Empire of Japan

The Empire of Japan was an expansionary empire that emerged from Imperial Japan.

History

Japanese expansion began with the First Sino-Japanese War. The Treaty of Shimonoseki was signed on April 17th, 1895 and involved the cession of the Liaodong Peninsula, Taiwan, and the Penghu Islands to Japan. Korea was also made independent. A week later, Russia, Germany, and France intervened diplomatically in what is known as the Tripartite Intervention (三国干渉, Sangoku Kanshou). The claim to Liaodong Peninsula was dropped; Russia instead began to occupy the peninsula, and other European powers immediately began to occupy other port cities as well.

The Russo-Japanese War pushed Russian influence out of Manchuria and Korea. The Japan-Korea Treaty of 1905 made Korea a dependent protectorate of Japan, and in 1910 Japan annexed Korea entirely.

Following World War 1, German territories in the Pacific were partitioned in the South Seas Mandate; Japan took command over the portions of German New Guinea norht of the equator.

Manchukuo

Japan invaded Manchuria in 1931 and established the Manchukuo puppet state.

Thailand

Phibun allied with Japan and purged anti-Japanese nationalists from government.

Composition

The Empire of Japan technically included just:

• Japan

• Sakhalin (contested with Russia)

• Taiwan

• the Kwantung Leased Territory (leased under duress from China in perpetuity)

All other occupied and conquered territories were instead organized as puppet states.

Structure

Power in the Empire of Japan was split in a complex relationship between the military, the emperor, and ministries.

Most of the prime ministers were military officers rather than civilians. The imperial family all served in the military officer corps. There were several attempted coups.

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