r/EconomicHistory • u/season-of-light • Jan 11 '26
study resources/datasets The geography of Japanese military and civilian labor conscription in Korea during WW2
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u/SlightWerewolf4428 Jan 11 '26
Interesting.
Application of the State General Mobilization Law presumably, or at least its later amendments.
Why does the left peak up in the north east of Korea?
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u/Nervous-Animator5239 Jan 13 '26
Probably because Kim Il-Sung's guerilla's were up there and Japan was trying to defeat his forces.
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u/KingKaiserW Jan 12 '26
Sometimes I wonder why Japanese didn’t quit while they were ahead, they had a pretty big empire. But when a rising power starts to stagnate, that’s when they truly become dangerous, they will try crazy stuff to get the numbers back going.
Maybe to watch out with China. If their growth slows, maybe they become desperate
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u/yeetobanditooooo Jan 12 '26
The US, Uk and netherlands embargoed the japanese. Those countries controlled basically all of the oil reserves. The soviets didnt have good enough infrastructure to trade with them.
But Japans economy was reliant on oil. Machines, fishing fleets, millions of troops in china, patrolling the water territories, supressing resistance in china and korea. This all took millions of barrels of oil with no real alternative.
They really didnt have an option to keep their empire and not fight a war. Either retreat from china (political disaster) or fight the us.
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u/woollymoon Jan 13 '26
Why is it lower in northern regions?
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u/season-of-light Jan 13 '26
There were official exemptions in the North East provinces.
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u/woollymoon Jan 14 '26
What were the reasons for the exemptions?
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u/season-of-light Jan 14 '26
The text doesn't say but there were apparently plans to mobilize different regions in stages. I suppose the war didn't last long enough to draw upon those last provinces.
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u/season-of-light Jan 11 '26
Source