Answer:
Several factors paved the way for a more authoritarian "Fascist" regime in Japan in the early 20th century. Here are a few key factors:
- Economic challenges: Japan's fast industrialization in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century resulted in economic prosperity but also worsened economic inequality and social discontent. The 1930s Great Depression exacerbated these economic issues, prompting demands for increased government engagement in the economy.
- Military expansionism: Japan's military chiefs thought that in order to ensure its future, the nation needed to extend its territory and resources. As a result, Japan invaded Manchuria in 1931, followed by aggression in China and Southeast Asia.
- Nationalism: Many Japanese people were filled with national pride and thought that Japan was destined to become a great power. Propaganda and government policies that stressed the significance of the "national interest" above individual rights and liberties fostered this nationalism.
- Political instability: Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, Japan saw repeated changes in administration, creating a perception of political instability and a lack of effective leadership. This opened the door for military commanders and right-wing nationalists to grab power and impose increasingly authoritarian measures.
- Emperor worship: Many Japanese people see the Japanese emperor as a symbol of national unification and a heavenly character. The government and military utilized this concept to defend their actions and obtain public support.
Sources - Duus, Peter. "The Rise of Militarism in Japan, 1930-1941." In The Cambridge History of Japan, Vol. 6, edited by Peter Duus, 371-413. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988.
- Harries, Meirion and Susie Harries. Soldiers of the Sun: The Rise and Fall of the Imperial Japanese Army. New York: Random House, 1991.
- Jansen, Marius B. The Making of Modern Japan. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2000.
- LaFeber, Walter. The Clash: A History of U.S.-Japan Relations. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1997.
- Sims, Richard. Japanese Political History Since the Meiji Renovation, 1868-2000. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2001.