DP History Questionbank
7. Imperial Japan: empire and aftermath 1912‑1952
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Description
This section deals with post-Meiji Japan; the failure to establish a democratic system of parliamentary government, the rise of militarism and extreme nationalism leading to aggression in Manchuria and China; and the attempt to establish a Japanese Empire in East and Southeast Asia and the Pacific under the guise of a Japanese dominated Co-Prosperity Sphere. The focus should be on the failure of democracy and the rise of militarism, placed in the context of Japanese cultural traditions, its perception of its economic requirements and the effects of the Great Depression of the 1930s, and the international situation.
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First World War and the post-war conferences in Paris, Washington and London
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Taisho Democracy: the growth of liberal values and the two-party system
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Rise of militarism and the influence of the army in politics
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Invasions of Manchuria (1931) and China (1937) and impact on relations with the West
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Pearl Harbor and the Pacific war (1941‑5)
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Defeat and the US Occupation: political and military changes
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Social, economic and cultural reforms under the Occupation 1945‑52
