Evaluate the impact of the First World War on Japan.

The question requires that candidates make an appraisal of the impact of the First World War on Japan, weighing up its importance or otherwise. A comparative approach may or may not be used. Candidates may refer to developments during the war, including territorial gains in Manchuria and Mongolia, or the impact of the Paris Peace Treaties. There may be evaluation of the economic impact of war, which increased industrial output, employment, prices and wages in the short term. However, the crash of 1920 showed that adjustment to post-war conditions was proving difficult in the face of continuing high prices and an over-valued currency. Candidates may evaluate the contribution of economic problems caused by war to the failure of Taisho democracy. They may also argue that the ease of victory in the First World War played some part in the rise of Japanese militarism.

Candidates were required to make an appraisal of the impact of the First World War on Japan, weighing up its importance or otherwise. There were some excellent responses to this question that really evaluated the positive and negative impact of the First World on Japan. Weaker responses did not really address the command term and so they became rather narrative/descriptive in nature.