1931–1945Reputable sourceWell documented

Imperial Japan and the Second World War

On the timeline · around 1931–1945 · Modern Japan

What happened

Pursuing an empire in Asia, Japan seized Manchuria in 1931 and invaded China in 1937. On 7 December 1941 it attacked the U.S. fleet at Pearl Harbor, opening the Pacific War. After years of brutal fighting, Japan surrendered in 1945 following the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Why it matters

Imperial expansion brought Japan to catastrophe — devastating much of Asia, ending in the only wartime use of nuclear weapons, and closing the era of Japanese militarism with total defeat and foreign occupation.

Sources

U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian. Japan, China, the United States and the Road to Pearl Harbor, 1937–41 · Reputable source

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Part of a timelineHistory of Japan16 events · From the world's oldest pottery to a postwar economic superpower — samurai, shoguns, emperors, and the making of modern Japan, every milestone sourced.View all →