Japan’s Opportunistic Entry Into the War
In 1914, Japan had little interest in, and cared even less, about the great power entanglements and network of alliances that had led to the outbreak of a general war in continental Europe. However, as a rising power in East Asia and the Pacific, the Japanese government realized that its interests were best served by joining the Entente powers.
Accordingly, Japan approached Britain, with whom it had an alliance treaty, and proposed joining the war in exchange for Germany’s Pacific possessions. The British, who wanted Japanese assistance in combating German naval raiders, accepted. So Japan declared war against Germany on August 23rd, 1914, and against Austria-Hungary two days later.
On September 2nd, 1914, Japanese forces landed in China’s Shandong province, and placed the German settlement in Tsingtao under siege. It surrendered on November 7th. Simultaneously, the Japanese Navy sailed to and seized Germany’s Pacific possessions of the Marianas, Carolines, and Marshall islands. Having fulfilled its part of the bargain by suppressing the Germans in the Far East, and chasing the German East Asiatic Squadron out of the Pacific, Japan spent the rest of the war making the best of it.
By 1917, millions had died on the Western and Eastern fronts in Europe, and there seemed to be no end in sight to the slaughter. In Japan itself, however, the conflict barely registered with the public. Instead, Japan experienced a wartime boom, as Japanese industry and Japanese factories went full blast in producing goods for her insatiable allies.