Japanese entry into World War I
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
entered
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
as a member of the
Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...
on 23 August 1914, seizing the opportunity of Imperial Germany's distraction with the European War to expand its sphere of influence in China and the Pacific. There was minimal fighting. Japan already had a military alliance with Britain, but that did not obligate it to enter the war. It joined the Allies in order to make territorial gains. It acquired Germany's scattered small holdings in the Pacific and on the coast of
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
. The other Allies pushed back hard against Japan's efforts to dominate China through the
Twenty-One Demands The Twenty-One Demands ( ja, 対華21ヶ条要求, Taika Nijūikkajō Yōkyū; ) was a set of demands made during the First World War by the Empire of Japan under Prime Minister Ōkuma Shigenobu to the government of the Republic of China on 18 ...
of 1915. Japan's occupation of Siberia against the
Bolsheviks The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...
proved unproductive. Japan's wartime diplomacy and limited military action produced few results. At the Paris Peace Conference in 1919, Japan was largely frustrated in its ambitions.


Background

In the second half of the 19th century Japan transformed dramatically from an almost totally closed-in society to a modern industrialized, empire-building and militarily aggressive nation. It seized colonies such as
Okinawa is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi). Naha is the capital and largest city ...
, it defeated China in a major war (1894–1895), and to the astonishment of the world it defeated Russia in a full-scale war in 1904-05. It made aggressive demands, took full control of Korea (1910), was expanding into
Manchuria Manchuria is an exonym (derived from the endo demonym " Manchu") for a historical and geographic region in Northeast Asia encompassing the entirety of present-day Northeast China (Inner Manchuria) and parts of the Russian Far East (Outer Manc ...
, and was demanding special privileges in the Chinese economy. By the start of World War I in 1914, Japan was considered a
great power A great power is a sovereign state that is recognized as having the ability and expertise to exert its influence on a global scale. Great powers characteristically possess military and economic strength, as well as diplomatic and soft power inf ...
. Japan and
Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...
had both avoided military alliances before 1900. That changed in 1902 with the signing of a treaty. This diplomatic milestone put an end to Britain's
splendid isolation ''Splendid isolation'' is a term used to describe the 19th-century British diplomatic practice of avoiding permanent alliances, particularly under the governments of Lord Salisbury between 1885 and 1902. The concept developed as early as 1822, ...
and removed the need for Britain to build up its navy in the Pacific. The alliance was renewed and expanded in scope twice, in 1905 and 1911. The original goal was opposition to Russian expansion. The alliance facilitated Japanese entry into World War I, but did not require Japan to do so.
William Howard Taft William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) was the 27th president of the United States (1909–1913) and the tenth chief justice of the United States (1921–1930), the only person to have held both offices. Taft was elected pr ...
in August 1914 wrote that if Japan and the United States remained neutral, they might be able to mediate and help end the new war in Europe. Britain had not consulted Japan before declaring war on Germany, but soon after the war began it requested Japanese help in identifying the location of German shipping, which it admitted was a non-neutral act. Japan decided that for its own prestige in world affairs it had to join the war-effort. The European allies formally gave Japan the status of a full ally, and Britain, France, Russia and Italy guaranteed support at the prospective peace conference for Japan's claims to take over Germany's possessions in China. However, Britain became increasingly annoyed at Japanese aggression, and quietly warned that Japan should not occupy German islands in the South Pacific (which were desired by
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
and
New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
), should not become involved in the Eastern Pacific, and should not seize the Dutch East Indies. When Japan ignored the hints, Britain made them public, and Tokyo felt insulted. Japan entered the war without restrictions, but in practice it took German possessions in China, German islands north of the equator, and made serious threats to Chinese autonomy, the
Twenty-One Demands The Twenty-One Demands ( ja, 対華21ヶ条要求, Taika Nijūikkajō Yōkyū; ) was a set of demands made during the First World War by the Empire of Japan under Prime Minister Ōkuma Shigenobu to the government of the Republic of China on 18 ...
of 1915. China, feeling very heavy pressure from Tokyo, and gaining widespread support from all the other Allies, decided in 1917 that it had to enter the war as well. The British were not at all pleased with Tokyo, and fielded even stronger complaints from Washington and from Australia. The
Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920) The Paris Peace Conference was the formal meeting in 1919 and 1920 of the victorious Allies after the end of World War I to set the peace terms for the defeated Central Powers. Dominated by the leaders of Britain, France, the United States and ...
did endorse Japan's gaining
League League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football Sports * Sports league * Rugby league, full contact footba ...
mandate Mandate most often refers to: * League of Nations mandates, quasi-colonial territories established under Article 22 of the Covenant of the League of Nations, 28 June 1919 * Mandate (politics), the power granted by an electorate Mandate may also ...
s over several former German possessions. But Japan went much further and demanded that a clause be inserted in the Covenant of the proposed
League of Nations The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ...
, announcing the organization's commitment to racial equality. Britain and its
Dominion The term ''Dominion'' is used to refer to one of several self-governing nations of the British Empire. "Dominion status" was first accorded to Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Newfoundland, South Africa, and the Irish Free State at the 1926 ...
s voted no, as did the United States; the proposal never passed and the insult rankled for years. Finally the
Japanese intervention in Siberia The of 1918–1922 was the dispatch of Japanese military forces to the Russian Maritime Provinces as part of a larger effort by western powers and Japan to support White Russian forces against the Bolshevik Red Army during the Russian Civil ...
(1918–1922), while parallel to the interventions by Britain, France and the United States, seemed like too much of a land grab. By 1907, Japan had come to détente with Russia, but the 1917
collapse Collapse or its variants may refer to: Concepts * Collapse (structural) * Collapse (topology), a mathematical concept * Collapsing manifold * Collapse, the action of collapsing or telescoping objects * Collapsing user interface elements ** ...
of the
Russian Imperial The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. The ...
government meant that Siberia seemed wide open. Japan wanted to renew the basic treaty with Britain, but increasingly vocal opposition came from the British Dominions, the United States, China, and inside Britain itself. The diplomatic solution was to end negotiations on renewal, and have all the major players endorse the naval limitations agreement of the
Washington Naval Conference The Washington Naval Conference was a disarmament conference called by the United States and held in Washington, DC from November 12, 1921 to February 6, 1922. It was conducted outside the auspices of the League of Nations. It was attended by nine ...
of 1921–1922. To Japanese disappointment, the treaty with Britain expired in 1923. Tokyo now had no allies or real friends.


Operations against Germany

The onset of the First World War in Europe eventually showed how far German–Japanese relations had truly deteriorated. On 7 August 1914, only three days after Britain declared war on the German Empire, the Japanese government received an official request from the British government for assistance in destroying the German raiders of the
Kaiserliche Marine {{italic title The adjective ''kaiserlich'' means "imperial" and was used in the German-speaking countries to refer to those institutions and establishments over which the ''Kaiser'' ("emperor") had immediate personal power of control. The term wa ...
in and around Chinese waters. Japan, eager to reduce the presence of European colonial powers in South-East Asia, especially on China's coast, sent Germany an ultimatum on 14 August 1914, which was left unanswered. Japan then formally declared war on Germany on 23 August 1914 thereby entering the First World War as an ally of Britain, France and Russia. It promptly seized the German-held Caroline, Marshall, and Mariana Islands in the Pacific. The only major battle that took place between Japan and Germany was the siege of the German-controlled Chinese port of Tsingtao in
Kiautschou The Jiaozhou Bay (; german: Kiautschou Bucht, ) is a bay located in the prefecture-level city of Qingdao (Tsingtau), China. The bay has historically been romanized as Kiaochow, Kiauchau or Kiao-Chau in English language, English and Kiautschou ...
Bay. The German forces held out from August until November 1914, under a total Japanese/British blockade, sustained artillery barrages and manpower odds of 6:1 – a fact that gave a morale boost during the siege as well as later in defeat. After Japanese troops stormed the city, the German dead were buried at Tsingtao and the remaining troops were transported to Japan where they were treated with respect at places like the Bandō Prisoner of War camp. In 1919, when the German Empire formally signed the
Treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles (french: Traité de Versailles; german: Versailler Vertrag, ) was the most important of the peace treaties of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June ...
, all prisoners of war were set free and returned to Europe. Japan was a signatory of the Treaty of Versailles, which stipulated harsh repercussions for Germany. In the Pacific, Japan gained Germany's islands north of the equator (the
Marshall Islands The Marshall Islands ( mh, Ṃajeḷ), officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands ( mh, Aolepān Aorōkin Ṃajeḷ),'' () is an independent island country and microstate near the Equator in the Pacific Ocean, slightly west of the Internati ...
, the Carolines, the
Marianas The Mariana Islands (; also the Marianas; in Chamorro: ''Manislan Mariånas'') are a crescent-shaped archipelago comprising the summits of fifteen longitudinally oriented, mostly dormant volcanic mountains in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, betw ...
, the
Palau Islands Palau,, officially the Republic of Palau and historically ''Belau'', ''Palaos'' or ''Pelew'', is an island country and microstate in the western Pacific. The nation has approximately 340 islands and connects the western chain of the Caro ...
) and Kiautschou/Tsingtao in China. Article 156 of the Treaty also transferred German concessions in
Shandong Shandong ( , ; ; alternately romanized as Shantung) is a coastal province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the East China region. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilizati ...
to Japan rather than returning sovereign authority to the
Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast ...
, an issue soon to be known as
Shandong Problem __NOTOC__ The Shandong Problem or Shandong Question (, Japanese: , ''Santō mondai'') was a dispute over Article 156 of the Treaty of Versailles in 1919, which dealt with the concession of the Shandong Peninsula. It was resolved in China's favor in ...
. Chinese outrage over this provision led to demonstrations, and a cultural movement known as the
May Fourth Movement The May Fourth Movement was a Chinese anti-imperialist, cultural, and political movement which grew out of student protests in Beijing on May 4, 1919. Students gathered in front of Tiananmen (The Gate of Heavenly Peace) to protest the Chinese ...
influenced China not to sign the treaty. China declared the end of its war against Germany in September 1919 and signed a separate treaty with Germany in 1921. This fact greatly contributed to Germany relying on China, and not Japan, as its strategic partner in East Asia for the coming years.


Operations against China

In 1914, Japanese and British military forces liquidated Germany's holdings in China. Japan occupied the German military colony in
Qingdao Qingdao (, also spelled Tsingtao; , Mandarin: ) is a major city in eastern Shandong Province. The city's name in Chinese characters literally means " azure island". Located on China's Yellow Sea coast, it is a major nodal city of the One Belt ...
, and occupied portions of
Shandong Province Shandong ( , ; ; alternately romanized as Shantung) is a coastal province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the East China region. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilizatio ...
. China was financially chaotic, highly unstable politically, and militarily very weak. China declared war on Germany in August 1917 as a technicality to make it eligible to attend the postwar peace conference, where they hoped to find friends who would help block the threats of Japanese expansion. They planned to send a combat unit to the Western Front, but never did so. British diplomats were afraid that the U.S. and Japan would displace Britain's leadership role in the Chinese economy. They sought to play Japan and the United States against each other, while at the same time maintaining cooperation among all three nations against Germany. In January 1915, Japan secretly issued an ultimatum of
Twenty-One Demands The Twenty-One Demands ( ja, 対華21ヶ条要求, Taika Nijūikkajō Yōkyū; ) was a set of demands made during the First World War by the Empire of Japan under Prime Minister Ōkuma Shigenobu to the government of the Republic of China on 18 ...
to the Chinese government. They included Japanese control of former German rights, 99 year leases in southern Manchuria, an interest in steel mills, and concessions regarding railways. China did have a seat at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919. However, it was refused a return of the former German concessions and China had to accept the Twenty-One demands. A major reaction to this humiliation was a surge in Chinese nationalism expressed in the
May Fourth Movement The May Fourth Movement was a Chinese anti-imperialist, cultural, and political movement which grew out of student protests in Beijing on May 4, 1919. Students gathered in front of Tiananmen (The Gate of Heavenly Peace) to protest the Chinese ...
.


Results

Japan's participation in World War I on the side of the
Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...
sparked unprecedented economic growth and earned Japan new colonies in the South Pacific seized from Germany. After the war Japan signed the
Treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles (french: Traité de Versailles; german: Versailler Vertrag, ) was the most important of the peace treaties of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June ...
and enjoyed good international relations through its membership in the
League of Nations The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ...
and participation in international disarmament conferences. However, it resented the sense of superiority among the western powers. The Japanese army was becoming an increasingly independent political force with its own plans on how to deal with Manchuria, China, and Russia regardless of civilian decision-makers.James B. Crowley, "Japanese Army Factionalism in the Early 1930s" ''Journal of Asian Studies'' 21#3 (1962) pp. 309–32
online
/ref>


See also

*
Causes of World War I The identification of the causes of World War I remains controversial. World War I began in the Balkans on July 28, 1914, and hostilities ended on November 11, 1918, leaving 17 million dead and 25 million wounded. Moreover, the Russian Civil ...
*
Diplomatic history of World War I The diplomatic history of World War I covers the non-military interactions among the major players during World War I. For the domestic histories of participants see home front during World War I. For a longer-term perspective see international rel ...
*
Historiography of the causes of World War I Historians writing about the origins of World War I have differed over the relative emphasis they place upon the factors involved. Changes in historical arguments over time are in part related to the delayed availability of classified historical a ...
* History of China–Japan relations *
History of Japanese foreign relations The history of Japanese foreign relations deals with the international relations in terms of diplomacy, economics and political affairs from about 1850 to 2000. The kingdom was virtually isolated before the 1850s, with limited contacts through Du ...
*
International relations of the Great Powers (1814–1919) International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...
*
Japan during World War I Japan participated in World War I from 1914 to 1918 in an alliance with Entente Powers and played an important role in securing the sea lanes in the West Pacific and Indian Oceans against the Imperial German Navy as a member of the Allies. Poli ...
*
List of territories occupied by Imperial Japan This is a list of regions occupied or annexed by the Empire of Japan until 1945, the year of the end of World War II in Asia, after the surrender of Japan. Control over all territories except most of the Japanese mainland (Hokkaido, Honshu, Kyus ...
*
Russo-Japanese War The Russo-Japanese War ( ja, 日露戦争, Nichiro sensō, Japanese-Russian War; russian: Ру́сско-япóнская войнá, Rússko-yapónskaya voyná) was fought between the Empire of Japan and the Russian Empire during 1904 and 1 ...
of 1904–1905


Notes


Further reading

* Akagi, Roy Hidemichi. ''Japan's Foreign Relations 1542–1936: A Short History'' (1936) online 560pp * Barnhart, Michael A. ''Japan and the World since 1868'' (1995
excerpt
* Beasley, William G. ''Japanese Imperialism, 1894–1945'' (Oxford UP, 1987). * Dickinson, Frederick R. "Japan" in Richard F. Hamilton, and Holger H. Herwig, eds. ''Decisions for War, 1914–1917'' (2004), pp 300–36 * Dickinson, Frederick R. ''War and National Reinvention: Japan in the Great War, 1914–1919'' (1999). * Drea, Edward J. ''Japan's Imperial Army: Its Rise and Fall, 1853–1945'' (2016
online
* Duus, Peter, ed. ''The Cambridge history of Japan: The twentieth century'' (vol 6 1989) * Edgerton, Robert B., ''Warriors of the Rising Sun: A History of the Japanese Military'' (New York: Norton, 1997) * Henshall, Kenneth. ''A History of Japan: From Stone Age to Superpower'' (2012). * Heere, Cees. ''Empire Ascendant: The British World, Race, and the Rise of Japan, 1894–1914'' (Oxford UP, 2019). * Inoguchi, Takashi. ''Japan's Foreign Policy in an Era of Global Change'' (2013). * Iriye, Akira. ''Japan and the wider world: from the mid-nineteenth century to the present'' (1997). * Jansen, Marius B. ''Japan and China: From War to Peace, 1894–1972'' (1975) * Kibata, Y. and I. Nish, eds. ''The History of Anglo-Japanese Relations, 1600–2000: Volume I: The Political-Diplomatic Dimension, 1600–1930'' (2000
excerpt
first of five topical volumes also covering social, economic and military relations between Japan and Great Britain. * Kowner, Rotem. ''The Impact of the Russo–Japanese War'' (2007). * Lowe, Peter. ''Great Britain and Japan, 1911–15'' (1969). * Matray, James I. ''Japan's Emergence as a Global Power'' (2001) * Morley, James William, ed. ''Japan's foreign policy, 1868–1941: a research guide'' (Columbia UP, 1974), Chapters by international experts who cover military policy, economic policy, cultural policy, and relations with Britain, China, Germany, Russia, and the United States; 635pp * Nish, Ian. "Japan" in Keith Wilson, ed., ''Decisions for War 1914'' (1995), pp 209–228 * Nish, Ian. ''Japanese Foreign Policy, 1869–1942: Kasumigaseki to Miyakezaka'' (1977) * Nish, Ian. ''Japanese Foreign Policy in the Interwar Period'' (2002) covers 1912–194
online
* Nish, Ian. "An Overview of Relations between China and Japan, 1895–1945." ''China Quarterly'' (1990) 124: 601–623. online * O'Brien, Phillips Payson. ''The Anglo-Japanese Alliance, 1902–1922'' (2004). * Paine, S.C.M. ''The Sino-Japanese War of 1894–1895: Perceptions, Power, and Primacy'' (2003) * Sansom, George Bailey. ''The Western World and Japan, a Study in the Interaction of European and Asiatic Cultures.'' (1974). * Schiltz, Michael. "Wartime and post-war economies (Japan)" ''International Encyclopedia of the First World War'' (2017)
online
* Storry, Richard. ''Japan and the Decline of the West in Asia, 1894–1943'' (1979) * Shimamoto, Mayako, Koji Ito and Yoneyuki Sugita, eds. ''Historical Dictionary of Japanese Foreign Policy'' (2015
excerpt
* Strachan, Hew. ''The First World War. 1 To Arms'' (Oxford UP, 2003). * * United States. War Dept. General Staff. ''Strength and organization of the armies of France, Germany, Austria, Russia, England, Italy, Mexico and Japan (showing conditions in July, 1914)'' (1916
online


Historiography

* Cornelissen, Christoph, and Arndt Weinrich, eds. ''Writing the Great War – The Historiography of World War I from 1918 to the Present'' (2020
free download
full coverage for major countries. * Morley, James W. ed. ''Japan's Foreign Policy, 1868–1941: A Research Guide'' (1974) 618pp


Primary sources

* Albertini, Luigi. ''Origins of the War of 1914'' (3 volumes, 1953)
Vol. IVol. IIVol. III


External links


Japan’s baptism of fire: World War I put country on a collision course with West
– Kyle Mizokami, ''The Japan Times'', 26 July 2014 {{History of Asia 1914 in Japan
Entry Entry may refer to: *Entry, West Virginia, an unincorporated community in the United States *Entry (cards), a term used in trick-taking card-games *Entry (economics), a term in connection with markets * ''Entry'' (film), a 2013 Indian Malayalam fil ...
Entry into World War I by country