On The Formation And Implementation Of Japan’s Southern Expansion Strategy In Modern Times (1868-1941)

Suffering from congenital deficiencies such as narrow and small in territory as an island country, poor in resources and so on, the Japanese government has always been actively seeking external expansion paths in every way by striving to develop domestic economic and military force with the help of international situations in various periods. Since the Meiji Restoration, from southern expansion scheme among the folk to the government’s implementation of military southward advance, Japan has been aggressively conspiring expansion in the south to occupy the South Sea Islands, Southeast Asia and Mainland China so as to realize its dream to become a great power with vast land and maritime territories.The Meiji Restoration period (1868-1912) witnessed the sprouting of the southern expansion scheme among the folk and its gradual implementation by the Japanese government. During the late Tokugawa period, folk ideologists in Japan were actively publicizing and advocating the southern expansion strategy, which was recognized by the ruling class. Therefore guided by the southern expansion scheme among the folk, the Japanese government conspired to occupy Ryukyu, Taiwan etc. step by step, defeated China in Sino-Japanese naval battle of 1894-1895 and gained preliminary interests. From then on, Japan combined the southern expansion scheme to implement and practice the southern expansion strategy by utilizing international relations and military force in practice.During the Taisho-Shouwa period (1912-1931), the southern expansion scheme among the folk was developed to a new level, the southern expansion strategy was considered in a more detailed and practical way, and the Japanese government was also constantly verifying the southern expansion scheme with military practices. At this stage, Japan implemented its southern expansion action by expanding towards the southern ocean in the name of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance. Japan occupied the South Sea Islands and gained the promise that both Britain and America were not allowed to build new naval bases in the Pacific Ocean, which created favorable conditions for Japan to develop its southward advance strategy by expanding towards the Southwest Pacific Ocean during World War II. Meanwhile, Japan also established special central institutions to manage its overseas colonies.Japan in its southern expansion strategy (1931-1941) after the September 18th Incident to extend its southern expansion scope to current Southeast Asia and Australia. After the September 18th Incident, Japan adopted political allure attack by secretly supporting spokesman in south region of China to achieve its practical expansion. After the political attack failed, Japan adopted the economic expansion strategy by managing Taiwan Island in an emphasized way. After the February 26th Incident, the Japanese government finally wrote the southward advance strategy into its national policy, which marks the beginning of Japan’s comprehensive military invasion to the south. However, Japan was suppressed and cracked down by the US after its interest conflict with the US in the South Pacific Ocean got intensified. After the Japan-US negotiation broke down, Japan insisted on its southward advance strategy by launching the Pacific War, which finally threw Japan into the abyss of war.To sum up, we can probe into Japan’s southern expansion strategy in modern times from folk ideologists’advocating of the southern expansion scheme, the strategic direction gradually being determined, strategy implementation, staged achievements made to finally being curbed after World War II. And Japan’s ambition of expansion in the south can be seen from thoughts among the folk to its coming down in one continuous line and inter-working with the national will.By explaining the course of folk ideologists’ southern expansion scheme that advocating expansion towards the southern ocean since the late Tokugawa period and the Meiji Restoration period, and the Japanese government’s gradual implementation of its southern expansion strategy after the Meiji Restoration, the paper combines international relations and Japan’s domestic situations during various periods to analyze the characteristics of southern expansion strategies implemented by Japan in different periods and the formation process of the whole southern expansion strategy. Although Japan’s southward advance and expansion strategy has been curbed after World War II, yet it should still be taken as a grave warning. At present when the international situation tends to be more and more complicated and international relations are changing quietly, a historical study of Japan’s southern expansion strategy is of practical significance to some extent to interpret Japan’s current domestic and foreign policies and the South China Sea issue, and guard against Japanese militarism to indulge in its southward advance dream again.