The road that led to the crisis of 1931 began in the late 1890s when japans asian empire gold standard and foreign borrowing got underway simultaneously these three historical processes were linked from beginning to end the odd thing was that the linkages were forged on the other side of the . Lever of empire the international gold standard and the crisis of liberalism in prewar japan by mark metzler author march 2006 first edition hardcover 8500 gbp7000 ebook 8500 gbp7000 series twentieth century japan the emergence of a world power. Download citation lever of empire the international gold standard and the crisis of liberalism in prewar japan review that is not to say in terms of medical efficacy that the ideas and . This book the first full account of japans financial history and the japanese gold standard in the pivotal years before world war ii provides a new perspective on the global political dynamics of the era by placing japan rather than europe at the center of the story focusing on the fall of liberalism in japan in late 1931 and the global politics of money that were at the center of the . This book the first full account of japans financial history and the japanese gold standard in the pivotal years before world war ii provides a new perspective on the global political dynamics of the era by placing japan rather than europe at the center of the story