Japan’s hostility with China and World War 2. History Essay

Japan’s hostility with China and WWII
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Since the Japanese invasion of China in 1937, Japan launched more attacks in neighboring countries in the quest to maintain control over the East Asia region. While the battles fought in Europe have received much attention in the history of WWII, the Asian continent experienced some of the most brutal and longest running battles prior and during WWI. Among them were China, India and Japan, which were involved in the conflict. In the 1930s and 40s the Japanese armies began their own expansion across the Asian continent, unaware about extent of the War in Europe. In these territories the Japanese committed many atrocities as they were intent on destroying those who resisted. The paper highlights how Japan’s hostility with China and geostrategic interests influenced Japanese army actions during WWII.
Japan took advantage of numerous opportunities to expand into Southeast Asia, at a time when the Japan's Imperial Army and the neighbors were weak militarily. In 1937, the Chinese attacked the Japanese troops training at China’s Marco Polo Bridge, and this became the pretext for invading China (Szczepanski, 2018). Taking advantage of China's military weakness, the Imperial Army launched an offensive. The day after the attack, they invaded the neighboring city, followed by many other cities, and resulting in the military occupation of Manchuria. The Japanese army played a crucial role in securing resources and establishing Japanese hegemony through escalating violence against a weaker China.
Hostilities between the Chinese and Japanese affected relations in the 30s, and were precursor to WWII, and the Japanese focused on established a sphere of influence on the South east region. Manchukuo, a satellite state of Japan established in the early 30s was just one of the states the Japanese had formed in China and throughout Asia since the late. The Japanese soldiers intent on exerting influence were nationalistic and the puppet states minimized hostilities only for a short period of time. “From the middle of December in 1937 to the end of January in 1938, Japan furthered tensions in the region by taking part in a month-long siege of Nanjing” (Szczepanski, 2018).
Tension between Japan and China intensified and Japan sought greater control over China to entrench Japanese rules. Previously, in 1932, after the invasion of Manchuria, a peace treaty with the Manchukuo state was signed. Despite signing the peace treaty with the puppet government of Manchuria, there were skirmishes, and the Japanese sent troops to the area and other parts of China. By 1938, Japanese advances increased control of strate...