Origins of the Pacific War and the Importance of 'Magic'

Origins of the Pacific War and the Importance of 'Magic' PDF Author: Keiichiro Komatsu
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136638393
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 362

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Book Description
'Magic' was the name given to the American decoding of the secret Japanese codes used in diplomatic communications before and during the Pacific War of 1941-45. This important new work, presenting a Japanese perspective, argues for the first time that in the final phase of the eight months of US-Japan talks leading to the attack on Pearl Harbor, serious mistranslations in Magic were a significant factor in the cumulative effect of mutual misunderstandings which grew between the two sides over a longer period. In spite of the number of historians who take the opposite point of view, the author argues that the efforts made by the participants on both sides to achieve a successful outcome and avert military conflict, or at least delay the outbreak of the war until the following March (1942), might have been much closer to achieving success than generally believed. The mistranslations of Magic which led to the crisis in 1941 were influenced by misunderstanding and misperception, and the persistence of stereotypes and 'images' among the parties involved. The study of these kinds of phenomena has been an important part of the growth of the discipline of international relations since the Second World War.

Origins of the Pacific War and the Importance of 'Magic'

Origins of the Pacific War and the Importance of 'Magic' PDF Author: Keiichiro Komatsu
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136638393
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 362

Get Book

Book Description
'Magic' was the name given to the American decoding of the secret Japanese codes used in diplomatic communications before and during the Pacific War of 1941-45. This important new work, presenting a Japanese perspective, argues for the first time that in the final phase of the eight months of US-Japan talks leading to the attack on Pearl Harbor, serious mistranslations in Magic were a significant factor in the cumulative effect of mutual misunderstandings which grew between the two sides over a longer period. In spite of the number of historians who take the opposite point of view, the author argues that the efforts made by the participants on both sides to achieve a successful outcome and avert military conflict, or at least delay the outbreak of the war until the following March (1942), might have been much closer to achieving success than generally believed. The mistranslations of Magic which led to the crisis in 1941 were influenced by misunderstanding and misperception, and the persistence of stereotypes and 'images' among the parties involved. The study of these kinds of phenomena has been an important part of the growth of the discipline of international relations since the Second World War.

Storm Clouds over the Pacific, 1931–1941

Storm Clouds over the Pacific, 1931–1941 PDF Author: Peter Harmsen
Publisher: Casemate Publishers
ISBN: 1612004814
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 273

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Book Description
“An excellent primer about World War II in Asia prior to the involvement of the United States”—part one of a fascinating history trilogy (New York Journal of Books). War in the Far East is a trilogy of books offering the most complete narrative yet written about the Pacific Theater of World War II, and the first truly international treatment of the epic conflict. Historian Peter Harmsen weaves together a complex and revealing narrative, including facets of the war that are often overlooked in historic narratives. He explores the war in subarctic conditions on the Aleutians; details the mass starvations in China, Indochina, and India; and offers a range of perspectives on the war experience, from the Oval Office to the blistering sands of Peleliu. Storm Clouds Over the Pacific begins the story long before Pearl Harbor, showing how the war can only be understood if ancient hatreds and long-standing geopolitics are taken into account. Harmsen demonstrates how Japan and China’s ancient enmity led to increased tensions in the 1930s, which, in turn, exploded into conflict in 1937. The battles of Shanghai and Nanjing were followed by the Battle of Taierzhuang in 1938, China’s only major victory. A war of attrition continued up to 1941, the year when Japan made the momentous decision to pursue all-out war. The infamous attack on Pearl Harbor catapulted the United States into the war, as the Japanese also overran British and Dutch territories throughout the western Pacific.

Churchill on the Far East in the Second World War

Churchill on the Far East in the Second World War PDF Author: C. Wilson
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 1137363959
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 265

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Book Description
Cat Wilson brings together two strands of historical scholarship: Churchill's work as a historian and the history of WWII in the Far East. Examining Churchill's portrayal of the British Empire's war against Japan, as set down in his memoirs, it ascertains whether he mythologised wartime Anglo-American relations to present a 'special relationship'.

American Warlords

American Warlords PDF Author: Jonathan W. Jordan
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0451414586
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 642

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Book Description
From New York Times bestselling author Jonathan W. Jordan—author of Brothers, Rivals, Victors—comes the intimate true story of President Franklin Roosevelt’s inner circle of military leadership, the team of rivals who shaped World War II and America. “Superbly written, well researched, and highly interesting.”—Jean Edward Smith, New York Times bestselling author of FDR and Eisenhower in War and Peace After the attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States was wakened from its slumber of isolationism. To help him steer the nation through the coming war, President Franklin Roosevelt turned to the greatest “team of rivals” since the days of Lincoln: Secretary of War Henry Stimson, Admiral Ernest J. King, and General George C. Marshall. Together, these four men led the nation through history’s most devastating conflict and ushered in a new era of unprecedented American influence, all while forced to overcome the profound personal and political differences which divided them. A startling and intimate reassessment of U.S. leadership during World War II, American Warlords is a remarkable glimpse behind the curtain of presidential power.

Intelligence and the War Against Japan

Intelligence and the War Against Japan PDF Author: Richard J. Aldrich
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521641869
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 536

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Book Description
This book explores the politics of the British and American secret service during the Far Eastern War.

Index to Theses with Abstracts Accepted for Higher Degrees by the Universities of Great Britain and Ireland and the Council for National Academic Awards

Index to Theses with Abstracts Accepted for Higher Degrees by the Universities of Great Britain and Ireland and the Council for National Academic Awards PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Dissertations, Academic
Languages : en
Pages : 924

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Book Description
Theses on any subject submitted by the academic libraries in the UK and Ireland.

Winning a Future War

Winning a Future War PDF Author: Norman Friedman
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781782669074
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 276

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Book Description
"To win in the Pacific during World War II, the U.S. Navy had to transform itself technically, tactically, and strategically. It had to create a fleet capable of the unprecedented feat of fighting and winning far from home, without existing bases, in the face of an enemy with numerous bases fighting in his own waters. Much of the credit for the transformation should go to the war gaming conducted at the U.S. Naval War College. Conversely, as we face further demands for transformation, the inter-war experience at the War College offers valuable guidance as to what works, and why, and how."

From Versailles to Pearl Harbor

From Versailles to Pearl Harbor PDF Author: Margaret Lamb
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1350317535
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 239

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Book Description
In 1941, the European war became a world war. This book tackles that process in its economic, political and ideological dimensions. Margaret Lamb and Nicholas Tarling explore the significance of the Asian factor and the importance of East Asia in the making of the war in Europe and the transformation of the European war of 1939 into the world war of 1941. This Asian factor has often been neglected, but the policies of all the major powers were affected by their world-wide interests. France had its possessions in North Africa and Asia; Nazi Germany chose to become involved in China and to make an agreement with Japan; Britain's action in Europe and the Mediterranean were conditioned by its commitments elsewhere in the world, and the United States and the Soviet Union were both involved in Europe and Asia. In particular the threat that Japan presented to the status quo in East Asia made it difficult for the war in Europe in turn affected the position in East Asia. The US built a two-ocean navy and encouraged the British to continue their struggle by keeping the resources of South East Asia available, and these steps led to a clash with the Japanese. Lamb and Tarling's global approach throws valuable new light on the origins of the Second World War.

The Fall of the Philippines

The Fall of the Philippines PDF Author: Louis Morton
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : World War, 1939-1945
Languages : en
Pages : 664

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Book Description


Japan 1941

Japan 1941 PDF Author: Eri Hotta
Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 0385350511
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 352

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Book Description
A groundbreaking history that considers the attack on Pearl Harbor from the Japanese perspective and is certain to revolutionize how we think of the war in the Pacific. When Japan launched hostilities against the United States in 1941, argues Eri Hotta, its leaders, in large part, understood they were entering a war they were almost certain to lose. Drawing on material little known to Western readers, and barely explored in depth in Japan itself, Hotta poses an essential question: Why did these men—military men, civilian politicians, diplomats, the emperor—put their country and its citizens so unnecessarily in harm’s way? Introducing us to the doubters, schemers, and would-be patriots who led their nation into this conflagration, Hotta brilliantly shows us a Japan rarely glimpsed—eager to avoid war but fraught with tensions with the West, blinded by reckless militarism couched in traditional notions of pride and honor, tempted by the gambler’s dream of scoring the biggest win against impossible odds and nearly escaping disaster before it finally proved inevitable. In an intimate account of the increasingly heated debates and doomed diplomatic overtures preceding Pearl Harbor, Hotta reveals just how divided Japan’s leaders were, right up to (and, in fact, beyond) their eleventh-hour decision to attack. We see a ruling cadre rich in regional ambition and hubris: many of the same leaders seeking to avoid war with the United States continued to adamantly advocate Asian expansionism, hoping to advance, or at least maintain, the occupation of China that began in 1931, unable to end the second Sino-Japanese War and unwilling to acknowledge Washington’s hardening disapproval of their continental incursions. Even as Japanese diplomats continued to negotiate with the Roosevelt administration, Matsuoka Yosuke, the egomaniacal foreign minister who relished paying court to both Stalin and Hitler, and his facile supporters cemented Japan’s place in the fascist alliance with Germany and Italy—unaware (or unconcerned) that in so doing they destroyed the nation’s bona fides with the West. We see a dysfunctional political system in which military leaders reported to both the civilian government and the emperor, creating a structure that facilitated intrigues and stoked a jingoistic rivalry between Japan’s army and navy. Roles are recast and blame reexamined as Hotta analyzes the actions and motivations of the hawks and skeptics among Japan’s elite. Emperor Hirohito and General Hideki Tojo are newly appraised as we discover how the two men fumbled for a way to avoid war before finally acceding to it. Hotta peels back seventy years of historical mythologizing—both Japanese and Western—to expose all-too-human Japanese leaders torn by doubt in the months preceding the attack, more concerned with saving face than saving lives, finally drawn into war as much by incompetence and lack of political will as by bellicosity. An essential book for any student of the Second World War, this compelling reassessment will forever change the way we remember those days of infamy.