Faction -- The Japanese Army -- World War II
Spontaneous subtitles from C.B. :)
During the 1920s, the Imperial Japanese Army expanded greatly in its number of men and military spending.
The Meiji Constitution put the Emperor in charge of all the Imperial Japanese armed forces.
Although most of the time, the Ministry of War and the General Staff Office controlled its actions.
The Kwantung Army -- an army group of the imperial Japanese Army started a new phase of Japanese imperialism by invading Manchuria in 1931.
The Imperial Japanese Army at this point had 17 divisions.
Starting in 1937, the Second Sino-Japanese War which some historians consider the beginning of World War II so Japan against China.
During this conflict, the Imperial Japanese Army gained its reputation for brutality.
The war in China would drain the Army's resources and bring forward a need for increased conscription.
The Imperial Japanese Army also conflicted with the Red Army during the 1930s.
Starting with a border clash, it turned into a large war near the city of Nomanhan.
Ending in 1939 with the decisive Nomanhan Incident or the Battles of Khalkhyn Gol.
At the end of this conflict, the Red Army defeated the Japanese Army.
This loss of prestige for the Imperial Japanese Army put the Imperial Japanese Navy as the priority and this inter-service rivalry would continue throughout World War II.
In 1941, the United States joined the War when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor under the orders of General Hideki Tojo.
Emperor Hirohito had appointed Tojo who was also the Minister of War from 1940 as Prime Minister.
By this time in the war the Imperial Japanese Army possessed 51 divisions totaling 1.7 million men.
Most of these divisions were mobilised in China and large garrisons were held in Manchuria, Korea, Formosa, Indochina and the Home Islands.
The Imperial Japanese Army was victorious early on in the Pacific Theater.
The capture of Hong Kong in 1941 and Singapore in 1942 humiliated Britain which underestimated the Japanese forces greatly.
In 1942, the Japanese Army also captured the Philippines from United States, taking on thousands of American and Filipino prisoners of war.
As well as this, the Imperial Japanese Army assisted by Thai forces and the Burmese Independence Army occupied Burma and pushed the British and Chinese forces out.
Eventually allied counter-offensive such as the Guadalcanal campaign forced the Japanese army into a more defensive posture.
From 1943, there was a shortage of military, medicine and food supplies, and starvation would contribute to too many Japanese soldiers deaths.
As the war progressed and the situation became more desperate for the Army, Japanese soldiers started to use more sacrificial tactics.
In the Battle of Saipan in 1944, only a handful of troops surrendered to US forces.
In 1945, the War looked hopeless for the Japanese. U.S. forces had taken back the Philippines and captured Iwo Jima and Okinawa.
The Army had almost 2 million troops strong was recalled to defend the mainland against impending invasion.
However, the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki prevented further conflict.
With the Japanese surrender at the end of the war, the Imperial Japanese Army was dissolved.
Approximately 6.3 million men served in the Imperial Japanese Army from 1937 to 1945.
It is estimated that 1.3 million were killed or missing in action.