Petroleum is an indispensable fuel for your life.
However, there was a time when this oil might not come to Japan for a while.
This time, the event that made a big fuss all over Japan " oil shock I will explain in an easy-to-understand manner.
Oil shock and Middle East problem
1973 [Showa 48] [ Oil shock 】Is called.
Behind this was the speculation of Arab countries due to the Fourth Middle East War.
First, I will write about the oil shock after deepening my understanding of the Middle East issue.
The beginning of the Middle East problem
The central Israeli region is still a conflict-prone region.
Judaism in the Israeli region about 3000 years ago Jewish country [ Kingdom of Israel ] Was present. Around 600 BC Roman Empire Jews were expelled by the invasion of Christianity in the area Begins to spread.
Furthermore, around 600 AD, the Islamic Empire Occupied and Islam Will spread.
Due to this historical flow, the sanctuary Jerusalem is Judaism / Christianity / Islam . The sacred sites of the three religions have been completed.
History goes further, and around the 16th century, the Ottoman Empire Dominated this area and became a region with a strong Islamic color. During the rule of the Ottoman Empire, this area was [ Palestine ] Will be called.
On the other hand, the Jews who were the first inhabitants of the Kingdom of Israel were scattered all over the country, but they were persecuted because of their excellence, so that many Jews would return to the sanctuary. became.
For this reason, Arabs [Islam] Jews [Judaism] in this area People coexisted moderately.
Dark clouds can be seen in the Ottoman Empire, where such a life was established.
That was the World War I that began in 1914. is.
In this war, Ottoman Empire VS England / France / Russia Conflict will occur. At this time, Britain, which was aiming for the internal collapse of the Ottoman Empire, promised to establish an Arab nation after the victory in return for armed cooperation with the Arabs, and also made a similar promise to the Jews.
On top of that, he did not keep either promise after the victory, withdrew from the region after World War II, and threw the problem to the United Nations.
What is the Middle East War? ??
Palestine dominance issue The United Nations, which was thrown into Britain, started a division to create a country of Arabs and Jews, but problems arose. The will of the member states of the United Nations will work on this division concept.
For the United States, the votes of Jews living on the mainland are very important, and President Tollman and former President Trump at that time were also elected through the power of this Jewish vote. Therefore, the good land side of Palestine is a Jewish country [ Israel ].
Arabs are not convinced of this decision, and they attack Israel. Even after that, due to the speculation of various countries, it will continue to be in the current muddy state.
There are many battles with Arab countries against the founded Israel, but these are [ Middle East War ], And it is repeated many times.
First Middle East War
The conflict that occurred at the beginning of the founding of Israel [ First Middle East War ] Is called.
With the support of Egypt and Jordan, the Arab side is [ Gaza Strip ] [ West Bank ], But soon after it is taken over by Israel. Most of this area is acquired by Israel, but the above two areas are occupied by Arabs in the Palestinian Territory . The Arabs who live here are Palestinians . Will be called.
It is said that Israel was able to counterattack and win in this "First Middle East War" because of the cooperation of the United States and Britain in the background.
Second Middle East War
1869 The Suez Canal, which was jointly constructed by Egypt and France, was completed.
This canal, which is a key point of sea shipping, became the largest shareholder in Egypt when Egypt, which was in financial difficulty at the time, sold its shares to the United Kingdom. But 1956 As Egypt declared the nationalization of the Suez Canal, Britain was furious and asked for cooperation from France and Israel, and the Second Middle East War broke out.
The battle ended due to the UN's request for a ceasefire, the Soviet Union's cooperation with Egypt, and the opposition of the United States.
Although the nationalization of the Suez Canal in Egypt was allowed, the war itself was a victory for the Israeli side. However, the criticism of the Israeli side is great, and public opinion will increase the support of the Egyptian side.
Six-Day War
International public opinion has become an Arab country centered on Egypt, Britain and France can no longer support Israel openly, and Israel will embark on its own military strengthening.
1967 amid heightened tensions with Arab countries due to Jewish settlements on the Golan Heights The Third Middle East War broke out. The Israeli raid will destroy military bases such as Egypt, Jordan, Syria, and Iraq.
"Sinai Peninsula" "Gaza Strip" "West Bank West Bank" in a short period of 6 days Occupied.
Fourth Middle East War and Oil Shock
1973 as Arab countries continue to lose to Israel Egypt succeeds in a surprise attack on Israel. On the other hand, the Israeli side also received the assistance of the United States and the United Kingdom, and the conflict became a swamp.
With the success of the surprise attack, Egypt achieved the recapture of the Sinai Peninsula, but not the withdrawal of Israelis from the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
In this battle, Arab countries will bring them to a truce by developing an oil strategy.
The Sinai Peninsula was retaken by Egypt, but not with the withdrawal of Israelis from the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
The Arab nations managed to dominate, but the support of the United States and Britain behind Israel was very disturbing. Therefore, Arab countries have issued oil embargo sanctions as sanctions for countries that have supported the United States, Great Britain and Israel.
At that time, the only oil producing areas were the Soviet Union or the Middle East oil fields.
The Arab nations stepped on that if the oil of Esrael's support countries was stopped, each country would not be able to turn around and would not be able to support it.
Thus OPEC countries have raised oil embargo by raising an unthinkable price of 21%. Start. This caused an oil crisis in various countries around the world, where oil was exhausted.
Impact of the oil crisis on Japan
In this way, oil embargo sanctions by Arab countries began, but it will also have a great impact on Japan. Japan, an ally of the United States, is also considered one of the supporting countries by the Middle Eastern countries and has been subject to embargo sanctions.
Japan manages to have an alliance with the United States for the Middle East, but since it does not support Israel, it apologizes for oil, but the result has not changed.
At that time, Japan was in a state of stable economic growth due to high economic growth, but 1970 In that case, the Nixon shock had an impact on Japan due to the economic reforms of the United States. The oil crisis hit there, and the damage to the Japanese economy became serious.
Furthermore, at this time, Japan was promoting energy reforms, and at a time when coal was being replaced by oil as fuel for factory machinery and power generation, improvements throughout Japan would stop due to the lack of oil in the Middle East. I was afraid.
Around this time, Japan was called the Energy Revolution, when the fuel for factory machinery and power generation was changed from coal to oil, and if oil in the Middle East did not come, the worst situation could occur in which machinery would not work. There was sex.
Enter inflation
When oil does not come in, companies and others reduce the operation of machines in order to save oil as fuel. Therefore, the production of goods is reduced.
Furthermore, since petroleum is the raw material for plastic products, it is no longer possible to make products.
When this happens, inflation occurs in which the price of goods rises and the value of money falls. At this time, prices will rise to an impossible level called frenzy prices, such as a 20% rise in prices.
This price increase has spread beyond petroleum products to include seasonings such as soy sauce and sugar.
Japan, which entered inflation in this way, fell into recession at a stretch, recording the first negative growth after the war, and the high economic growth has come to an end.
Oil shock toilet paper uproar
Following the oil shock, the media reported the shortage of oil resources every day, and the public's anxiety grew. In October 1973, the government [ call for saving paper resources ] From [ Paper runs out ] The hoax that says has begun to flow.
Then, in November, a rush of housewives rushed to buy toilet paper for sale on leaflets at a store in Osaka, and as a result, it was sold on the spot. In a hurry, the store side put out a regular product (regular price product) and responded, but in a blink of an eye, an event occurred.
The newspaper company that heard the information doubled the price in no time! ] Will be published. It's not surprising that the prices of bargains and regulars are different, but the headlines in this article were very impactful and enough to make the turmoil bigger.
For this reason, the hoarding of toilet paper occurred all over the country.
At the beginning of the turmoil, there was no actual shortage of goods and it was only danced by the media and word of mouth.
However, due to the over-purchase of the people, inventory shortages have occurred, and the government has requested to refrain from buying up. Even now, I think that everyone is experiencing the phenomenon that the products featured on TV temporarily disappear from the store.
In addition, the government has decided on the outline of emergency oil measures by the Cabinet and made efforts to curb aggregate demand for oil, which will further cool domestic consumption.
Countermeasures against oil shocks
Due to the oil crisis, there has been a movement to save energy called energy saving in various parts of Japan. In an easy-to-understand place, there was a decrease in neon signs at night, abolition of late-night business and late-night broadcasting, and suspension of escalator operation.
The Japanese government has begun to develop a nuclear power plant that has a stable supply of energy from a thermal power plant that uses oil in an attempt to reassess the current situation of dependence on oil.
End of oil crisis and then
The oil crisis ended with the end of the Yom Kippur War, but since then, the dependence on oil in the Middle East has been reviewed in various countries around the world, and the North Sea oil field Development and oil field development in the United States There was a movement to supply the products in their own country.
Also, at the call of the President of France at that time, a conference on the world economy after the oil crisis, Group of Eight (G7) Will be held.
1979 Again, due to the impact of the Iranian Revolution, crude oil exports from Iran, the world's second-largest oil-producing country, will decline, causing another oil crisis. This is called the second oil crisis, but it is said that Japan has not had much impact in Japan due to the speed of the government's response that made use of the lessons learned from the previous time.