Fascist Japan

Who were the diet?

The Diet

>Consists of two parties: House of Representitives & the House of Councilors.
>They are responsible for selecting the Prime Minister.
>They made the laws of the country.
>They were also in charge of approving the national budget the government hands in.
>They were also in charge of the sanction of treaties.
>The word diet derived from a Latin word.
>It is a common name for an assembly, especially in medieval Germany.
>The Emperor has a bigger say in things compared to The Diet
>The Emperor also had the power to choose the Prime Minister.
>During the Meiji Constitution, PMs were not chosen from and thus they lost faith in the Diet.
>Although it looked as if The Diet were the ones in charge, they did not have the power to make decisions.
>It could only question the decisions of the Cabinet Ministers.
>They were overpowered by the Emperor.
>Needs of the people were not satisfied. Many lost faith in The Diet.

Rise of Extremism

>Weakness of The Diet caused people to lose confidence.
>There was corruption. Some zaibatsus accepted bribes.
>Living and working conditions of workers were not addressed. They were still living in slums.
>There were many economic problems due to the Great Depression.

>Corruption damaged the democracy’s policies.
>Loss of trade between Japan and America.
>Trade was poor.

Factors leading to Fascism

They can be classified under INTERNAL and EXTERNAL:
Internal Factors :

-Economic Security
>Japan has many mountains. Which meant that they had little land to grow food which resulted in little raw materials.
>There was a growing population. With the increasing food shortages and the lack of jobs, it could not satisfy the needs of many.

Wall Street Crash

Wall Street Crash

> Lead to economic depression internationally.
> There was a decrease in world trade.
> Affected industrial production.
> Trade between Japan and America was affected.

Militarism

Militarism

> The people looked to the military for help.
> Hoped that they could solve their problems.
> Army received strong support from the people.
But there was a few attempts of assassination which made Japan seem weak against the Western Powers.
> Solution: Find new raw materials and new markets!

> In 1931, they began to look at Manchuria.
> Manchuria was rich in raw materials, land and what’s better: It was close to Japan.
> Japan was interested in Manchuria’s oil coal and iron ore.
> The US was angered by Japan’s invasion in 1931.

External Factors

External Factors:

Western Countries
>There was racial prejudice.
>They prevented Japan from achieving it’s goal of equality.
>The Japanese saw this as an act of racism.
>Refused to go to war.
>There was little effort in stopping Japan’s Facism of expanding her colonies.
>The Western could not be bothered to defend China.

> Relationship between Japan and America was worsening
> Because of Japan’s invasion of Manchuria, it violated one of the rules of the Washington Naval Conference agreement.
> US refused to give any more oil to Japan.

Factors that support Militarism

Factors that supported Militarism

The Meiji Constitution.

Displeasure of the Military

Low economic status.

Totalitarian examples which were set in Europe.