Background
Before examining the Japanese bombing of the USS Panay, we must first understand why the Japanese military was such an aggressive entity.
We must first analyze Japan’s foreign policy toward the western world.
Since the first appearance of ‘Westerners’ on Japanese soil in the sixteenth century, Japan feared that Western influence would corrupt their social order. This fear of the Western world caused the Japanese to close its borders to the western world. However, with the invention of the steamship in the middle of the nineteenth century, Japan could no longer keep their borders closed. In a radical change of Japanese national policy, Japan decided to preserve their way of life by joining the modern world. This entailed the preservation of Japanese way of life while purchasing western technology to help Japan’s transformation to a modern nation.
Japan’s success in their transformation into a modern nation and still preserving Japanese way of life was self evident by the end of the First World War. Japan had obtained western technology, which included the steam engine, cameras, newspapers, schools and steamships. Japan had become a modern nation. Japan maintained a highly efficient school system and factories produced textiles that were very competitive on the world market. Japan also was able to produce heavy and light engineering products, chemicals and steel, and finally armaments, which included ships, guns, and airplanes.
Japan had tested their strength in two conflicts prior to WWI. First against China in 1894, then against Russia in 1905. These two wars gave Japan the right to the Chinese providence of Manchuria. Japan’s confidence in her strength was also boosted in WWI when Japan fought against Germany with weapons manufactured in Japan.
Although Japan’s radical transformation into a modern nation was successful and aided the Western nations in the victory over Germany in World War I, the Western nations did not consider Japan to be it’s equal. This inequality was evident by the lack of territory that Japan received after the peace settlement and by making Japan an unequal player in the world’s military powers. Japan was upset that they had to give up much of her territory in China that was gained from Russia after the Russo-Japanese war of 1904-1905. A major blow to the Japanese psyche was delivered by the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922 by making the Japanese Navy 3/5 the size of British Royal Navy and the United States Navy. This caused the Japanese to feel bitter resentment toward its wartime allies.
As Japan continued to grow as an industrial nation, Japan required more raw materials and more food to sustain its growth. Japan, a nation of nearly 60 million people, stopped being self-sufficient. With a growing dependence upon other nations for raw materials and food, Japan, taken over by racial nationalism, decided to acquire the needed resources to maintain its own prosperity through imperial conquest.
Because of Japan despised China’s inability to maintain order and keep foreigners from its own borders, China became the target of its imperial conquest. In September 18, 1931, Japanese army made its first conquest by taking control of most of Manchuria from its local warlord. This warlord had an ally in Chiang Kai-Shek who was the commander of the army of the Nanking government. This hostile take-over by the Japanese army caused Chiang Kai-Shek to send his troops to Manchuria. This became known to the world as the "Manchurian Incident". This incident caused anger toward Japan and the Japanese civilian government was angry with its army; however, the government did nothing.
In February 1936, Japanese soldiers, in the Tokyo
garrison, tried to assassinate the Prime Minister. They succeeded
in killing two of his predecessors and the Grand Chamberlain.
This incident discredited the violent nationalists and caused the
army's power to grow stronger. Soon after a moderate government
was established, Prince Konoye was made Prime Minister.
Then on July 7, 1937 the Chinese army fired on Japanese troops in
Peking. This causes Prime Minister Prince Konoye to allow the
Japanese army to retaliate against the Chinese. This caused
continued battles between Chiang Kai-Shek's army and the Japanese
army to spread along the whole Chinese littoral. Japanese army
moved down through China and acquired more and more territory
with every victory. It controlled Peking, then Shanghai, and
finally Nanking.
While battling to take control of Nanking, the Japanese bombed and destroyed the USS Panay and three oil vessels it was escorting. This incident caused the American government to change its foreign policy toward Japan.
by Peter Bugler May 6, 2001
