Japan in the first world war. Japan during the First World War

Japan took part in the First World War on the side of the Entente. The participation of Japan in this war had its own specifics.

In Japan, the army command had much more weight than the naval command. These two types of armed forces looked at the Anglo-German war from directly opposite points of view. The Japanese army was built on the Prussian model and trained by German officers; The Japanese fleet was created with the help of Great Britain and trained in the English manner. All this served as a source of constant debate in the Japanese leadership. At the same time, the average Japanese did not understand at all why it was necessary to fight: in Japan, no one felt any threat from Germany. Therefore, the Japanese government, supporting the Entente, tried not to give the public too much information about the war. The British officer Malcolm Kennedy, who visited the Japanese outback, was amazed that the peasants with whom he spoke did not even suspect that their country was waging a war.

Despite the conclusion of the Anglo-Japanese alliance, the expansion of Japan in Asia caused serious concern among Britain. The British Foreign Minister, Sir Edward Gray, was afraid that if he participated in the war, Japan would expand its possessions beyond all limits. Despite all the objections of the Admiralty, he tried to prevent Japan from entering the war. On August 1, 1914, Gray informed his Japanese counterpart Kato that Britain would need help only in the event of an attack by the Far Eastern colonies. Gray feared not only Japanese expansion, but also the reaction of Australia, New Zealand and the United States to such expansion.

However, the First Lord of the Admiralty, Winston Churchill, had a very different view of these things. Due to the fact that all British dreadnoughts were concentrated in Europe, only old ships remained in the Pacific Ocean. Defending the correctness of this arrangement of forces, Churchill in March 1914, during a speech in the House of Commons, declared that the defeat of the main forces of the British fleet in Europe would make a small squadron in the Pacific helpless. Any British squadron in this area will inevitably yield to the main forces of the fleet of European opponents. Churchill stated that

... two or three dreadnought in Australian waters will be useless after the defeat of the British fleet in domestic waters.

Such a policy led to an increase in Britain's dependence on allies. France claimed responsibility for the Mediterranean, and Japan had a major role to play in protecting the Chinese seas. On August 11, 1914, Churchill, fearing that Gray would still oppose Japan’s participation in the war or try to limit such participation, told him:

I think you can finally dampen them. I do not see the middle between their participation and non-participation. If they enter the war, we must greet them as comrades. Your last telegram to Japan is almost hostile. I’m afraid that I simply don’t understand the course of your thoughts, and in this aspect I cannot follow your intentions. This telegram makes me tremble. We all make up a single whole, and I would like to fully support your policy. But I strongly object to the obstacles to the Japanese. You can easily inflict a mortal blow to our relationship, the consequences of which will be felt for too long. The storm is about to break out.

Churchill's speech helped change Gray's position.

On August 15, 1914, the Japanese government presented Germany with an ultimatum, demanding the withdrawal of German troops from the Pacific Ocean. The Germans were required to withdraw the ships from Qingdao, blow up the fortifications of the port and transfer the Shandong Peninsula to Japan. The Japanese also demanded the transfer to them of the German Pacific colonies. Having received no response to the ultimatum, Japan declared war on Germany on August 23, 1914, by the imperial manifesto:

Sim, we declare war on Germany and command our army and navy to open military operations against this Empire, with all its might ...

With the advent of a real war in Europe, the dire consequences of which we look with great regret, we, for our part, had the hope of maintaining peace in the Far East, observing strict neutrality. But Germany takes hasty military preparations in Jiaozhou, and its armed ships, cruising in the waters of East Asia, threaten our trade and the trade of our ally. And with deep sorrow, in spite of our devotion to the cause of peace, we were forced to declare war ... We deeply wish that, thanks to the devotion, duty and courage of our faithful subjects, the world would soon be restored and the glory of the empire shone.

On August 25, Japan declared war on Austria-Hungary. Japan’s entry into the war on the side of the Entente allowed Russia to transfer Siberian corps to the European theater of operations.

1914 Campaign

Main article : Siege of qingdao

Preparations for the operation against the German naval base of Qingdao began on August 16, when an order was issued in Japan to mobilize the 18th Infantry Division. Since the publication of the Japanese ultimatum, the Japanese population began to secretly leave Qingdao, and by August 22, not a single Japanese remained there.

In accordance with an agreement between the representatives of England, France and Japan, the Japanese fleet was responsible for security in the area north of Shanghai. Therefore, by August 26, the following deployment of the Japanese fleet was established:

1) 1st Japanese squadron - cruising in the water area north of Shanghai to protect the sea lanes;

2) 2nd squadron - direct operations against Qingdao;

3) 3rd squadron (out of 7 cruisers) - ensuring the area between Shanghai and Hong Kong;

4) the cruisers "Ibuki" and "Tikuma" as part of the squadron of the English admiral Geram participate in the search in Oceania for the German ships of the squadron of Admiral Spee.

Japanese Aircraft Wakamia

The operation against Qingdao was carried out mainly by Japanese forces with the symbolic participation of the English battalion. On September 2, Japanese troops launched a landing on Shandong Peninsula in neutral China; On September 22, an English detachment arrived from Weihaiwei; On September 27, an attack began on the advanced German positions at Qingdao; On October 17, an important point was taken - Mount Prince Henry, an observation post was established on it, and siege weapons were required from Japan. By October 31, everything was ready for a general attack and bombardment of the forts. The bombing began on November 5, but the first three days the weather did not allow the fleet to take part in it. After preliminary flooding all the ships, the Germans capitulated on November 7. During the siege of Qingdao, the Japanese for the first time in history used carrier-based aircraft against ground targets: Wakamia-based seaplane seaplanes bombed targets in Qingdao.

While Kamimura's 2nd Squadron helped capture Qingdao, the ships of the 1st Squadron joined the British and Australian ships in search of von Spee's squadron. Immediately after the outbreak of war, Vice Admiral Yamaya sent the Congo battle cruiser to Midway to monitor communications passing through the area. The armored cruiser Izumo, located off the coast of Mexico, was ordered to protect allied shipping off the coast of America. On August 26, Admiral Yamaya dispatched the Ibuki armored cruiser and the Tikuma light cruiser to Singapore to strengthen the Allied fleet in Southeast Asia. Tikuma took part in the search for Emden, which was conducted in the Dutch East Indies and the Bay of Bengal. Admiral Matsumura, along with the battleship “Satsuma” and the cruisers “Yahagi” and “Hirado” patrolled on sea lanes leading to Australia.

Urgent tasks forced the Ibuki to move from Singapore to Wellington: he was the first of the Japanese ships to escort transports with ANZAK troops to the Middle East, covering them from a possible attack by the German cruiser Emden. The Japanese also provided for the transportation of French troops from Indochina.

In October 1914, the Japanese squadron of Admiral Shojiro, reinforced by British ships, searched for German raiders in the Indian Ocean. On November 1, 1914, the Japanese agreed with the request of the British to introduce patrols of the zone east of the 90th meridian. Most of Admiral Shojiro’s squadron and ships arriving from Qingdao guarded the area until the end of the month. After the German gunboat Geyer arrived in Honolulu, the battleship Hizen and the cruiser Asama approached the port and stayed there until November 7, the Geyer was interned by the American authorities. Then, Hizen and Asama, along with Izumo, began scouring the shores of South America, trying to find German ships.

Despite the formal alliance, a race was launched between Japan on the one hand and Australia and New Zealand on the other for the seizure of German possessions in the Pacific Ocean. On September 12, Japan announced the occupation of the Caroline and Mariana Islands, and on September 29 - the capture of the Marshall Islands. On October 12, Admiral Yamai’s squadron appeared in Truk Harbor on the Caroline Islands, and on October 1, Matsumura’s squadron captured the German-owned port of Rabaul on the island of New Britain. October 7, she arrived on the island of Yap (Caroline Islands), where she met the German gunboat "Planet", hastily flooded by the crew. Australian troops managed to land in Samoa under the very nose of the Japanese.

By the end of 1914, the Japanese and British governments had difficulty resolving the issue of the seizure of German possessions in the Pacific. To avoid new incidents, the British agreed that the troops of the British Commonwealth would not act north of the equator.

In 1914, Japan returned to Russia two armadillos and a cruiser captured during the Russo-Japanese War.

1915 Campaign

Since the war in the European theater took a protracted character, in fact, Japan received complete freedom of action in the Far East, and took full advantage of it. In January 1915, Japan handed over to Chinese President Yuan Shikai a document that went down in history as "Twenty-One Requests." Sino-Japanese negotiations took place from early February to mid-April 1915. China was unable to provide effective resistance to Japan, and the "Twenty-one demands" (with the exception of the fifth group, which provoked the open indignation of the Western powers) was accepted by the Chinese government.

In February 1915, when a revolt of Indian units broke out in Singapore, the Japanese marines landing from the Tsushima and Otov cruisers crushed it together with British, French and Russian troops.

In the same year, the Japanese fleet greatly assisted in the hunt for the German cruiser Dresden. He also guarded the American-owned port of Manila so that German ships could not use it. Throughout the year, Japanese ships based in Singapore patrolled the South China Sea, the Sulu Sea and off the coast of the Dutch East Indies.

1916 Campaign

In February 1916, Great Britain again requested assistance from Japan. After the death of several mineship ships installed by the German auxiliary cruisers, it was required to increase the number of ships hunting for these raiders. The Japanese government sent a destroyer flotilla to Singapore to guard the Strait of Malacca. A division of cruisers was assigned to patrol the Indian Ocean. In several cases, Japanese ships went to the island of Mauritius and to the shores of South Africa. The strongest and most modern light cruisers Tikuma and Hirado were escorted by military convoys from Australia and New Zealand.

In December 1916, Great Britain acquired from Japan 6 merchant ships with a capacity of 77500 GRT.

1917 Campaign

In January 1917, Japan, taking advantage of the tense situation on the fronts in Europe, demanded that Great Britain formal obligations to transfer her rights to the former German rented property in Shandong at a peace post-war conference. In response to the objections of the British, the Japanese stated that they were asking no more than the Russians whom Constantinople had been promised. After much discussion, in mid-February, the Japanese government received corresponding secret obligations from Great Britain, and then from France and Russia. This arrangement of Japan with the countries of the Entente was not known to the United States until the very start of the Versailles peace conference.

In February 1917, the Japanese agreed to expand their participation in the war and extend the patrol zone of their fleet to the Cape of Good Hope. The Japanese fleet also joined the defense of shipping off the eastern shores of Australia and New Zealand.

In May 1917, the British asked the Japanese to deliver workers recruited in China to Europe.

In mid-1917, Admiral Jelliko offered to buy two battlecruisers in Japan, but the Japanese government flatly refused to sell or transfer any ships to the British.

In 1917, Japan in 5 months built 12 Kaba-class destroyers for France; Japanese sailors brought these ships to the Mediterranean Sea and handed them over to the French.

On November 2, a prominent diplomat Ishii Kikujiro signed with the US Secretary of State R. Lansing an “Lansing-Ishii agreement,” which allowed the Americans to transfer part of the ships to the Atlantic to help the British. Under a secret agreement, Japanese ships patrolled the Hawaiian waters until the end of the war.

On March 11, the first Japanese ships (the Akashi light cruiser, as well as the 10th and 11th destroyer flotilla) sailed through Aden and Port Said to the European theater of operations. They arrived in Malta during the worst period for the Allies. And although the arrival of 1 cruiser and 8 destroyers could not turn the tide on the Mediterranean Sea, nevertheless, the Japanese got the most important task - to accompany military transports that brought reinforcements to France. Japanese ships escorted transports from Egypt directly to France; they entered Malta only if convoys were formed on this island. As submarines in the Mediterranean were becoming increasingly active, two British gunboats and two destroyers were temporarily manned by Japanese sailors; The number of Japanese squadrons in the Mediterranean Sea reached 17 ships. On August 21, Rear Admiral George E. Ballard, who commanded naval forces in Malta, reported to the Admiralty:

French performance standards are below British, but Italian standards are even lower. With the Japanese, things are different. The destroyers of Admiral Sato are kept in perfect condition and spend as much time at sea as our ships. It is much larger than that of French and Italian ships of any class. Moreover, the Japanese are completely independent in matters of command and supply, while the French will not do anything on their own if this work can be shifted to others. The effectiveness of the Japanese allows their ships to spend more time at sea than any other British ally, which increases the effect of the presence of Japanese ships in the Mediterranean.

1918 Campaign

During the German spring offensive on the Western Front, the British needed to transfer a large number of troops from the Middle East to Marseille. In critical April and May, Japanese ships helped transport more than 100,000 British soldiers across the Mediterranean. At the end of the crisis, Japanese ships began to ensure the transportation of troops from Egypt to Thessaloniki, where the Allies were preparing an autumn offensive. Until the end of the war, the Japanese squadron transported 788 Allied transports across the Mediterranean Sea and helped transport more than 700,000 soldiers. The Japanese squadron had 34 clashes with German and Austrian submarines, in which the destroyers Matsu and Sakaki were damaged.

After the armistice, the Second Special Squadron of Admiral Sato was present at the surrender of the German fleet. As trophies of Japan were transferred 7 submarines. The last Japanese ships returned to Japan on July 2, 1919.

On August 15, 1914, Japan entered the First World War on the side of the Entente. Far from the main theater of war, the country used the outbreak of conflict to improve its position in East Asia - and it succeeded.

In World War I, trenches were not plowed over Japanese land; broken rifles and bloodied corpses of soldiers did not fall into it. Japan avoided the terrible human and financial losses that accompanied the First World War in Europe. By the time of the armistice in November 1918, the number of Japanese killed in battles was about two thousand people - less than 1% of British losses in the Battle of the Somme alone. The war did not deplete the Japanese economy, on the contrary: it made it possible to create large markets for the arms industry. In Japanese cities, there are practically no memorials in memory of this war, and Armistice Day (November 11) is not a public holiday, unlike the United States, Britain or France.

The participation of Japan in the First World War was connected, first of all, with the solution of her personal problems in the region. After the victory in the Russo-Japanese War, the Land of the Rising Sun began to gain a foothold on the world stage. The Portsmouth Peace Treaty untied Japan's hands in Korea and Manchuria. Korea was completely annexed by 1910, in Manchuria there was an active development of resources and markets for Japanese goods. There begins the Far Eastern rivalry of Japan and the United States. During the design of the South Manchurian Railway - a large infrastructure facility, which included the Dalniy port (Dairen), a number of local enterprises, mines and land - the American tycoon E. Harriman put forward a proposal for its joint operation. Japan rejected this proposal. As a result, she became the main trading partner of Manchuria, squeezing the United States.

In 1911, a revolution began in China, as a result of which the Qing Dynasty was overthrown. The Japanese military seriously discussed the possibility of intervention in China "in order to maintain peace in the Far East," but the interests of industrialists prevailed: to trade with China was more profitable than fighting. The situation was complicated by Japan's economic backwardness from Western countries. In addition, there was no clarity about the new government of Yuan Shikai. Political and military elites feared that if a government crisis erupted in China, wealthy Western investors would take advantage of the situation and divide the country among themselves. In this case, Japan would have been denied access to Chinese markets, mines and railways. Japanese Foreign Minister Nobuaki Makino considered the current situation catastrophic. In April 1914, he resigned, leaving his successor a memorandum which stated the need to take the most decisive measures to uphold Japanese interests in China.

Yuan Shikai (center) after his appointment as interim president of China
  https://en.wikipedia.org

In these conditions, the beginning of the First World War in Europe became a real gift for Japan. On August 7, 1914, the British government asked the Japanese fleet to “track down and destroy the armed German vessels” in Chinese waters, appealing to the Anglo-Japanese cooperation agreement. The Shigenobu Okuma government decided within 36 hours to seize this “one in a million” chance to establish Japanese dominance in the Pacific and China. Foreign Minister Takaaki Kato understood that the situation had not yet reached the point where the rules of the alliance would oblige Japan to declare war on Germany. However, he clearly realized that Japan’s entry into the war would be the best solution. Germany took a good position in China, so Japan received a huge advantage from its liquidation.

Germany owned the territory of Jiaozhouwan on the Shandong Peninsula with a total area of \u200b\u200bmore than 500 square kilometers. The Germans rented it from China for a period of 99 years. The leased area included the city of Qingdao - one of the largest commercial ports of China, located north of the Yangtze River. The Germans fortified the port of Qingdao and used it as their naval base. This territory, surrounded by a neutral zone for 50 kilometers, was Germany's main bridgehead in the region. In addition, the Germans built a railway in Shandong from Qingdao to the city of Jinan, which connected there with the main line to Beijing.

   Sketch map of Qingdao, circa 1906
  wikipedia.org

Japan was well prepared for new conquests. At the end of 1905, the government began the development of a 15-year rearmament program for the army and navy, allegedly fearing "the possibility of revenge" from Russia. Despite the signing of Russian-Japanese agreements on cooperation and mutual assistance in 1907, by 1909, the naval forces of the Asian empire had doubled. British Foreign Secretary Edward Gray was concerned about the military activity of Japan and sought to set a geographical limit for Japanese military operations. Perhaps this was the reason for the cancellation of the British request for military assistance on August 10, which put the Japanese government, according to Minister Kato, in an "extremely awkward position", since Japan’s intention to enter the war with Germany was well known at that time. Two days later, the British government reconciled with Japan’s participation in the First World War, however, wishing to keep the war zone of the Japanese army to a minimum.

   Qingdao German position
  http://topwar.ru

On the other hand, the actions of Japan were closely watched by the United States and China. Since 1899, the United States has maintained the territorial integrity of China in order to maintain balance in the region and thereby secure its Pacific borders. On the eve of the war, the Chinese government sent a draft agreement on the preservation of the status quo of Chinese territories to the US State Department. Perhaps its signing would keep Japan from expanding on the mainland. However, time was not on the side of China: it was on these days that the United States government became aware of Japan’s intention to oppose Germany in the near future. The current situation forced America to suspend the development of the project until Japan fulfills its role in the unfolding military confrontation.

   Japanese military shell Qingdao
  http://www.china-mike.com

The Japanese got a chance to seize new territories in China in a legal and even noble way in the context of World War II. On August 15, Japan issued an ultimatum to Germany, which the British government informed after the fact. It contained a demand to withdraw German vessels from territorial waters not only of Japan, but also of China, and also to transfer the port of Qingdao to Japan free of charge. The document said that the goal of this step was its subsequent return to China, but in reality the situation was somewhat different. Despite the Prime Minister’s peace-loving statements, Japanese ships appeared in the waters of China on August 8 - a week before the ultimatum was presented. On August 23, when the deadline for responding to the ultimatum expired, Japan unilaterally declared war on Germany and launched the bombing of Qingdao.

   Qingdao shelling
  http://www.china-mike.com

China's military neutrality did not prevent Japan from fighting on its territory. Soon, the Chinese government was tired of it, and it allocated a separate military zone, to the borders of which the fighting should not go. The Japanese obeyed, since this restriction had practically no effect on the success of their event: by November 7, the imperial army had captured not only Qingdao, but also almost the entire Shandong province. On top of military successes, by the end of the year Japan occupied the Marshalls, Mariana and Caroline Islands, formerly owned by Germany. The goal was achieved, the August threats are fulfilled.

No less important for the country was the diplomatic front. Japan sought to become part of the great world powers. For this, not only new territories were needed, but also serious geopolitical agreements. First of all, Japan began to build a new policy towards China. In early 1915, in response to a demand to withdraw troops from Shandong, the Japanese ambassador in Beijing presented the “21 demands” to the President of China to Japan. This lengthy document included five groups of requirements. The first group concerned the transfer of Japanese German rights to Shandong. The second group expanded Japanese preferences in southern Manchuria and eastern Inner Mongolia. The third group demanded Japan's participation in the development of Chinese natural resources at the enterprises of the Haniepin company. The fourth group stipulated that China would not concede or lease to any third countries any harbors or bays along its entire coast or islands near it.

The fifth group of demands caused the most controversy. China was supposed to invite “influential Japanese” as political and military advisers, create a joint administration in several regions of the country, purchase weapons from Japan, transfer the rights to build a number of railways to it, consult with Japan in case of attracting foreign capital, provide land to Japanese hospitals and temples and allow missionary activity in the country. Later, Japanese diplomats tried to present this group of demands with “wishes,” but even then it became clear to everyone: while the Western countries were busy with the war in Europe, Japan tried to squeeze the maximum of geopolitical benefits from weak China. When the United States and Great Britain became aware of these requirements, they expressed natural discontent with the foreign policy of their Asian ally. However, despite the cooling of diplomatic relations, they still needed the Japanese army and weapons to continue the war with Germany. Therefore, Japan did not have serious obstacles to China. After the exclusion of the scandalous fifth group of requirements, the document was adopted.

   Postcard of the 1920s with the image of the South Manchurian Railway (highlighted in red)
  https://en.wikipedia.org

In parallel, Japan was negotiating with Russia to secure its diplomatic support on the world stage. At the beginning of 1916, the Japanese ambassador to the Russian Empire handed over a note with proposals to guarantee the inviolability of the Far Eastern borders of Russia, supply it with weapons and ammunition, and provide financial assistance. In exchange, Japan wanted to get the CER section from Harbin to Kuanchenzi Station, as well as benefits for its traders and fishermen in the Far East. The agreement signed on July 3 also contained a secret part concerning the "preservation of China from the political domination of any third power." Thus, Japan gained a powerful counterweight to the United States, which sought to actively participate in China's domestic policy. This agreement was equally beneficial for the second side: Russia received a guarantee of security in the east and could fully concentrate on the fronts of the First World War.

List of used literature:

1. Noriko Kawamura. Turbulence in the Pacific: Japanese-U.S. Relations During World War I. Praeger, 2000.
2. Frederick R. Dickinson. War and National Reinvention: Japan in the Great War, 1914-1919. Harvard University Asia Center, 1999.
3. Molodyakov V.E., Molodyakova E.V., Markaryan S. B. History of Japan. XX century. M., 2007.
4. History of Japan. T. II. 1868-1998. M., Institute of Oriental Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences, 1998.
5. Koshkin A. A. Russia and Japan: Knots of contradictions. M, 2010.