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| Japanese occupation of German colonial possessions | |||||||||
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| Part of theAsian and Pacific theatre of World War I | |||||||||
 Japanese Warships traveling the ocean. | |||||||||
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 Japan | |||||||||
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Japan enteredWorld War I in 1914 with the strategic objective of expanding its influence in the Pacific region by seizing German-controlled colonies.[1] As a member of theAnglo-Japanese Alliance, Japan aligned itself with France, Great Britain, Russia, and the United States. In October 1914, the Japanese sent vessels to occupy German-held territories in the Pacific. This included theMariana Islands,Marshall Islands,Palau, andCaroline Islands.[2] These islands were of significant strategic value and would play important roles duringWorld War II as military bases and logistical hubs.
Following theMeiji Restoration andfirst war with China, Japan’s consolidation of nationalistic ideals led them to seek imperialism outside of their borders as the natural progression of Meiji ideals. However, the Japanese were not ignorant to the growing Western influence in Asia. Japan and Britain forged theAnglo-Japanese Alliance of 1902, an anti-Russian strategic alliance that protected British and Japanese influence in the area, as both nations realized they required alliances rather than isolation to further their interests. To Japan, this allowed them toact more aggressively with the backing of a European power. This treaty would be renewed up until 1914, which allowed the Japanese an easy entrance into World War I on the side of theAllies via invocation of the alliance.[3]
Along with the alliance with Britain, Japan was experiencing political strife in its time of peace which motivated their entrance into the war. Both sides, between the militaristic, bureaucratic elite, and the rising political parties built towards the larger civilian populace, agreed that The Great War was an opportunity to continue to support the legacy of Meiji Japan’s nationalistic and empire building ideals.[3] Following Japan’s success in growing its influence in China, Japan was motivated to join World War I on the side of the Allies to expand their influence in Asia as a whole at the behest of many Japanese politicians likeYamagata Aritomo.[3]
Seizing the opportunity to expand its imperial reach, Japan declared war on Germany on August 23, 1914. Shortly thereafter, on August 27, Japanese forces launched attacks on German colonies in China.[4] The most notable battle being theSiege of Tsingtao which took place in theShandong Peninsula. Japan's involvement inWorld War I allowed it to assert its dominance inEast Asia and the Pacific, laying down the ground work for its growing imperial ambitions in the decades to follow.
DuringWorld War I,Japan, allied with Britain through theAnglo-Japanese Alliance and declared war on Germany in 1914. Japan initially focused on besieging German possessions in China. The most notable of these possessions being the strategic portCity of Qingdao. The siege marked the first Anglo-Japanese action that took away German control and sole major Asia-Pacific land battle of World War 1.[5] Japan then sent theImperial Japanese Navy out to the Pacific islands held by the Germans.[6] The British however were annoyed by the Japanese aggression in the Pacific as they told them not to attack them.[7]
Germany did not plan on defending the islands, since they did not think that they would be attacked. When the Japanese invaded the islands, German officers, police and locals would have small clashes which did not stop the Japanese invading the islands.[8] One example of resistance was on the Micronesian island ofPonape, where a District Officer, twoPolizeitruppe NCOs and 50 Melanesian Polizeitruppe who retreated into the forests.[9] Another example was when the crew of theSMS Planet tried scuttling the vessel at the entrance of the harbor onYap attempting to stop Japanese ships from getting in.[10] A third example was when a sergeant on the island ofSaipan rebelled against the Japanese marines that were landing by rallying the local police force and resist them on the beach.[11]
The navy minister told Japanese commanders not to occupy any islands.Tanin Yamaya disobeyed the order and occupiedJaluit Atoll on September 29. The navy ministers told him to reverse the military occupation of the island but changed their mind after seeing that the islands were otherwise unoccupied. The island was later reoccupied on October 3. After that on Oct. 5, Japan would occupyKosrae. TheJapanese then proceeded to occupy the other islands as theUnited Kingdom didn't react.Ponape in theCaroline's was captured on Oct. 7, although the territory's surrender was delayed a few days due to a small local defence force that hid in the island's interior to mount a resistance. They later realized their situation was hopeless and gave up. TheCaroline islands ofYap also fell on October 7 and the only tensions there were the shelling, destruction of the wireless station and the scuttling of theSMS Planet,[12] followed by the occupation ofKoror on October 8,Angaur on Oct. 9.Truk Atoll was captured on Oct. 12,Saipan on October 14 while encountering minuscule resistance, andRota October, 21st. In less than a month all ofGerman New Guinea's islands were occupied byJapan besideNauru.[2]
After the Japanese had occupied the German islands, they were not faced with any local resistance.[13] The occupation of Japan saw two groups: pro-Japanese sentiment and anti-Japanese sentiment. The pro-Japanese sentiment stemmed from Japan's Japanisation policy towards islanders, which was implemented to assimilate islanders. The anti-Japanese sentiment stemmed from the cruel treatment of the islanders during thePacific War as they stated their disapproval of the Japanese sending them to fight the Americans due to their status as a Japanese territory. This led to the call for reparations from Japan.[14]
Following the initial Japanese occupation of the islands, a policy of secrecy was adopted. Japan made it plain that it did not welcome the entry of foreign ships into Micronesian waters, even those of its wartime allies. This was known as theSouth Seas Mandate.[15]
