D
uring the 1930s and through World War II, the Japanese military controlled the government of Japan. Unlike Germany and Italy, Japan did not have a dictator, but an oligarchic and militaristic system ruling the country. Japan admired Hitler’s regime and used the Nazis to advance Japan’s military, but this member of the Axis power ruled differently and fought differently than its European allies. Japan, during World War II, made history by attacking Pearl Harbor, quickly conquering vast territories in the Pacific, defying the Geneva Convention by mistreating prisoners of war, and fighting to the death with legendary kamikazes.
Timeline
Other: Bataan Death March begins
10 Apr 1942
Other: U.S. drops atomic bomb on Nagasaki
Nagasaki, Japan
Other: U.S. declares war on Japan
8 Dec 1941
Other: Formal Japanese surrender, V-J day
2 Sept 1945
Other: U.S. drops atomic bomb on Hiroshima
6 Aug 1945
Other: Battle of the Bismark Sea, U.S. victory
Other: “Doolittle’s Raid” or “30 Seconds over Tokyo”
18 Apr 1942
Other: Battle of Bloody Ridge on Guadalcanal
Other: Philippines liberated
5 July 1945
Other: Suffers 1st defeat during Battle of the Coral Sea
Other: U.S. drops atomic bomb on Hiroshima
Hiroshima, Japan
Other: U.S. Marines invade Iwo Jima
19 Feb 1945
Other: U.S. troops liberate Guam
27 July 1944
Other: Japan surrenders to Allies
14 Aug 1945
Other: US begins submarine warfare against Japanese ships
1 June 1943
Other: The first suicide air (Kamikaze) attacks occur
25 Oct 1944
Other: U.S. drops atomic bomb on Nagasaki
9 Aug 1945
Other: Battle of Midway
Other: Japan attacks U.S. and Filipino troops at Bataan
3 Apr 1942
Other: U.S. forces invade Okinawa
1 Apr 1945
Economy: Mixed Economy
Government guided business and businesses produced with a free-enterprise system
Other: Japan withdraws from the League of Nations
1933
Other: Japan begins the siege of Singapore
Singapore
Other: Japan attacks Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
Other: Japan attacks Dutch East Indies and Dutch Borneo
11 Jan 1942
Other: Japan invades the Philippines and seizes Guam
Guam
Other: Japan seizes Manchuria
Manchuria, China
Other: Japan attacks Dutch East Indies and Dutch Borneo
Borneo
Other: Japan seizes Manchuria
1931
Other: Japan occupies French Indochina
Indochina
Other: Japan begins the siege of Singapore
31 Jan 1942
Other: The second Sino-Japanese War breaks out
Jul 1937
Other: U.S. Gen Douglas MacArthur leaves Philippines
23 Dec 1941
Other: Japan attacks Pearl Harbor
7 Dec 1941
Other: Japan joins the Axis Powers
1940
Other: Japan invades Burma
Burma
Other: Japan invades the Philippines and seizes Guam
10 Dec 1941
Other: Japan invades Burma
11 Dec 1941
Other: Japan occupies French Indochina
1940
Other: Japan invades the Philippines and seizes Guam
Philippines
Government: Oligarchy
Military Controlled
Other Facts
Admiral Mineichi Koga
Commander in Chief of the Combined Fleet, 1943
Emperor Hirohito
passive role until 1945, government run by the military
General Hideki Tojo
Prime Minister of Japan
Chuichi Nagumo
Director of the air attacks on Pearl Harbor
Soemu Toyoda
Commander in Chief of the Combined Fleet, 1944-45
Isoruku Yamamoto
Commander in Chief of the Combined Fleet, 1939-42
