Post World War I
With the defeat of Germany the world shuffled around seeking new seats. Japan, as a full ally, attended the Peace treaty negotiations expecting equal treatment. This was not to be. The Foreign Office, aware it possessed the largest fleet of battleships ever seen, had no fear of Japan. Australia did, but had its newly found American friends as well as its British traditions. Billy Hughes treated the Japanese quite badly at the conferences. Unlike most of the other nations, they came away with few concessions other than those thought to be worthless. These were mostly some ex-German Pacific possessions. Australia bitterly opposed these as they gave the Japanese a stepping stone towards her shores and gave too much recognition to the nation she considered the next threat. America was also unhappy, but was considered a junior partner by the European powers, who felt some concessions had to be made in recognition of Japanese loyalty. After all....what could a few useless islands mean in the great scheme of things!
Postwar Japan continued to make efforts to establish trade agreements and military treaties with Australia. By now, Britain had decided not to renew its treaties with Japan. Singapore was to become an impregnable base to protect British rubber and oil interests in Asia. With Germany now impotent, France bled white, and America fortifying the Philippines, only Japan could be seen as a potential threat. All Japanese approaches were rejected.
Now, however, the Japanese home situation was changing. Civil rule was being overtaken by events and Japan turned to military dictatorship, even if still outwardly under the Emperor. The new leadership was aware of the isolation of Japan and reacted badly to the racial insults involved in her treatment. Nonetheless they still made approaches to Australian and Britain. The Great Depression caused the British Empire to turn inward, as did many of the other Great Powers. Trade arrangements were made whereby the various members of the Empire traded with each other under a scheme of trade protection. When Japan wanted to join the British sphere she was rejected. However, as she lacked certain materials Australia had no compunctions in engaging in a one-way sales arrangement. Wool, wheat, meat, iron ore, coal, etc. were all exported to Japan, but for cash.
During the 1930s the spirit of Bushido rose to great prominence in Japan. She had been hurt by the Great Depression and a series of natural disasters. The Western powers had not only not helped, they had to some extent hindered Japan by refusing her the right to export to their homelands or colonies. Higher-priced “in house” products were preferred to cheaper ones from Japan. The myth of poor-quality Japanese products arose and was given as the reason for buying more expensive in-Empire products. In fact the myth of inferior products was to rebound, with Western Powers convinced that Japanese weapons, aircraft, warships etc. were of very inferior quality. Having been rejected from the Western Sphere, the new militant dictatorship cast about looking for alternatives. They decided to set up a ‘Co-Prosperity Sphere’ in Asia. Of course, the new Japan used the same methods as the West when they established their colonial empires. Japan therefore used a mix of diplomacy and military threat to forge an empire. Siam (Thailand) was wooed and won. Asian resistance movements in the western colonies were supported and encouraged. This of course was seen as hostile behavior by the colonial powers.
To Japan, China was seen as a sick nation that presented an excellent opportunity for colonial expansion. Korea & Manchuria had already been subjugated. The Philippines had never settled down under US Occupation and Malaya, the East Indies etc. were all experiencing independence movements. Even India was trying to throw off the Raj and was seen as a potential Asian ally. Japan poured its funds into supporting these revolutionary movements, seeing them as producing potential members of its “Co-Prosperity Sphere”. If Japan was to be denied admission into the trade corridors of the rest of the world she would have her own! The West had achieved this by force of arms and colonization. Japan now sought her own share.
Sino-Japanese War
The Japanese attack on China was received with relief in Australia. Japanese militancy and dictatorship was acknowledged, but with her army moving deeper and deeper into China, was not feared as much. Japanese atrocities were ignored as the orders for wool, iron ore, etc. poured in. Even the war itself was described as “The China Incident.” Japan paid in cash, and to an Australia struggling with the depression, this was too good to pass up.
As the war progressed, Great Britain strengthened Singapore and there seemed no likelihood that Japan could become a threat. Australian politicians defended sales of goods to Japan on the basis that the more they supplied, the more the Japanese advanced north into China, not the South Pacific. If Japanese soldiers were kept warm in Aussie wool as they pushed north, that was better than if they came south and needed light linen.
Still, Japan persisted with attempts at trade. A large diplomatic delegation was sent to Australia with much publicity. In return, Australian politi-cians, industrial leaders, and public servants, were invited to Japan to view what could be done on a mutual trade basis. Much newsreel coverage was given and many friendly speeches made. However, all Japanese attempts to sell goods to Australia and the British Empire were rejected. In the mid 1930s the Foreign Office advised Australian politicians that they need not fear the loss of Japanese sales. The Japanese were a captive consumer. They had no other means of obtaining the material they needed. The Dutch and British could sell them oil and rubber, coal and cloth. Australia could supply wheat, wool, timber, coal, iron ore etc. Japan would have to buy and would have to continue to pay cash. Mutual trade was not necessary.
But as the 1930s waned, Japan did find other ways. Ore came from Korea and Manchuria. Coal came from Manchuria. Other ores and products started to pour in from the conquered Chinese territories. Pork came from China and Korea. Seafood abounded and came from the undisputed waters Japan now controlled. Conquest seemed to be paying off. Chinese wool and cloth started to provide uniforms. The policy of militarism seemed to be proved correct and the stature of the military grew. More and more funds were made available to the army and navy. Less and less was purchased from the British Empire and Australia. The Washington Naval Treaty was rejected by a growing Japan as an unfair Western trick to limit their rise to their rightful position as a Superpower.
The rise of Fascism in Europe had at first been ignored by Japan. Europeans had rejected all approaches from Japan. She was not about to humiliate herself any further. However the Nazis saw some benefits from having a distant Asian ally. For one thing, Japan could threaten the colonies that had supplied Germany’s enemies going during WW I. If those supplies and troops could be disrupted, it was to Germany’s advantage.
The Nazis swallowed their racial policies and wooed Japan. Italy rushed to follow. In return, the Japanese were astonished. Here at last were major European powers offering to accept them on equal terms. The wishes of the 1890s and early 1900s were being fulfilled, albeit not with the allies they had originally envisaged. Nonetheless, Japan was now being treated as she had always felt she had deserved. Trade arrangements were made and military alliance followed.
Now at last, the British Empire became alarmed. However, instead of wooing Japan, they sought to isolate her even further. The sale of all material to Japan was banned. Japan made a few last purchases of iron ore from Australia. By now, however, public alarm was such that these attracted serious political dissent. Riots and demonstrations broke out at some wharves and Unions joined in banning Japanese ships. The last Japanese merchant ships sailed from Australian ports in 1938. By the end of the 1930s, when the world was marching off to war, Japan no longer sought products from Australia or the British Empire. The US had also joined them in banning the sale of oil to Japan. The nations concerned quoted the Japanese war in China as their motivation. This puzzled the Japanese who considered they were doing nothing much different to that which the West had done in the previous century. While the West railed against Japanese massacres, the Japanese press reminded its readers that the West could hardly come to the argument with clean hands. The more the West attacked Japanese policy, the more bitter Japanese politicians and the public became. Isolationism by the West had also produced a situation where the ordinary Japanese citizen now had little idea of Western view points. Nor did they have much cultural contact. War was inevitable.
With the military government having been proved “right,” there was nothing to stop them. Dictatorship meant there was no control over their actions. Western weaknesses such as the Geneva convention were rejected. Mercy was seen as weakness. Bushido was responsible for the greatness of Japan and was obviously the way of the future. The education system adopted it and so did the civil population. When the Japanese moved south at the end of 1941, Australian politicians saw this as justification for the fears they had held since the 1890s. As expected, Britain could not help much, and as predicted at the time of the Great White Fleet, only America could come to the aid of Australia. One can justify the events of history in what ever way one wants. Western and Australian politicians trumpeted the correctness of their predictions. Few gave any thought to the possibility that their very fear of those predictions had helped to bring them about.
Many publications were used and referred to in writing this essay. However I acknowledge the Australian Broadcasting Commission program “Out of Empire” as the inspiration for the interest it aroused in me and the inspiration to study the events that it produced.
BT
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© Copyright 2001 by Larry Bond and Clash of Arms.
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