The Pacific War was a part of World War II that began at Pearl Harbor. There more than 300 Japanese planes bombed the US Pacific Fleet battleships and aircraft at the airfields. That began the war in the Pacific that continued up to 1945, and included the USA, British Empire, China, Holland and Japan. These are five of the events that led to the Pacific War.
Occupation of Manchuria
Manchuria was a province in northeast China rich in raw materials. Consequently, it was a good territory for Japan to add to its empire at the beginning of the 1930s. Generals within Japan’s army advocated expanding the empire to acquire additional raw materials for industry. As such, the army staged the Mukden Incident where a small explosion sabotaged a small part of Japan’s South Manchuria Railway. Japan blamed China for the railway sabotage, and duly invaded Manchuria.
Thereafter, Manchuria became a part of the Japanese Empire. The League of Nations requested that the Japanese army withdraw, but they remained in occupation of Manchuria. In 1933, Japan left the League of Nations.
Invasion of China
The Manchuria invasion was a precursor to the war with China. Although the Second Sino-Japanese War did not begin in 1931. However, in July 1937 the Marco Polo Bridge Incident began a war between Japan and China. In that incident Chinese solders fired at Japanese troops, on training manuevers, around Marco Polo Bridge. That sparked a war between Japan and China, as both sides amassed large numbers of troops around Wanping.
Japanese troops enter Shenyang.
Thereafter, Japan invaded China and occupied a number of cities. They won the Battle of Beiping-Tianjin and the Battle of Shanghai. That ensured the occupation of Shangai as the Chinese army retreated. A long war between China and Japan followed. Japan occupied most of the Chinese coastline, but could not fully defeat China’s army that gained the support of the West.
Battle of Khalkhin Gol
There were also a series of border skirmishes in Manchuria between Japan’s and Russia’s armies. Although these skirmishes during the ’30s involved a significant number of troops, neither side declared war. The Battle of Khalkhyn Gol, in 1939, was among the most notable of the battles between the USSR and Japan in which the Red army emerged victorious. Zhukov was one of the Red army’s generals who won that battle.
Soviet troops advance at the Battle of Khalkhin Gol.
Having lost that battle, Japan established a neutrality pact with the USSR. The countries established the Soviet-Japanese Neutrality Pact in 1941, with which both sides pledged neutrality. As both sides became embroiled in other wars, they stuck to the pact until 1945. Then the USSR tore up the treaty and invaded Manchuria.
Berlin Pact Signed
Japan became a German ally in 1940. Then the two countries signed the Berlin Pact, or Tripartite Pact, that confirmed a new alliance. The Axis also included the Italian Empire, and Hungary and Romania later joined. That was the first of two alliance blocs established in the war. The other bloc was the Allies that included the USSR, USA, Great Britain, France, China and others after Japan bombed Pearl Harbor.
Invasion of Indochina
Indochina, otherwise Vietnam, was one of France’s colonies that Japan invaded in September 1940. They invaded the colony to sever China’s armament and fuel supply imports through Indochina. Vichy France promptly surrendered Indochina to Japan.This left the Burma Road as an even more crucial supply line to China.
The USA responded to the occupation of Indochina with a Japanese economic embargo. This severed oil and other exports to Japan. The USA also increased supplies sent to China. War between the two sides became increasingly more likely as Japan’s oil supplies drizzled out. The Dutch East Indies, a potential supplier of oil to Japan, joined the embargo.
As such, Japan’s military began planning for war. Negotiations with the United States continued, but an effective settlement could not be reached before Japan bombed Pearl Harbor in 1941. Then the Pacific War began, which ended with the defeat of the Japanese Empire.
