ABSTRACT
In Japan the overall development process seems to support the proposition that population growth and rapid modernization and industrialization contributed to substantial increases in armament capability, investment in the military and colonial expansion, and varying degrees of intermittent warfare. From the perspective of quantitative analysis, the system of simultaneous equations represents the processes in question – exports, imports, military expenditures, colonial expansion – accounting for the historical record successfully. Although many questions remain unanswered, and despite complex interactions among the endogenous variables in the interwar period, overall the country’s external expansion was clearly shaped by the growing weight of domestic factors. Japanese leaders used the country’s expanding military capabilities as leverage for territorial occupation, the establishment of spheres of influence, and ensured access to the raw materials and markets of mainland Asia.
