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Before and duringWorld War II, theEmpire of Japan created a number ofpuppet states that played a noticeable role in the war by collaborating with Imperial Japan. With promises of "Asia for the Asiatics" cooperating in aGreater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere, Japan also sponsored or collaborated with parts of nationalist movements in several Asian countries colonised by European empires, the Soviet Union, and the United States.[1] The Japanese recruited volunteers from several occupied regions and also from among Allied prisoners-of-war.[2]
Some of the leaders in various Asian and Pacific territories cooperated with Japan as they wanted to gain independence from the European colonial overlords, as seen in Burma and Indonesia. Some other collaborators were already in power of various independent or semi-independent entities, such asPlaek Phibunsongkhram's regime in Thailand, which desired to become a major player in Asian politics but were restrained by geopolitics, and the Japanese maximised it to some extent. Others believed Japan would prevail, and either wanted to be on the winning side, or feared being on the losing one.
Like their German and Italian counterparts, the Japanese recruited many volunteers, sometimes at gunpoint, more often with promises that they later broke, or from among POWs trying to escape appalling and frequently lethal conditions in their detention camps. Other volunteers willingly enlisted because they shared fascist or pan-Asianist ideologies.
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The Japaneseinvaded Burma because the British had been supplying China in theSecond Sino-Japanese War along theBurma Road.[3][4] Burmese nationalists known asBurma Independence Army hoped for independence.[5][6] They were later transformed into theBurma National Army as the armed forces of theState of Burma. Minority groups were also armed by the Japanese, such as the Arakan Defense Army and the Chin Defense Army.[7]
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Hong Kong was a British crown colony before its occupation by the Japanese. During the Japanese rule, former members of theHong Kong Police Force, including Indians and Chinese, were recruited into theKempeitai police force.[8]
TheIndian Legion (Legion Freies Indien,Indische Freiwilligen Infanterie Regiment 950 orIndische Freiwilligen-Legion der Waffen-SS) was created in August 1942, recruiting chiefly from disaffectedBritish Indian Army prisoners of war captured by Axis forces in theNorth African campaign. Most were supporters of the exilednationalist and former president of theIndian National CongressSubhas Chandra Bose. TheRoyal Italian Army formed a similar unit of Indian prisoners of war, theBattaglione Azad Hindoustan. A Japanese-supported puppet stateAzad Hind was also established with theIndian National Army as its military force.[9][10]
One of Iraq's most prominent politicians,Taha al-Hashimi, was pro-Japanese and stressed that the Arab world should look to Japan as a role model.[11] In 1941, elements of the Iraqi military led by four Colonels,Salah al-Din al-Sabbagh,Kamil Shabib,Fahmi Said, andMahmud Salman, toppled theHashemite monarchy and installed a pro-Axis government with Taha al-Hashimi serving as the Prime Minister. Japan, one of the three main Axis powers, supported the group as part of its strategy to improve relations with the Islamic world, although geographical distance meant its support was merely symbolic.[11]
After occupyingBritish Malaya, Japanese occupation authorities reorganized the disbanded British colonial police force and created a new auxiliary police. Later on, a 2,000-men strong Malayan Volunteer Army and a part-time Malayan Volunteer Corps were created. Local residents were also encouraged to join theImperial Japanese Army as auxiliaryHeiho. There was a Railway Protection Corps as well.[12]
The British territory of theStraits Settlements (Singapore,Malacca,Penang andDindings) came under Japanese occupation after the fiasco suffered by Commonwealth forces at theFall of Singapore. The Straits Settlements Police Force came under the control of the Japanese and all vessels owned by the Marine Police were confiscated.[13]
The Japanese had previously set up several puppet regimes in occupied Chinese territories. The first wasManchukuo in 1932, under former Chinese emperorPuyi,[14] then theEast Hebei Autonomous Government in 1935. Similar to Manchukuo in its supposed ethnic identity,Mengjiang (Mengkukuo) was set up in late 1936.Wang Kemin's collaborationistProvisional Government was set up inBeijing in 1937 followingthe start of full-scale military operations between China and Japan, and another puppet regime, theReformed Government of the Republic of China, inNanjing in 1938.
TheWang Jingwei collaborationist government, established in 1940, "consolidated" these regimes, though in reality neither Wang's government nor the constituent governments had any autonomy, although the military of theWang Jingwei regime was equipped by the Japanese with planes, cannons, tanks, boats, and German-stylestahlhelm, which were already widely used by theNational Revolutionary Army, the "official" army of theRepublic of China.
The military forces of these puppet regimes, known collectively as theCollaborationist Chinese Army, numbered more than a million at their height, with some estimates that the number exceeded 2 million conscriptees. Many collaborationist troops originally served warlords of theNational Revolutionary Army who had defected when facing both Communists and Japanese. Although the collaborationist army was very large, its soldiers were very ineffective compared to NRA soldiers, and had low morale because they were considered "Hanjian". Some collaborationist forces saw battlefields during theSecond Sino-Japanese War, but most were relegated to behind-the-line duties.
The Wang Jingwei government was disbanded after the Japanese surrendered to Allies in 1945, and Manchukuo and Mengjiang were destroyed in theSoviet invasion of Manchuria.
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Japan attempted to create an Islamic state spanning fromXinjiang toSoviet Central Asia during theKumul Rebellion.[15][16] During World War II, Japanese agents were again active in both Xinjiang and Soviet Central Asia, where the Japanese attempted to foster rebellions among Muslim population against both China and the Soviet Union.[17]
Following its swift victory in theDutch East Indies campaign of 1941–1942, Imperial Japan was welcomed as a liberator by much of the native population of theDutch East Indies (present-dayIndonesia),[18][19] and especially by theIndonesian nationalists who since the early 20th century had begundeveloping a national consciousness.[20][21] In the wake of the Japanese advance, rebellious Indonesians across the archipelago killed scores of European and pro-Dutch civilians (in particular from theChinese community)[22] and informed the invaders on the whereabouts of others,[23] 100,000 of whom would be imprisoned inJapanese-run internment camps alongside 80,000 American, British, Dutch, and Australian prisoners of war.[24] Unlike in occupied French Indochina, where Imperial Japan worked alongside the French colonizer, the Japanese supplanted the Dutch administration of the East Indies and elevated native elites willing to work with them to power,[25] fueling Indonesian hopes of future self-rule.[24] Imperial Japan imposed a strict occupation regime on the archipelago, however, as to them the value of the archipelago lay mostly in its ample resources for the war effort (specifically oil, tin, and bauxite) and their initial use for the nationalists only extended to the pacification and organization of the sizeable population ofJava.[18]
During the occupation of the Dutch East Indies,Sukarno andMohammad Hatta, respectively the inauguralpresident andvice president of the futureRepublic of Indonesia, became promoters of the Japaneserōmusha forced labor scheme through theCenter of the People's Power (Pusat Tenaga Rakyat; Putera) and mobilized workers for Japanese production and construction projects across Southeast Asia, such as the strategic railways onSumatra andWest Java, and along theBurma–Thailand border.[26] In total, 4 to 10 million Indonesian laborers were recruited[27] and some 270,000 to 500,000Javanese were sent abroad, of whom 70,000 to 135,000 returned after the war.[18][28] In November 1943, the Japanese flew Sukarno and Hatta to Tokyo to receive theOrder of the Rising Sun from Emperor Hirohito for their services.[29] Similarly, Indonesia's second presidentSuharto and firstcommander of the Indonesian National Armed ForcesSudirman began their military careers in the Japanese-sponsoredDefenders of the Homeland (Pembela Tanah Air; PETA), which alongside the auxiliaries of theHeiho (兵補) was to assist the Imperial Japanese military in fighting off the expected Allied return to the East Indies.[30] Hundreds of thousands served in Japanese organizations such as the propaganda institutionKeimin Bunka Shidōsho (啓民文化指導所),[31] the youth movementSeinendan (青年団),[32] and theauxiliary police forces of theKeibōdan (警防団).[33]
As its fortunes turned, Imperial Japan became faced with growing resistance to its increasingly repressive occupation and began catering to the Indonesian desire for self-rule. Already in September 1943,[21] the JavaneseCentral Advisory Council (Chūō Sangiin,中央参議院) had been created around Sukarno, Hatta,Ki Hajar Dewantara, andMas Mansur, and expanded to include notables such asRajiman Wediodiningrat andKi Bagus Hadikusumo.[34]Sumatran representation underMohammad Syafei,Abdul Abas, andTeuku Nyak Arif would follow nearly two years later and included established nationalists such asDjamaluddin Adinegoro andAdnan Kapau Gani.[35] In January 1944, the Center of the People's Power was replaced by the less overtly Japanese-controlledHōkōkai (奉公会;Himpunan Kebaktian Rakjat) in a renewed attempt to increase Javanese labor and produce for the Japanese war effort.[36] A paramilitary youth wing, theSuishintai (推進体;Barisan Pelopor), would be founded in August.[37] In July 1944, Japanese prime ministerHideki Tojo was forced to resign and on 7 September his replacementKuniaki Koiso made a promise of independence for "the East Indies"di kemudian hari (English:at a later date).[38] In spite of the deteriorating military situation and a disastrous famine on Java,[39] war enthusiasm had returned to the extent that the suicide attack corpsJibakutai (自爆隊;Barisan Berani Mati) could be formed on 8 December 1944.[40]
On 14 February 1945, a PETA battalion underSupriyadi launcheda short-lived revolt against the Japanese inBlitar,East Java.[21] Although it was quickly put down and possibly misattributed to nationalist fervor,[41] it factored into the Japanese realization that their window on creating an Indonesian puppet state had closed.[42] Hoping to extend the occupation by redirecting nationalist energy towards harmless political squabbles, the military authority on Java announced the formation of theInvestigating Committee for Preparatory Work for Independence (Badan Penyelidik Usaha-usaha Persiapan Kemerdekaan; BPUPK) on 1 March 1945.[43] Despite meeting only twice, the plenary sessions of the BPUPK would see the formulation ofPancasila and theJakarta Charter that would later form the basis of the preamble to theConstitution of Indonesia.[44] On 7 August, the day after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Japanese field marshalHisaichi Terauchi approved the establishment of thePreparatory Committee for Indonesian Independence (Panitia Persiapan Kemerdekaan Indonesia; PPKI) and promised Indonesian independence would be granted on 24 August 1945.[43] As Imperial Japan surrendered to the Allies on 15 August, Sukarno insteadproclaimed Indonesian independence on 17 August 1945.[24] In theIndonesian National Revolution that followed, 903 Japanese nationals volunteered for the Indonesian cause, of whom 531 wound up dead or missing.[45]
Japanese soldiers primarily used Laos to stage attacks on Nationalist China.[46]
On 22 September 1940,Vichy France and theEmpire of Japan signed an agreement allowing the Japanese to station no more than 6,000 troops inFrench Indochina, with no more than 25,000 troops transiting the colony. Rights were given for three airfields, with all other Japanese forces forbidden to enter Indochina without Vichy's consent, although in truth it was rarely enforced as Japanese troops were able to enter all of Indochina unchecked. Vichy signed the Joint Defense and Joint Military Cooperation treaty with Japan on 29 July 1941.[47] It granted the Japanese eight airfields, allowed them to have more troops present, and to use the Indochinese financial system, in return for a fragile French autonomy.
The French colonial government had largely stayed in place, as the Vichy government was on reasonably friendly terms with Japan. The Japanese permitted the French to put down nationalist rebellions in 1940.
The Japanese occupation forces kept French Indochina under nominal rule of Vichy France until March 1945, when the French colonial administration was overthrown, and the Japanese supported the establishment of theEmpire of Vietnam, theKingdom of Kampuchea and theKingdom of Luang Prabang as Japanese puppet states. Vietnamese militia were used to assist the Japanese.[48] In Cambodia, the ex-colonial Cambodian constabulary was allowed to continue its existence, though it was reduced to ineffectuality. A plan to create a Cambodian volunteer force was not realized due to the Japanese surrender.[49] In Laos, the local administration and ex-colonialGarde Indigène (Indigenous Guard, a paramilitary police force) were re-formed byPrince Phetsarath, who replaced its Vietnamese members with Laotians.[46] The Hmong Lo clan supported the Japanese.[46]
TheSecond Philippine Republic (1943–1945) was a puppet state established by Japanese forces after their 1942 invasion of the United States'Commonwealth of the Philippines (1935–1946). The Second Republic relied on the re-formedBureau of Constabulary[50] and theMakapili militia to police the occupied country and fight the local resistance movement and thePhilippine Commonwealth Army. The president of the republic,Jose P. Laurel, had a presidential guard unit recruited from the ranks of the collaborationist government. When the Americans closed in on the Philippines in 1944, the Japanese began to recruit Filipinos, who mostly served in theImperial Japanese Army and actively fought until Japan's surrender. Members of the religious groupIglesia ni Cristo (then known asIglesia ni Kristo or INK) were used by the Japanese as civilian guards.[51] After the war, members of Makapili and other civilian collaborators were subject to harsh treatment by both the government and civilians, because their actions had led to the capture, torture, and execution of many Filipinos.[52]
TheSecond Portuguese Republic underAntónio de Oliveira Salazar was neutral during World War II, but itscolony on Timor (present-dayEast Timor) wasoccupied by the Japanese to expel Australian, New Zealander and Dutch troops.[53] The Japanese used the population forforced labor.[53] The Portuguese administration was allowed to retain autonomy under strict Japanese supervision, while local militiamen were organized into "Black Columns" to help Japanese forces fight Allies.[54]
Portuguese Macau became a virtual protectorate of Imperial Japan as its governorGabriel Maurício Teixeira and local elitePedro José Lobo attempted to maintain a balance between the demands of the Japanese consulYasumitsu Fukui and the needs of the Macanese population, which had doubled in number due to the influx of refugees fromMainland China and Hong Kong.[55]
A pro-Japanese brigade, theAsano Brigade, was formed by Russian anti-communists before and during World War II.[56]
Japanese agents were active in Central Asia during theRusso-Japanese War, which Russian reports warned about Japanese espionage among the Turkic Muslim population.[57]
During theKumul Rebellion in 1932, the Japanese secretly set up a plan to create an Islamic state with the Ottoman PrinceŞehzade Mehmed Abdülkerim to be the head of the new Islamic Caliphate that spanned from Soviet Central Asia toChinese Turkestan, with support from pro-Japanese collaborationists drawn from the Kazakh, Uzbek, Uyghur and Kyrgyz population, aiming to undermine the Soviet influence.[15][16] Following theSecond Sino-Japanese War and distrust between the Soviet Union and Japan amidst World War II, the Japanese again aimed to include collaborationists from Muslim territory in Russian and Chinese Turkestan to ignite rebellions to undermine China and the USSR's war efforts.[17]
Soviet intelligence revealed that over 200 Japanese agents and an unknown number of collaborators were operating in the region with varied roles.[58][59][17]
TheKra Isthmus railway was a rail line constructed forImperial Japan duringWorld War II linkingChumphon toKra Buri inThailand.[60] The railroad connected the Bangkok-Singapore Line westward to the west coast of theKra Isthmus near Victoria Point (Kawthaung).[60][61]Sir Andrew Gilchrist wrote a harrowing account of worker conditions. Malay and Tamil slave laborers were used and material moved fromKelantan. Allied bombing in 1945 ended the 11-month operation of the railroad and the Japanese switched their focus to theThai-Burma Railway, also referred to as the Death Railway, for the large numbers of prisoners and effectively enslaved workers who died there. They moved equipment, track and personnel from the Kra Isthmus Railway to the Thai-Burma line.[61]
The 90 km (56 mi) line connected with the Southern Line at Chumphon. Work began on the line in June 1943 and was completed in November. Equipment and personnel from Kelantan were used. The line was in operation for 11 months until U.S. bombing ceased operation. The line was then abandoned and scrapped for use on theThai-Burma Railway. The line connected to Ban Khao Fa Chi on the La-Un River where boats could continue transport toRanong and on to Victoria Point (Kawthaung).[61]
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)Imperial Japan in 1943 had established a puppet state known as the Provisional Government of Free India
1942, the Japanese army set up "black columns" (columnas negras). Largely comprising people from the western part of Timor under Dutch rule, these columns of militiamen sowed violence and destruction. Here again, the East Timorese were the main victims. In November 1942, the Japanese placed the bulk of the remaining Portuguese community (600 people) in camps.
