Deck 10: Democracy and Empire Between the World Wars

Question 1

What rumours persisted about the Taisho emperor after his retirement from public life?

A) That he was psychologically unstable
B) That he had been sidelined due to his liberal political views
C) That he was sick from meningitis
D) That he had thrown a paper airplane at the opening of a Diet session

Answer 1

A

Question 2

What caused Yamagata Aritomo to turn to Hara Kei for political leadership in 1918?

A) The Twenty-One Demands
B) Pressure from the emperor
C) Pressure from the Army
D) The Rice Riots

Answer 2

D

Question 3

When was the Privy Council established?

A) 1868
B) 1888
C) 1913
D) 1919

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Which of the following was NOT a political party in Taisho Japan?

A) Minseitō
B) Kenseikai
C) Yūaikai
D) Seiyūkai

Question 5

What was notable about the Japanese governments of 1927, 1929, and 1931?

A) They were led by Admirals or Generals, with only a handful of elected politicians in the cabinet
B) They were led by socialist politicians
C) They were formed by Meiji-era politicians who clung to power
D) They were formed by one of the political parties in the Diet, which was in the minority at that time

Question 6

What inspired the 1923 assassination attempt on Hirohito?

A) Anger at the execution of a socialist leader
B) Anger at Japanese expansionism in Europe
C) Anger at the suppression of the Rice Riots
D) Anger at corruption in Japanese politics

Question 7

Which of the following ideologies did NOT gain ground in Japan in the early-to-mid 1920s?

A) Socialism
B) Anarchism
C) Feminism
D) All three gained ground

Question 8

Which country openly supported Japan's newly formed Communist Party?

A) China
B) Korea
C) Cuba
D) Russia

Question 9

What did the police do in the aftermath of the Kanto Earthquake in 1923?

A) They evacuated the emperor to Kyoto
B) They murdered several figures they considered politically dangerous
C) They protected Koreans from mob violence
D) They aided and abetted widespread looting

Question 10

What piece of legislation related to women did the Seiyūkai pass in 1922?

A) Legislation to legalize divorce without the consent of the husband
B) Legislation allowing women to attend political meetings
C) Legislation permitting women to own and run businesses
D) Legislation giving limited voting rights to women

Question 11

District commissioners did NOT engage in which which of the following?

A) Providing information on hygiene
B) Encouraging people to save money for the future.
C) Introducing the needy to sources of private charity and public relief
D) Providing information on birth control

Question 12

Which of the following was NOT part of the consensus on foreign affairs among the established political parties in Taisho Japan?

A) Expanding the Japanese Navy to resist the United States
B) Maintaining a balance of naval power with the British and Americans
C) Defending Japanese interests in China
D) Joining the League of Nations

Question 13

What was so offensive about the fifth set of the Twenty-One Demands?

A) They overtly undermined Chinese independence
B) They would be very expensive to realize
C) They were inhumane and would have resulted in the death of millions
D) They were illegal under international law.

Question 14

What inspired the Siberian Intervention?

A) A desire to support anti-communist forces
B) A desire to undermine pro-czarist forces
C) A desire to seize Russian oil reserves
D) A desire to acquire experience for Japanese troops

Question 15

What was Japan's main concern about the rise of Chiang Kai-shek?

A) That he would invade Japan
B) That he would expel the Japanese from Shanghai
C) That he would annex Shandong and build a naval base
D) That he would challenge Japanese influence in Manchuria

Question 16

How did the leaders of colonized Asian countries react to Japan's foreign policies toward Asia of the 1910s?

A) It inspired them to try to create their own empires
B) It inspired many to adopt Japanese culture
C) It undermined their reputation as liberators of Asia from the West
D) It made the colonies more likely to tolerate their Western occupiers

Question 17

Which of the following did NOT take place during Saito Makoto's governorship of Korea?

A) New educational and religious groups were founded
B) More Koreans joined the colonial administration
C) Koreans were able to publish more books
D) The police force shrunk by 50 percent

Question 18

What was the central political debate in Taisho Japan with regards to imperialism?

A) Seek colonies in Asia only versus seek colonies globally
B) Build an empire modelled on European colonialism versus improvise an new Japanese mode of empire
C) Build an empire ruled directly by Tokyo versus loosely controlling self-governing puppet states
D) Gradually and cautiously expand the empire versus dramatically and swiftly expand it

Question 19

What was the Japanese army's attitude towards foreign affairs in the Taisho period?

A) It believed cooperative diplomacy was ineffective
B) It believed military alliances with Western powers were essential
C) It believed in infiltrating and bringing down the Chinese government from within
D) It believed all foreign holdings should be ruled directly by the army

Question 20

By the late 1920s, was there anyone who theoretically could have stopped the adventurism of the Japanese army?

A) The Prime Minister
B) The Crown Prince
C) The Emperor
D) Nobody had such power either in practice or in theory