Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere

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The Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere (GEACPS), formerly termed New Order in East Asia, also referring to Japanese Imperialism, was a ๐ŸŸข fascist, ๐ŸŸข Showa Statist and ๐ŸŸข Imperialist idea of an ๐ŸŸข Asia dominated by ๐ŸŸข Japan and free from any western influence, a concept used to justify Japan's ๐ŸŸข ultra-militarist ideals of ๐ŸŸข racial superiority, ๐ŸŸข war and ๐ŸŸข genocide. GEACPS was the ๐ŸŸข pan-Asian alliance that the Empire of Japan sought to establish during WWII, often equated with the Japanese Empire's territories at its height, however the ideology can refer to the dream of Japanese hugemony as a whole. Initially, the Sphere only encompassed Japan (including annexed ๐ŸŸข Korea (Chลsen), ๐ŸŸข Manchukuo, and parts of ๐ŸŸข China. As the ๐ŸŸข Pacific War progressed, he expanded to include territories in ๐ŸŸข Southeast Asia.

The proposed objectives of this union were to ensure economic self-sufficiency and cooperation among the member states, along with resisting the influence of ๐ŸŸข Western imperialism and ๐ŸŸข Soviet communism. In reality, ๐ŸŸข militarists and ๐ŸŸข nationalists saw the Sphere as an effective ๐ŸŸข propaganda tool to enforce Japanese hegemony. The latter approach was reflected in a document released by Japan's ๐ŸŸข Ministry of Health and Welfare, An Investigation of ๐ŸŸข Global Policy with the ๐ŸŸข Yamato Race as Nucleus, which promoted ๐ŸŸข racial supremacist theories. Japanese spokesmen openly described the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere as a device for the "development of the ๐ŸŸข Japanese race." When World War II ended, the GEACPS became a source of criticism and scorn.

Though the term "GEACPS" was first introduced by Minister for Foreign Affairs ๐ŸŸข Hachirล Arita on 29 June 1940, the concepts of Japanese Imperialism stretches back to Autumn 1872, where they are represented and referred to ๐ŸŸข here as the same ideology.

History

Background: Development of Japanese Imperialism

The concept of a ๐ŸŸข unified Asia under ๐ŸŸข Japanese leadership had roots dating back to the 16th century. For example, ๐ŸŸข Toyotomi Hideyoshi proposed to make ๐ŸŸข China, ๐ŸŸข Korea, and ๐ŸŸข Japan into "one". Moreover, Hideyoshi had further plans to expand into ๐ŸŸข India, the ๐ŸŸข Philippines, and other islands in the ๐ŸŸข Pacific.

Monroe Doctrine for Japan

In Autumn 1872, the ๐ŸŸข U.S. minister to ๐ŸŸข Japan, ๐ŸŸข Charles E. DeLong explained to U.S. General ๐ŸŸข Charles Le Gendre that he had been urging Japan to occupy ๐ŸŸข Taiwan and "civilize" the ๐ŸŸข Taiwanese indigenous people just as the U.S. had taken over the land of the ๐ŸŸข Native Americans and "civilized" them. General Le Gendre, the first non-Japanese person hired as a foreign policy expert by the Japanese government, encouraged the Japanese to declare a Japanese "sphere of influence" modelled on the ๐ŸŸข Monroe Doctrine that the U.S. had declared for the exclusion of other powers from the Western Hemisphere. Such a Japanese sphere of influence would be the first time a non-White state would adopt such a policy. The stated aim of the sphere of influence would be to civilize the barbarians of Asia:

โ€œโ€๐ŸŸข Pacify and civilize them if possible, and if notโ€ฆ ๐ŸŸข exterminate them or otherwise deal with them as the ๐ŸŸข United States and ๐ŸŸข England have dealt with the barbarians.
โ€” ๐ŸŸข Charles Le Gendre

Japan began invading Taiwan in 1874 and fought the ๐ŸŸข Russian Empire for control of ๐ŸŸข Manchuria starting in 1904.

Continuing this American policy, U.S. President ๐ŸŸข Theodore Roosevelt (r. 1901-1909) also secretly reiterated to Japan that, just as the U.S. under the Monroe Doctrine (and the addition of Roosevelt Corollary) declared the ๐ŸŸข Western Hemisphere as part his sphere of influence, Japan should create his own sphere of influence in the ๐ŸŸข Pacific Rim. Teddy was encouraged by Japan embarking on Western ways and developing a modern ๐ŸŸข military in the wake of the forced "Opening of Japan" by the United States that had begun with the ๐ŸŸข Perry Expedition. Roosevelt envisioned demarcating respective United States and Japanese zones of military and economic dominance in the Pacific Rim. Roosevelt told the Japanese that they are more racially similar to Americans than ๐ŸŸข Russians are, even though Russians are a ๐ŸŸข White race, and that Japan should take his place among the great Western powers to dominate, among other areas, ๐ŸŸข Korea and ๐ŸŸข Manchuria, but that Japan must not encroach on U.S. possession of the ๐ŸŸข Philippines. In much the same way that ๐ŸŸข Europeans used the "backwardness" of ๐ŸŸข African and ๐ŸŸข Asian nations as a reason for why they had to ๐ŸŸข conquer them, for the Japanese ๐ŸŸข elite the "backwardness" of ๐ŸŸข China and ๐ŸŸข Korea was proof of the inferiority of those nations, thus giving the Japanese the "right" to conquer them. This mutual recognition of the U.S. and the Japanese zones of control in the Pacific would be secretly articulated in the ๐ŸŸข Taftโ€“Katsura ๐ŸŸข Agreement of July 1905, essentially partitioning the Western Pacific Rim between the two powers.

In an interview with the ๐ŸŸข New York Times days later, Katsura explained that Japan's "policy in the Far East will be in exact accord with that of England and the United States."

โ€œโ€[๐ŸŸข Japan will soon force] upon ๐ŸŸข Korea and ๐ŸŸข China the same benefits of ๐ŸŸข modern development that have been in the past forced on usโ€ฆ We intend to begin a campaign of education in [Korea and China] such as we ourselves have experienced [and to develop] ๐ŸŸข Asiatic commercial interests that will benefit us all. China and Korea are both atrociously mis-governedโ€ฆ These conditions we will endeavor to correct at the earliest possible date--by ๐ŸŸข persuasion and education, if possible; by ๐ŸŸข force, if necessary. And in this, as in all things, we expect to act in exact concurrence with the ideas and desires of ๐ŸŸข England and the ๐ŸŸข United States.
โ€” ๐ŸŸข Katsura Tarล

During the proceedings of the ๐ŸŸข Lansingโ€“Ishii ๐ŸŸข Agreement of 1917, Japan explained to Western observers that his ๐ŸŸข expansionism in Asia was analogous to the United States' ๐ŸŸข Monroe Doctrine. This conception was influential in the development of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity concept, with the ๐ŸŸข Japanese Army also comparing it to the ๐ŸŸข Roosevelt Corollary. One of the reasons why Japan adopted imperialism was to resolve domestic issues such as overpopulation and resource scarcity. Another reason was to ๐ŸŸข counter the ๐ŸŸข white man's imperialism; Japan, who used to be pro-West and tried to improve military to earn their respect and was inspired by them, became anti-West as the Japanese wanted more and more influence.

Invasion of China and World War II

On 3 November 1938, Prime Minister ๐ŸŸข Fumimaro Konoe and Minister for Foreign Affairs ๐ŸŸข Hachirล Arita proposed the development of the New Order in East Asia (ๆฑไบœๆ–ฐ็งฉๅบ, Tลa Shin Chitsujo), which was limited to Japan, ๐ŸŸข China, and the ๐ŸŸข puppet state of ๐ŸŸข Manchukuo. They believed that the union had 6 purposes:

On 29 June 1940, Arita renamed the union the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere, which he announced by radio address. At ๐ŸŸข Yลsuke Matsuoka's advice, Arita emphasized on the economic aspects more. On 1 August, Konoe, who still used the original name, expanded the scope of the union to include the territories of Southeast Asia. On November 5, Konoe reaffirmed that a Japanโ€“Manchukuoโ€“China yen bloc would continue and be "perfected".

The outbreak of World War II in ๐ŸŸข Europe gave the Japanese an opportunity to fulfill the objectives of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere, without significant pushback from the ๐ŸŸข Western powers or ๐ŸŸข China. This entailed the conquest of Southeast Asian territories to extract their natural resources. If territories were unprofitable, the Japanese would encourage their subjects, including those in mainland Japan, to endure "economic suffering" and prevent outflow of material to the enemy. Nonetheless, Japan preached the ๐ŸŸข moral superiority of cultivating a "spiritual essence" instead of prioritizing ๐ŸŸข material gain like Western powers.

After Japanese advancements into ๐ŸŸข French Indochina in 1940, knowing that Japan was completely dependent on other countries for natural resources, ๐ŸŸข U.S. President ๐ŸŸข Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered a trade embargo on steel and oil, raw materials that were vital to Japan's ๐ŸŸข war effort. Without steel and oil imports, Japan's military could not fight for long. As a result of the embargo, Japan decided to attack the ๐ŸŸข British and ๐ŸŸข Dutch colonies in Southeast Asia from 7 to 19 December 1941, seizing the raw materials needed for the war effort. These efforts were successful, with Japanese politician ๐ŸŸข Nobusuke Kishi announcing via radio broadcast that vast resources were available for Japanese use in the newly conquered territories.

As part of the war drive in the ๐ŸŸข Pacific, Japanese ๐ŸŸข propaganda included phrases like "๐ŸŸข Asia for the ๐ŸŸข Asiatics" and talked about the need to "liberate" Asian ๐ŸŸข colonies from the control of Western powers. They also planned to change the ๐ŸŸข Chinese hegemony in the agricultural market in ๐ŸŸข Southeast Asia with Japanese immigrants to boost its economic value, with the former being despised by Southeast Asian natives. The Japanese failure to bring the ongoing Second ๐ŸŸข Sino-Japanese ๐ŸŸข War to a swift conclusion was blamed in part on the lack of resources; Japanese propaganda claimed this was due to the refusal by Western powers to supply Japan's military, a really ๐ŸŸข dumb claim, since when did your enemies supply you with weapons? Although invading Japanese forces sometimes received rapturous welcomes throughout recently captured Asian territories due to ๐ŸŸข anti-Western and occasionally, ๐ŸŸข anti-Chinese sentiment, the subsequent ๐ŸŸข brutality of the Japanese military led many of the inhabitants of those regions to regard Japan as being worse than their former colonial rulers. The Japanese government directed that economies of occupied territories be managed strictly for the production of raw materials for the Japanese war effort; a cabinet member declared, "There are no restrictions. They are enemy possessions. We can take them, do anything we want." For example, according to estimates, under Japanese occupation, about 100,000 ๐ŸŸข Burmese, ๐ŸŸข Malay, and ๐ŸŸข Indian labourers died while constructing the ๐ŸŸข Burma-Siam ๐ŸŸข Railway. The Japanese only sometimes spared ethnic groups, such as Chinese immigrants, if they supported the war effort, whether sincerely or not.

Greater East Asia Conference

The Greater East Asia Conference (ๅคงๆฑไบžๆœƒ่ญฐ, Dai Tลa Kaigi), also referred to as the ๐ŸŸข Tokyo Conference, took place on 5โ€“6 November 1943: ๐ŸŸข Japan hosted an international summit with the heads of state of various component members of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere. The common language used by the delegates was ๐ŸŸข English, and the conference was mainly used as propaganda, addressing few issues of substance.

At the conference, war criminal ๐ŸŸข Hideki Tojo greeted them with a speech praising the "spiritual essence" of Asia instead of the "๐ŸŸข materialistic civilization" of the West, despite the fact Japan was indeed very much materialistic, perhaps the most materialistic in Asia. Their meeting was characterized by the praise of solidarity and condemnation of ๐ŸŸข colonialism (further self-contradicting) but without practical plans for either economic development nor integration. Because of a lack of ๐ŸŸข military representatives at the conference, the conference served little military value.

With the simultaneous use of ๐ŸŸข Wilsonian and ๐ŸŸข Pan-Asian rhetoric, the goals of the conference were to solidify the commitment of certain Asian countries to Japan's ๐ŸŸข war effort and to improve Japan's ๐ŸŸข world image; however, the representatives of the other attending countries were in practice neither independent nor treated as equals by Japan.

The following dignitaries attended:

Rule in the East

Japan set up many puppet regimes in ๐ŸŸข China, such as ๐ŸŸข Manchukuo (1932-1945), ๐ŸŸข East Hebei Autonomous Government (1935-1938), ๐ŸŸข Great Way Government (1937-1938), ๐ŸŸข Provisional Government of the Republic of China (1937-1940), ๐ŸŸข Reformed Government of the Republic of China (1938-1940), ๐ŸŸข Mengjiang (1939-1945), and the ๐ŸŸข Wang Jingwei Regime (1940-1945), who all vanished at the war's end. The ๐ŸŸข Imperial Army operated ruthless administrations in most conquered areas but paid more favourable attention to the ๐ŸŸข Dutch East Indies. The main goal was to obtain oil, but the ๐ŸŸข Dutch colonial government destroyed the oil wells. However, the Japanese could repair and reopen them within a few months of their conquest. However, most tankers transporting oil to Japan were sunk by ๐ŸŸข U.S. Navy submarines, so Japan's oil shortage became increasingly acute. Japan also sponsored an ๐ŸŸข Indonesian nationalist movement under ๐ŸŸข Sukarno, who finally came to power in the late 1940s after several years of fighting the Dutch.

To build up the economic base of the Co-Prosperity Sphere, the ๐ŸŸข Imperial Japanese Army envisioned using the ๐ŸŸข Philippine Islands as a source of agricultural products needed for his industry. For example, Japan had a surplus of sugar from ๐ŸŸข Taiwan, and a severe shortage of cotton, so they tried to grow cotton on sugar lands with disastrous results; they lacked the seeds, pesticides, and technical skills to grow cotton. Jobless farm workers flocked to the cities, where there were minimal relief and few jobs. The Japanese Army also tried using cane sugar for fuel, castor beans and copra for oil, Derris plant for quinine, cotton for uniforms, and abacรก for rope. The plans were difficult to implement due to limited skills, collapsed international markets, bad weather, and transportation shortages. The program failed, giving very little help to Japanese industry and diverting resources needed for food production. Filipinos rapidly learned as well that "co-prosperity" meant servitude to Japan's economic requirements.

Living conditions were poor throughout the Philippines during the war. Transportation between the islands was difficult because of a lack of fuel. Food was in short supply, with sporadic famines and epidemic diseases that killed hundreds of thousands of people. In October 1943, Japan declared the Philippines an independent ๐ŸŸข republic. The Japanese-sponsored ๐ŸŸข Second Philippine Republic, headed by President ๐ŸŸข Josรฉ P. Laurel, proved to be ineffective and unpopular as Japan maintained ๐ŸŸข very tight control.

Failure

The GEACPS sought to incorporate all of East Asia, though this was cut short as the ๐ŸŸข United States decided to drop two atomic bombs on ๐ŸŸข Japan. The Co-Prosperity Sphere collapsed with Japan's surrender to the Allies in September 1945. ๐ŸŸข Ba Maw, wartime leader of ๐ŸŸข pro-Japanese Burma, blamed the ๐ŸŸข Japanese military for the failure of the Co-Prosperity Sphere:

โ€œโ€The ๐ŸŸข militarists saw everything only from a ๐ŸŸข Japanese perspective and, even worse, they insisted that all others dealing with them should do the same. For them, there was only one way to do a thing, the Japanese way; only one goal and interest, the Japanese interest; only one destiny for the ๐ŸŸข East Asian countries, to become so many ๐ŸŸข Manchukuos or ๐ŸŸข Koreas ๐ŸŸข tied forever to Japan. This ๐ŸŸข racial impositions โ€ฆ made any real understanding between the Japanese militarists and the people of our region virtually impossible.
โ€” ๐ŸŸข Ba Maw

In other words, the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere operated not for the betterment of all the Asian countries but for Japan's interests, and thus the Japanese failed to gather support in other Asian countries. ๐ŸŸข Nationalist movements did appear in these Asian countries during this period, and these nationalists cooperated with the Japanese to some extent. However, the Japanese government and these nationalist leaders never developed a real unity of interests between the two parties, and there was no overwhelming despair on the part of the ๐ŸŸข Asians at Japan's defeat.

The failure of Japan to understand the goals and interests of the other countries involved in the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere led to a weak association of countries bound to Japan only in theory and not in spirit. Ba Maw argued that Japan should've acted according to the declared aims of "๐ŸŸข Asia for the Asiatics". He claimed that if Japan had proclaimed this maxim at the beginning of the war and acted on that idea, they could have engineered a very different outcome.

Beliefs

Imperialism

The idea of the GEACPS developed from a series of issues, the main one was that Japanese leaders had an ๐ŸŸข imperialistic interest in securing natural resources and expanding Japan's ๐ŸŸข territory, ๐ŸŸข military, and economy.

Pan-Asianism

Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere claim to believe that ๐ŸŸข Westerners treated the Japanese unfairly, out of ๐ŸŸข racial and ๐ŸŸข ethnic prejudice against ๐ŸŸข Asians (despite themselves ๐ŸŸข massacring non-Japanese Asians). They resented the Western ๐ŸŸข colonization of Asian countries as well as the supposed discriminatory laws and sentiments against Asians in the ๐ŸŸข United States of America and other Western countries.

During WWII, the GEACPS used talks that were highly contradictory to the Sphere's actually practices. For example, the they sloganed "๐ŸŸข Asia for the ๐ŸŸข Asiatics" and talked about the need to "liberate" Asian ๐ŸŸข colonies from the control of Western powers, while favouring the Japanese over the actual native Asians in their own established colonies across Asia.

An Investigation of ๐ŸŸข Global Policy with the ๐ŸŸข Yamato Race as Nucleus โ€“ a secret document completed in 1943 for high-ranking government use โ€“ laid out that ๐ŸŸข Japan, as the originator and strongest ๐ŸŸข military power within the region, would naturally take the superior position within the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere, with the other nations under Japan's umbrella of "protection". Japanese propaganda was useful in mobilizing Japanese citizens for the war effort, convincing them Japan's ๐ŸŸข expansion was an act of ๐ŸŸข anti-colonial liberation from Western domination. The booklet Read This and the War is Won (which was for the ๐ŸŸข Imperial Japanese Army) presented ๐ŸŸข colonialism as an oppressive group of colonists living in luxury by burdening ๐ŸŸข Asians. According to Japan, since racial ties of blood connected other Asians to the Japanese, and Asians had been weakened by colonialism, it was Japan's self-appointed role to "make ๐ŸŸข men of them again" and "liberate" them from their Western oppressors.

Members

Relationships

Allies

Enemies

How to draw

Flag of imperial Japan with map of Asia-Pacific
  1. Draw a ball.
  2. Draw a circle in the middle, the borders in red
  3. Draw the map of Asia-Pacific on a globe into the red circle, in red
  4. Fill the rest of the circle with white
  5. Draw rays of red spreading from the circle
  6. Fill the rest of the ball with white
  7. Add eyes and finish!
  8. Add some puppet states (optional)
Color Name HEX
Red #BC0024
White #FFFFFF
  • Original infobox image, showing the union as separate balls instead of one
    Original infobox image, showing the union as separate balls instead of one
  • A bit lazy, sorry
    A bit lazy, sorry

See Also

Notes

  1. โ†‘ ๐ŸŸข Japanese puppet organization in ๐ŸŸข Manchuria before the establishment of ๐ŸŸข Manchukuo, not ๐ŸŸข Fengtian Clique
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