The League of Blood
Japan’s conflict with China flares up once again with the Shanghai Incident. Meanwhile, on the domestic front, ultra-nationalist terrorists engage in a widespread campaign of assassination and attempted coups.
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The Making of Manchukuo
Three years after the assassination of Zhang Zuolin and attempted framing of the KMT, a group of higher-ranking officers within the Kwantung Army staged another false flag attack, which resulted in their conquest of northeast China and the establishment of the puppet state of Manchukuo.
The Frame-up
In 1928, a group of officers in the Kwantung Army attempted to frame the KMT for their own assassination of Zhang Zuolin. The failed attempts to enforce accountability and discipline which followed set the stage for similar incidents in the future.
The Great Crash
Two years prior to the much larger Great Depression, Japan experienced its own financial crisis thanks to the Great Kanto Earthquake, government bonds, and a panicky populace.
Reaction and Repression
The Pax Taishō
Taishō Democracy
Toward the end of the Taisho Period, the Imperial Diet finally passed a law which established universal suffrage for men 25 and older regardless of tax assessment. Shortly before, however, they also passed a law which would allow law enforcement entities far greater powers of surveillance, harassment, and repression.
Obligations, Disasters, and Atrocities
Japan signed a treaty with their fellow Entente Powers which slowed construction on the ever-increasing navies of many nations. In 1923, a terrible earthquake struck the Kanto Region resulting in massive damage and an incredible number of casualties. The atrocity that soon followed, however, only served to increase the tragedy.
A League of Their Own
Japan emerges as a major player among world powers as their ambassadors helped finalize the postwar treaties and create a new international body meant to stop large-scale wars before they began: The League of Nations. However, trouble continued brewing on the Korean Peninsula as a new mass movement for national liberation took to the streets.
A Whole New World
The new international status quo that emerged after the first World War was very different than what came before, and Japan was poised to become a major new power in this new world.