Misplaced Pages

#962037

110-636: Opposition to the Washington Naval Treaty led to the formation of the Fleet Faction, which was led by Admiral Kato Kanji . The Fleet Faction was formed in reaction to the Treaty Faction , who had successfully negotiated the terms of the treaty. The treaty would lead to increasing militancy and opposition to the established naval staff, who were seen as defeatists and endangering Japanese national security. Further opposition to

220-573: A League of Nations Mandate, their Class C status gave Japan direct control over their domestic legal system. Japan administered them as Japanese territory and as part of the Japanese Empire. This situation continued even after Japan withdrew from the League of Nations in 1935 and lost its legal claim to administer the islands. Militarily and economically, Saipan, in the Marianas archipelago,

330-604: A cause for increasing the size of its budgetary requests. The Japanese seizure of strategically valuable territories in the Central Pacific, administrated by the South Seas Mandate , changed the strategic calculus of the navy in the event of a war with a major naval power. The IJN also undertook the construction of secret military installations in Micronesia, in violation of demilitarization laws concerning

440-569: A gun in excess of 16 inches. Only two large aircraft carriers were permitted per nation. No new fortifications or naval bases could be established, and existing bases and defenses could not be improved in external territories and possessions specified in the treaty. The tonnage allotment to Japan was based on a 5:5:3 ratio, compared with the United States and United Kingdom, with the justification being that these two countries needed to maintain fleets on more than one ocean whereas Japan had only

550-471: A larger battle line fleet were vindicated as they saw the Battle of Tsushima as a textbook Mahanian "Decisive Battle". A number of the battles in that war were fought at a greater distance than many had thought possible, showing the advantage in having guns that could fire the maximum distances. Satō Tetsutarō , who would become a future influence on Japanese naval strategy in the interwar period, established

660-454: A motion calling for the expansion of Japan's fleet to include eight battleships and eight battlecruisers . Immediately, issues with the fleet expansion plan surfaced because of the cost of procurement of such expensive vessels. Kato Tomosaburō, the architect of the 8-8 fleet plan, stated that competing with the industrial and budgetary hegemony that the United States had, constituted a feat that Japan could not achieve. Tomosaburo concluded that

770-500: A naval buildup, expanding the tonnage of its navy significantly. Japan's naval buildup triggered an arms race with the United States, which historian Stephen Pelz described as the "Race to Pearl Harbor". The contention over the Washington Naval Treaty resulted in increased military dissatisfaction with the civilian government, who had collaborated with Tomosaburo to reduce naval expenditures—pressuring Japan to accept

880-485: A policy of secrecy was adopted. Japan made it plain that it did not welcome the entry of foreign ships, even those of its wartime allies, into Micronesian waters. During the first five years that Japan occupied the islands, it consolidated its presence and the islands became a virtual Japanese colony. The IJN divided the territory into five naval districts in Palau, Saipan , Truk , Ponape and Jaluit Atoll , all reporting to

990-781: A purely civilian administration. When the Ministry of Colonial Affairs was absorbed into the Ministry of Greater East Asia in November 1942, the primacy of the IJN was again recognized by the appointment of an admiral as the Governor. Furthermore, the six administrative districts were reduced to three in November 1943: North, East, and West. The population of the South Seas Mandate was too small to provide significant markets and

1100-492: A rear admiral at the naval headquarters at Truk. A proposal at the Versailles Conference to allow trade and migration between those islands to be administered by Japan and those to be administered by Australia and New Zealand was rejected. Japan was able to continue administering the islands as if they were colonial possessions, keeping their waters off-limits to foreigners. When the islands became legally

1210-725: A signatory state to go to war to aid the other. Within hours of Britain's declaration of war on Germany in 1914, Japan invoked the treaty and offered to declare war on the German Empire if it could take German territories in China and the South Pacific. The British government officially asked Japan for assistance in destroying the raiders from the Imperial German Navy in and around Chinese waters, and Japan sent Germany an ultimatum demanding that it vacate China and

SECTION 10

#1732780441963

1320-539: A strength ratio of approximately 5:5:3:1.75:1.75 for the UK, the United States, Japan, Italy, and France, respectively. The qualitative limits of each type of ship were as follows: The treaty also detailed by Chapter II the individual ships to be retained by each navy, including the allowance for the United States to complete two further ships of the Colorado class and for the UK to complete two new ships in accordance with

1430-615: A war with the United States. Washington Naval Treaty The Washington Naval Treaty , also known as the Five-Power Treaty , was a treaty signed during 1922 among the major Allies of World War I , which agreed to prevent an arms race by limiting naval construction. It was negotiated at the Washington Naval Conference in Washington, D.C. from November 1921 to February 1922 and signed by

1540-456: Is to disarm". The ambitious slogan received enthusiastic public endorsement and likely abbreviated the conference while helping ensure his proposals were largely adopted. He subsequently proposed the following: The proposals for capital ships were largely accepted by the British delegation. However, they were controversial with the British public. Britain could no longer have adequate fleets in

1650-494: The Furutaka class . The suggestion was adopted with little debate. A major British demand during the negotiations was the complete abolition of the submarine, which had proved so effective against them in the war . That proved impossible, particularly as a result of French opposition, which demanded an allowance of 90,000 tons of submarines, and the conference ended without an agreement to restrict submarines. Article XIX of

1760-612: The First Sino-Japanese War , Japan acquired a significant indemnity , using it to undertake an unprecedented naval buildup. Japan doubled its naval personnel and increased its naval tonnage from 30,000 prewar to 250,000 tons in 1903. Japan's naval buildup elevated it to the fourth largest naval power by the completion of the Six-Six Fleet plan. Following the Russo-Japanese War, the proponents of

1870-619: The Geneva Naval Conference and London Naval Treaty fueled increasingly hawkish demands for naval expansion by the kantai-ha , leading to a split between junior and senior naval officers in the Navy Ministry . During the rise of statism in Shōwa Japan , the Fleet Faction consolidated power in a series of purges and political violence against treaty proponents, eventually resulting in the abrogation and denunciation of

1980-605: The London Naval Treaty of 1930 and the Second London Naval Treaty of 1936. By the mid-1930s, Japan and Italy renounced the treaties, while Germany renounced the Treaty of Versailles which had limited its navy. Naval arms limitation became increasingly difficult for the other signatories. Immediately after World War I, Britain still had the world's largest and most powerful navy, followed by

2090-851: The Mandate for the German Possessions in the Pacific Ocean Lying North of the Equator , was a League of Nations mandate in the " South Seas " given to the Empire of Japan by the League of Nations following World War I . The mandate consisted of islands in the north Pacific Ocean that had been part of German New Guinea within the German colonial empire until they were occupied by Japan during World War I. Japan governed

2200-591: The Marshall , Marianas and Caroline Islands . The ultimatum went unanswered and Japan formally declared war on Germany on 23 August 1914. Japan participated in a joint operation with British forces in autumn 1914 in the Siege of Tsingtao ( Qingdao ) to capture the Kiautschou Bay Leased Territory in China's Shandong Province. The Japanese Navy was tasked with pursuing and destroying

2310-694: The North Sea , the Mediterranean and the Far East simultaneously, which provoked outrage from parts of the Royal Navy. Nevertheless, there was huge demand for the British to agree to the limits and reductions: the risk of war with the Americans was increasingly regarded as merely theoretical as there were very few policy differences between the two Anglophone powers; continued naval spending

SECTION 20

#1732780441963

2420-665: The Pacific Ocean . Tomosaburo, though "dumbfounded", readily accepted the US's terms in return for a guarantee of the status quo on US bases in Guam and the Philippines. In contrast, Kanji vehemently opposed the proposal. Kanji argued that the treaty was "outrageous" and stated that the US was attempting to enforce its hegemony upon Japan through arms control, calling the treaty an " unequal treaty " and an "unbearable humiliation". Kanji

2530-532: The Seiyukai party, which advocated for an increased naval budget. The navy's influence over the Seiyukai allowed them to manufacture a sense of crisis regarding the strength of Japanese naval power, creating pro navy propaganda and influencing the public in order to support "navalism". The Fleet Faction's efforts would not go without merit, as the public's support for naval expansion increased year over year. Kanji

2640-717: The Shandong Peninsula worsened the Shandong problem with the Republic of China . The Japanese imposition of the 21 Demands and Nishihara Loans further worsened relations with the west, which combined with evolving British Commonwealth interests and the looming Washington Naval Conference would result in the collapse of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance . The First World War gave the Japanese navy

2750-655: The Treaty of Versailles . The southern part of the protectorate was mandated to come under Australian administration as the Territory of New Guinea , consisting of Kaiser-Wilhelmsland (the German territory on the island of New Guinea ) and the German-controlled islands south of the equator. Meanwhile, Japanese occupation of the northern part of the protectorate, consisting of the Micronesian islands north of

2860-407: The U.S. Pacific Fleet and then with the U.S. Atlantic Fleet . It calculated that a 7:5 ratio in the first battle would produce enough of a margin of victory to be able to win the subsequent engagement and so a 3:5 ratio was unacceptable because a 3:5 total fleet size ratio would imply a 6:5 ratio in the first battle. Nevertheless, the director of the delegation, Katō Tomosaburō , preferred to accept

2970-486: The attack of Pearl Harbor , argued that Japan should remain in the treaty. His opinion was more complex, however, in that he believed the United States could outproduce Japan by a greater factor than the 5:3 ratio because of the huge American production advantage of which he had expert knowledge since he had served with the Japanese embassy in Washington. After the signing of the treaty, he commented, "Anyone who has seen

3080-604: The equator , was formally recognized by the treaty. Japan was given a League of Nations Class C mandate to govern them, the C Class being assigned because the Mandates Commission regarded the islands as having "low cultural, economic and political development". The terms of the Mandate specified that the islands should be demilitarized and Japan should not extend its influence further into the Pacific. The Mandate

3190-519: The indigenous peoples of Oceania . Japanese immigration led to the population growing from under 4,000 in 1920 to 70,000 inhabitants in 1930, and more than 80,000 in 1933. By 1935 the Japanese population alone was more than 50,000. By 1937 almost 90 percent of the population on Saipan was Japanese (42,547 out of 46,748). In the census of December 1939, the total population was 129,104, of which 77,257 were Japanese (including ethnic Chinese and Koreans), 51,723 indigenous islanders and 124 foreigners. While

3300-461: The non-interventionalism of the prewar era, with little enthusiasm for continued naval expansion. Britain also could ill afford the exorbitant cost of capital ships. In late 1921, the US became aware that Britain was planning a conference to discuss the strategic situation in the Pacific and Far East regions. To forestall the British plan and to satisfy domestic demands for a global disarmament conference, Warren Harding 's administration called

3410-547: The Americans and the British to construct equivalent ships. Hughes proposed to limit secondary ships ( cruisers and destroyers ) in the same proportions as capital ships. However, that was unacceptable to both the British and the French. The British counterproposal, in which the British would be entitled to 450,000 tons of cruisers in consideration of its imperial commitments but the United States and Japan to only 300,000 and 250,000 respectively, proved equally contentious. Thus,

Fleet Faction - Misplaced Pages Continue

3520-588: The Empire as well as between the islands. The route between the Empire and the islands was subsequently taken over by the Japanese Mail Steamship Company ( Nippon Yusen Kaisha ), the largest steamship line in the Empire. The luxurious amenities offered on board some of the company's vessels brought about the beginning of Japanese tourism to the islands. The flying boat was the principal type of aircraft used for commercial aviation due to

3630-548: The German East Asia Squadron and protection of the shipping lanes for Allied commerce in the Pacific and Indian Oceans . During the course of this operation, the Japanese Navy seized the German possessions in the Marianas, Carolines, Marshall Islands and Palau groups by October 1914. After the end of World War I, the protectorate of German New Guinea was divided amongst the war's victors by

3740-535: The German crews scuttled most of their ships on 21 June 1919. News of the scuttling angered the French and the Italians, with the French particularly unimpressed with British explanations that the fleet guarding the Germans had then been away on exercises. Nevertheless, the British joined their allies in condemning the German actions, and no credible evidence emerged to suggest that the British had collaborated with

3850-418: The Germans with respect to the scuttling. The Treaty of Versailles , signed a week later on 28 June 1919, imposed strict limits on the sizes and numbers of warships which the newly-installed German government had the right to build and maintain. The Americans, British, French, Italians, and Japanese had been allies during World War I, but with the German threat seemingly finished, a naval arms race between

3960-519: The IJN, held that Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands were the area of greatest potential value to the Japanese Empire for economic and territorial expansion. The Anglo-Japanese Alliance of 1902 had been signed primarily to serve Britain's and Japan's common interest of opposing Russian expansion. Amongst other provisions the treaty called on each party to support the other in a war against more than one power, although it did not require

4070-671: The IJN. Between 1914 and 1920 the islands began the slow transition from naval to civilian administration. By 1920 all authority had been transferred from the Naval Defense Force to the Civil Affairs Bureau which was directly responsible to the Navy Ministry. Initially based in Truk, the Civil Affairs Bureau was moved to Koror in the Palau islands in 1921. The naval garrisons were disbanded to comply with

4180-440: The Japanese Empire. The phosphate resources of the islands were exploited by Japanese mining companies, which took over the German phosphate mines on Angaur island and expanded them. Smaller phosphate mines on neighboring islands were also opened. Total exports to Japan eventually reached around 200,000 tonnes per year. Angaur island alone produced some 60,000 tonnes per year. The phosphates were used for farming. Bauxite

4290-516: The Japanese fishing fleet which was centred at Koror. Fishing formed one of the most profitable industries in the islands. Large fleets of boats were used and fish processing plants were set up on many islands. Harbor improvement works were undertaken at Tanaha ( Japanese : 棚葉 ) in Saipan and Malakal Island in Palau in the late 1920s. By the end of the 1920s the mandate became self-sufficient, no longer needing subsidy and financially contributing to

4400-707: The Japanese government gave formal notice that it intended to terminate the treaty. Its provisions remained in force formally until the end of 1936 and were not renewed. What was unknown to the participants of the Conference was that the American " Black Chamber " (the Cypher Bureau, a US intelligence service), commanded by Herbert Yardley , was spying on the delegations' communications with their home capitals. In particular, Japanese communications were deciphered thoroughly, and American negotiators were able to get

4510-465: The Japanese government pursued a policy of encouraging monopolies that paired private initiative with government capital. This strategy was intended to maximize the number of Japanese colonists. Until the late 1930s, the development of the islands was undertaken primarily to assist the Japanese civilian economy. Sugar cane had become increasingly sought-after in Japan, and Japanese trading companies led

Fleet Faction - Misplaced Pages Continue

4620-599: The Japanese had a greater force concentration than the US Navy or the Royal Navy. The terms also contributed to controversy in high ranks of the Imperial Japanese Navy between the Treaty Faction officers and their Fleet Faction opponents, who were also allied with the ultranationalists of the Japanese army and other parts of the Japanese government. For the Treaty Faction, the treaty was one of

4730-561: The London Naval Treaty in 1930, Harold Quigley from Current History concluded that the Japanese military had moved to "greater democratic rule" with the "defeat of the naval die-hards" as Japan was maintaining its pro treaty position. However, a growing rift was opening between the commanders of the Combined Fleet and the Navy Ministry. Yamamoto Eisuke, who was the commander of the Combined Fleet in 1930, protested that

4840-518: The London Naval Treaty of 1930. It was not until the mid-1930s that navies began to build battleships once again, and the power and the size of new battleships began to increase once again. The Second London Naval Treaty of 1936 sought to extend the Washington Treaty limits until 1942, but the absence of Japan or Italy made it largely ineffective. There were fewer effects on cruiser building. The treaty specified 10,000 tons and 8-inch guns as

4950-733: The Marshall Islands . In Japan, the territory is known as " Japanese Mandate for the Governance of the South Seas Islands " ( 委任統治地域南洋群島 , Inin Tōchi-ryō Nan'yō Guntō ) and was governed by the Nan'yō Government ( 南洋廳 , Nan'yō-chō ) . Japanese interest in what it called the "South Seas" ( 南洋 , Nan’yō ) began in the 19th century, prior to its imperial expansion into Korea and China . By 1875, ships from

5060-470: The United States Navy. Kanji personally opposed the ratio as a matter of principle, arguing that Japan should have total parity, but stated that the 70 percent ratio was a "maximum concession". The two Kato's were both shocked by the demands of the US representatives, who demanded a ratio of 60 percent strength. The proposed treaty limited the total capital ship tonnage of each of the signatories. No single ship could exceed 35,000 tons, and no ship could carry

5170-450: The United States and, more distantly, by Japan, France and Italy. The British Royal Navy interned the defeated German High Seas Fleet in November 1918. The Allies had differing opinions concerning the final disposition of the Imperial German Navy , with the French and Italians wanting the German fleet divided between the victorious powers and the Americans and British wanting the ships destroyed. The negotiations became mostly moot after

5280-419: The Washington Naval Conference in November 1921. The Conference agreed to the Five-Power Naval Treaty as well as a Four-Power Treaty on Japan and a Nine-Power Treaty on China. At the first plenary session held November 21, 1921, US Secretary of State Charles Evans Hughes presented his country's proposals. Hughes provided a dramatic beginning for the conference by stating with resolve: "The way to disarm

5390-406: The Washington Treaty by Japan in 1934 and Japan's withdrawal from the Second London Naval Treaty conference in 1936. During the Meiji Restoration , the Imperial government undertook a series of modernizations of the officer corps . This included European modernization and education of Japanese naval officers, with the Tracey Mission establishing a naval school for some 100 cadets in 1867. After

5500-446: The absolute minimum possible deal that the Japanese had indicated they would ever accept. As the treaty was unpopular with much of the Imperial Japanese Navy and with the increasingly active and important ultranationalist groups, the value that the Japanese government accepted was the cause of much suspicion and accusation among Japanese politicians and naval officers. South Seas Mandate The South Seas Mandate , officially

5610-404: The administration of the region. The strategic calculus of the navy was the creation of " unsinkable aircraft carriers ", attempting to nullify the US Navy's advantage in tonnage via the fortification of Japan's interior lines in the Western Pacific. Following Woodrow Wilson's renewal of a shipbuilding program increasing the strength of the US Navy, the Imperial Diet , pressured by the IJN, approved

SECTION 50

#1732780441963

5720-405: The administration was initially still the responsibility of the IJN. The Governor reported directly to the Prime Minister of Japan . After the establishment of the Ministry of Colonial Affairs in June 1929, the Governor reported to the Minister of Colonial Affairs instead. The establishment of the "South Seas Government" or "Nan'yō-chō" in March 1932 finally put the government of the islands under

5830-404: The area by claiming that doing so would "excite an expeditionary spirit in the demoralized Japanese race." Despite the appeal imperialism had for the Japanese public at the time, neither the Meiji government nor the Navy seized any pretexts to fulfill this popular aspiration. It was through the commercial operations of fisherman and traders that the Japanese first began to make a wider presence in

5940-426: The auto factories in Detroit and the oil-fields in Texas knows that Japan lacks the power for a naval race with America." He later added, "The ratio works very well for Japan – it is a treaty to restrict the other parties." He believed that other methods than a spree of construction would be needed to even the odds, which may have contributed to his advocacy of the plan to attack Pearl Harbor. On December 29, 1934,

6050-407: The classes that they were replacing. The 1921 British Naval Estimates planned four battleships and four battlecruisers, with another four battleships to follow the subsequent year. The new arms race was unwelcome to the American public. The US Congress disapproved of Wilson's 1919 naval expansion plan, and the 1920 presidential election campaign resulted in politicians in Washington resuming

6160-478: The cost of constructing such a large fleet would amount to financial ruin for Japan, which was under the strain of a post war economic recession. The navy ministry, trying to avoid an arms race while under adverse financial and budgetary restrictions, accepted an invitation to the Washington Naval Conference. The Japanese diet concurrently passed a resolution calling for a reduction in arms spending, which had grown to 48% of Japan's budgetary expenses. Kato Tomosaburo

6270-427: The decisive battle doctrine and the 70% strength ratio. Such doctrine regarding the United States as a primal budgetary threat to the IJN became internalized and justified within the naval ministry as "maintaining balance" with a US navy that sought to become "second to none". Japanese expansionism significantly worsened Anglo-Japanese relations and American-Japanese relations in the 1920s. The Japanese occupation of

6380-416: The delegation and represented the influential "big navy" opinion that Japan had to prepare as thoroughly as possible for an inevitable conflict against the United States, which could build indefinitely more warships because of its huge industrial power. Katō Tomosaburō was finally able to persuade the Japanese high command to accept the Hughes proposals, but the treaty was for years a source of controversy in

6490-456: The development of the industry in the islands. The Japanese entrepreneur Haruji Matsue arrived on Saipan in 1920 and formed the South Seas Development Company , which became the largest commercial enterprise in Micronesia. He significantly expanded the quantities of sugar cane produced in the islands, with over 3,000 hectares (7,400 acres) under cultivation by 1925. By the early 1930s the sugar-related industries accounted for more than 60% of

6600-418: The displacement of the vessels as being within the limits imposed by the treaty. The naval treaty had a profound effect on the Japanese. With superior American and British industrial power, a long war would very likely end in a Japanese defeat. Thus, gaining strategic parity was not economically possible. Many Japanese considered the 5:5:3 ratio of ships as another snub by the West, but it can be argued that

6710-619: The erstwhile allies seemed likely. US President Woodrow Wilson 's administration had already announced successive plans for the expansion of the US Navy from 1916 to 1919 that would have resulted in a massive fleet of 50 modern battleships. In response, the Japanese Diet in 1920 finally authorised construction of warships to enable the Imperial Japanese Navy to attain its goal of an "eight-eight" fleet programme , with eight modern battleships and eight battlecruisers. The Japanese started work on four battleships and four battlecruisers, all of which were much larger and more powerful than those of

SECTION 60

#1732780441963

6820-413: The factors that had contributed to the deterioration of the relationship between the American and the Japanese governments. Some have also argued that the treaty was one major factor in prompting Japanese expansionism by the Fleet Faction in the early 1930s. The perception of unfairness resulted in Japan's renunciation of the Second London Naval Treaty in 1936. Isoroku Yamamoto , who later masterminded

6930-402: The fleet was constantly engaged in exercises because of its inability to match Western armaments. Yamamoto described the officials in the navy ministry as "civilian desk officers" and angrily tied the navy's failings to the Washington Conference and Kato Tomosaburo. The conflict between the two factions continued to boil as Kato Kanji resigned in the aftermath of the 1930 treaty, refusing to accept

7040-483: The future of Japan "lies not in the north, but in the south, not on the continent, but on the ocean" and that its "great task" was to "turn the Pacific into a Japanese lake." By the outbreak of World War I the empire included Taiwan , Korea , the Ryukyu Islands , the southern half of Sakhalin island ( Karafuto Prefecture ), the Kuril Islands , and Port Arthur ( Kwantung Leased Territory ). The policy of Nanshin-ron ("Southern Expansion Doctrine"), popular with

7150-402: The governments of the British Empire (including the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and India), United States , France , Italy , and Japan . It limited the construction of battleships , battlecruisers and aircraft carriers by the signatories. The numbers of other categories of warships, including cruisers , destroyers , and submarines , were not limited by

7260-456: The idea of limiting total cruiser tonnage or numbers was rejected entirely. Instead, the British suggested a qualitative limit of future cruiser construction. The limit proposed, of a 10,000 ton maximum displacement and 8-inch calibre guns, was intended to allow the British to retain the Hawkins class , then being constructed. That coincided with the American requirements for cruisers for Pacific Ocean operations and also with Japanese plans for

7370-468: The indigenous people had very limited financial resources for the purchase of imported goods. The major significance of the territory to the Empire of Japan was its strategic location, which dominated sea lanes across the Pacific Ocean and provided convenient provisioning locations for sailing vessels in need of water, fresh fruit, vegetables and meat. As a signatory of the 1922 Washington Naval Treaty , Japan agreed not to build new naval and air stations on

7480-467: The islands and it did not begin direct military preparations in the Mandate until the late 1930s. Nevertheless, the territory provided important coaling stations for steam-powered vessels and its possession gave an impetus to the Nanshin-ron doctrine of "southward advance". The population of the islands increased during the period of the mandate as a result of Japanese settlement in Micronesia . Settlers were initially drawn from Okinawa Island and

7590-421: The islands controlled under the mandate, viewing the islands as " unsinkable aircraft carriers " with a critical role to play in the defense of the Japanese home islands against potential US invasion. These became important staging grounds for Japanese air and naval offensives in the Pacific War . The Imperial Japanese Army also utilized the islands to support air and land detachments. In order to capture

7700-408: The islands from Japan, the United States military employed a " leapfrogging " strategy which involved conducting amphibious assaults on selected Japanese island fortresses, subjecting some to air attack only and entirely skipping over others. This strategy caused the Japanese Empire to lose control of its Pacific possessions between 1943 and 1945. The League of Nations mandate was formally revoked by

7810-399: The islands under the mandate as part of the Japanese colonial empire until World War II , when the United States captured the islands . The islands then became the United Nations -established Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands governed by the United States . The islands are now part of Palau , the Northern Mariana Islands , the Federated States of Micronesia , and the Republic of

7920-579: The latter to the prospect of an arms race with the United States, as the relative industrial strength of the two nations would cause Japan to lose such an arms race and possibly suffer an economic crisis. At the beginning of the negotiations, the Japanese had only 55% of the capital ships and 18% of the GDP of the Americans. His opinion was opposed strongly by Katō Kanji , the president of the Naval Staff College, who acted as his chief naval aide at

8030-473: The mandate required Japan not to fortify the islands. However, these terms were ambiguous and poorly-defined, specifying only that Japan should not build "fortifications" or construct "military or naval bases". From 1921 the Japanese military began making surveys and plans so that rapid military deployment to the islands would be possible in case of war. During the 1930s, the IJN began construction of airfields, fortifications, ports, and other military projects in

8140-404: The mandate's revenues. At its peak the company maintained over 11,000 hectares (27,000 acres) of sugar plantations using tenant farmers, as well as operating sugar mills on Saipan, Tinian and Rota . Bananas , pineapples , taro , coconuts , manioc , coffee and other tropical farming products were also grown, putting the islands on a par with Taiwan . The islands also provided bases for

8250-432: The maximum size of a cruiser, but that was also the minimum size cruiser that any navy was willing to build. The treaty began a building competition of 8-inch, 10,000-ton " treaty cruisers ", which gave further cause for concern. Subsequent naval treaties sought to address that by limiting cruiser, destroyer and submarine tonnage. Unofficial effects of the treaty included the end of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance . Although it

8360-512: The mid-1920s. However, by the Zara -class cruisers in the late 1920s and early 1930s, it had abandoned all pretense and built ships that topped 11,000 long tons (11,000 t) by a wide margin. The violations continued with the Littorio -class battleships of the mid-1930s, which had a standard displacement in excess of 40,000 long tons (41,000 t). The Italian Navy nevertheless misrepresented

8470-455: The naval board's negotiated position on tonnage strength. In the 1930s, as the Fleet Faction's influence steadily increased due to the militarist takeover of the armed forces, the "pragmatic" politicians and naval officers of the treaty faction were sidelined in favor of the expansionists. Former naval minister Takabe Takereshi was forcibly retired to the reserves in the early 1930s and was subject to an assassination attempt by junior officers in

8580-453: The naval disarmament clauses of the Treaty of Versailles . German naval rearmament threatened France, and according to the French perspective, if Britain freely violated treaty obligations, France would similarly not be constrained. Italy repeatedly violated the displacement limits on individual ships and attempted to remain within the 10,000-ton limit for the Trento -class cruisers built in

8690-468: The navy ministry, under Kato Tomosaburo , assigned the United States the designation of a "budgetary enemy" and argued that Japanese naval strength should be expanded and based on the US Pacific Fleet 's armament strength. The IJN also obtained confidential information in regards to the US's plans for a war against Japan in the Pacific ( War Plan Orange ), further vindicating the navy's stance on

8800-500: The navy. The French delegation initially responded negatively to the idea of reducing their capital ships' tonnage to 175,000 tons and demanded 350,000, slightly above the Japanese limit. In the end, concessions regarding cruisers and submarines helped persuade the French to agree to the limit on capital ships. Another issue that was considered critical by the French representatives was the Italian request of substantial parity, which

8910-415: The navy. "Pragmatic officers" such as Teikichi Hori and Yamanashi Katsunoshin were dismissed from high command by Mineo Osumi , who was under the influence of the faction. With hawks in control of the IJN, the IJN allowed arms control agreements negotiated by members of the treaty faction to expire and began requesting increasingly higher budget appropriations from the central government in order to expand

9020-478: The newly established Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) began to hold training missions in the area. Shiga Shigetaka , a writer who accompanied a Navy cruise to the region in 1886, published his Current State of Affairs in the South Seas ( 南洋時事 , Nan’yō jiji ) in 1887, marking the first time a Japanese civilian published a firsthand account of Micronesia. Three years later, Shiga advocated for annexation of

9130-422: The other Ryukyu Islands , but immigrants subsequently came from other parts of Japan, particularly the economically deprived Tōhoku region . Agricultural workers were followed by shopkeepers, restaurant, geisha house and brothel-keepers, expanding former German settlements into Japanese boom towns. The initial population figures (1919–1920) for the mandated territories included around 50,000 islanders, made up from

9240-510: The principle of the Big Gun based on his inferences from Tsushima. Tetsutaro's writing would heavily influence Kato Kanji's thinking in regards to a future maritime conflict with the United States, with his postulations on a 70% ratio in total naval strength vis-à-vis the USN influencing later naval opposition to arms control. Further following Mahanian thinking in regards to a "hypothetical enemy",

9350-414: The region, which continued to grow despite challenges from competing German commercial interests. Although the Japanese public's enthusiasm for southward expansion had abated by the turn of the century, a number of important intellectuals, businessmen, and military officials continued to advocate for it. Among them were Admiral Satō Tetsutarō and Diet member Takekoshi Yosaburō . The latter declared that

9460-404: The settler population was growing, the indigenous Micronesian population in some areas was declining. The rights and status of the indigenous population differed from those of Japanese imperial subjects. Employment prospects for Micronesians were more restricted, with unequal labor conditions and pay. The government of the Mandate built and maintained hospitals and schools, and free education

9570-428: The ships to be scrapped to comply with the treaty and when the remaining ships could be replaced. In all, the United States had to scrap 30 existing or planned capital ships, Britain 23 and Japan 17. The treaty marked the end of a long period of increases of battleship construction. Many ships that were being constructed were scrapped or converted into aircraft carriers . Treaty limits were respected and then extended by

9680-420: The shortage of flat land available for airfields. Imperial Japanese Airways began some commercial flights in 1935 using the long-range Kawanishi H6K2-L seaplane . Regular commercial flights were begun in 1940 and a regular service commenced in 1941. Commercial services ceased shortly after the start of Pacific War, but the widespread network of seaplane bases continued to be used during wartime. The terms of

9790-597: The size of the fleet. The militarists also announced the formulation of a " Pan-Asiatic doctrine", termed the Amau doctrine , claiming hegemony in East Asia against "western exploitation". Japanese representatives to the Second London Naval Convention walked out of the convention, resulting in the failure of a substantive treaty. After the expiration of the Washington Treaty, Japan openly engaged in

9900-409: The terms of the Mandate. In April 1922 a civilian government was established in each of the six administrative districts (Saipan, Palau, Yap , Truk, Ponape and Jaluit) in the form of a civil administration department which still reported to the local naval garrison commander. At the same time a post of Governor of the South Seas Mandate was created. Governors were mostly admirals or vice-admirals as

10010-560: The terms of the naval treaty. Prime Minister Osachi Hamaguchi was assassinated by militarists enraged by his signing of the London Naval Treaty in 1930. Japanese naval officers also participated in the League of Blood Incident , assassinating Junnosuke Inoue and Dan Takuma . Junior officers then attempted to instigate a coup d'etat against the civilian government in the May 15 incident , assassinating prime minister Inukai Tsuyoshi and attempted to assassinate Charlie Chaplin in order to cause

10120-484: The time of the treaty's signing, Kanji shouted "As far as I am concerned, war with America starts now, We'll get our revenge over this, by god!. Tomosaburo's subordinates in the Navy Ministry would continue the "Washington Naval Treaty System" after his death from colon cancer, weakening opposition to the Kantaiha. The navy gained internal political influence after the naval treaty, allotting it significant influence over

10230-603: The total tonnage over the 70,000-ton limit on new French battleships until the expiration of the treaty. The keel laying of Jean Bart in December 1936, albeit less than three weeks before the treaty expired, increased the magnitude of France's violation by another 35,000 tons. The French government dismissed British objections to the violations by pointing out that Britain had signed the Anglo-German Naval Agreement in 1935, which unilaterally dismantled

10340-409: The trade. However, the economic development of the area was hampered by the distances separating the islands, their small land areas and their small market sizes. The mandate was initially a financial liability for the Japanese government, requiring an annual subsidy from Tokyo. The cash crop of the islands was copra , which was used in many commercial products at the time. During the 1920s and 1930s,

10450-538: The treaty also prohibited the British, the Japanese and the Americans from constructing any new fortifications or naval bases in the Pacific Ocean region. Existing fortifications in Singapore , the Philippines and Hawaii could remain. That was a significant victory for Japan, as newly-fortified British or American bases would be a serious problem for the Japanese in the event of any future war. That provision of

10560-492: The treaty essentially guaranteed that Japan would be the dominant power in the Western Pacific Ocean and was crucial in gaining Japanese acceptance of the limits on capital ship construction. The treaty strictly limited both the tonnage and construction of capital ships and aircraft carriers and included limits of the size of individual ships. The tonnage limits defined by Articles IV and VII (tabulated) gave

10670-402: The treaty limits. Chapter II, part 2, detailed what was to be done to render a ship ineffective for military use. In addition to sinking or scrapping, a limited number of ships could be converted as target ships or training vessels if their armament, armour and other combat-essential parts were removed completely. Some could also be converted into aircraft carriers. Part 3, Section II specified

10780-544: The treaty tried to reform the navy by installing civilian ministers as administrators. His death would result in the failure of his attempted reforms, though the treaty provisions negotiated by Japan would be enforced. As the Treaty faction retained significant influence in the IJN, it supported subsequent arms control agreements including the Geneva Naval Conference and London Naval Treaty. By the signature of

10890-489: The treaty, but those ships were limited to 10,000 tons displacement each. The treaty was concluded on February 6, 1922. Ratifications of that treaty were exchanged in Washington on August 17, 1923, and it was registered in the League of Nations Treaty Series on April 16, 1924. Later naval arms limitation conferences sought additional limitations of warship building. The terms of the Washington Naval Treaty were modified by

11000-408: Was another mineral product of the colonial economic structure, although the mineral was only present in the Palau group. In 1937 the mother-of-pearl industry became lucrative and large quantities of pearls , both natural and cultured, were extracted from the islands. The South Seas Trading Company had an exclusive contract from 1915 with the IJN to provide freight, passenger, and mail services to

11110-543: Was appointed commander in chief of the Combined Fleet in August 1927, where he instituted massive training exercises to make up for the navy's inferiority in tonnage with the western powers. Kanji described US naval exercises in 1925 as a "naked demonstration of the American naval buildup against Japan" and a "full-dress rehearsal for a transpacific offensive". Tomosaburo, in the aftermath of the inter-naval bickering of

11220-426: Was appointed head of negotiations by Prime Minister Hara Kei , as Tomosaburo had a powerful reputation and was capable of restraining the navy from making outrageous demands. During the negotiations at the conference, Tomosaburo and Kato Kanji split on multiple issues, representing the Treaty and Fleet Factions, respectively. Both had, initially, a baseline "absolute requirement" for 70 percent naval strength vis-à-vis

11330-551: Was considered to be unsubstantiated; however, pressure from the American and the British delegations caused the French to accept it. That was considered a great success by the Italian government, but parity would never actually be attained. There was much discussion about the inclusion or exclusion of individual warships. In particular, the Japanese delegation was keen to retain their newest battleship Mutsu , which had been funded with great public enthusiasm, including donations from schoolchildren. That resulted in provisions to allow

11440-472: Was established on Koror in 1940. Christian mission schools were prohibited from taking Micronesian pupils where government schools existed. Japanese economic involvement in Micronesia began in the late 19th century. Before the establishment of the Mandate, small groups of Japanese entrepreneurs established commercial ventures in German Micronesia and came to control a significant proportion of

11550-541: Was initially subject to yearly scrutiny by the Permanent Mandates Commission of the League of Nations in Geneva , though by the late 1920s Tokyo was rejecting requests for official visitation or international inspection. In 1933 Japan gave notice of withdrawal from the League of Nations, the withdrawal becoming effective two years later. Following the initial Japanese occupation of the islands,

11660-565: Was not part of the Washington Treaty in any way, the American delegates had made it clear that they would not agree to the treaty unless the British ended their alliance with the Japanese. The 1921 Imperial Conference earlier in the year had already decided not to renew the Alliance. In 1935, the French Navy laid down the battleship Richelieu ; combined with the two Dunkerque -class battleships also under construction, which placed

11770-416: Was provided for Micronesian children aged 8–15. However, Micronesian children attended separate schools from those used by Japanese children, and the schooling provided in them was more limited and of shorter duration. Micronesian children often attended boarding schools where compulsory schooling was used to promote Japanese state religion and Shinto rituals. A Shinto shrine known as the Nan'yō Shrine

11880-726: Was reinforced by the Naval Affairs Research Committee for the League of Nations , which stated that any ratio under the 70 percent strength limit was non negotiable. Kanji went through private channels without informing Tomosaburo, moving to subvert Tomosaburo's senior position at the conference by wiring the Naval General Staff his dissident views. Tomosaburo had already told the senior naval staff, including admiral Tōgō Heihachirō , his position, resulting in Kanji's maneuver being ultimately futile. By

11990-469: Was the most important island in the South Seas Mandate and became the center of subsequent Japanese settlement. The towns of Garapan (on Saipan), Koror (on Palau) and Colony (on Ponape) were developed to resemble small towns in Japan, with cinemas, restaurants, beauty parlors and geisha houses . Another important island was Truk in the Carolines archipelago, which was fortified into a major navy base by

12100-489: Was unpopular in Britain throughout the empire; and Britain was implementing major budget reductions due to the post–World War I recession . The Japanese delegation was divided. Japanese naval doctrine required the maintenance of a fleet 70% the size of that of the United States, which was felt to be the minimum necessary to defeat the Americans in any subsequent war. The Japanese envisaged two separate engagements, first with

#962037