The History of~Japan (Part 7: Japan Wins)

Japan; the mystical land of "The Rising Sun". Behind the facade of the Megalopolis that is Tokyo, lies a land stained in blood of some of the world's mightiest warriors; the Samurai. A land that has a history of military rulers that at times ruled with an iron hand.

This is part 7 of this 9-part wiki page series of the history of Japan. In this part, we will cover how Japan has risen to take on the world and score victories.

## Japan Wins

With Japan now industrialized, it has the power to take on other nations in the world, especially those 40 to 60 times its own size. Now, not seeking to take over the world, but to settle some scores with its far east neighbors, namely China; the nation Japan tried to conquer in the past, and it'll begin in 1894 with the first "Sino-Japanese War", eventhough Japan's current empire is new at the time compared to the Qing Dynasty which ruled China for nearly 300 years.

### First Sino-Japanese War

In 1872, Japan officially annexes the Ryukyu Kingdom (which has been under the Satsuma Clan for over 200 years at the time), renaming it Okinawa. But because of Okinawa's ties with China as well as other issues in the Korean Peninsula (who have been under the rule of the Qing Dynasty) as well as an incident in Nagasaki will all contribute to the first modern war between China and Japan.

The conflict begins on July 25, 1894, and after 8 months of fighting, the Japanese have easily defeated China with their superior numbers and weaponry. The factions would agree to the treaty of Shimonosaki, and the islands of Taiwan and Penghu were given to the Japanese as well as the Korean Peninsula being under Japanese military occupation, and opened up the floodgates for Europe, Russia, and the USA to set up "spheres of influence" in China.

It'll be another 10 years before Japan would fight against another country.

### Russo-Japanese War

Russia's problems in the late 19th century began to mount in the beginning of the 20th century, though they still wanted to expand their influence and with the Korean Peninsula under Japanese rule, this created a problem for Russia as they had plans to build a railroad to their naval port of "Port Arthur" where it provided the Russians a vital place for their navy since the water was warmer, and now it's in a Korean Peninsula occupied by the Japanese, and the Russians also bolstered their defenses around the 39th parallel. So, on February 8, 1904 the Japanese would invade Port Arthur.

Like in the First Sino-Japanese War, the Japanese had superior numbers and weaponry, not to mention that they were also fighting closer to home, nevertheless the war would be fought for a year and a half, that is until the Russians threw up the white flag and surrendered, leading to the Treaty of Portsmouth. The war would see Russia leave the Chinese province of Manchuria pretty much with its tail in between its legs, and the entire Korean Peninsula fully annexed by Japan.

So, Japan's victories would mean that Japan's new Empire was on the rise, and the Empires of Russia and China are on the decline. Though, japan's victories weren't directly related, but it would contribute to Russia and China having their own respective revolutions 10-15 years later as their military and imperial rule were left humiliated and would lose a lot of prestige.

But, Japan isn't quite done with war just yet, because almost a decade after the Russo-Japanese War, Japan would be a contributor to World War 1.

### Japan in World War 1

By having defeated China in the First Sino-Japanese War, Japan wasn't really happy that Europe, Russia and the USA were holding the Lion's Share of China, and now with Europe in a global conflict, Japan had interest in taking the Chinese Port of Tsing Tao (held by Germany), so Japan decides to aid the British and the Western Alliance in taking the port of Tsing Tao in exchange for Japanese troops in Europe, however Japan wanted more, they also wanted the Pacific Islands in Micronesia (also held by Germany) and the Brits allowed them to conquer them.

After the war ended in 1918, Japanese politicians were at the Palace of Versailles to discuss the famous treaty named after the French palace, and because they helped the Western Alliance in the war, they get to keep port Tsing Tao as well as Micronesia, on top of that Japan becomes one of the members of a peace organization known as the "League of Nations".

So in the former part of the 20th century, everything's coming up Japan, it seemed it was on top of the world. But Japan would get a big head and invade Manchuria as it's economy was also effected by the Great Depression in 1931, but in the next decade Japan's military prestige would be put to the ultimate test against an industrial giant in the United States of America.

That'll do it for this part, in the next part (click here). We will cover on how Japan tries to create it's "Pacific Rim Empire" and it's participation in World War 2. Until next time, this is JohnnyOTGS signing out.