Term
| Anglo-Japanese Alliance of 1902 |
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Definition
| The first military pact on equal terms between a Western and a non-Western nation. Promised British assistance if Japan became embroiled in a conflict with more than one power. Came into play in the Russo-Japanese War of 1905, when the British prevented the Baltic fleet from using the Suez Canal, forcing them around the Cape of Good Hope. |
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Term
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Definition
| Japanese demands made on China in 1915. Called for Chinese recognition of Japanese rights in the newly acquired Shantung Peninsula; employment of Japanese nationals as political, financial and military advisors in China; Chinese purchase of arms from Japan; and permission for Japan to build railways from the Yangtze Valley to the South China Coast. Marked Japan's unilateral departure from the existing balance-of-power system in East Asia and spurred the U.S. role as the protector of the new Chinese Republic. |
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Term
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Definition
| U.S. policy that called for free trade and investment in China; opposed to Japanese hegemony |
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Term
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Definition
| Clause that Japan attempted to add to the League of Nations Covenant during the 1919 Paris Peace Conference. Called for the principle of equality to be a basis for international relations. The Anglo-American powers, fearful of its implications to immigration, abstained from voting for the clause, effectively killing it. Important b/c future Japanese statesmen (Konoe Fumimaro, Matsuoaka Yosuke, Yoshida Shigeru, etc.) witnessed the debate and nursed anger against the Western powers because of it. |
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Term
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Definition
| 1921 conference to establish an international system in East Asia. Called for the Four-Power Treaty to replace the Anglo-Japanese Alliance; the Nine-Power Treaty condemning spheres of influence in China and pledging free trade and the preservation of Chinese sovereignty and territorial integrity; and the Five-Power Treaty limiting the production of battleships and aircraft carriers to a 5:5:3 ratio in terms of tonnage. In return for Japan's acceptance, the Western powers agreed not to fortify Singapore and the Philippines. |
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Term
| Japanese Exclusion Act of 1924 |
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Definition
| Act of Congress that forbade Japanese immigration to the United States. A blow to the Washington Treaty System and Shidehara diplomacy. |
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Term
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Definition
| Foreign policy advocated by Foreign Minister Shidehara Kijuro, which called for participation in the liberal capitalist world order and economic interdependence. Advocated peaceful economic development in China and recognition of the Washington Treaty System. An Accommodationist policy opposed by the Revisionists. |
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Term
| London Naval Conference of 1930 |
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Definition
| Updated the Washington Treaty System, calling for a 10:10:7 ratio for light cruisers and submarines between the U.S., Great Britain and Japan. Opposed by the Japanese Navy and other conservatives, its ratification resulted in Prime Minister Hamaguchi Osachi's assassination and the era of "government by assassination." |
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Term
| "government by assassination" |
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Definition
| Term coined by a New York Times correspondent in the wake of PM Hamaguchi Osachi's 1930 assassination to describe the era in which right-wing ultra nationalists furthered their cause by assassinating Japanese statesmen. |
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Term
| Manchurian Incident of 1931 |
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Definition
| Incident perpetrated by the Kwantung Army as a pretext for conquering all Manchuria and establishing the puppet state of Manchukuo. Japan's weak party government was unable to stop the Army. Precipitated Japan's exit from the Washington Treaty System and the League of Nations. |
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Term
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Definition
| Military alliance between Japan, Germany and Italy, the so-called "fascist" powers. |
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Term
| Marco Polo Bridge Incident |
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Definition
| 1937 incident at the Marco Polo Bridge, just outside Peking, that precipitated war between Japan and China and marked the start of World War II. |
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Term
| Greater East Asia Coprosperity Sphere |
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Definition
| Japanese vision of Asia in WWII that based ostensibly on pan-Asianism but in fact stressed "Japanization," reverence for the Emperor, observance of Japanese customs and holidays and use of Japanese as the common language. |
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