Japan (HM6)

The Empire of Japan under emperor is one of the and barely less imperialist than , with its Plans to create the . 1931 it already separated Manchuria from and turned it into its Marionette state of , and openly leads war against China since 1937, after occupying in 1932 already. Since then, many big cities like , , , and the old capital of have been conquered, and on the 20th of March 1940, Japan established in Nanking the "Reorganized National Government of the Republic of China" under its collaborator Wang Ching-wei, which controls an area of 1,264,000 sq km.
Theoretically China has Troops of several Million Men against somewhat more than a Million Japanese available, but in Practice they're lacking tanks and other vehicles, and many Troops just exist on Paper. However, there are signs that the Japanese Army isn't as great as it seems: 1939, the Nomonhan incident at the Mongol border happened, when the 6th Japanese Army fought against Soviet-Mongol Troops and suffered a surprising defeat. Also, the country heavily depends on imports from the - oil, scrap metal, not to mention weapons like war planes!
So far, the occupation policy makes the future look dark: Hundreds of thousands of Japanese have been settled in , Manchukuo, and China, and it's planned to settle Millions, if that number hasn't been reached already. Japan only states about this that it needed "Living space" for its more then 70 Million inhabitants. The subjugated population has to suffer; Millions were forced to labor (sometimes, like the Korean "comfort women", to Prostitution even), sometimes cowed with Opium, and systematically spied at (like the Koreans who aren't allowed to use their language in private even). After the conquest of Nanking, the Rape of Nanking happened, during which the Japanese murdered ten thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of Chinese. Only thanks to John Rabe, head of the International Committee for the Nanking Safety Zone - that despite him being a convinced Nazi! - some hundreds of thousands of Chinese could be saved. Not to mention the deeds of .
From the PoV of people in the "western World", the way how Politics are done in Japan seems inscrutable. Other than in Nazi Germany or fascist , there's no "Führer" who can pull all the strings (even if some may think that Hirohito was this). The Prime ministers and their cabinet members often change, often even after few Months, but this doesn't stop the country from expanding aggressively. Behind the scenes, Cliques are fighting each other and making intrigues - civilians against Military commanders (although the latter ones have the upper hand now, after simply assassinating several disliked Politicians in the years before), Friends of the Anglosphere against those of the Axis powers, and again and again the against the .
Category:Japan
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Category:East Asia (HM6)
de:Japan (W6)