Japan's Imperial Army

Japan's Imperial Army PDF Author: Edward J. Drea
Publisher: University Press of Kansas
ISBN: 0700622349
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 344

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Book Description
Popular impressions of the imperial Japanese army still promote images of suicidal banzai charges and fanatical leaders blindly devoted to their emperor. Edward Drea looks well past those stereotypes to unfold the more complex story of how that army came to power and extended its influence at home and abroad to become one of the world's dominant fighting forces. This first comprehensive English-language history of the Japanese army traces its origins, evolution, and impact as an engine of the country's regional and global ambitions and as a catalyst for the militarization of the Japanese homeland from mid-nineteenth-century incursions through the end of World War II. Demonstrating his mastery of Japanese-language sources, Drea explains how the Japanese style of warfare, burnished by samurai legends, shaped the army, narrowed its options, influenced its decisions, and made it the institution that conquered most of Asia. He also tells how the army's intellectual foundations shifted as it reinvented itself to fulfill the changing imperatives of Japanese society-and how the army in turn decisively shaped the nation's political, social, cultural, and strategic course. Drea recounts how Japan devoted an inordinate amount of its treasury toward modernizing, professionalizing, and training its army-which grew larger, more powerful, and politically more influential with each passing decade. Along the way, it produced an efficient military schooling system, a well-organized active duty and reserve force, a professional officer corps that thought in terms of regional threat, and well-trained soldiers armed with appropriate weapons. Encompassing doctrine, strategy, weaponry, and civil-military relations, Drea's expert study also captures the dominant personalities who shaped the imperial army, from Yamagata Aritomo, an incisive geopolitical strategist, to Anami Korechika, who exhorted the troops to fight to the death during the final days of World War II. Summing up, Drea also suggests that an army that places itself above its nation's interests is doomed to failure.

Japan's Imperial Army

Japan's Imperial Army PDF Author: Edward J. Drea
Publisher: University Press of Kansas
ISBN: 0700622349
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 344

Get Book Here

Book Description
Popular impressions of the imperial Japanese army still promote images of suicidal banzai charges and fanatical leaders blindly devoted to their emperor. Edward Drea looks well past those stereotypes to unfold the more complex story of how that army came to power and extended its influence at home and abroad to become one of the world's dominant fighting forces. This first comprehensive English-language history of the Japanese army traces its origins, evolution, and impact as an engine of the country's regional and global ambitions and as a catalyst for the militarization of the Japanese homeland from mid-nineteenth-century incursions through the end of World War II. Demonstrating his mastery of Japanese-language sources, Drea explains how the Japanese style of warfare, burnished by samurai legends, shaped the army, narrowed its options, influenced its decisions, and made it the institution that conquered most of Asia. He also tells how the army's intellectual foundations shifted as it reinvented itself to fulfill the changing imperatives of Japanese society-and how the army in turn decisively shaped the nation's political, social, cultural, and strategic course. Drea recounts how Japan devoted an inordinate amount of its treasury toward modernizing, professionalizing, and training its army-which grew larger, more powerful, and politically more influential with each passing decade. Along the way, it produced an efficient military schooling system, a well-organized active duty and reserve force, a professional officer corps that thought in terms of regional threat, and well-trained soldiers armed with appropriate weapons. Encompassing doctrine, strategy, weaponry, and civil-military relations, Drea's expert study also captures the dominant personalities who shaped the imperial army, from Yamagata Aritomo, an incisive geopolitical strategist, to Anami Korechika, who exhorted the troops to fight to the death during the final days of World War II. Summing up, Drea also suggests that an army that places itself above its nation's interests is doomed to failure.

Japan's Imperial Army

Japan's Imperial Army PDF Author: Edward J. Drea
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 352

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Book Description
The first comprehensive English-language history of the Japanese imperial army, based largely on Japanese-language sources. Traces the origins, evolution, and impact of the army as an engine of Japan's regional and global ambitions and as a catalyst for the militarization of its homeland.

Curse on This Country

Curse on This Country PDF Author: Danny Orbach
Publisher: Cornell University Press
ISBN: 1501708333
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 349

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Book Description
Imperial Japanese soldiers were notorious for blindly following orders, and their enemies in the Pacific War derided them as "cattle to the slaughter." But, in fact, the Japanese Army had a long history as one of the most disobedient armies in the world. Officers repeatedly staged coups d'états, violent insurrections, and political assassinations; their associates defied orders given by both the government and the general staff, launched independent military operations against other countries, and in two notorious cases conspired to assassinate foreign leaders despite direct orders to the contrary.In Curse on This Country, Danny Orbach explains the culture of rebellion in the Japanese armed forces. It was a culture created by a series of seemingly innocent decisions, each reasonable in its own right, which led to a gradual weakening of Japanese government control over its army and navy. The consequences were dire, as the armed forces dragged the government into more and more of China across the 1930s—a culture of rebellion that made the Pacific War possible. Orbach argues that brazen defiance, rather than blind obedience, was the motive force of modern Japanese history.Curse on This Country follows a series of dramatic events: assassinations in the dark corners of Tokyo, the famous rebellion of Saigō Takamori, the "accidental" invasion of Taiwan, the Japanese ambassador’s plot to murder the queen of Korea, and the military-political crisis in which the Japanese prime minister "changed colors." Finally, through the sinister plots of the clandestine Cherry Blossom Society, we follow the deterioration of Japan into chaos, fascism, and world war.

The Imperial Japanese Army

The Imperial Japanese Army PDF Author: Bill Yenne
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1782009825
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 450

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Book Description
The German offensives which crushed Poland in 1939 and swallowed most of Western Europe in less than two months in 1940 have been well documented and heavily studied, however, the overall picture of the remarkable Japanese offensive land campaign in 1941–42 has received less attention. In this fascinating new book, Bill Yenne documents the years when the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) was conducting its equally unstoppable ground campaign in the Far East, and unlike other books on this subject, he studies the campaign from the Japanese point of view. He reveals how the IJA were able to conquer huge swathes of Southeast Asia in a little over eight weeks after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Using first-hand accounts from Japanese sources, Yenne reveals the tactics and mindset of the IJA during their offensive, detailing the capturing of Manila, the Philippines, Hong Kong, Singapore, Burma, and the Dutch East Indies. Exploring the infrastructure and technical challenges of waging war across such a huge area, Yenne delves into the hardships that faced individual Japanese soldiers in theatre and explains how the Japanese were able to remain undefeated and establish the aura of invincibility that marked their campaign between 1941–42.

Soldiers of the Sun

Soldiers of the Sun PDF Author: Meirion Harries
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: 0679753036
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 605

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Book Description
Soldiers of the Sun traces the origins of the Imperial Japanese Army back to its samurai roots in the nineteenth century to tell the story of the rise and fall of this extraordinary military force. Meirion and Susie Harries have written the first full Western account of the Imperial Japanese Army. Drawing on Japanese, English, French, and American sources, the authors penetrate the lingering wartime enmity and propaganda to lay bare the true character of the Imperial Army.

Japanese Army Handbook 1939-1945

Japanese Army Handbook 1939-1945 PDF Author: Lieutenant Colonel George Forty OBE
Publisher: The History Press
ISBN: 0750954132
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 181

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Book Description
This is an insight into the most feared army of World War II. The Japanese Imperial Army grew from 1.5 million men in 1939 to 5.5 million men by the end of the war. Their highly successful campaigns in the Far East and the Pacific at the beginning of World War II were every bit as spectacular as those of the Germans in Europe, and they earned an enviable reputation as expert jungle fighters which it took some years for the Allies to match. Their code of honour also made them extremely cruel enemies to prisoners and civilians alike, while their Kamikaze suicidal tendencies meant they would automatically fight to the last without any thought of surrender. Fully illustrated with rare archive photographs, this is a comprehensive study of the army. The author describes how they mobilized and trained their soldiers, and looks at their organizational structures, from high command down to divisional level and below. Also included are uniforms, equipment, all kinds of weapons ranging from tanks and artillery, technical equipment, tactics, symbology and vehicle markings.

Uniforms and Equipment of the Imperial Japanese Army in World War II

Uniforms and Equipment of the Imperial Japanese Army in World War II PDF Author: Mike Hewitt
Publisher: Schiffer Publishing
ISBN: 9780764316807
Category : World War, 1939-1945
Languages : en
Pages : 288

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Book Description
Among the major powers of World War II, the uniforms and equipment of the Japanese army have received the least coverage. This new, detailed volume presents the subject with a superb collection of actual vintage items, and rarely seen World War II era photographs. Among the subjects covered are: the Imperial Japanese army uniform series; undergarments; footwear; headwear; personal field equipment; extreme climate uniforms; work and specialty uniforms; soldier's personal items; and firearms. A short chapter examines reproductions.

Imperial Japanese Army Flying Schools 1912-1945

Imperial Japanese Army Flying Schools 1912-1945 PDF Author: Don Marsh
Publisher: Schiffer Publishing Limited
ISBN: 9780764337697
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 248

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Book Description
The book details the history of Imperial Japanese Army Flying Schools from 1912 to 1945, covering not only the formation of the schools, but also evolution of the training aircraft and the training of pilots, other aircrew, and ground crew maintenance personnel. Includes numerous photographs, many of which have not been seen before in any English language publication. In addition the wide variety of aircraft types used and the different markings they carried add much colour interest to inspire modellers in a completely new field and are illustrated by some 400 colour art profiles.

Hirohito and War

Hirohito and War PDF Author: Peter Wetzler
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
ISBN: 0824862856
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 310

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Book Description
The debate over Emperor Hirohito's accountability for government decisions and military operations up to the end of the World War II began before the end of the war and has continued even after his death. This book documents this controversy while providing insights into the Showa emperor's role in military planning in imperial Japan. It argues that Hirohito both knew of and participated in such planning and offers evidence that he was informed well in advance of the planned attack on Pearl Harbor. Using Japanese primary sources, this text aims to show that Hirohito's participation in the decision-making process was entirely consistent with his intellectual background and his passionate belief in the significance of the imperial tradition for the Japanese polity (kokutai) in prewar Japan.

In the Service of the Emperor

In the Service of the Emperor PDF Author: Edward J. Drea
Publisher: U of Nebraska Press
ISBN: 9780803266384
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 324

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Book Description
Japan?s war in Asia and the Pacific from 1937 to 1945 continues to be a subject of great interest, yet the wartime Japanese army remains little understood outside Japan. Most published accounts rely on English-language works written in the 1950s and 1960s. The Japanese-language sources have remained relatively inaccessible to Western scholars in part because of the difficulty of the language, a difficulty that Edward J. Drea, who reads Japanese, surmounts. In a series of searching examinations of the structure, ethos, and goals of the Japanese military establishment, Drea offers new material on its tactics, operations, doctrine, and leadership. Based on original military documents, official histories, court diaries, and Emperor Hirohito?s own words, these twelve essays introduce Western readers to fifty years of Japanese scholarship about the war and Japan?s military institutions. In addition, Drea uses recently declassified Allied intelligence documents related to Japan to challenge existing views and conventional wisdom about the war.