How did World War 2 start in Asia?

Answer 1

World War 2 actually started in Asia almost a decade before it started in Europe and elsewhere. Ultimately, the war kicked off when Japan invaded China and French Indochina; when the US tried to convince Japan to stop, Japan instead attacked the US Navy at Pearl Harbor, bringing the US into World War 2.

The slightly longer version:

Between about 1865 and 1895, Japan changed from an isolated feudal state to a modernized major power. Starting in 1895, Japan started getting involved in international affairs. Japan had beaten the mighty Russian Empire in 1905, annexed Korea, and began economic expansion in China. Japan seemed to be the powerful "new kid on the block", so to speak.

During the same time period, China was recovering from a tough time they had in the 1800s and early 1900s. China lost several wars with foreign countries (including Britain and Japan), partial foreign occupation, and popular revolts against their imperial government, the Qing dynasty. In 1912, the last Qing Emperor was overthrown in a revolution, but the newly established Chinese Republic was very weak. There was a central government, but large portions of the country were actually under the control of warlords, many of whom had served as generals under the old imperial government. Japan tried to take advantage of the chaos to begin taking control of parts of China, and played the warlords against each other to keep China divided and weak.

In 1931, some Japanese soldiers blew up a railway in the city of Mukden in Manchuria (a region of northeastern China); the railway was owned by a Japanese company. They wanted to make it seem like Chinese rebels were trying to sabotage Japanese interests. Japan then used the "bombing" as a reason to invade- they invaded and conquered Manchuria in just a few months. Manchuria was made into an independent country called "Manchukuo"- but Manchukuo was actually totally under the control of Japan. Over the next few years, Japan would occasionally fight some of the warlords, but otherwise, things were relatively peaceful.

In 1937, Japan and China wound up fighting again. Long story short, Japan was using their soldiers to guard their railways and businesses in China. One day, some Japanese soldiers got into a small battle with some Chinese soldiers at a bridge near Beijing. Japan used this as a reason to invade China again. This began the so-called "Second Sino-Japanese War", and Japan launched a full-scale invasion of China itself.

The Sino-Japanese War led to the escalation of the war. Notably, the US and the UK both opposed the Japanese invasion. When World War II began in Europe in 1939, Japan took advantage of France, the Netherlands, and the UK being distracted by Germany to seize colonies belonging to those countries. Japan notably invaded and conquered French Indochina (modern Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia), despite international condemnation of it.

It was the negotiations between the US and Japan that ultimately led the Japanese to attack the US at Pearl Harbor. The US tried to convince Japan to stop attacking and occupying China and Indochina; Japan refused. The US then put embargoes against Japan, cutting off their oil and other supplies, which just made them angry. The embargoes convinced Japan that they would soon be at war with the US too. So Japan decided to launch an overwhelming attack on the powerful US Navy to try to cause enough damage to prevent the US from getting involved in the war.

On December 7, 1941, the Japanese ended the negotiations and launched a huge attack on the American fleet stationed at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The attack dealt significant damage to the US Navy, including sinking four battleships. However, the attack failed to cripple the American Navy; notably, it did not damage the American aircraft carriers, which were not at Hawaii at the time. Also, due to a delay in translating the official message, Japan's attack happened before they officially told the US they were declaring war- so the attack was viewed by Americans as a cowardly sneak attack.

At the same time that the US was attacked at Pearl Harbor, Japan launched a series of attacks on other countries and colonies across Asia and the Pacific. Thailand was invaded and quickly surrendered. Japan also invaded Hong Kong, Singapore, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia all in a fairly short time. World War II was officially started in Asia and the Pacific.

Answer 2

You can begin with the late 1800's. At that time Japan, recently industrialized, began to seek colonies, just like the European nations and the USA. Until around 1950, all nations sought colonies since there was little 'free trade'. In order to purchase raw materials and have ready markets for industrial goods, the Europeans and Americans sought colonies. With few exceptions these colonies were economically pillaged by their masters. Locals were paid starvation wages for hard labor, prices were set low on the timber and ores taken from them (no competition meant that the English/French could pay whatever they wanted), and the industrial goods needed by the local population were in turn made very expensive. It was a great set up for the English/Dutch/Belgians/French (the most abusive four powers of this system), and made many of their citizens very wealthy. The Japanese began to expand by annexing Okinawa and surrounding islands. Shortly after they began to influence Korea. Then they moved into southern Manchuria. Manchuria was technically part of China but at that time China had an impotent central government. Many nations were taking pieces of China for themselves, often by taking over a coastal city, such as Macao or Hong Kong. This move into Manchuria put Japan into conflict with Russia. Russia was already in possession of a vast empire that included colonies in Poland, Finland, Lithuania, Armenia and many other places. Their never ending quest for expansion led them to northern China. Ultimately this led to the Russo-Japanese war. Japan destroyed the Russian naval forces sent from Europe. They also took the heavily fortified Russian outpost of Port Arthur in southern Manchuria. This defeat of Russia was the first time in recent human history that a non-European nation had defeated a European country. The victory greatly enhanced Japan's position in the Far East and allowed them to conclude the conquest of Korea and Manchuria. Using the industry and resources of Manchuria the Japanese built up a semi-autonomous army on continental Asia. This army began to make inroads into China proper, conquering various coastal areas, Peking, and Formosa. WWI ended in 1919 and Japan was given possession of Germany's extensive Pacific colonial empire, consisting of many islands, large and small. While the USA concluded its pacification of the Philipines in the 1920's (which killed an estimated 200,000 Philipino civilians), the Japanese continued to build their fleet, their Asian based army, to fortify the x-German islands, and make inroads into China. By the mid-1930's the China situation was full blown war with many attendant brutalities. These were extensively reported in American papers causing much hand wringing of those who increasingly saw Japan as a threat. As such the USA began to send aid, arms, and even pilots to China to assist their cause. When France fell to Germany in May/June 1940, Japan moved into Indochina, a French colony. This was done to block a southern supply route to their enemy, China. Clearly Japan was on a course that would ultimately lead to outright war with a major power - possibly Britain, Russia, or France - most likely the USA. The USA was the only nation with a sizable Far East fleet, based in Hawaii. The USA also had the large colony in the Philipines, which lay perfectly situated between Japan and the southeast Asian oil/timber/rice/tin resources needed by Japanese industry. When Germany concluded their vast victories in Europe against Russia, France, Netherlands and Britain the path was cleared for Japan to move against those countries colonies, now near defenseless. Wiping out the bulk of the American fleet in December 1941 at Hawaii enabled the Japanese to overrun all the colonies of the western nations from Burma to New Guinea, from the Philipines to Singapore. However, German reversals in Russia in December 1941 were not foreseen by the Japanese. This enabled Russia to stay in the war, thus encouraging Britain. Additionally, the USA public opinion was enraged by the concept of non-European peoples taking over colonies 'rightfully' owned by the USA, France, etc. A war of extermination was thus underway. The USA, with its much larger industrial base and vastly superior oil supplies, was able to outmanuever the Japanese over and over. Ultimately, the Japanese home islands were bombed into submission. Interestingly though, at the time of Japan's surrender they still controlled the bulk of their Asian conquests including most of China, Indonesia, Formosa, Thailand, Indochina and myriad small/medium size islands in the Pacific. All these were transferred to others an the conclusion of the fighting. Today, with the exception of Okinawa, the Japanese have relinquished all their holdings gathered since the nation first moved outward in the 1870's. The nation was demilitarized for the most part after WWII and placed under an American military 'umbrella'. This of course, meant that the USA has been obligated many times to protect the old Japanese empire from outsiders. This has led the USA into wars with Korea, China, and Vietnam. It is why the USA is heavily involved in nuclear talks with N Korea, despite the fact that N Korea is surrounded by huge military powers. Thus the residue of the once vast Japanese empire continues to filter down to us in the present.

Answer 3

Japan and China were actually fighting long before the actual war started (1939). Then, when China joined the allies, Japan joined the axis.

My ANswer:

Japan invaded its neighbors including China in 1937 begining Japans participation in what was to become the second world war.

WWII started in 1939

Answer 4

In 1941, attacking Pearl Harbour in Hawwaii.