Interwar years · 1931-1941

Japan's empire in Asia, 1931-1941

In 1931 the Japanese army seized Manchuria. Six years later Japan went to war with China, and by 1941 it looked south to the oil of Southeast Asia. Students compare the 1930 and 1938 maps and follow the path that led Japan to war with the United States.

Teach it live New Open on the map
Length
50 minutes
Ages
13–16
On the map
3 steps, AD 1938
Live lesson
7 rounds, 3 on the map
Worksheet
Two A4 pages, with Classroom
You need
A projector; phones for live

Live lesson · new in Classroom

Teach it live. The class answers on their phones.

Put the board on the projector. Students join with a six-digit code, no account needed, and tap the map: where was the frontier, where did the grain come from. Their pins drop in together when you reveal, and the closest student takes the round.

€19 per month: every lesson live, every worksheet, cancel anytime. Rome at its height runs live for free.

A live lesson on the projector: the class's pins on the map around Alexandria, the closest students listed beside it A student's phone: the question and a map to tap
7 rounds
3 places to find on the map, quiz questions, a class vote and a one-line answer.
About 15 minutes
Run it as the map step, or to open the discussion. You move on with the space bar.
A report
Every answer, per student and per round, to read back or print after the lesson.
1

Introduction

5 min

Read aloud

In 1931 the Japanese army seized Manchuria. Six years later Japan went to war with China, and by 1941 it looked south to the oil of Southeast Asia. Students compare the 1930 and 1938 maps and follow the path that led Japan to war with the United States.

By the end of the lesson, students can

  • Explain why Japan's leaders wanted an empire on the Asian mainland.
  • Locate Manchuria, Beijing, Nanjing and Chongqing and order the main events of 1931-1941.
  • Explain how the war in China led to conflict between Japan and the United States.
2

Explore the map

15 min

Project the map, or let students follow on their own devices. Each step opens the map at the right year and place.

a

AD 1938

Japan's empire

Open the map in 1930. Find the Empire of Japan, including Korea and Taiwan. Then move to 1938. What has changed on the mainland in the north-east?

Open this view on the map
b

AD 1938

Manchuria

Zoom in on Manchuria, around Mukden (Shenyang). Ask the atlas: "What was the Mukden Incident of 1931?" What did Manchuria have that Japan lacked?

Open this view on the map
c

AD 1938

Oil and the south

Zoom out and find French Indochina and the Dutch East Indies. Why were their rubber, tin and oil so important to Japan by 1941?

Open this view on the map
3

Class discussion

15 min

Pick two or three. They run from what happened to why it mattered.

  1. Japan had few raw materials of its own. How did that shape its plans in the 1930s?
  2. The League of Nations condemned Japan over Manchuria in 1933. Japan simply left the League. What did that show?
  3. In December 1937 Japanese troops took Nanjing and killed a great many civilians and prisoners; estimates range from tens of thousands to over 300,000. Why is its memory still debated?
  4. Why did the Chinese government move its capital far inland to Chongqing?
  5. In 1941 the United States stopped selling oil to Japan. What choices did that leave Japan's leaders?
4

Game round

10 min

Play one round of Rule History as Tokugawa Ieyasu, who unified Japan and began a long peace. Then compare: by the 1930s Japan's army leaders chose expansion abroad. Which of their choices led Japan into war?

Open Rule History
5

Worksheet

5 min

This worksheet comes with Classroom

€19 per month unlocks every worksheet, every live lesson and the class workspace. The free lesson prints without a subscription.