In Violation of Article 22

Paper Summary:

Article 22 of the League of Nations Covenant spells out the rules by which every mandatory power was to govern their mandates. This paper discusses how Japan's violation of Article 22 led to brutal fighting between the Japanese and the Allied Powers. The author illustrates how had the Japanese upheld their duties as mandatory powers, some of the imperialistic fervor would have subsided, and a possible avoidance of the Pacific War could have occurred.

From the Paper:

"At the end of the 19th century, Japan found herself looking up at the superpowers of the world. Japan had spent years in isolation, perfecting her own culture, silently growing in power, and waiting for the time to gain world recognition. The Japanese chose the turn of the century to display their power to the world. Japan engaged in armed conflict with both the Russians and the Chinese, coming out on the winning end in both altercations. In her eyes, Japan felt this was enough evidence of her strength and ascension into the class of superpowers. The leaders of the west, however, felt this display by Japan was a meager attempt to replicate the conquests of previous countries. Japan was still seen as a struggling, inferior country, a view that was helped along by prevailing racial stereotypes and even the arrogance of the west. To combat this problem, Japan became even more aggressive in her dealings with foreign countries, and even imperialistic in some manners. Germany began to encroach on Japanese territory during World War I, and Japan countered by using her military. At the end of the war, Japanese forces occupied three island chains: the Marshall, Caroline and Marianas Islands. When the war officially ended, the world superpowers decided to award the islands to Japan as mandatory states in the Treaty of Versailles. Article 22 of the League of Nations Covenant spelled out the rules by which Japan, and other mandatory powers, ruled over their mandates. Japan violated Article 22 of the covenant by exploiting the natives of these islands, forcing Japanese culture on the people, and militarily fortifying the land."

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