August 15 marks the 75th Anniversary of VJ Day. John G Teasdale looks at some of the US amphibious vehicles that played a role in war
To say that the officers of the Kwantung Army were hot-headed would be an understatement. It was largely due to them that Japan would become embroiled in World War Two. The Kwangtung Army was the part of Japan’s Imperial Army charged with the occupation of Korea, a Japanese protectorate since the Russian Japanese War of 1904-1905 and annexed in 1910. The northern part of Korea was rich in minerals, and the southern part a major food producer. Resource-poor Japan needed both. However, Korea was not enough for the officers of the Kwantung Army, who wanted more – lots more.
In the early hours of September 18, 1931, the Kwangtung Army marched north out of Korea and began the occupation of the Chinese province of Manchuria. The western powers were immediately involved through the auspices of the League of Nations, though only politically, not yet economically or militarily. The censure that followed led Japan to quit the League in 1933. In the meantime, the United States had introduced the Stimson Doctrine, which meant that states created by force – such as the puppet state…
