Japan Enters the War
Japan at War
On the 15th of August in the year 1914, motivated by the desire to maintain peace in Eastern Asia, Japan sent an ultimatum to Germany, which demanded two things of the nation. The first demand was for Germany to hand over the German-leased territory of Jiaozhou to Japanese authorities without compensation. The second demand was for the German navy to remove its warships from Japanese and Chinese waters. On August 23, Germany’s refusal to comply led Japan to enter the war on the side of the Allies. Later joined by Australia in the Japanese quest for German held islands in the Pacific, Japan took possession of fortress Qingdao, the Marshall Islands, Marina Islands, Palau, and the Carolines, and captured portions of German-held Samoa and German-occupied possessions in the Bismarck Archipelago and New Guinea.
Twenty-One Demands
Seeing it as an opportunity to advance in its imperial interests in China, Japan exploited the Allied support and European preoccupation. Twenty-one secret demands were presented to the Chinese government on January 18, 1915. The acceptance of the terms would have reduced China into a protectorate of Japan. Most important were the demands that Japan would seize Shandong from Germany, grant Japanese industrial monopolies in central China, place Japanese overseers in key government positions, give Japan joint control of Chinese police forces, restrict their arms purchases to Japanese manufacturers, and make those purchases only with the approval of the Tokyo government. China accepted most of the demands, and Chinese diplomats leaked the note to the British authorities, who spoke up for China, and thus prevented total capitulation.
Gallipoli
Photo of Turkish soldiers in a frontline trench at Anzac.
The southwest Asian territories of the Ottoman empire saw to the most extensive military operations outside Europe. In the search of a way to break the war’s stalemate on the western front, Winston Churchill suggested an Ally strike against the Ottomans. In 1916 the British navy began an expedition to seize the Dardanelles Strait in an attempt to open a warm-water supply line to Russia. They bombed the forts that defended the strait, but then took damage from floating mines and withdrew without accomplishing their mission. After this, it was decided that a land force of English, Canadian, Australian and New Zealand soldiers would enter the beaches of the Gallipoli peninsula. Prepared Turkish defenders targeted them and pinned them to the beaches where the Allies engaged in their own version of trench warfare. It took nine months for the Allied leaders to accept the defeat of their campaign, after 250,000 casualties had occurred on both sides.
The Battle of Gallipoli led to the weakening of imperial ties as the realization that most of the soldiers lost to the casualties were Canadian, Australian, and New Zealanders. In addition, it paved the way for emerging national identities, and launched the political career of the commander of the Turk division that defended Gallipoli, Mustafa Kemal, whom went on to play a crucial role in the formation of the modern Turkish state.
The Battle of Gallipoli led to the weakening of imperial ties as the realization that most of the soldiers lost to the casualties were Canadian, Australian, and New Zealanders. In addition, it paved the way for emerging national identities, and launched the political career of the commander of the Turk division that defended Gallipoli, Mustafa Kemal, whom went on to play a crucial role in the formation of the modern Turkish state.
The United States Enters the War
U.S. President Woodrow Wilson ends the United States' neutrality in the war.
In 1916, Woodrow Wilson was reelected president of the United States for his nonintervention platform campaign. However, the United States, while remaining neutral, sold arsenal to the Allied Powers, whom they grew to favor. During the first two years of the war, the United States faced economic difficulties, which they escaped because of the Allies’ purchasing of war materials. In the spring of 1917, the Allies had run out of money to pay for their supplies, and their victory in the war would have been impossible without the direct participation of the United States in the Great War.
The determining factor of the U.S.’s introduction into the war came about because of the German resumption of unrestricted submarine warfare in February 1917. America had announced neutrality in order to maintain trade relations going, but Germany had targeted British ships for full destruction. Every ship, including merchant ships, was destroyed without warning by German submarines. On May 7th, 1915 one of the German targets was the British ship, Lusitania. The sinking of the ship resulted in the loss of 1,198 lives, of which 128 were U.S. citizens. The event caused an outrage in segments of the American public, and the country’s mood increasingly turned against Germany in the following two years. At the same time, Allied propaganda also won over public opinion.
In January 1917, Woodrow Wilson began to enumerate U.S. war aims, and on the 2nd of April, he urged the Congress of the United States to adopt a war resolution. Despite the protests of a few members of Congress, the United States declared war against Germany on April 6, 1917.
The determining factor of the U.S.’s introduction into the war came about because of the German resumption of unrestricted submarine warfare in February 1917. America had announced neutrality in order to maintain trade relations going, but Germany had targeted British ships for full destruction. Every ship, including merchant ships, was destroyed without warning by German submarines. On May 7th, 1915 one of the German targets was the British ship, Lusitania. The sinking of the ship resulted in the loss of 1,198 lives, of which 128 were U.S. citizens. The event caused an outrage in segments of the American public, and the country’s mood increasingly turned against Germany in the following two years. At the same time, Allied propaganda also won over public opinion.
In January 1917, Woodrow Wilson began to enumerate U.S. war aims, and on the 2nd of April, he urged the Congress of the United States to adopt a war resolution. Despite the protests of a few members of Congress, the United States declared war against Germany on April 6, 1917.