The Road to Japanese Militarism: A Comparative Study with German Fascism

Atsushi Tsuneki () and Ayumu Banzawa ()
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Atsushi Tsuneki: College of Economics, Nihon University
Ayumu Banzawa: Graduate School of Economics, Osaka University

No 25-11, Discussion Papers in Economics and Business from Osaka University, Graduate School of Economics

Abstract: This paper examines the historical conditions and processes that led to the rise of militarism in Japan in comparison with fascism in Germanyï¼ Nazism. While both countries pursued wars as Axis powers in World War II, the underlying political institutions, social structures, and economic foundations differed significantly. Germany’s militarism emerged from a mass-based fascist party movement under Nazi leadership, closely tied to the experience of the Weimar Republic and the economic recovery after the Great Depression. In contrast, Japanese militarism developed within the framework of an incomplete constitutional monarchy, driven by middle-ranking military officers and fragmented decision-making mechanisms, without coherent political leadership or broad-based democratic legitimacy. By analyzing these differences across three periods from the late 1920s to 1945, this study highlights the contrasting dynamics of popular support, institutional responsibility, and socio-political bases of militarism in Japan and Germany. The comparative approach also sheds light on the divergent paths of postwar reflection and responsibility in the two countries.

Keywords: Fascism; Japanese Militarism; National Socialism (Nazism); Comparative Historical Analysis; Second World War (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: N14 N15 N44 N45 P16 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 33 pages
Date: 2025-09
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-his and nep-hpe
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