During the 1930s, Japan was characterized by the rise of extreme nationalism and a series of expansionist wars, beginning with the military take-over of northeastern China (Manchuria). After a military coup attempt in 1936, the Japanese military consolidated its control over the political system. In 1937, the Second Sino-Japanese War began. Japan occupied large parts of Eastern China. Japan's stated war aim was to establish the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere, a vast pan-Asian union under...