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203-574: In August 1945, Imperial Japan surrendered to the Allied Powers . From September 1945 to April 1952, the United States occupied Japan and attempted to transform Japanese society from an authoritarian regime into a democracy. The Allies endeavored many ways to reform, including disarmament , dissolution of the Zaibatsu , granting of the freedom of speech , release of political prisoners, and enactment of

406-651: A renewed federation , an attempted coup against Gorbachev by hardline communists prompted the largest republics—Ukraine, Russia, and Belarus—to secede. On December 26, Gorbachev officially recognized the dissolution of the Soviet Union . Boris Yeltsin , the leader of the RSFSR, oversaw its reconstitution into the Russian Federation , which became the Soviet Union's successor state; all other republics emerged as fully independent post-Soviet states . During its existence,

609-590: A tributary state of China's Qing Empire , which exerted large influence over the conservative Korean officials who gathered around the royal family of the Joseon kingdom. On February 27, 1876, after several confrontations between Korean isolationists and the Japanese, Japan imposed the Japan–Korea Treaty of 1876 , forcing Korea open to Japanese trade. The act blocked any other power from dominating Korea, resolving to end

812-501: A Japanese system..." Ruriko Kumano asserted "Dodge's mission was to bolster Japanese economy so as to prevent Japan from falling to communism." In April, Yoshida wrote to SCAP that he intended to lay off more than 100,000 railroad workers in order to comply with the austerity program. Shortly thereafter, Yoshida began the formal layoffs, while these layoffs were firmly opposed by workers and railroad industry unions, and numerous work stoppages, strikes, and occupations occurred. JCP also took

1015-564: A Lasting Peace, for a People's Democracy! , criticizing JCP's peaceful revolutionary strategy. On January 12, Kyuichi Tokuda , chairman of JCP, published an article entitled "Statements on 'Concerning the Situation in Japan ' " ( “日本の情勢について”に関する所感 , "Nihon no jōsei ni tsuite" ni kansuru shokan ) to refute the editorial of Cominform, JCP later split into two factions: the "Statement Faction" ( 所感派 , Shokan-ha ) , which supported Tokuda's path, and

1218-636: A Theory of Civilization", which detailed Western society and his own philosophies. In the Meiji Restoration period, military and economic power was emphasized. Military strength became the means for national development and stability. Imperial Japan became the only non-Western world power and a major force in East Asia in about 25 years as a result of industrialization and economic development. As writer Albrecht Fürst von Urach comments in his booklet "The Secret of Japan's Strength", published in 1942, during

1421-402: A cabinet again on October 15 and remained in power until 1954. He was in power and his long administration allowed Kennan's policies and ideas to be further implemented in Japan. One of the most important of Kennan's policies was NSC-13/2, which included ending the liquidation of war criminals, listing 20 major opposition groups in Japan, and increasing the power of the government and police. After

1624-592: A chapel of the Russian Consulate. St. Nicholas of Japan made his own translation of the New Testament and some other religious books ( Lenten Triodion , Pentecostarion , Feast Services , Book of Psalms , Irmologion ) into Japanese . Nicholas has since been canonized as a saint by the Patriarchate of Moscow in 1970, and is now recognized as St. Nicholas, Equal-to-the-Apostles to Japan. His commemoration day

1827-434: A clear understanding of the conditions under which the purge is to be administered? The newspaper is a poor source of information on matters of this kind ... What assurance, if any, do we have that the purge will not repeat the mistakes of ten years ago when liberal and progressive professors were liquidated? Despite that, Kumano states that even if CIE is not directly involved in this matter, their "recommendations" still plays

2030-580: A closer relationship with France and Britain. In 1939, half a year after the Munich Agreement , the USSR attempted to form an anti-Nazi alliance with France and Britain. Adolf Hitler proposed a better deal, which would give the USSR control over much of Eastern Europe through the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact . In September, Germany invaded Poland, and the USSR also invaded later that month, resulting in

2233-623: A continued collaboration with the Tokugawa, Saigō Takamori , leader of the Satsuma clan, threatened the assembly into abolishing the title shōgun and ordered the confiscation of Yoshinobu's lands. On January 17, 1868, Yoshinobu declared "that he would not be bound by the proclamation of the Restoration and called on the court to rescind it". On January 24, Yoshinobu decided to prepare an attack on Kyoto, occupied by Satsuma and Chōshū forces. This decision

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2436-559: A crucial role to take such actions. Five days after Eells' speech, the Japanese government announced that teachers and professors would be allowed to participate in political groups, "activities of university professors, such as expressing their opinions ... are thought to be an integral part ... as professors", while the education department and universities used various irrelevant reasons to force them to resign. The U.S. State Department Office of Intelligence Research reported that 20 - 30 professors were urged to resign during late-September. In

2639-580: A debate over defining the political system of Japan as a dictatorship . The Imperial Japanese Armed Forces initially achieved large-scale military successes during the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Pacific War . However, from 1942 onwards, and particularly after decisive Allied advances at Midway Atoll and Guadalcanal , Japan was forced to adopt a defensive stance against the United States . The American-led island-hopping campaign led to

2842-532: A formal institution. Most studies of Allied history in East Asia agree that Eells' actions were the first suppression of academic freedom in post-war Japan. However, Hans Martin Kramer in his 2005 study argues that CIE was not directly involved in the purges and that it is doubtful whether Eells himself could be positioned as an instigator. Kramer quotes a CIE memo to demonstrate CIE's limited involvement: How does one get

3045-466: A homicide, and there were even rumors that the incident was the result of operations by U.S. and Soviet agents. Ten days later, shortly after the announcements of the second round dismissals were posted, an unmanned 63 series train in Tokyo that had been parked overnight was suddenly released, and capsized after hitting and breaking a buffer stop , killing six people and injuring 20 . Police then believed that

3248-763: A link between big business owners and Japan's conservative parties; but also caused a sharp drop in productivity and massive job losses for workers and government employees, which is also referred to as "Dodge squeeze". In June, influenced by the Dodge Line, the Yoshida Cabinet decided to revise the Labor Union Law and the Labor Relations Adjustment Law to reshape labor-management relations in Japan; both were simultaneously used to suppress left-wing radicals and strengthen control over labor unions. Specifically,

3451-402: A nationwide sentiment and widely quoted by Japanese newspapers. Despite the fact that his lectures were not popular within the universities, Japanese Education Minister Takase Sōtarō secretly began firing pro-Communist teachers under the advice of SCAP. By March 1950, some 1,100 people had been dismissed. SCAP also recommended the government to " decommunize " the civil service without establishing

3654-592: A new profitable market. In the late 1920s and early 1930s, Stalin ordered Marxist-Leninist parties across the world to strongly oppose non-Marxist political parties, labour unions or other organizations on the left, which they labelled social fascists . In the usage of the Soviet Union, and of the Comintern and its affiliated parties in this period, the epithet fascist was used to describe capitalist society in general and virtually any anti-Soviet or anti-Stalinist activity or opinion. Stalin reversed himself in 1934 with

3857-450: A prospect hard-liners from Satsuma and Chōshū found intolerable. On January 3, 1868, Satsuma-Chōshū forces seized the imperial palace in Kyoto , and the following day had the fifteen-year-old Emperor Meiji declare his own restoration to full power. Although the majority of the imperial consultative assembly was happy with the formal declaration of direct rule by the court and tended to support

4060-457: A reason for dismissal. In December 1949, Soviet representatives in Japan summoned several JCP leaders, including Sanzō Nosaka, who had previously advocated peaceful revolution, to question the success of their peaceful revolutionary strategy and to present a plan for a nationwide revolution in Japan. On January 6, 1950, Cominform published an editorial entitled "Concerning the Situation in Japan" in For

4263-403: A series of policies and laws to regulate the workers' movement and to provide compassion to the workers, but the policies and laws also called for preventing communists from manipulating the workers' movement to subvert the government. These policies and laws brought benefits to the workers and met many of the demands of the previously outlawed strikes, and also received a great deal of support from

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4466-409: A stand in support of the workers. Three unsolved incidents occurred during clashes between railroad workers and the government. On July 5, Sadanori Shimoyama, the chairman of Japanese National Railways who had received threatening letters, disappeared mysteriously and was later found dead on the tracks next to Kitasenju Station , became the subject of debate as to whether his death was a suicide or

4669-469: A union of equals, in practice the Soviet Union was dominated by Russians . The domination was so absolute that for most of its existence, the country was commonly (but incorrectly) referred to as 'Russia'. While the Russian SFSR was technically only one republic within the larger union, it was by far the largest (both in terms of population and area), most powerful, and most highly developed. The Russian SFSR

4872-449: A variety of fields to come to Japan to educate the populace. For instance, the judicial system and constitution were modeled after Prussia , described by Saburō Ienaga as "an attempt to control popular thought with a blend of Confucianism and German conservatism ." The government also outlawed customs linked to Japan's feudal past, such as publicly displaying and wearing katana and the top knot , both of which were characteristic of

5075-678: A very aggressive manner. With the suppression of left-wing movements by the Occupation authorities and the ongoing internal conflicts within the Ashida Cabinet, it finally collapsed in October 1948. Moreover, in September, a group of Ashida cabinet officials had already been arrested for receiving gratuities and hush money, and Ashida himself was also arrested in December. Under this situation, Yoshida formed

5278-652: A violation of constitutional freedoms and basic labor law, and more than 100 people were arrested during the wave of opposition; the Soviet representative in the Allied Council for Japan and all non-U.S. members of the Far Eastern Commission in Washington also expressed opposition to the order. The order was finally carried out despite heavy opposition that led to the fall of the Ashida Cabinet, anti-American sentiment and

5481-529: Is February 16. Andronic Nikolsky , appointed the first Bishop of Kyoto and later martyred as the archbishop of Perm during the Russian Revolution , was also canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church as a Saint and Martyr in the year 2000. Divie Bethune McCartee was the first ordained Presbyterian minister missionary to visit Japan, in 1861–1862. His gospel tract translated into Japanese

5684-526: Is currently better known as the Kaihōrei ( 解放令 Emancipation Edict ). However, the elimination of their economic monopolies over certain occupations actually led to a decline in their general living standards, while social discrimination simply continued. For example, the ban on the consumption of meat from livestock was lifted in 1871, and many former burakumin moved on to work in abattoirs and as butchers . However, slow-changing social attitudes, especially in

5887-510: Is frequently referred to as the "Empire of Japan", the "Japanese Empire", or "Imperial Japan" in English. In Japanese it is referred to as Dai Nippon Teikoku ( 大日本帝國 ) , which translates to "Empire of Great Japan" ( Dai "Great", Nippon "Japanese", Teikoku "Empire"). Teikoku is itself composed of the nouns Tei "referring to an emperor" and -koku "nation, state", literally "Imperial State" or "Imperial Realm" (compare

6090-627: Is his background, his education , his profession . These are the questions that will determine the fate of the accused. That is the meaning and essence of the Red Terror ." During his rule, Stalin always made the final policy decisions. Otherwise, Soviet foreign policy was set by the commission on the Foreign Policy of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union , or by

6293-486: Is mined, all forests have been destroyed by contamination, while the northern and other parts of Russia have been affected by emissions. During the 1990s, people in the West were also interested in the radioactive hazards of nuclear facilities, decommissioned nuclear submarines , and the processing of nuclear waste or spent nuclear fuel . It was also known in the early 1990s that the USSR had transported radioactive material to

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6496-479: The All Japan Congress of Industrial Unions (Sanbetsu), left-wing and right-wing socialists united with communists and independents since November to prepare for a general strike on February 1, 1947 . The general strike demanded both the solution of labor problems, food shortages, and inflation and the resignation of the Yoshida Cabinet. On January 18, the unions sent an ultimatum to the government demanding that

6699-613: The Axis powers period: The rise of Japan to a world power during the past 80 years is the greatest miracle in world history. The mighty empires of antiquity, the major political institutions of the Middle Ages and the early modern era, the Spanish Empire, the British Empire, all needed centuries to achieve their full strength. Japan's rise has been meteoric. After only 80 years, it is one of

6902-678: The Barents Sea and Kara Sea , which was later confirmed by the Russian parliament. The crash of the K-141 Kursk submarine in 2000 in the west further raised concerns. In the past, there were accidents involving submarines K-19 , K-8 , a K-129 , K-27 , K-219 and K-278 Komsomolets . There were three power hierarchies in the Soviet Union: the legislature represented by the Supreme Soviet of

7105-694: The Emperor from the Shogun , Japan underwent a period of large-scale industrialization and militarization , often regarded as the fastest modernization of any country to date. All of these aspects contributed to Japan's emergence as a great power following the First Sino-Japanese War , the Boxer Rebellion , the Russo-Japanese War , and World War I . Economic and political turmoil in the 1920s, including

7308-612: The Era of Stagnation , was marked by economic decline, political corruption, and a rigid gerontocracy . Despite efforts to maintain the Soviet Union's superpower status, the economy struggled due to its centralized nature, technological backwardness, and inefficiencies. The vast military expenditures and burdens of maintaining the Eastern Bloc, further strained the Soviet economy. In the 1980s, Mikhail Gorbachev 's policies of Glasnost (openness) and Perestroika (restructuring) aimed to revitalize

7511-550: The Fundamental Law of Education in 1947 . Marxism , especially Marxian economics , was widely spread within many universities during this period. Many Marxists and leftist scholars, who had been banned from teaching, were encouraged by SCAP to organize social activities and regarded as victims of the previous regime and progressive and democratic by many students. Japan was seriously devastated in World War II. Nonetheless, with

7714-548: The Georgian Affair of 1922, Lenin called for the Russian SFSR and other national Soviet republics to form a greater union which he initially named as the Union of Soviet Republics of Europe and Asia (Russian: Союз Советских Республик Европы и Азии , romanized : Soyuz Sovyetskikh Respublik Evropy i Azii ). Joseph Stalin initially resisted Lenin's proposal but ultimately accepted it, and with Lenin's agreement he changed

7917-556: The German Kaiserreich ). The name "Empire of Japan" appeared for the first time in the 1854 Convention of Kanagawa between the United States and the Japanese Tokugawa shogunate . This meaning is significant in terms of geography, encompassing Japan, and its surrounding areas. The nomenclature Empire of Japan had existed since the anti-Tokugawa domains, Satsuma and Chōshū , which founded their new government during

8120-625: The Great Depression , led to the rise of militarism , nationalism , statism and authoritarianism, and this ideological shift eventually culminated in Japan joining the Axis alliance with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy , and also conquering a large part of the Asia-Pacific . During this period, the Japanese army committed many atrocities, including the Nanjing Massacre . However, there has been

8323-729: The Land Forces , the Air Force , the Navy , Joint State Political Directorate (OGPU) and the Internal Troops . The OGPU later became independent and in 1934 joined the NKVD secret police, and so its internal troops were under the joint leadership of the defense and internal commissariats. After World War II, Strategic Missile Forces (1959), Air Defense Forces (1948) and National Civil Defense Forces (1970) were formed, which ranked first, third, and sixth in

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8526-673: The Meiji Restoration , with the intention of forming a modern state to resist Western domination. Later the Empire emerged as a great power in the world. Due to its name in kanji characters and its flag, it was also given the exonyms "Empire of the Sun" and "Empire of the Rising Sun". After two centuries, the seclusion policy, or sakoku , under the shōguns of the Edo period came to an end when

8729-678: The Meiji period , affecting religious practices and institutions. Conversion from traditional faith was no longer legally forbidden, officials lifted the 250-year ban on Christianity, and missionaries of established Christian churches reentered Japan. The traditional syncreticism between Shinto and Buddhism ended. Losing the protection of the Japanese government which Buddhism had enjoyed for centuries, Buddhist monks faced radical difficulties in sustaining their institutions, but their activities also became less restrained by governmental policies and restrictions. As social conflicts emerged in this last decade of

8932-518: The Moscow State Institute of International Relations . The Marxist-Leninist leadership of the Soviet Union intensely debated foreign policy issues and changed directions several times. Even after Stalin assumed dictatorial control in the late 1920s, there were debates, and he frequently changed positions. During the country's early period, it was assumed that Communist revolutions would break out soon in every major industrial country, and it

9135-634: The Ordinance for Controlling Associations and Others . Many Japanese communists, including Tokuda, went underground and tried to organize guerrilla forces against the Japanese government, though the party itself was never banned. In August, Cominform even asked JCP to launch a national uprising. In November 1950, the Ministry of Labor stated that it would not tolerate the continuation of the Red Purge. In May 1951, general Matthew Ridgway , MacArthur's successor, allowed

9338-761: The Popular Front program that called on all Marxist parties to join with all anti-Fascist political, labour, and organizational forces that were opposed to fascism , especially of the Nazi variety. The rapid growth of power in Nazi Germany encouraged both Paris and Moscow to form a military alliance, and the Franco-Soviet Treaty of Mutual Assistance was signed in May 1935. A firm believer in collective security, Stalin's foreign minister Maxim Litvinov worked very hard to form

9541-405: The Procurator General and the Council of Ministers (known before 1946 as the Council of People's Commissars ), headed by the Chairman (Premier) and managing an enormous bureaucracy responsible for the administration of the economy and society. State and party structures of the constituent republics largely emulated the structure of the central institutions, although the Russian SFSR, unlike

9744-417: The Russian Civil War , the Soviet Union quickly became a one-party state under the Communist Party . Its early years under Lenin were marked by the implementation of socialist policies and the New Economic Policy (NEP), which allowed for market-oriented reforms. The rise of Joseph Stalin in the late 1920s ushered in an era of intense centralization and totalitarianism. Stalin's rule was characterized by

9947-399: The Russian Empire , the State Council , which functioned from 1810 to 1917, was referred to as a Council of Ministers. The Soviets as workers' councils first appeared during the 1905 Russian Revolution . Although they were quickly suppressed by the Imperial army, after the February Revolution of 1917 , workers' and soldiers' Soviets emerged throughout the country and shared power with

10150-420: The Russian Provisional Government . The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin , demanded that all power be transferred to the Soviets, and gained support from the workers and soldiers. After the October Revolution , in which the Bolsheviks seized power from the Provisional Government in the name of the Soviets, Lenin proclaimed the formation of the Russian Socialist Federal Soviet Republic (RSFSR). During

10353-467: The Shrine Consolidation Policy and the Meiji government built the new modern 15 shrines of the Kenmu restoration as a political move to link the Meiji restoration to the Kenmu restoration for their new State Shinto cult. Japanese had to look at old paintings in order to find out what the Horyuji temple used to look like when they rebuilt it. The rebuilding was originally planned for the Shōwa era. The Japanese used mostly concrete in 1934 to rebuild

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10556-462: The Togetsukyo Bridge , unlike the original destroyed wooden version of the bridge from 836. The idea of a written constitution had been a subject of heated debate within and outside of the government since the beginnings of the Meiji government . The conservative Meiji oligarchy viewed anything resembling democracy or republicanism with suspicion and trepidation, and favored a gradualist approach. The Freedom and People's Rights Movement demanded

10759-478: The Tokyo Imperial Palace , and during the same period, Akahata published a series of articles criticizing the policies of the Occupation authorities. On June 6, MacArthur ordered Yoshida to formally purge 24 influential members of JCP's Central Committee and forbid them from conducting all political activities or publishing any articles in journals. The next day, the order was extended to the entire Akahata editorial board. On June 25, Korean People's Army crossed

10962-399: The United States Department of State sent one of the planners, George Kennan , to Japan to conduct an investigation of SCAP's policy and the situation in Japan. Believing MacArthur was pursuing a very moderate policy, Kennan organized his own group and plotted to restrict MacArthur's actions. Under Kennan's efforts and Washington's pressure, GHQ began to turn gradually, and first they stopped

11165-489: The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), saying that it was "overly juridical" and potentially infringed on national sovereignty. The Soviet Union later signed legally-binding human rights documents, such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in 1973 (and the 1966 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights ), but they were neither widely known or accessible to people living under Communist rule, nor were they taken seriously by

11368-411: The Western Bloc during the Cold War . This period saw the USSR engage in an arms race, the Space Race , and proxy wars around the globe. The post-Stalin leadership, particularly under Nikita Khrushchev , initiated a de-Stalinization process, leading to a period of liberalization and relative openness known as the Khrushchev Thaw . However, the subsequent era under Leonid Brezhnev , referred to as

11571-457: The bombardment of Shimonoseki by a multinational force in 1864. The Chōshū clan also launched the failed coup known as the Kinmon incident . The Satsuma-Chōshū alliance was established in 1866 to combine their efforts to overthrow the Tokugawa bakufu . In early 1867, Emperor Kōmei died of smallpox and was replaced by his son, Crown Prince Mutsuhito (Meiji) . On November 9, 1867, Tokugawa Yoshinobu resigned from his post and authorities to

11774-401: The first probe to land on another planet . In 1985, the last Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev , sought to reform the country through his policies of glasnost and perestroika . In 1989, various countries of the Warsaw Pact overthrew their Soviet-backed regimes , and nationalist and separatist movements erupted across the Soviet Union. In 1991, amid efforts to preserve the country as

11977-442: The general secretary (First Secretary from 1953 to 1966), the de facto highest office in the Soviet Union. Depending on the degree of power consolidation, it was either the Politburo as a collective body or the General Secretary, who always was one of the Politburo members, that effectively led the party and the country (except for the period of the highly personalized authority of Stalin, exercised directly through his position in

12180-485: The right to food , the right to work , and the right to education . The Soviet conception of human rights was very different from international law . According to Soviet legal theory , "it is the government who is the beneficiary of human rights which are to be asserted against the individual". The Soviet state was considered as the source of human rights. Therefore, the Soviet legal system considered law an arm of politics and it also considered courts agencies of

12383-413: The system of appointments . All senior government officials and most deputies of the Supreme Soviet were members of the CPSU. Of the party heads themselves, Stalin (1941–1953) and Khrushchev (1958–1964) were Premiers. Upon the forced retirement of Khrushchev, the party leader was prohibited from this kind of double membership, but the later General Secretaries for at least some part of their tenure occupied

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12586-433: The third-most populous country . An overall successor to the Russian Empire , it was nominally organized as a federal union of national republics , the largest and most populous of which was the Russian SFSR . In practice, its government and economy were highly centralized . As a one-party state governed by the Communist Party of the Soviet Union , it was a flagship communist state . Its capital and largest city

12789-420: The "International Faction" ( 国際派 , Kokusai-ha ) , which supported Cominform. On January 17, People's Daily also made criticism on Nosaka's strategy with the title "The road to liberation of Japanese people" ( Chinese : 日本人民解放的道路 ), arguing that JCP should change its previous strategy. On January 25, Nosaka publicly declared in the preparatory session of the House of Representatives that 1950 would be

12992-543: The "White Purge" in comparison to the "Red Purge", and led to more than 900,000 people undergoing investigation, with more than 200,000 former career military personnel, politicians, bureaucrats, educators, and opinion leaders ultimately being purged. During the occupation period, the United States took many methods to reform Japanese educational system, which was heavily influenced by militarism, imperial ideologies and central government. These methods included expanded years of compulsory education, textbook reform, and issuance of

13195-481: The 1920s, it refused to rubber stamp proposals from the party and Council of Ministers. In 1990, Gorbachev introduced and assumed the position of the President of the Soviet Union , concentrated power in his executive office, independent of the party, and subordinated the government, now renamed the Cabinet of Ministers of the USSR , to himself. Tensions grew between the Union-wide authorities under Gorbachev, reformists led in Russia by Boris Yeltsin and controlling

13398-513: The 38th Parallel behind artillery fire. The outbreak of the Korean War caused Japan's economy to take off rapidly, leading to Japan's strategic position becoming important. The next day, MacArthur demanded Japanese government to suspend Akahata for thirty days. At the same time, Japanese police were deployed throughout Japan to search JCP cells. A large number of universities openly began firing communist or communist-leaning staffs. An August 1950 Attorney General's Office report pointed out that 10 of

13601-411: The British commander. The force landed near Tianjin on July 5. On 17 June 1900, naval Rikusentai from the Kasagi and Atago had joined British, Russian, and German sailors to seize the Dagu forts near Tianjin. In light of the precarious situation, the British were compelled to ask Japan for additional reinforcements, as the Japanese had the only readily available forces in the region. Britain at

13804-421: The Chinese forces on the Liaodong Peninsula , and nearly destroyed the Chinese navy in the Battle of the Yalu River . The Treaty of Shimonoseki was signed between Japan and China, which ceded the Liaodong Peninsula and the island of Taiwan to Japan. After the peace treaty, Russia, Germany, and France forced Japan to withdraw from Liaodong Peninsula in the Triple Intervention . Soon afterward, Russia occupied

14007-433: The Civil Information and Education Division (CIE) under SCAP sent Dr. Walter C. Eells of Stanford University on a six-month round of lectures to denounce the left and to target JCP-controlled Zengakuren in particular. He declared at Niigata University on July 19 that "communism is a dangerous and destructive doctrine ..." and Japanese universities need to dismiss communist professors as soon as possible, which later became

14210-411: The Communist authorities. Under Joseph Stalin , the death penalty was extended to adolescents as young as 12 years old in 1935. Sergei Kovalev recalled "the famous article 125 of the Constitution which enumerated all basic civil and political rights" in the Soviet Union. But when he and other prisoners attempted to use this as a legal basis for their abuse complaints, their prosecutor's argument

14413-420: The Council of Ministers rather than the Politburo after 1941). They were not controlled by the general party membership, as the key principle of the party organization was democratic centralism , demanding strict subordination to higher bodies, and elections went uncontested, endorsing the candidates proposed from above. The Communist Party maintained its dominance over the state mainly through its control over

14616-702: The Daimyo and Shoguns. It was only due to the 1964 Summer Olympics in Japan that cheap concrete replicas of those castles were built for tourists. The vast majority of castles in Japan today are new replicas made out of concrete. In 1959 a concrete keep was built for Nagoya castle. During the Meiji restoration's Shinbutsu bunri , tens of thousands of Japanese Buddhist religious idols and temples were smashed and destroyed. Many statues still lie in ruins. Replica temples were rebuilt with concrete. Japan then closed and shut done tens of thousands of traditional old Shinto shrines in

14819-475: The Edo period, some new religious movements appeared, which were directly influenced by shamanism and Shinto . Emperor Ogimachi issued edicts to ban Catholicism in 1565 and 1568, but to little effect. Beginning in 1587 with imperial regent Toyotomi Hideyoshi's ban on Jesuit missionaries, Christianity was repressed as a threat to national unity. Under Hideyoshi and the succeeding Tokugawa shogunate, Catholic Christianity

15022-552: The Emperor and his Imperial House, and also against some major Shinto shrines which were believed to be tied strongly to the Emperor. The government strengthened its control over religious institutions that were considered to undermine State Shinto or nationalism. The majority of Japanese castles were smashed and destroyed in the late 19th century in the Meiji restoration by the Japanese people and government in order to modernize and westernize Japan and break from their past feudal era of

15225-494: The Emperor system and the government during the JCP's rapid growth in membership. In the late 1940s, U.S. policies toward occupied Japan underwent a gradual transformation, shifting from focusing on demilitarization and democratization toward economic reconstruction and rearmament. In later years, this policy shift would come to be known as the " Reverse Course ". From 1946 onward, the labor movement in Japan began to gradually move beyond

15428-665: The Emperor, the Imperial Institution and the Imperial Japanese Government." Furthermore, SCAP commanded that all persons imprisoned under the designated laws must be released within a week, including many of these prisoners who were socialists or communists, and also specifically noted that the Japanese Communist Party (JCP) should be allowed become a legal political party again. Shortly afterward, many released communists and left-wing activists reorganized

15631-614: The Heavens and with the Earth, We shall maintain and secure from decline the ancient form of government. ... In consideration of the progressive tendency of the course of human affairs and in parallel with the advance of civilization, We deem it expedient, in order to give clearness and distinctness to the instructions bequeathed by the Imperial Founder of Our House and by Our other Imperial Ancestors, to establish fundamental laws. ... Imperial Japan

15834-556: The JCP and held its first general assembly since 1926. Its membership grew rapidly, reaching 7,500 in 1946, 70,000 by 1947, and 150,000 in 1950. Based on the Potsdam Declaration , Douglas MacArthur sent to the Japanese government a document "Removal and Exclusion of Undesirable Personnel from Public Office" on 4 January 1946, which commanded the purge of war criminals and leaders of ultranationalist groups. This purge, which lasted until May 1948, later came to be referred to as

16037-482: The JCP were not abandoned until 1955. The Supreme Court 's judgement in the Chugai case on April 18, 1960, after the restoration of sovereignty, ruled that the Red Purge of key industries was an "extra-constitutional measure at the direction of GHQ, and therefore that dismissals could not be contested", ruling in favour of the defendants and setting a precedent for subsequent cases. In 2011, three people who were dismissed in

16240-460: The JSP. However, the victory of the socialists and liberals did not mean that the conservative forces were weak; they still held many seats, while Tetsu Katayama 's new coalition cabinet itself had internal conflicts between Marxists and others. The JCP was also not fully aligned with the new cabinet. At the end of the labor reform in 1948, civil-service expert Blaine Hoover suggested in the new revision of

16443-494: The Japanese government one million British pounds in exchange for Japanese participation. Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics ( USSR ), commonly known as the Soviet Union , was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. During its existence, it was the largest country by area , extending across eleven time zones and sharing borders with twelve countries , and

16646-663: The Japanese government to ease the purge. The signing of the Treaty of San Francisco on April 28, 1952, marked the restoration of sovereignty to Japan and the end of a series of official purges, including the Red Purge. JCP's mainstream faction organized Mountain Village Operation Units ( 山村工作隊 , Sanson Kōsakutai ) and Nucleus Self Defense Units ( 中核自衛隊 , Chukaku Jieitai ) to support terrorist attacks, The JCP's membership also declined sharply, from 150,000 in 1949 to about 20,000 in 1955. The violent tactics adopted by

16849-623: The Korean government. When Korea demanded that Japan withdraw its troops from Korea, the Japanese refused. In early June 1894, the 8,000 Japanese troops captured the Korean king Gojong, occupied the Royal Palace in Seoul and, by June 25, installed a puppet government in Seoul. The new pro-Japanese Korean government granted Japan the right to expel Qing forces while Japan dispatched more troops to Korea. China objected and war ensued. Japanese ground troops routed

17052-560: The Latin alphabet: SSSR ) is the abbreviation of the Russian-language cognate of USSR, as written in Cyrillic letters . The Soviets used this abbreviation so frequently that audiences worldwide became familiar with its meaning. After this, the most common Russian initialization is Союз ССР (transliteration: Soyuz SSR ) which essentially translates to Union of SSRs in English. In addition,

17255-793: The Liaodong Peninsula, built the Port Arthur fortress, and based the Russian Pacific Fleet in the port. Germany occupied Jiaozhou Bay , built Tsingtao fortress and based the German East Asia Squadron in this port. In 1900, Japan joined an international military coalition set up in response to the Boxer Rebellion in the Qing Empire of China. Japan provided the largest contingent of troops: 20,840, as well as 18 warships. Of

17458-481: The Meiji Restoration, the practices of the samurai classes, deemed feudal and unsuitable for modern times following the end of sakoku in 1853, resulted in a number of edicts intended to 'modernise' the appearance of upper class Japanese men. With the Dampatsurei Edict of 1871 issued by Emperor Meiji during the early Meiji Era, men of the samurai classes were forced to cut their hair short, effectively abandoning

17661-463: The Ministry of Labor, NHK fired 119 people, Asahi Shimbun fired 104 people, and Mainichi Shimbun fired 98 people. The purge was extended to private companies since August, which ultimately led to thousands of dismissals for their political beliefs, making a total of around 11,000 workers in public sectors and 11,000 workers in private companies in 1950. In July, nine communists, including Nosaka and Tokuda, were issued arrest warrants for violating

17864-721: The National Public Service Law that workers should not be allowed to overthrow the government by striking and collective actions. He was appointed to a newly created Civil Service Division inside Government Section although his proposal was stymied and not passed, including by GHQ and Prime Minister Katayama. Just as Hoover was revising the law once again in his new role, the Katayama Cabinet collapsed. Centrists in Katayama's cabinet could not continue to maintain their coalition, right-wing socialists lacked sufficient control over

18067-591: The Politburo after the deaths of Lenin and Stalin, as well as after Khrushchev's dismissal, itself due to a decision by both the Politburo and the Central Committee. All leaders of the Communist Party before Gorbachev died in office, except Georgy Malenkov and Khrushchev, both dismissed from the party leadership amid internal struggle within the party. Between 1988 and 1990, facing considerable opposition, Mikhail Gorbachev enacted reforms shifting power away from

18270-582: The Red Purge lost their lawsuit for compensation. On May 1, 2013, an editorial in the JCP's Akahata stated that the Red Purge was a gross violation of human rights, a trampling of freedom of thought and conscience, and a violation of Article 19 of the Constitution of Japan . Imperial Japan Unitary parliamentary semi-constitutional monarchy (1889–1947) The Empire of Japan , also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan ,

18473-460: The Russian short form name Советский Союз (transliteration: Sovyetsky Soyuz , which literally means Soviet Union ) is also commonly used, but only in its unabbreviated form. Since the start of the Great Patriotic War at the latest, abbreviating the Russian name of the Soviet Union as СС has been taboo, the reason being that СС as a Russian Cyrillic abbreviation is associated with

18676-661: The Soviet Union and turned into SSRs, which was not recognized by most of the international community and was considered an illegal occupation . After the Soviet invasion of Finland , the Karelo-Finnish SSR was formed on annexed territory as a Union Republic in March 1940 and then incorporated into Russia as the Karelian ASSR in 1956. Between July 1956 and September 1991, there were 15 union republics (see map below). While nominally

18879-600: The Soviet Union in 1922. Following Lenin's death in 1924, Joseph Stalin came to power, inaugurating rapid industrialization and forced collectivization that led to significant economic growth but contributed to a famine between 1930 and 1933 that killed millions. The Soviet forced labour camp system of the Gulag was expanded. During the late 1930s, Stalin's government conducted the Great Purge to remove opponents, resulting in mass death, imprisonment, and deportation. In 1939,

19082-585: The Soviet Union , the government represented by the Council of Ministers , and the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), the only legal party and the final policymaker in the country. At the top of the Communist Party was the Central Committee , elected at Party Congresses and Conferences. In turn, the Central Committee voted for a Politburo (called the Presidium between 1952 and 1966), Secretariat and

19285-716: The Soviet Union or the Chinese Communist Party, and that JCP supported a peaceful revolution . Nonetheless, McCarthyism spread from the United States and the anti-leftist policies of the Yoshida cabinet still turned on JCP. In February 1949, Joseph Dodge arrived in Japan, and a set of austerity policies ensued: cutting public spending, limiting public consumption, and reorienting industrial production in favor of export-oriented. These policies, known as " Dodge Line ", not only tightened and bolstered Japanese economy and created

19488-581: The Soviet Union produced many significant social and technological achievements and innovations . It had the world's second-largest economy and largest standing military. An NPT-designated state , it wielded the largest arsenal of nuclear weapons in the world . As an Allied nation, it was a founding member of the United Nations as well as one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council . Before its dissolution,

19691-466: The Soviet Union undertook a campaign of de-Stalinization under Nikita Khrushchev , which saw reversals and rejections of Stalinist policies. This campaign caused tensions with Communist China . During the 1950s, the Soviet Union expanded its efforts in space exploration and took a lead in the Space Race with the first artificial satellite , the first human spaceflight , the first space station , and

19894-460: The Soviet Union was the world's largest country, a status that is retained by the Russian Federation . Covering a sixth of Earth's land surface, its size was comparable to that of North America . Two other successor states, Kazakhstan and Ukraine , rank among the top 10 countries by land area, and the largest country entirely in Europe, respectively. The European portion accounted for a quarter of

20097-581: The Soviet Union's priorities changed. Despite previous conflict with the United Kingdom , Vyacheslav Molotov dropped his post war border demands. The Cold War was a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc , which began following World War II in 1945. The term cold war is used because there

20300-513: The Soviet system but instead accelerated its unraveling. Nationalist movements gained momentum across the Soviet republics , and the control of the Communist Party weakened. The failed coup attempt in August 1991 against Gorbachev by hardline communists hastened the end of the Soviet Union , which formally dissolved on December 26, 1991, ending nearly seven decades of Soviet rule. With an area of 22,402,200 square kilometres (8,649,500 sq mi),

20503-537: The Tokugawa army. A series of battles were then fought in pursuit of supporters of the Shogunate; Edo surrendered to the Imperial forces and afterward, Yoshinobu personally surrendered. Yoshinobu was stripped of all his power by Emperor Meiji and most of Japan accepted the emperor's rule. Pro-Tokugawa remnants retreated to northern Honshū ( Ōuetsu Reppan Dōmei ) and later to Ezo (present-day Hokkaidō ), where they established

20706-463: The USSR and Nazi Germany signed a nonaggression pact , but in 1941, Germany invaded the Soviet Union in the largest land invasion in history, opening the Eastern Front of World War II . The Soviets played a decisive role in defeating the Axis powers , suffering an estimated 27 million casualties , which accounted for most Allied losses. In the aftermath of the war , the Soviet Union consolidated

20909-584: The USSR from the United States . The country's highest mountain was Communism Peak (now Ismoil Somoni Peak ) in Tajikistan , at 7,495 metres (24,590 ft). The USSR also included most of the world's largest lakes; the Caspian Sea (shared with Iran ), and Lake Baikal , the world's largest (by volume) and deepest freshwater lake that is also an internal body of water in Russia. Neighbouring countries were aware of

21112-798: The USSR was one of the world's two superpowers through its hegemony in Eastern Europe, global diplomatic and ideological influence (particularly in the Global South ), military and economic strengths, and scientific accomplishments. The word soviet is derived from the Russian word sovet (Russian: совет ), meaning 'council', 'assembly', 'advice', ultimately deriving from the proto-Slavic verbal stem of * vět-iti ('to inform'), related to Slavic věst ('news'), English wise . The word sovietnik means 'councillor'. Some organizations in Russian history were called council (Russian: совет ). In

21315-430: The USSR. Moscow eventually stopped threatening other states, and instead worked to open peaceful relationships in terms of trade, and diplomatic recognition. The United Kingdom dismissed the warnings of Winston Churchill and a few others about a continuing Marxist-Leninist threat, and opened trade relations and de facto diplomatic recognition in 1922. There was hope for a settlement of the pre-war Tsarist debts, but it

21518-514: The Western Allies and the Soviet Union , with the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the Soviet invasion of Manchuria . The Pacific War officially came to an end on 2 September 1945, leading to the beginning of the Allied occupation of Japan , during which United States military leader Douglas MacArthur administered the country. In 1947, through Allied efforts, a new Japan's constitution

21721-491: The accident were unknown, 4,000 new cases of thyroid cancer which resulted from the accident's contamination were reported at the time of the accident, but this led to a relatively low number of deaths (WHO data, 2005). Another major radioactive accident was the Kyshtym disaster . The Kola Peninsula was one of the places with major problems. Around the industrial cities of Monchegorsk and Norilsk , where nickel , for example,

21924-456: The afternoon of January 31, MacArthur issued a formal directive prohibiting the general strike that was in the process of being prepared. After the ban was issued, Theodore Cohen negotiated with the strike's leaders, and eventually, the strike leaders agreed to cancel the strike. Although the negotiations went well, leftists, especially members of the JCP, subsequently became hostile toward the Occupation authorities. The Yoshida Cabinet intensified

22127-546: The anti-imperialist tendency was greatly reinforced by the Cominform's critique of the party line on 6 January 1949, linking it to more revolutionary policies. In the January 1949 general election , despite the almost complete decline of most left-wing parties in Japan, JCP scored a resounding victory, reaching 9.76% of the vote. After the election victory, JCP leader Sanzō Nosaka declared that JCP had no direct relations with either

22330-413: The approximately 180 communist-leaning professors had been dismissed, and another 18 were still under investigation. On July 18, Yoshida began to start a campaign to prevent communists from using the media to spread destructive messages. On the same day, Akahata was shut down indefinitely. Ten days later, the purge spread to seven other major national newspapers as well as NHK . According to documents from

22533-494: The breakaway Republic of Ezo . An expeditionary force was dispatched by the new government and the Ezo Republic forces were overwhelmed. The siege of Hakodate came to an end in May 1869 and the remaining forces surrendered. The Charter Oath was made public at the enthronement of Emperor Meiji of Japan on April 7, 1868. The Oath outlined the main aims and the course of action to be followed during Emperor Meiji's reign, setting

22736-456: The cabinet demanded that there be guarantees from the British in return for the risks and costs of the major deployment of Japanese troops. On July 6, 1900, the 5th Infantry Division was alerted for possible deployment to China, but no timetable was set for this. Two days later, with more ground troops urgently needed to lift the siege of the foreign legations at Peking, the British ambassador offered

22939-620: The centuries-old Chinese suzerainty . On June 4, 1894, Korea requested aid from the Qing Empire in suppressing the Donghak Rebellion . The Qing government sent 2,800 troops to Korea. The Japanese countered by sending an 8,000-troop expeditionary force (the Oshima Composite Brigade) to Korea. The first 400 troops arrived on June 9 en route to Seoul , and 3,000 landed at Incheon on June 12. The Qing government turned down Japan's suggestion for Japan and China to cooperate to reform

23142-438: The chonmage ( chonmage ) hairstyle. During the early 20th century, the government was suspicious towards a number of unauthorized religious movements and periodically made attempts to suppress them. Government suppression was especially severe from the 1930s until the early 1940s, when the growth of Japanese nationalism and State Shinto were closely linked. Under the Meiji regime lèse majesté prohibited insults against

23345-624: The command of Captain Shimamura Hayao . The Japanese were able to contribute 52 men to the Seymour Expedition . On 12 June 1900, the advance of the Seymour Expedition was halted some 50 kilometres (30 mi) from the capital, by mixed Boxer and Chinese regular army forces. The vastly outnumbered allies withdrew to the vicinity of Tianjin , having suffered more than 300 casualties. The army general staff in Tokyo had become aware of

23548-503: The country was forced open to trade by the Convention of Kanagawa which came when Matthew C. Perry arrived in Japan in 1854. Thus, the period known as Bakumatsu began. The following years saw increased foreign trade and interaction; commercial treaties between the Tokugawa shogunate and Western countries were signed. In large part due to the humiliating terms of these unequal treaties ,

23751-492: The country was limited. The state restricted rights of citizens to private property . According to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights , human rights are the "basic rights and freedoms to which all humans are entitled." including the right to life and liberty , freedom of expression , and equality before the law ; and social, cultural and economic rights, including the right to participate in culture ,

23954-643: The country's area and was the cultural and economic center. The eastern part in Asia extended to the Pacific Ocean to the east and Afghanistan to the south, and, except some areas in Central Asia , was much less populous. It spanned over 10,000 kilometres (6,200 mi) east to west across 11 time zones , and over 7,200 kilometres (4,500 mi) north to south. It had five climate zones: tundra , taiga , steppes , desert and mountains . The USSR, like Russia , had

24157-562: The countryside, meant that abattoirs and workers were met with hostility from local residents. Continued ostracism as well as the decline in living standards led to former burakumin communities turning into slum areas. In the Blood tax riots , the Japanese Meiji government brutally put down revolts by Japanese samurai angry over the legal revocation of the traditional untouchable status of burakumin. The social tension continued to grow during

24360-585: The decentralized American system with no central bank. In 1871, the New Currency Act of Meiji 4 (1871) abolished the local currencies and established the yen as the new decimal currency. It had parity with the Mexican silver dollar. The First Sino-Japanese War , fought in 1894 and 1895, revolved around the issue of control and influence over Korea under the rule of the Joseon dynasty . Korea had traditionally been

24563-493: The duty of the Russian Bolsheviks to protect what they had in Russia, and avoid military confrontations that might destroy their bridgehead. Russia was now a pariah state, along with Germany. The two came to terms in 1922 with the Treaty of Rapallo that settled long-standing grievances. At the same time, the two countries secretly set up training programs for the illegal German army and air force operations at hidden camps in

24766-419: The economic downturn also contributed to the spread of communism in the education sector; in September 1948, student associations throughout Japan formed Zengakuren , an organization that was heavily influenced by the communism then spreading on campus and later became a part of communist movement in Japan. As Cold War intensified, JCP began to lean more and more towards anti-imperialism and nationalism , and

24969-437: The emperor, agreeing to "be the instrument for carrying out" imperial orders, leading to the end of the Tokugawa shogunate. However, while Yoshinobu's resignation had created a nominal void at the highest level of government, his apparatus of state continued to exist. Moreover, the shogunal government, the Tokugawa family in particular, remained a prominent force in the evolving political order and retained many executive powers,

25172-718: The enactment of NSC-13/2, government officials used the bill as a basis to demand that militant workers not strike, with one official telling them strikes were "unpatriotic". In late 1948, President Truman bypassed the Far Eastern Commission after the implementation of NSC-13/2 and introduced a directive emphasizing economic stability, and in response, Yoshida passed an austerity plan. In addition, GHQ announced that this plan had "a series of objectives designed to achieve fscal, monetary, price and wage stability in Japan as rapidly as possible ... [this plan] will call for increased austerity in every phase of Japanese life". Austerity and

25375-566: The end of 1948. After World War II, relations between the Soviet Union and the United States became increasingly strained in a series of conflicts and eventually led to the Cold War . In March 1947, shortly after the foreign ministers from the United States, Soviet Union, the United Kingdom , and France met in Moscow, President Truman issued the Truman Doctrine , which called for containing

25578-470: The eventual loss of many of Japan's Oceanian island possessions in the following three years. Eventually, the American military captured Iwo Jima and Okinawa Island , leaving the Japanese mainland unprotected and without a significant naval defense force. By August 1945, plans had been made for an Allied invasion of mainland Japan , but were shelved after Japan surrendered in the face of a major breakthrough by

25781-563: The expansion of left-wing forces. With the introduction of the Truman Doctrine, the United States needed a stronghold in Asia against the expansion of communism, and with this goal in mind, Japan was the natural target of choice. Driven by the Reverse Course and American planners' projects, Japan and its economy were going to be connected with South Korea and the United States. In March 1948,

25984-458: The few great powers that determine the fate of the world. In the 1860s, Japan began to experience great social turmoil and rapid modernization. The feudal caste system in Japan formally ended in 1869 with the Meiji restoration . In 1871, the newly formed Meiji government issued a decree called Senmin Haishirei ( 賤民廃止令 Edict Abolishing Ignoble Classes ) giving burakumin equal legal status. It

26187-436: The first to be purged from the Yoshida cabinet after the vote. In April, Yoshida pledged that he would use extra-parliamentary means to combat the left. In June, employers began re-signing labor contracts and firing workers with communist ideological tendencies. In July, along with the investigation of communists in the government, Yoshida began dismissing them. The same month, MacArthur suggested an official ban on JCP. In July,

26390-428: The forced collectivization of agriculture , rapid industrialization , and the Great Purge , which eliminated perceived enemies of the state. The Soviet Union played a crucial role in the Allied victory in World War II , but at a tremendous human cost, with millions of Soviet citizens perishing in the conflict. The Soviet Union emerged as one of the world's two superpowers, leading the Eastern Bloc in opposition to

26593-417: The founding republics who signed the Treaty on the Creation of the USSR in December 1922. In 1924, during the national delimitation in Central Asia, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan were formed from parts of Russia's Turkestan ASSR and two Soviet dependencies, the Khorezm and Bukharan PSPs . In 1929, Tajikistan was split off from the Uzbekistan SSR. With the constitution of 1936, the Transcaucasian SFSR

26796-417: The further disintegration of the Zaibatsu . Kennan's policy and MacArthur's turn were naturally unpopular with many Japanese civilians, and a series of struggles and protests by Korean-Japanese , laborers, students, and teachers took place between the spring and summer of 1948. The Occupation authorities and the Eighth Army , with the support of Washington and a change in policy, suppressed these protests in

26999-405: The global expansion of communism . Especially after the victory of the communists in the Chinese Civil War , the United States feared that a communist revolution might develop in Japan and sought to keep Japan stable and under control. In addition, the JCP and its leaders had been under the influence of the Comintern and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) since the 1920s, and continued to attack

27202-448: The government locate communists. In June, communist leaders announced that a "September Revolution" would be launched. In the same month, Taira and some other cities were occupied by 500 workers. Critics focused on similarities between Taft–Hartley Act and the revisions, while Eiji Takemae noted that "the revision ... was not a carbon copy of the ... US law. Its architects ... were social bureaucrats committed to reintegrating labor into

27405-438: The government. Extensive extrajudicial powers were given to the Soviet secret police agencies . In practice, the Soviet government significantly curbed the rule of law , civil liberties , protection of law and guarantees of property , which were considered as examples of "bourgeois morality" by Soviet law theorists such as Andrey Vyshinsky . The USSR and other countries in the Soviet Bloc had abstained from affirming

27608-400: The help of the United States, Japan quickly recovered from the suffering, earning the title of "Japanese Economic Miracle". In Japan, industrial production decreased in 1946 to 27.6% of the pre-war level, but recovered in 1951 and reached 350% in 1960. By the end of the American occupation of Japan in 1952, the United States successfully reintegrated Japan into the global economy to eliminate

27811-401: The high levels of pollution in the Soviet Union but after the dissolution of the Soviet Union it was discovered that its environmental problems were greater than what the Soviet authorities admitted. The Soviet Union was the world's second largest producer of harmful emissions. In 1988, total emissions in the Soviet Union were about 79% of those in the United States. But since the Soviet GNP

28014-402: The highest bodies of the party and making the Supreme Soviet less dependent on them. The Congress of People's Deputies was established, the majority of whose members were directly elected in competitive elections held in March 1989, the first in Soviet history. The Congress now elected the Supreme Soviet, which became a full-time parliament, and much stronger than before. For the first time since

28217-431: The immediate establishment of an elected national assembly , and the promulgation of a constitution. The constitution recognized the need for change and modernization after the removal of the shogunate : We, the Successor to the prosperous Throne of Our Predecessors, do humbly and solemnly swear to the Imperial Founder of Our House and to Our other Imperial Ancestors that, in pursuance of a great policy co-extensive with

28420-532: The infamous Schutzstaffel of Nazi Germany , as SS is in English. In English-language media, the state was referred to as the Soviet Union or the USSR. The Russian SFSR dominated the Soviet Union to such an extent that, for most of the Soviet Union's existence, it was colloquially, but incorrectly, referred to as Russia . The history of the Soviet Union began with the ideals of the Bolshevik Revolution and ended in dissolution amidst economic collapse and political disintegration. Established in 1922 following

28623-411: The instigation of MacArthur, Yoshida issued the Ordinance for Controlling Associations and Others to "facilitate [the] healthy development of pacifism and democracy", to prohibit "militaristic, ultra-nationalistic, violent, and antidemocratic" groups, and to require each political organization to register its name, membership, purpose and activities. JCP registered over 100,000 members, which later helped

28826-451: The labor movement to implement various austerity measures over the protests of the Sanbetsu and left-wing socialists, and the Democratic Party in the coalition strongly opposed Katayama's proposal for the state management of the coal industry, with conservatives among them ultimately chose to switch to Yoshida's liberals. Although the new Ashida Cabinet was governed by the same three-party coalition as its predecessor, MacArthur did not support

29029-405: The late 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, including the creation of new state commissions and committees. It gained additional powers relating to the approval of the Five-Year Plans and the government budget . The Supreme Soviet elected a Presidium (successor of the Central Executive Committee ) to wield its power between plenary sessions, ordinarily held twice a year, and appointed the Supreme Court ,

29232-494: The late 1970s and early 1980s. The constitution , which was promulgated in 1924 , 1936 and 1977 , did not limit state power. No formal separation of powers existed between the Party, Supreme Soviet and Council of Ministers that represented executive and legislative branches of the government. The system was governed less by statute than by informal conventions, and no settled mechanism of leadership succession existed. Bitter and at times deadly power struggles took place in

29435-442: The leftists had caused the incident, arresting nine communists and a former National Railroad driver, but ultimately did not reach any satisfactory conclusions. On August 17, a train carrying 630 people derailed , killed three crew members on board, and police subsequently arrested 20 people, most of them communists. Defunct Defunct With SCAP's support and advance premeditation, left-wing politician Jiichirō Matsumoto became

29638-462: The legal stage for Japan's modernization. The Meiji leaders also aimed to boost morale and win financial support for the new government . Japan dispatched the Iwakura Mission in 1871. The mission traveled the world in order to renegotiate the unequal treaties with the United States and European countries that Japan had been forced into during the Tokugawa shogunate, and to gather information on western social and economic systems, in order to effect

29841-514: The modernization of Japan. Renegotiation of the unequal treaties was universally unsuccessful, but close observation of the American and European systems inspired members on their return to bring about modernization initiatives in Japan. Japan made a territorial delimitation treaty with Russia in 1875, gaining all the Kuril islands in exchange for Sakhalin island . The Japanese government sent observers to Western countries to observe and learn their practices, and also paid " foreign advisors " in

30044-469: The mostly ceremonial position of Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet , the nominal head of state . The institutions at lower levels were overseen and at times supplanted by primary party organizations . However, in practice the degree of control the party was able to exercise over the state bureaucracy, particularly after the death of Stalin, was far from total, with the bureaucracy pursuing different interests that were at times in conflict with

30247-399: The motivation for imperial expansion and rebuilt the economic infrastructure that would later form the launching pad for the Japanese economic miracle. owever, rapid economy growth also brought shortcomings and inequalities for poorer and weaker class in the society, especially the workers. The struggle between the working class and the capitalists in Japan became progressively more intense as

30450-493: The murder of an Englishman, Charles Lennox Richardson , by a party of samurai from Satsuma . The British demanded reparations but were denied. While attempting to exact payment, the Royal Navy was fired on from coastal batteries near the town of Kagoshima . They responded by bombarding the port of Kagoshima in 1863. The Tokugawa government agreed to pay an indemnity for Richardson's death. Shelling of foreign shipping in Shimonoseki and attacks against foreign property led to

30653-410: The name to the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), although all republics began as socialist soviet and did not change to the other order until 1936 . In addition, in the regional languages of several republics, the word council or conciliar in the respective language was only quite late changed to an adaptation of the Russian soviet and never in others, e.g. Ukrainian SSR . СССР (in

30856-456: The new cabinet as much as he had supported Katayama's. On 22 July 1948, shortly after the formation of the new cabinet, SCAP asked the Ashida Cabinet to pass an order banning strikes by 40% of workers in public industries throughout Japan. The Ashida Cabinet backed down and issued Cabinet Order No. 201 to implement the said actions. The order sparked oppositions and protests from a variety of workers, teachers, and civilians in Japan who considered it

31059-417: The newly elected Supreme Soviet of the Russian SFSR , and communist hardliners. On 19–21 August 1991, a group of hardliners staged a coup attempt . The coup failed, and the State Council of the Soviet Union became the highest organ of state power 'in the period of transition'. Gorbachev resigned as General Secretary, only remaining President for the final months of the existence of the USSR. The judiciary

31262-552: The official Soviet system of importance (ground forces were second, Air Force fourth, and Navy fifth). The army had the greatest political influence. In 1989, there served two million soldiers divided between 150 motorized and 52 armored divisions. Until the early 1960s, the Soviet navy was a rather small military branch, but after the Caribbean crisis , under the leadership of Sergei Gorshkov , it expanded significantly. It became known for battlecruisers and submarines. In 1989, there served 500 000 men. The Soviet Air Force focused on

31465-451: The other constituent republics, for most of its history had no republican branch of the CPSU, being ruled directly by the union-wide party until 1990. Local authorities were organized likewise into party committees , local Soviets and executive committees . While the state system was nominally federal, the party was unitary. The state security police (the KGB and its predecessor agencies ) played an important role in Soviet politics. It

31668-494: The partition of Poland. In response, Britain and France declared war on Germany, marking the beginning of World War II . Up until his death in 1953, Joseph Stalin controlled all foreign relations of the Soviet Union during the interwar period . Despite the increasing build-up of Germany 's war machine and the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War , the Soviet Union did not cooperate with any other nation, choosing to follow its own path. However, after Operation Barbarossa ,

31871-429: The party's highest body the Politburo . Operations were handled by the separate Ministry of Foreign Affairs . It was known as the People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs (or Narkomindel), until 1946. The most influential spokesmen were Georgy Chicherin (1872–1936), Maxim Litvinov (1876–1951), Vyacheslav Molotov (1890–1986), Andrey Vyshinsky (1883–1954) and Andrei Gromyko (1909–1989). Intellectuals were based in

32074-404: The party, nor was the party itself monolithic from top to bottom, although factions were officially banned . The Supreme Soviet (successor of the Congress of Soviets ) was nominally the highest state body for most of the Soviet history, at first acting as a rubber stamp institution, approving and implementing all decisions made by the party. However, its powers and functions were extended in

32277-585: The reconstruction work progressed. Initially aiming at gaining control over the workplace, seeking better security and respect for the working class, the struggle later evolved into a social movement. The workers not only formed trade unions and developed all kinds of trade unionism and socialism, but also united with the communists, the peasants and the poor city people in their struggle. In addition, Japan's rapid economic development brought serious inflation. From September 1945 to August 1948, prices in Japan increased more than 700%, which later led to crucial unrest in

32480-415: The rest of the Axis powers , the formalized Japanese Instrument of Surrender was issued on 2 September 1945 in compliance with the Potsdam Declaration of the Allies , and the empire's territory subsequently shrunk to cover only the Japanese archipelago resembling modern Japan. Under the slogans of fukoku kyōhei and shokusan kōgyō , which followed the Boshin War and the restoration of power to

32683-508: The revised laws prohibited workers from being paid during strikes, increased the employer's advantage in collective bargaining , required a minimum of 30-day cooling-off period between strikes, and provided that unions emphasizing on social or political movements would not be recognized by the government. Japanese workers strongly opposed the austerity policies of Dodge and Yoshida and had been continuously opposing them through strikes, wildcat strikes , and protests since March 1949. In April, at

32886-509: The same month as Eells' speech, the National Railroad fired 126,000 workers, and in a report three months later, the head of Administrative Management Agency said the firings were based on the law and not on a purge of communists. At the time, Japanese academics considered the government's persecution of communists to be criminal, and recalling the government's suppression of left-wing ideas before WWII, they believed that academics should remain neutral and that sympathy for communism should not be

33089-430: The same purpose of increasing production. SCAP retaliation also came very soon, starting with the Cabinet's Imperial Ordinance No. 311, which imposes fines and hard labor of up to 10 years for taking part in "acts prejudicial to Occupation objectives", followed by the usage of police enforcement. Nonetheless, strike action continued in various fronts, and some of the strikes went well, such as the September 1946 strike, which

33292-428: The samurai class, which was abolished together with the caste system. This would later bring the Meiji government into conflict with the samurai . Several writers, under the constant threat of assassination from their political foes, were influential in winning Japanese support for westernization . One such writer was Fukuzawa Yukichi , whose works included "Conditions in the West", " Leaving Asia ", and "An Outline of

33495-450: The shogunate soon faced internal hostility, which materialized into a radical, xenophobic movement, the sonnō jōi (literally "Revere the Emperor, expel the barbarians"). In March 1863, the Emperor issued the " order to expel barbarians ." Although the shogunate had no intention of enforcing the order, it nevertheless inspired attacks against the shogunate itself and against foreigners in Japan. The Namamugi Incident during 1862 led to

33698-425: The situation, and instead of solving the inflation, they caused a further decline in the quality of life of the people, suppressed strikes, and confronted the unions, which caused a further spread of labor discontent and a further increase in union membership. In the 1947 general election , the socialists and liberals made significant gains, and the Yoshida Cabinet had no choice but to resign. Meanwhile, SCAP introduced

33901-400: The society. Under these reformations, activism and with the help of American authorities, nearly five million workers joined the labor movement by December 1946. At first, MacArthur was confident about labor movement because "working classes are the strongest single bulwark of the new democratic regime". The number of organized workers continued to grow, from 5 million in 1946 to 6.7 million by

34104-469: The struggle for dominance was expressed via indirect means such as psychological warfare , propaganda campaigns, espionage , far-reaching embargoes , rivalry at sports events and technological competitions such as the Space Race . Constitutionally, the USSR was a federation of constituent Union Republics, which were either unitary states, such as Ukraine or Byelorussia (SSRs), or federations, such as Russia or Transcaucasia (SFSRs), all four being

34307-530: The territory occupied by the Red Army , forming satellite states , and undertook rapid economic development which cemented its status as a superpower . Geopolitical tensions with the US led to the Cold War . The American-led Western Bloc coalesced into NATO in 1949, prompting the Soviet Union to form its own military alliance, the Warsaw Pact , in 1955. Neither side engaged in direct military confrontation, and instead fought on an ideological basis and through proxy wars . In 1953, following Stalin's death ,

34510-420: The three labor laws to protect workers' rights: the trade union law, the labor standards law, and the labor relations adjustment law. To manage Japan under the Allies , MacArthur constituted the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers , a management organization of about 2,000 U.S. officers, also commonly known as General Headquarters (GHQ). Because MacArthur had a huge influence on the people of Japan, GHQ/SCAP

34713-455: The time was heavily engaged in the Boer War , so a large part of the British army was tied down in South Africa. Further, deploying large numbers of troops from its garrisons in India would take too much time and weaken internal security there. Overriding personal doubts, Foreign Minister Aoki Shūzō calculated that the advantages of participating in an allied coalition were too attractive to ignore. Prime Minister Yamagata agreed, but others in

34916-412: The total, 20,300 were Imperial Japanese Army troops of the 5th Infantry Division under Lt. General Yamaguchi Motoomi; the remainder were 540 naval rikusentai (marines) from the Imperial Japanese Navy . At the beginning of the Boxer Rebellion the Japanese only had 215 troops in northern China stationed at Tientsin; nearly all of them were naval rikusentai from the Kasagi and the Atago , under

35119-492: The truth". Human rights in the Soviet Union were severely limited. The Soviet Union was a totalitarian state from 1927 until 1953 and a one-party state until 1990. Freedom of speech was suppressed and dissent was punished. Independent political activities were not tolerated, whether these involved participation in free labour unions , private corporations , independent churches or opposition political parties . The freedom of movement within and especially outside

35322-423: The two-hundred-year-old Tokugawa shogunate. Tokugawa Yoshinobu launched a military campaign to seize the emperor's court in Kyoto. However, the tide rapidly turned in favor of the smaller but relatively modernized imperial faction and resulted in defections of many daimyōs to the Imperial side. The Battle of Toba–Fushimi was a decisive victory in which a combined army from Chōshū, Tosa, and Satsuma domains defeated

35525-485: The vision of SCAP. Led by the JCP, left-wing socialists, and labor unions, Japanese workers launched a series of strikes. Some of these strikes continued to focus on the improvement of the working conditions and labor rights, but some were dedicated to impacting or even reconstructing the nation's political system. In May 1946, Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida blamed radical labor movements for their misuse of democracy, reiterating that both capitalists and workers cooperate for

35728-465: The workers' demands be resolved by 31 January. MacArthur initially remained reluctant to ban the strike outright, merely issuing an informal warning to the unions and sending a document to the strike leaders stating he would not permit "a coordinated action by organized labor to provoke a national calamity by a general work stoppage." The unions ignored MacArthur's warning since they thought that SCAP would not violate its own newly issued labor rights law. On

35931-403: The world's longest border , measuring over 60,000 kilometres (37,000 mi), or 1 + 1 ⁄ 2 circumferences of Earth. Two-thirds of it was a coastline . The country bordered Afghanistan , the People's Republic of China , Czechoslovakia , Finland , Hungary , Iran , Mongolia , North Korea , Norway , Poland , Romania , and Turkey from 1945 to 1991. The Bering Strait separated

36134-478: The worsening conditions in China and had drafted ambitious contingency plans, but in the wake of the Triple Intervention five years before, the government refused to deploy large numbers of troops unless requested by the western powers. However three days later, a provisional force of 1,300 troops commanded by Major General Fukushima Yasumasa was to be deployed to northern China. Fukushima was chosen because he spoke fluent English which enabled him to communicate with

36337-427: The year that determine Japan's fate, emphasizing the need for a massive movement to reach peace treaties with all belligerent countries. In February, Nosaka made a self-criticism in the party's official newspaper Shimbun Akahata ( Akahata ), and JCP had since shifted to a more radical and combative strategy. The shift inside JCP has made both SCAP and Japanese government very cautious and led them to believe that JCP

36540-417: Was Moscow . The Soviet Union's roots lay in the October Revolution of 1917. The new government, led by Vladimir Lenin , established the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR), the world's first constitutionally socialist state . The revolution was not accepted by all within the Russian Republic , resulting in the Russian Civil War . The RSFSR and its subordinate republics were merged into

36743-424: Was accused by students from Zengakuren during a lecture at Kyushu University of trying to turn Japan into a U.S. colony, and the students demanded that the censorship of the professors be stopped. Immediately thereafter, major industrial and business CEOs announced that they would not hire communist sympathizers and communist students. On May 30, JCP-related groups protested and chanted anti-American slogans in front of

36946-399: Was also often used to refer to MacArthur and his bureaucrats rather than just the organization itself. On October 4, 1945, GHQ's Civil Information and Education Section composed the Civil Liberties Directive and ordered the Japanese government to abolish all laws and ordinances that restricted "freedom of thought, of religion, of assembly and of speech, including the unrestricted discussion of

37149-408: Was also the industrial center of the Soviet Union. Historian Matthew White wrote that it was an open secret that the country's federal structure was 'window dressing' for Russian dominance. For that reason, the people of the USSR were usually called 'Russians', not 'Soviets', since 'everyone knew who really ran the show'. Under the Military Law of September 1925, the Soviet Armed Forces consisted of

37352-409: Was among the first Protestant literature in Japan. In 1865, McCartee moved back to Ningbo , China, but others have followed in his footsteps. There was a burst of growth of Christianity in the late 19th century when Japan re-opened its doors to the West. Protestant church growth slowed dramatically in the early 20th century under the influence of the military government during the Shōwa period . Under

37555-413: Was being manipulated by Soviet Union and China. At the end of January, the Ministry of Education officially announced that red professors should be excluded from the education system. On March 6, Yoshida sent a letter to MacArthur suggesting the formal dissolution of JCP. MacArthur replied that he did not have such authority, but he would not oppose the resolution if it was passed by the Diet. In April, Eells

37758-419: Was carried out within the terms of the Soviet Civil Code. Some Soviet legal scholars even said that "criminal repression" may be applied in the absence of guilt. Martin Latsis , chief of Soviet Ukraine 's secret police explained: "Do not look in the file of incriminating evidence to see whether or not the accused rose up against the Soviets with arms or words. Ask him instead to which class he belongs, what

37961-424: Was characterized by rapid industrialization , the development of a capitalist economy , and the transformation of many feudal workers to wage labour . The use of strike action also increased, and 1897, with the establishment of a union for metalworkers, the foundations of the modern Japanese trade-union movement were formed. Samurai were allowed to work in any occupation they wanted. Admission to universities

38164-410: Was conducted with MacArthur's acquiescence and achieved some success. The subsequent strike in October, however, was condemned by Yoshida, and the resulting conflict eventually made MacArthur change his position completely. In the same month, MacArthur and the Japanese emperor agreed on the point that the labor movement could be highly vulnerable to manipulation by political opponents. In solidarity with

38367-422: Was determined based on examination results. The government also recruited more than 3,000 Westerners to teach modern science, mathematics, technology, and foreign languages in Japan ( O-yatoi gaikokujin ). Despite this, social mobility was still low due to samurai and their descendants being overrepresented in the new elite class. After sending observers to the United States, the Empire of Japan initially copied

38570-404: Was dissolved, resulting in its constituent republics of Armenia , Georgia and Azerbaijan being elevated to Union Republics, while Kazakhstan and Kirghizia were split off from the Russian SFSR, resulting in the same status. In August 1940, Moldavia was formed from parts of Ukraine and Soviet-occupied Bessarabia , and Ukrainian SSR. Estonia , Latvia and Lithuania were also annexed by

38773-555: Was enacted, officially ending the Japanese Empire and forming modern Japan . During this time, the Imperial Japanese Armed Forces were dissolved. It was later replaced by the current Japan Self-Defense Forces in 1954. Reconstruction under the Allied occupation continued until 1952, consolidating the modern Japanese constitutional monarchy . In total, the Empire of Japan had three emperors: Meiji , Taishō , and Shōwa . The Imperial era came to an end partway through Shōwa's reign , and he remained emperor until 1989. The historical state

38976-519: Was founded, de jure , after the 1889 signing of Constitution of the Empire of Japan. The constitution formalized much of the Empire's political structure and gave many responsibilities and powers to the Emperor. In 1890, the Imperial Diet was established in response to the Meiji Constitution. The Diet consisted of the House of Representatives of Japan and the House of Peers . Both houses opened seats for colonial people as well as Japanese. The Imperial Diet continued until 1947. Economic development

39179-434: Was instrumental in the Red Terror and Great Purge , but was brought under strict party control after Stalin's death. Under Yuri Andropov , the KGB engaged in the suppression of political dissent and maintained an extensive network of informers, reasserting itself as a political actor to some extent independent of the party-state structure, culminating in the anti-corruption campaign targeting high-ranking party officials in

39382-424: Was no large-scale fighting directly between the two superpowers , but they each supported major regional conflicts known as proxy wars . The conflict was based around the ideological and geopolitical struggle for global influence by these two superpowers, following their temporary alliance and victory against Nazi Germany in 1945. Aside from the nuclear arsenal development and conventional military deployment,

39585-450: Was not independent of the other branches of government. The Supreme Court supervised the lower courts ( People's Court ) and applied the law as established by the constitution or as interpreted by the Supreme Soviet. The Constitutional Oversight Committee reviewed the constitutionality of laws and acts. The Soviet Union used the inquisitorial system of Roman law , where the judge, procurator , and defence attorney collaborate to "establish

39788-459: Was only 54% of that of the United States, this means that the Soviet Union generated 1.5 times more pollution than the United States per unit of GNP. The Soviet Chernobyl disaster in 1986 was the first major accident at a civilian nuclear power plant . Unparalleled in the world, it resulted in a large number of radioactive isotopes being released into the atmosphere. Radioactive doses were scattered relatively far. Although long-term effects of

39991-417: Was prompted by his learning of a series of arson attacks in Edo, starting with the burning of the outworks of Edo Castle , the main Tokugawa residence. The Boshin War ( 戊辰戦争 , Boshin Sensō ) was fought between January 1868 and May 1869. The alliance of samurai from southern and western domains and court officials had now secured the cooperation of the young Emperor Meiji, who ordered the dissolution of

40194-477: Was repeatedly postponed. Formal recognition came when the new Labour Party came to power in 1924. All the other countries followed suit in opening trade relations. Henry Ford opened large-scale business relations with the Soviets in the late 1920s, hoping that it would lead to long-term peace. Finally, in 1933, the United States officially recognized the USSR, a decision backed by the public opinion and especially by US business interests that expected an opening of

40397-415: Was repressed and adherents were persecuted. After the Tokugawa shogunate banned Christianity in 1620, it ceased to exist publicly. Many Catholics went underground, becoming hidden Christians ( 隠れキリシタン , kakure kirishitan ) , while others lost their lives. After Japan was opened to foreign powers in 1853, many Christian clergymen were sent from Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox churches, though proselytism

40600-426: Was still banned. Only after the Meiji Restoration, was Christianity re-established in Japan. Freedom of religion was introduced in 1871, giving all Christian communities the right to legal existence and preaching. Eastern Orthodoxy was brought to Japan in the 19th century by St. Nicholas (baptized as Ivan Dmitrievich Kasatkin), who was sent in 1861 by the Russian Orthodox Church to Hakodate , Hokkaidō as priest to

40803-482: Was that "the Constitution was written not for you, but for American Negroes, so that they know how happy the lives of Soviet citizens are". Crime was determined not as the infraction of law, instead, it was determined as any action which could threaten the Soviet state and society. For example, a desire to make a profit could be interpreted as a counter-revolutionary activity punishable by death. The liquidation and deportation of millions of peasants in 1928–31

41006-457: Was the Japanese nation-state that existed from the Meiji Restoration on 3 January 1868 until the Constitution of Japan took effect on 3 May 1947. From 1910 to 1945 , it included the Japanese archipelago , the Kurils , Karafuto , Korea , and Taiwan . Concessions such as the Kwantung Leased Territory were de jure not parts of the empire but dependent territories. In the closing stages of World War II , with Japan defeated alongside

41209-506: Was the Russian responsibility to assist them. The Comintern was the weapon of choice. A few revolutions did break out, but they were quickly suppressed (the longest lasting one was in Hungary)—the Hungarian Soviet Republic —lasted only from 21 March 1919 to 1 August 1919. The Russian Bolsheviks were in no position to give any help. By 1921, Lenin, Trotsky, and Stalin realized that capitalism had stabilized itself in Europe and there would not be any widespread revolutions anytime soon. It became

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