Struggle for Power and Status

Abstract This chapter discusses a series of choices made by the Japanese government in the late 1920s, which guided Japan in its pursuit of international status toward war. These choices were the product of a process where two sets of conflicting grand strategies collided. On the one hand, a focus on economic diplomacy—Shidehara Diplomacy—advocated extensive economic engagement with Asia. On the other hand, a competing movement promoted a more aggressive, military-based strategy rooted in Pan-Asian revisionism. In the context of post-WWI pressures against Japan’s rise in Asia and the rise of economic protectionism in the aftermath of the 1929 Great Depression, the choice of militarism prevailed. The chapter illuminates how the two sets of strategies emerged and what tipped the balance in favor of militarism. The global economic crises of the early 1930s triggered the Japanese government to stimulate its economy through fiscal expansion, which in turn expanded the Japanese military. Furthermore, repressive politics in Japan—via the rise of nationalism and political intimidation—weakened the voices of veto players, constraining their ability to thwart Japan’s militarist turn. This dynamic led Japan to prioritize its strategic military instruments, presaging Japan’s wars in the Asia–Pacific.