the main attacks outlined by the Japanese war plan against the Soviet Union. Detachments 731 and 100 and their branches cultivated the deadly germs of plague, anthrax, and glanders in huge quantities. Testing the effectiveness of the action of bacteria was carried out by the Japanese on living people - victims of Japanese aggression. By the summer of 1945, all the preparatory work was completed, and the laboratories of both detachments began the mass production of bacteriological weapons.
At the first instruction of the imperial headquarters, Japan was to start bacteriological warfare.
When planning a war against the USSR, the Japanese military hoped that in order to fight Germany, the Soviet Union would withdraw its troops from the Far East and that it would succeed without much difficulty. But the defeat of the Nazi German armies near Moscow and the collapse of the "blitzkrieg" showed the strength of the Soviet Union. Despite initial successes in the war against the USA and Great Britain, the Japanese military did not dare to attack the Soviet Union, but continued to keep the main forces of the land army near our eastern borders.
By the summer of 1942, the Japanese had significantly strengthened the Kwantung Army, giving it up to half of its artillery, about two-thirds of all tanks and three-quarters of all cavalry. In the event of a favorable outcome for the fascist German army in the Battle of Stalingrad, the Kwantung Army was to attack the Soviet Union from the east. However, the defeat Soviet Army German troops near Stalingrad cooled the ardor of the Japanese military. Not daring to openly oppose the USSR after such a lesson, the Japanese still did not reduce the number of their troops in Manchuria. Naturally, the very large Japanese forces that remained in the immediate vicinity of the Soviet borders until the end of the war in Europe forced us to keep a significant number of troops in the Far East, the use of which on the Soviet-German front could greatly accelerate the defeat of the Nazi army.
Not limited to pinning down Soviet forces, the Japanese put up all sorts of obstacles to Soviet shipping in the Sea of Okhotsk and the Yellow Sea and in the Pacific Ocean. In addition, Japan throughout the war supplied Nazi Germany data on the economic, political and military life of the Soviet Union obtained by Japanese intelligence through diplomatic and other channels.
The Soviet government could not but react to such obvious violations of the neutrality pact by Japan. As long as Japan remained an imperialist country, the security of the Soviet borders in the Far East, as well as world peace, could not be guaranteed. The Japanese government refused to accept the ultimatum from the United States, Great Britain and China, which the USSR joined, about unconditional surrender, presented to him on July 26, 1945, showing by this that it intends to continue the war.
