- Unable to make best use of empire → due to how badly they had treated peoples they conquered.
- looted resources of conquered lands
- abused locals + forced thousands into slave labour
- Millions of civilians → died under Japanese rule.
- → conquered peoples → began to resist in any way they could against Japanese
There were large scale resistance movements:
- China → communists under Mao Zedong → carried out effective campaign → guerrilla warfare → against Japanese.
- Many north Koreans → joined Chinese communists + later fought Japanese back in Korea.
- Vietnam → nationalist leader → Ho Chi Minh → led Viet Minh → in a guerrilla campaign → which gradually wore down Japanese
Many other resistance movements:
- Malayan Peoples Anti Japanese Army
- Mainly communist movement → fought underground war → against Japanese
- Fought bravely → against overwhelming odds + terrible conditions
- Approx. third of the fighters died during war