Japan: A Distant War

Japan entered the First World War to remove Germany’s presence in Asia and expand its regional influence. This chapter follows the capture of Qingdao, the occupation of German Pacific islands, and Japanese naval patrols in the Mediterranean. It also examines the Twenty-One Demands imposed on China and an industrial boom that enriched business owners while inflation burdened workers and families. In 1918, the Rice Riots and the intervention in Siberia exposed the contradictions of a victorious power. The fighting remained geographically distant for most Japanese citizens, yet the war profoundly transformed Japan’s economy, politics, navy, diplomacy, and colonial empire. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.