Was the Depression the main reason why Japan attacked Manchuria in 1931? EYA.
On 18 September 1931, a bomb exploded near the Japanese owned railway near Mukden. The Japanese Army blamed the Chinese nationalists and demanded that the Japanese government take action to protect Japanese interests in Manchuria. This event provided an opportunity for a military takeover of Manchuria. A full-scale invasion took place on 19 September 1931. In September 1932, the Japanese government recognised the new state by signing a treaty with Manchukuo, placing the new country under Japanese military control. The question is - why did Japan carry out such an act? What was the main reason that led to such aggression?
Great Depression caused it!
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Other problems caused it!
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i agree to this statement as one of the main reasons for japan's expansionist policies was a result of its inability to trade with other countries due to economic sanctions as a result of the protectionism policies adopted by them due to the onset of the great depression. thus, japan attacked manchuria in order to use it as a 'captive market' to dump all of its consumer goods in exchange for currency in a desperate bid to maintain its failing economy. Side: Great Depression caused it!
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The Great Depression led to many countries adopting protectionist policies, in a bid to protect their local industries. They placed high import taxes on Japan's goods and Japan's imports also became more costly, placing Japan at an economical disadvantage as they still had to import, considering that they depended on the rest of the world for food and raw materials. As Japan now had less trade, it needed to find alternative markets (yen bloc) to trade to their advantage and to the other countries' disadvantage, thus Japan attacked Manchuria, with the view of using Manchuria as a captive market. This will allow themselves to be able to trade favourably and be self-sustainable from an economic standpoint. While it is true that the lack of resources due to overpopulation is one of the driving force behind Japan's attack on Manchuria, the economic situation brought about by the Great Depression was the trigger that instigated Japan's attack on Manchuria. Side: Great Depression caused it!
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Due to the Great Depression, Japan's economy suffered a heavy loss. This made Japan invade Manchuria and force the Manchurians to trade with them in a way that benefitted the Japanese people greatly. The money gained from the unfair trading woud then allow Japan's economy to improve, helping Japan to recover from the Great Depression. -Jin Hao Side: Great Depression caused it!
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Japan was dependent on trade for its economy, and hence the Great Depression, coupled with the protectionist measures adopted by other countries, affected them badly. They could no longer get cheap raw materials and were losing market. Hence Manchuria was seen as a potential overseas market and could provide cheap labour and raw materials. Side: Great Depression caused it!
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The Great Depression, caused Japan to loose its major exports such as silk which were seen as unnecessary by other countries and could not trade for necessities. As Japan was facing hardship without being able to trade with other countries for items they required for daily life, They required to find other means to gather resources and invading Manchuria seems to be one of the ways out for Japan. Side: Great Depression caused it!
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The great depression was the main reason Japan attacked Manchuria in 1931. after the great depression, countries focused more on getting necessities rather than other sources. Japan however, produced consumer goods which was not needed at that point of time. Japan then faced an economic downturn. Hence, Japan then had to invade Manchuria which was rich in resources so that it can improve its economy. Side: Great Depression caused it!
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Japan wanted to gain more natural resources and raw materials to support their growing population and Militarization policies. Japan needed more resources to sell worldwide as their main export, silk was not selling well during the great depression and they needed a newer source of income. Furthermore, the great depression brought about huge trading taxes on Japanese goods. By capturing Manchuria, they would be able to secure a market that they could force their goods on and rebuild their economy. Therefore without the great depression, Japan would not attack Manchuria so soon in 1931 Side: Great Depression caused it!
The Great Depression caused many western countries to adopt protectionism. Since Japan mainly exported luxuries such as silk, which were not required by countries affected by the depression, Japan was hit by the depression badly. Furthermore, Japan relied on other countries for necessities such as on the United States for oil. After western countries adopted protectionism, Japan lost its suppliers for these necessities. Hence Japan had to attack Manchuria to get resources that it needed. Side: Great Depression caused it!
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- Marcus The great depression was the main reason why Japan attack Manchuria as they had a lack of resources after the great depression struck. This lack was resources although caused by the growing population of Japan, if the great depression did not strike, Japan could have possibly handled the situation without invasion. However after the great depression struck, Japan fell into a state where the need for resources greatly increased but they have no source of resources, thus had to invade Manchuria which was rich in land and resources to accomodate the population and to balance the need for resources Side: Great Depression caused it!
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The Great Depression did not directly cause the lack of resources but because of the Great Depression, other countries no longer wanted to trade their resources as they wanted to keep it to themselves thus causing Japan to have a lack of resources and having to expand towards Manchuria for land and resources. Side: Great Depression caused it!
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During the period of the Great Depression, Japan, whose economy was very dependent on luxury goods (such as silk), could not generate enough profits. This was because at that time, no country was interested in spending on such luxury goods when their economies were very bad. In addition, to counter their economy downturn, they instilled protectionist measures, putting Japan at an economic disadvantage. As Japan relied on imports for necessities, such as coal and oil, the protectionist measures adopted by other countries hit them hard. Since Manchuria was close to Japan, and at that point in time China was involved in an internal conflict, Japan saw Manchuria as a weak target to attack, seizing its raw materials such as timber, and trading with them on terms that were disadvantageous of them. Hence the Great Depression was the main reason Japan attacked Manchuria, as they needed to generate more economy and obtain more materials for themselves. Side: Great Depression caused it!
[Wei Chern] I believe that the Great Depression was the main reason for the attack on Manchuria because it caused Japanese's insufficiency of resources between 1918 and 1930, which could not support its overpopulation. Thus, in order to sustain its population blow-out, substantial food imports were essential but were prevented by trade embargo and foreign tariffs. Therefore, the lack of food and resources, coupled with overpopulation in Japan, further increased Japan's need to expand to get more resources, in which they chose Manchuria as it was rich in natural resources, such as iron, cooking coal, soybeans, salt and land as it was also sparsely populated. On top of that, Manchuria was a new market to sell Japanese goods, which would be essential for Japanese economic prosperity and a form of recovery after the Great Depression. Side: Great Depression caused it!
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Japan was an early victim of imperialism. However, they decided not to turn it around and emulate it. Thus, they carved out a substantial empire following their victory in the Russo-Japanese War. Part of their rationale was control resources like coal and oil that were necessary for their industrial economy. But it was also a way to strengthen their strategic position in the region. By having a large military and colonies, they increased their political power. Therefore, a big reason they went into Manchuria was to strengthen their strategic position in the region, and their military leaders strongly advocated this position. Side: Other problems caused it!
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The factor that mainly caused the attack on Manchuria was the increasing population of Japan. They required more living space for their growing population, and Japan had simply lacked the required resources as well. Manchuria offered nearly 200,000 kilometers of space, sufficient for the Japan's increasing population. Manchuria also had the resources as it was rich in minerals and agriculture. The depression had simply accelerated the decision of Japan to attack Manchuria. They would have had to attack Manchuria eventually at one point of time with their current financial state, as well as their condition of society. They already had no other choice left but to invade. Side: Other problems caused it!
The population woes is indeed one of the factors however, it would not be able to be one of the main factors as it still lies under the lack of resources such as land and food and Great Depression is a trigger to the lack of resources of Japan. Side: Great Depression caused it!
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The need for natural resources was the main reason Japan attacked Manchuria. Japan was on a period of rapid industrialisation and in order to gain sufficient industrial resources, Japan attacked Manchuria which was rich in natural resources and scarcely populated. This was a plus for Japan as Japan lacked in resources and was densely populated. Side: Other problems caused it!
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The great depression was not the main cause of Japan attacking Manchuria.It was due to the lack of space and natural resources in Japan that lead to Japan attacking Manchuria.Manchuria had a low population and lots of land and also a large amount of natural resources that Japan lacked.Japan at had little natural resources and was overpopulated.Japan saw Manchuria as the perfect place to invade and expand,and hence invaded Manchuria. Side: Other problems caused it!
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Japan's Foreign Aggressive Policy caused it. Japan wanted to expand due to the lack of space as well as the diminishing resources. To successfully create a reason for the invasion of the northern part of China, Manchuria, Japanese military personnel staged the event. -Jonathan Then :D Side: Other problems caused it!
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Other problems caused it! The Depression was not the main reason why Japan attacked Manchuria in 1931. Japan had other problems that were just as pressing, such as the problem of overpopulation. Overpopulation meant that they needed more land, such that the invasion might not be just for the Depression. Besides, they would have to attack Manchuria sooner or later, such that the Depression was just another factor which pressed them to attack at an earlier time. Side: Other problems caused it!
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Japan's idealogical goal was to be a dominant power in south east Asia. However at that time, China was slowly being unified and a unified China would spell trouble for Japan's dominance over Southeast Asia. Thus, Japan invaded Manchuria to disrupt that unification. Side: Other problems caused it!
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Japan attacked Manchuria because of their expansion plans. They wanted to establish a greater east asia co-prosperity sphere, which highlights the theme of Asia for Asians, which aimed to remove western powers from Asia and to free them of colonization. In order for them to achieve this, Manchuria was the first step to achieving this, as Manchuria was filled with many resources. Manchuria was viable as it was close (in terms of distance) to Japan, and China was in a state of anarchy and chaos, leading Japan to attack Manchuria Side: Other problems caused it!
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The Depression was not the main reason why Japan attacked Manchuria in 1931. Japan attacked Manchuria to spread its ideology. Japan wanted the whole of Asia to be united as one and be free from Western influence, which they thought were negative influences. Thus Japan attacked Manchuria. Side: Other problems caused it!
The context of Japan invading other nation's in order to spread their ideology was only used as propoganda to hide their main motive of their need for resources. This is evident from how the Japanese still saw other asian races as less superior, which is the is exact opposite of uniting asia. Side: Great Depression caused it!
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Technically, Japan was not spreading it's ideology. It was imposing its ideology! She believed in her superiority & natural role as the leader of Asia. Spreading of ideology would be akin to what USA & USSR does during the Cold War, getting their allies to adopt political, economic & social structures that mirrors their own. Japan did no such thing for the countries they invaded. Side: Great Depression caused it!
While Japan did attack Manchuria because of the economic problems caused by the Great Depression and Protectionism implemented the United States, it is indisputable that Japan also attacked Manchuria for political reasons. When militarism was fully established in Japan in 1930, Japan's government intended to use military powers to conquer other countries for the greater good of Japan, and to develop the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere. Since Manchuria had many political issues, Manchuria was an easy target for Japan's invasion. Hence, due to Japan's ideology of militarism and the political climate in China, the political reasons had made Japan invade Manchuria in 1931. Side: Other problems caused it!
I disagree that Depression was the main reason why Japan attacked Manchuria in 1931. Japan already had overpopulation issues before the Great Depression and their military suggested to invade Manchuria as it was the closest part of China that they could reach for their citizens to migrate for less crowding. Side: Other problems caused it!
OVERCROWDING Japan was becoming increasingly crowded due to its limited size as a nation and its rapidly increasing population. Mahuria offered nearly 200,000 square kilometres which would easily accommodate any over-spilling population. LACK OF RESPECT FOR THE CHINESE One of the side reasons that motivated the conquest of Manchuria was the low opinion the Japanese had on the Chinese. No thought was given to the Manchurian people whatsoever. REBELLIOUS ARMY The League at China ordered the Japanese army to withdraw. Japan’s delegates at the League’s headquarters in Geneva did agreed to this and the Japanese government in Tokyo also agreed to this demand. However, the army did not listen and it launched a full-scale invasion of Manchuria and by the end of 1931, it had occupied the whole of the province. The civilian government had clearly lost control of the army, and theLeague’s position was that it would deal with the government of the aggressor nation. But how could this succeed when the government had no control over the army which was the cause of the problem ? Side: Other problems caused it!
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Fear of a united China was also a reason why Japan attacked Manchuria in 1931. In the early 1920s, Sun Yat-Sen with the KMT party in China had established a united government in China. It had high ambitions of uniting China under one government, and planned actions to do so, such as military expeditions to the north and the setting up of the Whampoa military academy which supplied the KMT army with trained soldiers and officers. This would prove worrying to Japan as firstly, this could develop China into a rival economic power, which would lead to competitions in trade between China and Japan. Since the KMT was was backed by the US government, this would also mean that Japan would have to deal with another western influenced-government that is closer to its borders. Because of Japan's anti-imperialist stand, the Japanese government would be wary of such a government taking power and uniting China so close to Japan. The rise of Japan would also threaten Japan's future plans to dominate and "liberate" Asia from western Imperialism, as ,according to the Chinese saying, two tigers cannot live on the same hill". Thus, because of the fear of the rise of a western-backed major power, Japan attacked Manchuria to gain a forward operating base on the mainland, in preparation for the future conquest of China and Asia. Side: Other problems caused it!
Excellent analysis. You correctly pointed out that USA supported KMT, which meant that an independent China would be closely allied to the US. Alternatively, USSR supported CCP. So if China fell to communism, it would bring USSR right to Japan's doorstep! Side: Other problems caused it!
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