There were many events that occurred that led up to Japanese Imperialism. After WWI ended, the Japanese decided to shut down all military manufacturing companies. This left thousands of people without jobs, and left them with no way to make money, as no jobs were replaced. The Great Depression also contributed a great deal. In 1929 it helped to largely contribute to an economic collapse in Japan. Aside from economics, there were also issues between rival countries, in this case China and Japan. With the end of WW1 came the Treaty of Versailles, and with that tensions rose(1). The reason for this was that the treaty said that Japan received all the German rights and concessions in the Shantung Peninsula, which was former Chinese territory. Another issue with this is that it granted Japan many important ports, giving them more power in trade and the Pacific Ocean. With this new land in China, Japan became greedy and wanted more to expand their empire and make them as powerful as possible.
1. Guiding question: How does your topic illustrate the legacy of World War I?