Manchuria Sept 18, 1931
Hirohito in 1928, was more than a figurehead in Japan according to Herbert Bix
|
Japan as treaty-breaker 1931
|
Mitsubishi Nell bomber 1937
|
Mitsubishi Model A 1917
|
"mud hut in Manchuria" - "1st step in the Tanaka plan"
- according to Frank Capra's Prelude to War
- but 1928 plan not authentic - from Chiang's Nationalist propaganda
Instead, origin in Washington Treaty system of 1921
- capital ships (not cruisers) 5-5-3-1.67-1.67 (Eng, US, Japan, Italy, France)
- 4 Power Treaty - Eng, US, Japan, France - status quo, respect possessions
- 5 Power Treaty - no bases
- 9 Power Treaty - open door - international cooperation in China
- all powers accepted gold standard, existing colonies
Treaty revision process at first accepted by Japan
- Hirohito 1926-1989 - grandfather estab Meiji Restoration 1868
- 1928 Kellogg Briand Pact - outlaw war - signed by 64 incl Japan, Russia
- 1930 London Treaty - adjusted ratio to 5-5-3.5 incl. cruisers & subs
but Japanese military opposed London Treaty and whole Washington Treaty system
- Yamamoto ordered more aircraft carriers to join Akagi & Kaga, long-range Nell bomber, feared growing American & British fleets
- assassination of PM Hamaguchi 1930
- secret Cherry Blossom society of army officers - abortive March 1932 coup
Kwantung Army decided to act on its own (in Manchuria since 1905)
- opp'd imperialism, communism, corruption - led by Gen. Ishiwara & Itagaki
- blew up 31-inch gap in RR 3 mi. south of Mukden at 10:30 pm Sept. 18
- map
supported by mass media, newsreels, Zaibatsu elite
- Mitsui, Mitsubishi (built Zero 1939), Sumitomo, Yasuda
- helped by Herbert Smith of Sopwith Aviation and Alexander Baumann of Junkers
Sources
- Bix, Herbert P. Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan. New York: HarperCollins, 2000.
- Iriye, Akira. Origins of the Second World War in Asia and the Pacific. New York: Longman, 1987.
- Heppenheimer, T.A. Mitsubishi from Centennial of Flight, 2003.
- Japan