Since the 20th century, the word ‘Versailles’ has become somewhat synonymous with the sowing of the
seeds of war. Countless historians have pointed out the rise of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy as
having roots in the Treaty of Versailles, signed in 1919 at the tail end of the First World War.
However, Germany and Italy were only two of the three major Axis powers, which plunged
the world into war in the 1930s. Traditionally, the treaty of Versaille is thought to have had
little impact on 20th century Japan, but in truth, a string of superseding events leading
up to that fateful day in June 1919 made it so that, when the treaty was finally signed,
the land of the rising sun was pushed firmly on the path that would lead it
to become an Axis Power in WW2. In this video, we will explain why the Treaty of Versailles
became the straw that broke the camel’s back, pushing Japan towards the Axis.
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Our story begins with a brand new Empire which took to the global stage by replicating what
it had learned from the great powers of Europe and America. By the end of the 19th century,
the formerly feudal and isolationist nation of Japan had undergone the Meiji Restoration , an
incredible process of hyper modernization, catching up on centuries of technology in
a matter of decades to avoid being colonized by technologically advanced European powers.
On top of European technology, the Japanese of this period also picked up on the European habit
of colonial expansionism. In the 1890s, Japan utilized its newfound technological superiority
to enforce exploitative treaties upon the Korean Joseon Dynasty. This brought it into conflict with
the Qing Dynasty, to whom Joseon was a tributary vassal . The outcome was the First Sino-Japanese
War of 1894-1895 which saw the legendary siege of Port Arthur and the naval battles of Yalu
River and Weihaiwei. The Empire of the rising sun defeated the Qing dynasty handily, becoming the
dominant Asian power in the east. The population of Japan beamed with pride, they had achieved a
major objective in their goal to become one of the great powers, but this elation was only temporary.
The treaty of Shimonoseki signed on April 17th of 1895 recognized the total independence of Korea
from China, and ceded Taiwan, the Penghu Islands, and the much-desired Liaodong Peninsula to Japan.
However, after its ratification, Japan was suddenly approached by the triple intervention of
France, Germany, and Russia who argued Japan should return the Liaodong Peninsula
to China . When Japan sought the aid of the United States and Great Britain, they instead
advised Japan to increase the indemnity fees as a replacement for the Liaodong peninsula. Thus Japan
reluctantly acceded to the triple intervention as it was in no position to resist the 3 great powers
militarily . Then, to the shock and fury of Japan, Russia immediately signed a 25-year lease of the
Liaodong peninsula and began setting up a naval base at Port Arthur. It became clear that among
the congress of nations, Japan would never be taken as seriously as any of the European powers.
Japan was extremely unhappy with the outcome, but she was not alone, Britain,
one of Russia’s principal geopolitical rivals, was also wary of Tsarist encroachment in China.
Thus the Anglo-Japanese alliance of 1902 was signed to ward off Russian expansion in east Asia.
This ultimately allowed Japan to recover the face it had lost in the Liaodong incident,
and allowed the young Empire to achieve its primary geopolitical aims in the region.
This principally constituted establishing dominance over Korea, which it did by
commercially exploiting Joseon with unequal treaties, and, ironically, shaking off all
the remaining unequal treaties imposed upon itself by the great European powers, when they had forced
Japan to open the country decades earlier. However, Japan had its sights on more than
just Korea, and also sought a sphere of influence in the breadbasket of Asia,
Manchuria. Their opportunity came when the Qing dynasty was engulfed in the Boxer Rebellion
of 1899-1901, wherein eight nations with colonial interests in a weak, complacent and stable China
stepped in to help the Qing Emperor quell the uprising. Japan and Russia found themselves on
the same side in this conflict, but the outcome of the war caused further conflict between the two.
By the end of the uprising, Russia had sent over 177,000 troops into Manchuria under the pretext
of protecting railway construction in the region from insurgents , promising they would withdraw
once the rebellion was over. After the rebellion, 100,000 troops remained settled in Manchuria,
and by 1903 Russia had yet to establish a timetable for withdrawal. Soon, Russia became even
bolder and began the construction of inroads into Korea. Seeing all this as a threat to its national
security, Japan attempted to diplomatically deal with the Russian encroachments, but nothing came
to fruition , notably as a result of the racially motivated Yellow Peril rhetoric being pushed by
Kaiser Wilhelm II onto Tsar Nicholas II. The result was the cataclysmic Russo-Japanese war
of 1904-1905 seeing such battles as Mukden and the legendary naval battle of Tsushima.
For the first time in modern history, an Asian power defeated a European power,
sending shockwaves throughout the globe. Japan emerged as the dominant power in Asia,
but similarly to Russia, had bankrupted itself with the war and was eager to make a peace deal.
Theodore Roosevelt was chosen to mediate between the two nations at Portsmouth, and much to the
shock and dismay of Japan, he advised Japan to accept a peace deal without monetary reparations,
nor significant territorial gains . The Japanese public was furious,
leading to the Hibiya riots of 1905 . Japan felt betrayed and cheated by the United States.
Despite not achieving the peace deal they sought, Japan still had achieved more national objectives,
she now held the sphere of influence over Manchuria and quickly seized a lease on the
southern Manchurian Railway, mining concessions, and the Liaodong peninsula. Japan would follow
this up with the annexation of Korea in 1910 officially making Korea a colony of Japan and
allowing it to be exploited even more brutally. A few years later, one of the most lucrative
opportunities in Japanese history occurred, the Great War. At the outbreak of the conflict,
Japan proposed of its ally Britain that she should enter the war on the condition she could seize
German held territory in the Asia-Pacific. Britain was reluctant at first, but officially asked for
Japan's assistance in destroying the German East Asia Squadron led by Maximilian von Spee. The
Entente formally gave Japan the status of full ally, guaranteeing it support at the prospective
peace conference and to support Japanese claims over German possessions within China.
However Britain also quietly warned Japan to not seize German held territory in the south or east
pacific, which Britain had pegged for annexation by its Australian and New Zealand based forces.
Japan set to work, submitting an ultimatum to Germany on August the 23rd of, 1914,
which went unanswered, leading Japan to besiege the German-held Chinese port of Tsingtau.
The siege of Tsingtau saw many firsts in military history, from seaplane-carrier Wakamiya,
Japan conducted the first naval-launched air raids against German held land targets
in Shandong province and ships in Qiaozhou Bay; the first night-time bombing raid; and possibly
the first aerial victory when Pluschow claimed to have downed a Japanes Farman MF.7 with his pistol.
Ultimately, Japan defeated the Germans and seized Tsingtau, while the IJN simultaneously seized the
Mariana, Caroline and Marshall islands much to the annoyance of Britain. This would prompt
Britain to publicly tell Japan not to seize any more German colonial possessions in the
south and east pacific, thereby handing Japan an insult on the world stage it would not forget.
Now being the dominant and uncontested power in Asia, Japan had the ability to throw its weight
around as she saw fit. With all of Europe’s great powers currently grinding each other into dust on
their home continent, Japan felt it was time to seize more of its vital interests in China.
The Qing dynasty had collapsed during the Xinhai revolution of 1911 and a fragmented Beiyang
government led by Yuan Shikai was trying to keep the ailing nation together. On January 18th of
1915, Japanese Prime Minister Okuma Shigenobu drafted and sent the infamous Twenty-One Demands
to President Yuan Shikai privately, threatening dire consequences should China reject them.
It would grant Japan all the territory it seized from Germany ; expand its influence in Manchuria
and Inner Mongolia ; expand its role in the development of railways and mining in China . Most
egregiously of all, it would give Japan a decisive voice in China’s financial, policing, and
governmental affairs . In other words, it would effectively make China a protectorate under Japan,
much like what Korea was prior to full annexation. Japan was well aware of what it was asking,
thus demanding the Beiyang government keep the matter secret, but the Beiyang government
leaked the demands in an effort to earn European powers' support against Japan. China rejected
the humiliating demands on April 26st of 1915, prompting the Genro of Japan to delete the most
egregious parts of the demands and present a new Thirteen Demands on May 7th of 1915,
this time in the form of an ultimatum with a 2-day deadline. Yuan Shikai was competing with
warlords to control a fragmented China and was in no position to risk war with Japan, so he
accepted and signed the demands on May 25th, 1915. While the signing seemed like a great victory for
Japan, the opposite would turn out to be true. Without the most egregious demands included,
Japan gained very little it did not already have in China, but now lost the trust of the United
States and its European allies, particularly Britain. Tensions between the two powers began
straining when Japan was asked for further assistance as the first world war raged on,
which it did by sending the Japanese Red Cross to the western front and escorting ANZAC troop
convoys to the middle east. In February of 1915, the IJN was asked to help quell the 1915
Singapore Mutiny and did so begrudgingly . Then in 1916, Britain began requesting
the IJN’s assistance in the Mediterranean to protect Entente shipping from U-boat attacks.
Japan agreed to do so in 1917 upon reaching an agreement with Britain that she would support
Japan’s territorial claims in the Asia-Pacific. The IJN second special squadron would make 348
escort sorties in the mediterranean sea, escorting 788 ships containing over 700,000 troops, saving
the lives of 7075 Entente personnel from U-boat attacks at the cost of 72 IJN sailor deaths.
When WW1 came to an end, Japan emerged as one of the big five victors. Japan
had helped neutralize German naval forces in the Pacific, captured German-held territories,
sent the Red Cross to the front, and aided in the escorting of Entente shipping within the Pacific,
Indian and Mediterranean seas. In return for all of this Japan expected a sizable postwar dividend.
Japan achieved the coveted status of being a “great power” and this was recognized officially
by granting it a permanent seat at the new League of Nations council. However, there was something
missing from the Paris Peace conference and it was of grievous importance to Japan.
While she was recognized as a great power, she was not recognized as being fully equal to the
other great powers. Thus at the final season on April 11, 1919, Japan issued the Jinshutekisabetsu
teppai teian - “proposal to abolish racial discrimination” amendment to the Treaty of
Versailles . Japan had bitter memories of the “yellow peril” rhetoric that had come to fruition
during the Russo-Japanese War. She had and still was undergoing severe immigration restrictions and
racial discrimination from many of the great powers, notoriously the United States.
The Racial Equality proposal stipulated “The equality of nations being a basic principle of
the League of Nations, the High Contracting Parties agree to accord as soon as possible
to all alien nationals of states, members of the League , equal and just treatment in every respect
making no distinction, either in law or in fact, on account of their race or nationality.”
To the conservative magnates of Europe, this proposal was very controversial,
and some politicians like Lord Cecil of Britain suggested the matter not be discussed at all.
However, racial equality had some support among the highest brass. The Italian Prime Minister
Vittorio Orlando spoke in favor of it on the basis of human rights. French Senator Leon Bourgeois
urged for its adoption and argued it would be impossible to reject the proposal because it
“embodied an indisputable principle of justice”. Ultimately, was put to a vote and won through a
majority , 11 Ya’s out of 17, but while there were no Na’s, there was considerable push back.
Australian Prime Minister William Morris Hughes offered vocal criticism, arguing the proposal
would mean an end to the “White Australia” immigration policy . “No Gov’t could live
for a day in Australia if it tampered with a White Australia” Hughes stated. Hughes began to
strong arm the rest of the British delegation into opposing it, putting British Prime Minister David
Lloyd George in an awkward situation, with Britain still needing to honour its alliance with Japan
while also dealing with xenophobic and white-supremacist elements within its own Empire.
Meanwhile, Canadian prime minister Sir Robert Borden and South Africa’s prime Minister General
Jan Smuts tried to work out a compromise by mediating private meetings between Hughes and the
Japanese body politic. They were able to persuade Hughes to accept the proposal given a clause was
made that it would not affect immigration, but Nobuaki and Chinda would reject the compromise.
In the end it was the segregationist President of the United States Woodrow Wilson who came
up with a method of killing the proposal without ever openly opposing it. Wilson
required votes from the segregationist southern democrats in order to secure a democrat held US
Senate to ratify the treaty. Wilson also held a personal belief in white racial superiority,
an ideology that had guided his administration's policy since he took office.
Wilson imposed a unanimity ruling, stating the issue was a matter that
had strong opposition manifest itself and would thus require a unanimous vote.
In the halls of Versailles, it had become perfectly clear to the Japanese that the
Europeans and Americans would never truly regard them as equals. The Japanese media fully covered
the conference and this led its public opinion to become even more anti-american. Ironically while
the exclusion of the clause allowed Wilson to keep the southern democrats on his side, he was unable
to get the US senate to ratify the treaty in the end and the US never joined the League of Nations.
Alone the rejection of the Racial Equality Proposal may seem a small slight, but when put
into the context of early 20th century Japan, it was the straw that broke the camel's back.
The great powers had broken Japan's faith that it would ever earn equality amongst them.
Many historians argue the rejection of the Racial Equality Proposal contributed
to the outbreak of WWII and certainly to the isolation and militarism of Japan during the
interwar period. The Treaty of Versailles would cause grievances for many nations,
but in particular, it was Germany, Italy and Japan who would be driven by these grievances
towards forming the Pact of Steel and another world war.
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