Japan sought after an extended empire in the 1930s, in short, because of the Japan sought after an extended empire in the 1930s, in short, because of the and therefore had to buy them all from overseas. They'd sell silk to get enough money to buy the goods they needed to run the country. Following the Wall Street money to buy the goods they needed to run the country. Crash of October 1929, the US economy slumped and placed high tariffs (taxes) upon Japanese imports. The USA were Japan's main trading partners so this struck them hard. By 1931, nearly half of Japanese factories had stopped production.The Japanese had control of Korea at the time and had a railway in the Chinese province of Manchuria. Manchuria was industrial and was attacked by the Japanese. Later in the decade, 1937, Japan launched a full scale invasion of China - getting the empire they desired.
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