Japan On the Eve of the First World War

The industrial proletariat of Japan in 1913 did not reach another 1 million people (in 1905, 526 thousand people, in 1912 - 856 thousand).

The majority of industrial enterprises were characterized by a low organic composition of capital. Enterprises of heavy industry were few. Metallurgy developed only insofar as it was necessary to serve the military industry. The main center of Japanese metallurgy, which was in the hands of the state, was the Yavat metallurgical plant, put into operation in 1901. However, the productivity of this combine did not exceed 200,000 tons of steel per year.

The changes that took place in the Japanese economy after the Russo-Japanese War are characterized by an acceleration in the pace of industrial development, along with a notable upholding of agriculture. The capitalists began to pretend to increase their influence in the state apparatus, but they did not think about opposing the dominance of the military and bureaucracy. On the contrary, they sought to split the traditional militarist alliance with the landowners and encourage the military to rely mainly on the monopoly bourgeoisie. In this spirit, the preparatory work of bourgeois political groups took place, culminating in the creation in 1913 of the Doshikai (Society of Like-minded) party under the leadership of the militarist General Katsura. In 1916, Doshikai was transformed into a " Ksenekai (Society for Constitutional Government). Japan on the eve of the First World War ...

The expansion of Japanese imperialism into Manchuria changed the former benevolent attitude of the US capitalists towards Japan. American imperialism actively supported Japan only as long as Japan opposed Russia. As it became clear that Japanese imperialism was a much more dangerous competitor for America in the exploitation of China than Russia could have been, American policy towards Japan was becoming hostile. This hostility intensified as a result of the emerging trend towards the rapprochement of Japan with tsarist Russia, which jointly counteracted American expansion in China. Racist laws against "yellow" immigrants, prepared in the US and directed against the Japanese, served as an external expression of the growing Japanese-American antagonism.

As a result of prolonged and sharp controversy, the pages of the Japanese and American press were followed by the conclusion of the so-called "gentlemen's agreement" between Japan and America, according to which Japan promised herself to refrain from sending a large number of her settlers to America.

Japan on the eve of the First World War