World War I: a war that needed everyone
World War I was a total war: factories made shells, governments controlled food and prices, and millions of men left their jobs for the army. Someone had to do those jobs, and in many countries women became factory workers, bus conductors, clerks and nurses. Newspapers, posters and films (propaganda) tried to win support. You can read the full story in the lesson on World War I. Here we ask: how did the war change society?
World War I and Japan
- Joining the war: In August 1914 Japan joined the Allies, using its alliance with Britain (1902). It took the German base at Qingdao in China and German-held islands in the Pacific.
- Demands on China (1915): Japan pushed China to accept the 'Twenty-One Demands'. Chinese anger grew and later fed protests such as the May Fourth Movement (1919).
- Boom: With Europe busy fighting, Japan sold ships, cloth and goods to Asia and the Allies. Exports rose about three times between 1914 and 1918. Japan changed from a debtor to a lender country.
- Problems: Prices, especially of rice, rose faster than wages. In 1918 rice riots spread across the country. After the war the boom ended in a slump (1920).
- Peace conference (1919): Japan was one of the 'Big Five', gained control of former German Pacific islands under League of Nations mandate, and asked for a racial-equality clause, which was not accepted.
What is a mass society?
A mass society is one where large numbers of ordinary people take part in the economy, culture and politics.
- Mass production and cities: factories, department stores, offices and many city jobs (the 'salaryman').
- Mass media: cheap newspapers, magazines, cinema and, from the 1920s, radio. People in different towns hear the same news and songs.
- Mass organisations: labour unions, farmers' groups, student groups and political parties.
- Mass politics: leaders must win the support of millions, so they use speeches, posters and slogans. This can strengthen democracy, but it also helped extreme movements such as fascism.
In Japan the 1910s and 1920s are often called the Taisho democracy years: party governments, lively newspapers, unions and new styles of city life.
Mass politics: who gets to vote?
In the 1800s the right to vote usually depended on property, tax paid and sex. Pressure from workers, the war effort and the Russian Revolution of 1917 pushed countries to widen the vote.
- Japan: only about 1 adult man in 10 could vote around 1900. The tax test was lowered in 1919. In 1925 the Universal Male Suffrage Law gave the vote to men aged 25 and over, and the number of voters about quadrupled to roughly 12 million. In the same year the Peace Preservation Law made it a crime to plan to change the state system or to oppose private property. So freedoms grew and were also limited.
- Other countries: Britain gave men full voting rights in 1918, Germany had a democratic republic from 1919, and the USA kept growing its electorate.
Women's status
Women argued for the vote for decades. Their war work made the demand hard to ignore.
- 1893 New Zealand; 1906 Finland; 1918 Britain (women over 30; equal terms in 1928); 1919 Germany; 1920 USA.
- Japan: women were not allowed to join political meetings until a law changed in 1922. Activists such as Hiratsuka Raicho and Ichikawa Fusae campaigned for women's rights. Women got the vote only in 1945 (law), and voted for the first time in 1946; 39 women entered the parliament.
- India: the 1950 constitution gave every adult citizen the vote.
- Besides voting, women also won more access to education and jobs, but equal pay and equal chances are still a challenge today.
Try it: the 20-person crowd
Draw 20 stick figures: 10 men, 10 women. Colour the heads of those allowed to vote in 1900, 1925 and 1946 in Japan. Compare with the 3D free-play step. Then ask a grandparent: when could the women in your family first vote, and in which country?
Key formulas and definitions
- Total war = whole society (factories, women, home front) serves the war
- Japan in WWI: Allied side (1914), took Qingdao and Pacific islands, exports about 3x (1914-18), rice riots 1918, slump 1920
- Mass society = mass production + mass media + mass organisations + mass politics
- Japan voting: about 1 in 10 men (1900) -> all men aged 25+ (1925) -> men and women (1946)
- Women's vote: NZ 1893, UK 1918 (over 30), Germany 1919, USA 1920, Japan 1945-46, India 1950
- Memory hook: W-O-V-E = War work, Opinion (media), Vote widened, Equality for women last
Worked examples
1. Explain two reasons why the war helped women win the vote.
1) Women worked in factories, transport and hospitals while men were at the front, which showed they could do all kinds of jobs. 2) Governments had asked all citizens for sacrifice, so it was hard to say that half the citizens deserved no vote. Britain, Germany and the USA all widened women's vote within about two years after the war.
2. Give two effects of World War I on Japan's economy and society.
Economy: factories and exports boomed because Europe was busy fighting, and Japan became a creditor. Society: prices rose, especially rice, and rice riots broke out in 1918; cities grew, unions and party politics became stronger.
3. Why do historians call the 1920s a time of mass society in Japan?
Because many ordinary people joined city life and politics: cheap newspapers, cinema and radio reached millions, unions and parties grew, and in 1925 all adult men got the vote. At the same time the Peace Preservation Law limited some freedoms.
Common mistakes
- Saying that Japan was on the losing side of World War I. It was an Allied victor, though it fought mostly in Asia and the Pacific.
- Thinking that women everywhere got the vote at the same time. The dates differ by country: 1893 to 1950 in this lesson.
- Believing the 1925 law gave the vote to everyone. It gave it to men aged 25 and over; women had to wait until 1945-46.
- Forgetting that mass politics also has risks: the same media and big crowds helped extreme movements gain support.