The concept of lebensraum was most infamously articulated in the 1920s by the Nazi Party, but the practice of expansionism by force in the interwar period was by no means unique to Germany. Manifest Destiny has been called “America’s Living Space.” Fascist Italy used the notion of vital space to justify its expansion beyond its recognized borders. Preoccupied by the rapid pace of Western colonialism, isolated from the community of nations, stunned by economic calamity, desperate for resources and land, and caught in the rising waves of a corporatist, militarist, and nationalist tide, the Empire of Japan s is engaged in its own brand of empire building in the early 20th century. In 1853, American Commodore Matthew C. Perry arrived on the shores of Japan with ships and armaments the likes of which had never been seen in this corner of the world. After ordering the bombing of some buildings in the port city of Uraga as a show of power, Perry presented the Japanese with a white flag and a list of demands. Japan's ruling oligarchs were afraid of the West's colonialist impulses and embarked on an ambitious modernization plan. Within a decade, the Meiji Restoration brought sweeping changes to Japan's governmental, economic, social, and military structure, in direct response to this encounter. The elite samurai warrior class was systematically dismantled in favor of a Western-style army. Within a generation, Japan had become an economic force and the dominant power in the Pacific. Megacorporations called zaibatsu evolved and diversified to achieve economic dominance, developing ties to the government and military through their procurement activities. Meanwhile, d...... middle of paper ......Bridge, southwest of Beiping. On the evening of July 7, 1937, a small Japanese force maneuvering near the Marco Polo Bridge demanded entry to the small walled town of Wanping under the pretext of searching for one of its soldiers. Chinese defense forces in the city refused Japanese entry; A shot rang out and both sides began shooting at each other. The Chinese government, under strong anti-Japanese pressure, refused to make the slightest concession in negotiating the dispute. The Japanese also maintained their position and the conflict intensified. As the fighting spread across central China, the Japanese recorded a number of successive victories. Japanese government officials, under growing public pressure not to back down, sought to quickly annex China. However, this got away from them and both sides embarked on what would become known as the Second Sino-Japanese War..