Discuss the reasons for Japan’s changing relations with the West between 1929 and 1940.

Candidates are required to offer a considered and balanced review of the reasons why Japan’s relations with the US, European powers and the League of Nations worsened in this time period. Candidates may also explain how relations with Germany and Italy were strengthened.
Note: Candidates may argue that relations with the West were already tense in 1929 because of events in the 1920s but their response should be primarily focused on the years 1929 to 1940.

Indicative content

• Because of the Great Depression, Western countries protected their own economies by restricting imports. Japan’s silk exports to the US dropped dramatically as a result of US protectionism and this led to high unemployment in Japan.
• In 1931, the Kwantung Army invaded Manchuria. The League of Nations investigated this event and, in the Lytton Report, Japan’s action in Manchuria was condemned. In response to this Japan left the League of Nations in 1933.
• The West became concerned about the growing power of the military in Japanese government. In 1932, the Japanese Prime Minister, Tsuyoshi, was assassinated. There was an attempted coup d’état (February 26 Incident) by young Japanese military officers in 1936. These events made the West anxious of the Japanese government.
• In 1936 Japan withdrew from the Second London Naval Conference as tensions over the issue of China escalated.
• From 1937 onwards, the events of the Sino-Japanese War caused tension with the West. Atrocities committed by the Japanese Army, such as the Nanjing (Nanking) Massacre, shocked the West. Japan’s attack on Shanghai caused significant concern due to the amount of foreign legations in the city.
• Japan formed closer ties with Germany and Italy in the 1930s. The Anti-Comintern Pact was signed with Germany in 1936 and then with Italy in 1937. The Tripartite Pact was signed with Germany and Italy in 1940.
• Japan announced the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere in June 1940, which was a clear statement of their expansionist policy.
• The Japanese invasion of French Indochina in 1940 led to the Export Control Act of 1940, which restricted US exports into Japan. The sanctions would eventually include oil.

The above material is an indication of what candidates may elect to write about in their responses. However, the list is not exhaustive and no set answer is required.

Examiners and moderators are reminded of the need to apply the markbands that provide the “best fit” to the responses given by candidates and to award credit wherever it is possible to do so.

[20 marks]