Repression, 1931–6

Abstract

From 1931 the Japanese state became locked into an intensifying spiral of external aggression and internal repression. Externally, the Japanese army provoked the Manchurian Incident in September 1931, the puppet state of Manchukuo was declared in March 1932, part of Inner Mongolia was occupied by Japanese forces in March 1933, and the Marco Polo Bridge Incident in July 1937 led to full-scale war with China. Internally, the assassination of Prime Minister Inukai in May 1932 opened the way to an increasing role for the military in government and this trend was further strengthened by the attempted coup carried out by young army officers in February 1936. Accompanying these political developments, the economy was increasingly militarised, with spending on the armed forces rising from 31 per cent of government expenditure in 1931–2 to 47 per cent in 1936–7 and 71 per cent in 1937–8.¹ Needless to say, the period from 1931 onwards was also characterised by a relentless tightening of the screws on all who offered resistance to these political and economic changes. The anarchists were prime targets of repression and this chapter deals with various strategies adopted by different tendencies among the pure anarchists as they attempted, against all the odds, to turn the tide.