HW 9

A)
1. By 1943, the time that this poster was made, all three of the nations represented in the chains were at war with Japan, and Japan seemed to be gaining the upper hand. On Feb. 15 1942, 140,000 British and American troops were taken by the Japanese when they captured Singapore. On March 9, 1942, the Dutch East Indies were taken over by the Japanese. Then in April and May, American troops in the Phillipines surrendered, and British colony Burma succumbed to attack.

2. The artist showed the relationships of the countries to Japan as a heavy chain because for so long these countries oppressed Japan. For example, the U.S. gave money and help to China in its war against Japan before America was even involved, cancelled all of its trading agreements with Japan, "stopped the sale of planes, chemicals, and iron to Japan", and later on even stopped the sale of oil. This was a blow to Japan, because 90% of its oil came from the U.S. Britain's similar colonial and military power had a similar effect.

3. The breaking of the chain by the soldier is meant to represent Japan finally becoming more powerful than The U.S. Britain, and the Dutch, and being able to throw off the chains of their oppression.

4. I think it was published with English rather than Japanese lettering because it was probably intended as a message to the U.S. and Britain and The Dutch that Japan was no longer subservient to them (however, I think that writing this in the language of the people that they are supposedly freeing themselves from defeats the purpose of this message, but I suppose then nobody would have known what it meant).

2)
1. 3 long term causes from the list are: Japan's lack of oil and supplies, US ban on oil supplies, and the formation of the UN (rather, the formation and the consequential lack of action). I think that the most important of these is Japan's lack of oil and supplies, because if Japan had had everything it needed then it likely wouldn't have invaded Manchuria, as Manchuria's resources were the biggest reason for invading.

2. 3 long term consequences were Japan becoming the greatest power in Asia, the collapse of British colonial power and the Tripartite Axis Pact. I think that the most important of these was Japan's becoming the most powerful Asian country, because it enabled the war to go on for longer. Ultimately, because of Japan's growth in power, the only way that the Western powers saw to stop Japan was to use the nuclear bombs, which killed and devastated millions and millions of people.

3.
1. Formation of the U.N.
2. Japan's lack of oil and supplies
3. US ban on oil supplies to Japan
4. Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor
5. The Tripartite Axis Pact
6. Collapse of British colonial power
7. Japan becomes the most powerful country in the East
8. Co-Prosperity Sphere (? I don't know what this is)