Timeline (Asia for the Asiatics!)

1909-1920
1909: October 26, Itō Hirobumi survives an assasination attempt in Korea.

1910: Japanese-Korean Union Treaty signed
 * Establishes the semi-autonous Empire of Korea within the Empire of Greater Japan
 * Military and diplomacy under Japanese control
 * Japanese occupation limited to scattered bases throughout the country
 * Signed by Korean Emperor Gojong

1912: Japan begins broadcasting ideas and transmissions about Asian unity and independence
 * Ideas gain strengthen in China, Thailand, and the Phillipines

1914: June 28, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary is assasinated

1914: July 28, World War I Begins

1914: August 23: Japan enters World War I

1914: November 7, German-controlled Tsingtao surrenders; Other German Pacific territories fall easily

1914: Sun Yat-Sen flees China; Founds Chinese Revolutionary Party in Japan 1917: New Republic of China government established in Guangdong by Sun; Supported and recongnized by Japan 1917: Whampoa Military Academy established with Japanese funding to assist in KMT officier training
 * Received support from the Japanese government
 * Almost all former Kuomintang members rejoin
 * Democratic and stable
 * Local warlords quickly incorporated into government

1917: Republican Demands issued by Japan to China 1917: Emperor Yuan abolishes monarchy, but does not hold free and fair elections; angers Japan
 * 1) Readopt the 1912 Constitution
 * 2) Abolish the monarchy
 * 3) Establish a demcracy
 * 4) Allow free, multi-party elections
 * 5) Submit to Japanese protectorateship

1918: War ends; Japan continue to occupy and administer Shandong Peninsula; infuriates Yuan

1918: November, Japan joins the multi-national Siberian Intervention force

1919: May 4th Movement increases support for KMT and repbulican government in China

1920-1929
1922: Japan withdraws from the Russian Far East; continues to occupy the northern half of Sahklin Island 1923: Chiang Kai-Shek is sent to Japan for military and political training

1924: Election of Katō Komei; Beginning of further democratic reforms

1925: Introduction of universal male suffrage in Japan and Korea

1925: Sun Yat-Sen dies

1926: KMT Northern Expedition and Second Sino-Japanese War begin 1927: Battle of Baoding - remiants of Beiyang Army and allied warlords defeated. Northern China comes under KMT control
 * Japan went to war in support of the KMT; invade Manchuria
 * KMT, led by Chiang Kai-Shek, conquer southern China within 9 months
 * Japan conquers Manchuria within 6 months

1927: Shandong returned to KMT control

1927: Japan annexes Manchuria as part of surrender agreement 1928: Chinese capital moved to Nanjing; Republic of China in full control of most of Inner China 1928: Chiang Kai-Shek elected President of the Republic of China 1929: Meiji Constitution rewritten
 * Last imperial act of Japan in China
 * Meant to appease last of the militarists
 * Sets up republican government
 * KMT remains dominate party in ROC
 * Power of the Emperor restricted; subordinate to Parliament and the Cabinet
 * Military put under Parliamentary control
 * Deemphasized the emperor's divinity
 * Great victory for Left; Destroys far-right

1930-1939
1930: Japan initiates the Meiji Project to induce rapid economic and military development in China 1931: Democracy introduced to Taiwan; given self-governing assembly

1931: Japanese financial and military support continues 1932: PanAsianism spreads in India; Gandhi becomes a believer 1933: Republic of Uyghuristan declared in the former Chinese province of Xinjiang 1938: Referendum for the Status of Taiwan; Votes to become a prefecture of Japan
 * Defeats weaker, Soveit backed Communist Party of China forces

1934: Mahatma Gandhi and Muhammad Ali Jinnah meet with Japanese Prime Minister Inukai Tsuyoshi to discuss Japanese support for Indian independence
 * India-Japan Pact signed; pledged Japanese political support for Indian independence
 * indoctrinated Indian leaders into PanAsian community

1936: Chinese War of Unification begins; Chinese, backed by Japanese troops, weapons, and money, wage war against the central Chinese warlords

1938: Japan forces China to recognize the independence of Uyghuristan and Tibet
 * Japan begins to work with both nations to initiate a rapid industrialization process

1939: September 1, Germany invades Poland; World War II in Europe begins

1939: Chinese coastals areas are rapidly modernizing; many have modern ports, shipyards, and industrial factories

1939: Battle of Khalkhin Gol - Japanese forces defeat Soviet forces when they try to advance into Mongolia, but they stop their advance fearing a war with the Soviet Union
 * Japanese-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact signed afterwards

1940-1949
1940: September 27, Japan signs Tripartite Pact with Italy and Japan 1940: October, Thailand allies with Japan and China
 * Seen as needed to enable the War of Liberation in Asia

1940: August 1, The Greater East Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere (GEACS) founded
 * Founding members: Japan, China, Uyghuristan, Tibet

1940: September, Japan seizes French Indochina 1940: October, Thailand allies with Japan and China; Joins GEAC
 * Kingdom of Cambodia, the United Republic of Vietnam, and the Republic of Laos formed as independent countries from the territory
 * Disputed Thai provinces in Indochina were ceded back to Thailand

1941: October 8, Central Chinese warlords pacified; Chinese Unification Wars end; Unification Day declared in China

1941: July 4, Phillipine Revolution begins 1941: December 7, Japan attacks American base at Pearl Harbor 1941: December 8, Chinese forces attack British Crown colony of Hong Kong; Japanese forces attack the American-controlled Phillipines in support of the Phillipine rebels; Japanese and Thai forces invade British Malaya
 * Japan recognizes the Second Phillipine Republic
 * Launches three attack waves
 * Destroys battleships, air fields, oil tanks, and carriers; neutralizes American Pacific Fleet

1942: January, Japanese, Thai, and Chinese forces invade Burma; Japan invades the East Indies, New Guinea, and the Solomon Islands

1942: Februrary 27, Battle of the Java Sea - a Japanese victory that gave them control of the East Indies

1942: March 23, Japanese occupy Andaman Islands

1942: March 31, Japanese carrier raid in the Indian Ocean; sink the carrier HMS Hermes; gain control of Indian Ocean

1942: May, Asian forces reach Indian border

1942: May 8, American forces in the Phillipines surrender to Japanese and Filipino forces 1942: May 4-8, Japanese forces defeat an Allied naval fleet in the Coral Sea and land on the southern coast of New Guinea; Port Moresby is seized within two weeks signaling the fall of New Guinea
 * All Filipino POWs are released; many join the new Army of the Phillipines
 * Entire island chain completely secured
 * Solomon Islands and Guadalcanal seized shortly after
 * Austrailia cut off from United States by Japanese air power

1942: June, Japan seizes Midway Island and destroy a small surface fleet defending it 1942: August, Quit India Movement begins; massive demonstrations for immediate independence paralyze British forces in the country
 * Destruction of US carrier fleet at Pearl Harbor has given Japan naval dominance of the Pacific
 * Had support of both the Indian National Congress and Muslim League
 * Many independence leaders, including Gandhi, thrown in Jail

1942: September, Indian National Army, or Azad Hind Fauj, founded in Singapore by Subhas Chandra Bose 1942: December, Japan invades Ceylon; Azad Hind moves their bases and men to the island
 * Recruited Indian prisoners of war in Southeast Asia; most joined
 * supported by Japanese government and Indians living in southeast Asia

1943: March 18, British troops on Ceylon surrender; the indepedent United Republic of India declared at Colombo
 * A new wave of protests breakout in India; West India breaks out into open revolt;

1943: August, State of Burma formed; led by Ba Maw; Burma National Army led by Aung Sun; joins GEACS
 * Japanese, Thai, and Chinese occupational forces began slow withdrawl to select bases