Japan
Emperor = divine father, state exits Depression fast via military spending Zaibatsu dominate economy, more pluralistic than European fascism Imperial ambitions clash with US/Britain to war
Asia
1931: Japan seizes Manchuria, creates Manchukuo 1936: leaves League of Nations, aligns with Germany/Italy 1937: full attack on China, WWII in Asia begins 1940-41: invades Southeast Asia for resources, “Asia for Asians” slogan Dec 1941: Pearl Harbor attack after US oil embargo Axis (Germany, Italy, Japan) vs Allies (US, Britain, USSR)
Europe
Versailles resentments, Nazis exploit them Hitler rearms, annexes Austria & Czechoslovakia Munich appeasement fails Sep 1 1939: Germany invades Poland war declared Blitzkrieg sweeps Europe, 1941 invades USSR 1942: Soviet counterattack, 1944: Normandy invasion May 1945: Germany defeated
Consequences
~60 million dead, majority civilians New tech erases civilian-military line USSR ~25M dead, China ~15M dead Rape of Nanjing 1937-38: 200k-300k killed Hiroshima ~80k, Nagasaki ~40k killed instantly, ~200k more from radiation by 1950 Comfort women forced from Korea/China Women enter workforce, patriarchy survives postwar
Holocaust
Death camps: Auschwitz, Treblinka, Sobibór ~6 million Jews + millions others killed Leads to Israel, Middle East conflict, defines genocide
Postwar
Europe split: West under US, East under USSR Colonial empires collapse, nationalist movements surge UN, World Bank, IMF founded 1945 US becomes global superpower Stalin installs communist regimes across Eastern Europe