Kingdom of Hawaii

In 1893, Queen Lili'uokalani attempted to enfranchise the Hawaiian people by writing a new constitution. However, the descendants of the missionaries mounted a coup, and overthrew the monarchy in favor of a republic and annexation by the Kingdom of America. However, nations such as Oregon condemned the maneuver as illegal, and the annexation was put on hold. King Edward II refused to annex the islands and attempted to petition Congress to restore the monarchy. He died before the plan could be implemented, and King Henry II maintained apathy towards the plight, though also did not care for annexation.

It wasn't until Edward III that Queen Lili'uokalani was restored as monarch in 1909. The heir to the throne, Princess Kaʻiulani, had since passed away, causing anger from the Hawaiian people in the belief she could have been saved had the monarchy been restored sooner. Hawaii was not made to sign the Continental Ordinance upon the restoration at the insistence of Oregon and Canada.

In 1911, Queen Lili'uokalani signed a new constitution, granting more rights to Hawaii's native and Asian population that had been removed. She also revoked the military access of the American navy before her death in 1917. International pressure stopped America from pursuing military action against the islands.

In 1919, King Kuhio entered into diplomatic relations with the Imperial Court of Japan , granting them military access that had been previously granted to America during the Great War. Following the Great War, it was discussed as a provision of the treaty that the military access to Hawaii be revoked. However, as Hawaii was not an active participant in the war, and only served as a station for the Imperial Japanese Navy, the notion was scrapped.

After the war, King Kuhio met with Emperor Taisho of Japan to seek further integration of Hawaii within the Japanese Empire. Kuhio suggested the marriages between his nieces, Abigail Kapiʻolani and Lydia Liliuokalani, to Taisho's sons, Yasuhito and Nobuhito respectively. In eschange, Kuhio agreed to have Hawaii become a protectorate of the Japanese Empire. The treaty which ended the Great War barred Japan from annexation of the islands, but provisions that prohibited taking Hawaii as a protectorate did not exist. However, King Kuhio died in 1922 before the agreement could be finalized, and was replaced by his nephew, David, taking the name King Kalakaua II.

Emperor Taisho pressed the issue of the marriages, and Kalakaua brought the issue to his sisters, them being ages 19 and 17 at the time. In 1924, at the ages of 22 and 21, Yasuhito married Abigail. In 1927, with both being 22, Nobuhito married Lydia. Both marriages took place in Tokyo. Hawaii officially became a protectorate of Japan, with the island's defenses being secured by the Imperial Japanese Army and Navy.

Japan agreed to the royal marriages believing that, if one of the princesses ever gained the throne, then they would be beholden to their husbands as Japanese princes under Japanese law, bringing Hawaii even further under Japanese rule. However, Prince Yasuhito passed away in January, 1953, followed by King Kalakaua in May. Abigail ascended to the Hawaiian throne as Queen Kapi'olani in her own right without the need to be beholden to Japanese hereditary laws.

During the Russo-German War, when Japan invaded Manchurian and Russia, many Hawaiians distinguished themselves in the Japanese military. Upon the proclamation of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere, Hawaii was compelled to join the alliance. King James I of America denounced this, fearing having a Japanese friendly Hawaii, housing the Japanese aircraft carrier Kaga and later Zuikaku, would become a threat to the American west coast if tensions ever rose. Japan ignored these concerns, and thus became nearly uncontested in the Pacific Ocean.