DBWI: Japan in a Entente victory in WW1

[Historyman 14]

Now, what would happen to Japan if the Allied powers won the Great War? How would it be affect by it?

(POD: America never join. CP won in 1917/1918)

 

[King Nazar]

Probably not that much different. They kept Qingdao and Germany's pacific islands even though they were on the loosing side of the war. They'd still get them as spoils if the Entente won.

Politically it gets interesting, since the defeat of the Entente did discredit Liberal Democracy in Japan for a while and was one of the main reasons for Japan's turn towards militarism in the 20s and 30s. I wonder if that would still be the case if France and Britain won the war.

 

[Miss Teri]

Well, The Great War did leave Britain and France so weakened, that both were forced to sell their Asian colonies to Japan (Malayasia and Singapore in 1924, and French Indochina in 1930). This gave them a springboard to eventually acquire the Dutch East Indies, and eventually control Thailand, and later India, establishing a colonial empire in Southeast Asia. Obviously, an Enterente victory would prevent this from happening. Maybe they could have contained Japanese aggression.

 

[PoorBoy]

Probably not that much different. They kept Qingdao and Germany's pacific islands even though they were on the loosing side of the war. They'd still get them as spoils if the Entente won.

Politically it gets interesting, since the defeat of the Entente did discredit Liberal Democracy in Japan for a while and was one of the main reasons for Japan's turn towards militarism in the 20s and 30s. I wonder if that would still be the case if France and Britain won the war.

Well, The Great War did leave Britain and France so weakened, that both were forced to sell their Asian colonies to Japan (Malayasia and Singapore in 1924, and French Indochina in 1930). This gave them a springboard to eventually acquire the Dutch East Indies, and eventually control Thailand, and later India, establishing a colonial empire in Southeast Asia. Obviously, an Enterente victory would prevent this from happening. Maybe they could have contained Japanese aggression.

Winning the war that their allies lost is pretty much the big reason behind the daring "Come and get us" approach to Japanese diplomacy after the Great War. They felt they were invincible after that war, and it was only after the lengthly Second Sino-Japanese War when the Japanese were knocked back to their senses. Yeah, it's true that none of the Western Powers were able to project their military all the way to the Far East. And yes, the Japanese still spins the Second Sino-Japanese War as a victory against the KMT Chinese government of the time. But they were so weakened and battered by 1950 that they pretty much withdrew from the continent and conceded Korea to Mao and the Communists.

I agree that perhaps, a more contained Japan would have lessened their aggression.