After the Meiji Restoration, the Japanese salted fish turned into a great power, and then embarked on the road of aggression and expansion, and by the time of World War II, japan had seized four main pieces of land outside the mainland (excluding the concession): Taiwan, Korea, Birch and Kuril Islands, and Nanyang.
Although these 4 pieces of land were seized by Japan by chance, but at that time the world was originally the weak and the strong, these 5 places, before World War II, the international recognition belonged to Japan (even China could not deny Japan's control over Taiwan and Korea at that time), how did Japan get these 4 places?
One, Taiwan
Japan defeated the Qing Dynasty through the Sino-Japanese War, forced the Qing Dynasty to sign the "Treaty of Maguan" that humiliated the country, Taiwan was forced to cede to Japan, which made the Taiwan people indignant, in May 1895 the Japanese army landed in Taiwan, the Taiwanese military and civilians spontaneously took up arms to resist the Japanese invasion of Taiwan, giving the Japanese army a huge casualty, but after all, the strength of the disparity, the Japanese army eventually controlled the island of Taiwan, but the heroic resistance of the Taiwan people has continued.
The full map of the Republic of China in 1926 did not include Taiwan because it had been ceded to Japan in the 1895 Treaty of Maguan
After World War II, Japan had to spit out the fruits of its aggression and Taiwan returned to the motherland
Second, the Korean Peninsula
Japan invaded the Korean Peninsula many times in ancient times, after the Meiji Restoration, Japan became stronger and Korea was still a weak country, so Japan stepped up its aggression against Korea, especially after the Sino-Japanese War, the Qing Dynasty was unable to maintain its influence in Korea, and Japan gradually controlled the internal affairs of Korea.
In 1910, Japan forced Korea (the name of the country had been changed to "Korea Empire") to sign the "Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty", formally annexed Korea, and began a 35-year colonial rule over Korea, until After World War II, Korea was liberated.
Three, Birch Tai and the Kuril Islands
Where is this? It's the southern part of Sakhalin Island, which is a little different from Taiwan and Korea, and there are basically not many indigenous people here, so it's more like a Japanese-stolen territory than a colony.
Sakhalin Island was originally the leadership of China (the Qing Dynasty), but the Qing Dynasty ruled the area very weakly, so it was infiltrated by Japan and Russia very early, and after the Second Opium War, Russia forced the Qing Dynasty to cede Sakhalin Island to Russia.
In 1905, Japan defeated Tsarist Russia, acquired the southern part of Sakhalin Island (south of 50° north latitude) through the Treaty of Parkmouth, and established the Birch Tai Hall to administer the area.
And the Kuril Islands? In 1875, Japan and Russia signed the Treaty of Exchange for the Kuril Islands in St. Petersburg, and Japan ceded it to Russia by abandoning Birch tai and ceding it to Russia; Russia ceded the entire Kuril Islands to Japan.
At the end of World War II, the southern part of Sakhalin Island plus the Kuril Islands were cleanly recovered by Russia.
Four
Nanyang Hall
Nanyang Hall may not know much about it, where is it?
Japan's Nanyang Agency has jurisdiction over the Micronesian Islands near the equator in the Western Pacific Ocean, including the present-day Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, marshall Islands, and the Federated States of Micronesia.
How did Japan get this place, in fact, is to take advantage of the fire, these islands were previously Spanish, after the Spanish-American War in 1899 the United States acquired here, but the United States only need Guam, the rest of the islands sold to Germany.
Then, during World War I, Japan took advantage of the fire and looted and occupied it (on August 23, 1914, Japan declared war on Germany, but was not prepared to contribute, but took advantage of everything, and in October 1914, the Japanese Navy occupied the Mariana Islands, caroling Islands and Marshall Islands. After the war, Japan obtained the "right of appointment" here and established the Nanyang Hall. In 1933, Japan withdrew from the League of Nations, so the Nanyang Islands became the de facto territory of Japan).
After World War II, Japan was swept clean from the Nanyang Hall, and the place was taken over by the United States.