Ray A. Moore and Donald L. Robinson
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195151169
- eISBN:
- 9780199833917
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/019515116X.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Democratization
This book demonstrates that Japan's postwar Constitution has provided a solid foundation for democracy because, contrary to the conventional view that the American Occupation simply “imposed” it, ...
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This book demonstrates that Japan's postwar Constitution has provided a solid foundation for democracy because, contrary to the conventional view that the American Occupation simply “imposed” it, there was considerable Japanese input in its making.The first two chapters analyze a sharp clash, during the American planning of the Occupation, over the fate and role of Emperor Hirohito. Papered over in the Potsdam Declaration and never resolved in official Washington, the dispute gave General Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers (SCAP), an opportunity to protect the emperor and use his authority to support MacArthur's own objectives.In the fall of 1945, both American and Japanese officials determined that democratization required constitutional revision and that Japan should take the lead in revising its Constitution. Accordingly, Japanese scholars and officials began advancing their ideas. Meanwhile, both the emperor and the cabinet named commissions (headed by Konoe Fumimaro and Matsumoto Jōji, respectively) to study the need for amendments. However, poor communication from the American side and political chaos among the Japanese doomed these fledgling efforts.In early February 1946, MacArthur, alarmed by the Moscow Agreement that created the Far Eastern Commission (FEC) and fearing that he might lose control over the political reform of Japan, ordered his Government Section (GS) to draft a model constitution for Japan, then pressured Prime Minister Shidehara's cabinet to present it as a Japanese government draft. Japanese attempts to modify SCAP's draft, an effort that achieved some success in the face of determined American resistance, have been largely ignored by those who slight Japan's contribution to its own postwar democratization.Chapters 12 through 20 trace the deliberations of the Japanese parliament (called the Diet) during the summer of 1946. It is a mistake to pass over this stage quickly, as most accounts of Japan's postwar democratization do. This was a critical juncture in postwar Japan's commitment to constitutional democracy, affording politicians in the recently elected House of Representatives and in the House of Peers a major opportunity to put their imprint on the document. Intense struggles took place over the role of the emperor, Article 9 (renouncing war and armed forces), the bill of rights and provisions for parliamentary governance.The Conclusion emphasizes that, as Japan currently deliberates whether to amend its postwar Constitution, it is important to understand that the transformation of Japan into a stable constitutional democracy was a joint achievement, to which both American and Japanese contributions were substantial and crucial.Less
This book demonstrates that Japan's postwar Constitution has provided a solid foundation for democracy because, contrary to the conventional view that the American Occupation simply “imposed” it, there was considerable Japanese input in its making.
The first two chapters analyze a sharp clash, during the American planning of the Occupation, over the fate and role of Emperor Hirohito. Papered over in the Potsdam Declaration and never resolved in official Washington, the dispute gave General Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers (SCAP), an opportunity to protect the emperor and use his authority to support MacArthur's own objectives.
In the fall of 1945, both American and Japanese officials determined that democratization required constitutional revision and that Japan should take the lead in revising its Constitution. Accordingly, Japanese scholars and officials began advancing their ideas. Meanwhile, both the emperor and the cabinet named commissions (headed by Konoe Fumimaro and Matsumoto Jōji, respectively) to study the need for amendments. However, poor communication from the American side and political chaos among the Japanese doomed these fledgling efforts.
In early February 1946, MacArthur, alarmed by the Moscow Agreement that created the Far Eastern Commission (FEC) and fearing that he might lose control over the political reform of Japan, ordered his Government Section (GS) to draft a model constitution for Japan, then pressured Prime Minister Shidehara's cabinet to present it as a Japanese government draft. Japanese attempts to modify SCAP's draft, an effort that achieved some success in the face of determined American resistance, have been largely ignored by those who slight Japan's contribution to its own postwar democratization.
Chapters 12 through 20 trace the deliberations of the Japanese parliament (called the Diet) during the summer of 1946. It is a mistake to pass over this stage quickly, as most accounts of Japan's postwar democratization do. This was a critical juncture in postwar Japan's commitment to constitutional democracy, affording politicians in the recently elected House of Representatives and in the House of Peers a major opportunity to put their imprint on the document. Intense struggles took place over the role of the emperor, Article 9 (renouncing war and armed forces), the bill of rights and provisions for parliamentary governance.
The Conclusion emphasizes that, as Japan currently deliberates whether to amend its postwar Constitution, it is important to understand that the transformation of Japan into a stable constitutional democracy was a joint achievement, to which both American and Japanese contributions were substantial and crucial.
Ray A. Moore and Donald L. Robinson
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195151169
- eISBN:
- 9780199833917
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/019515116X.003.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Democratization
Introduces the book's main argument: that it is too simple, and ultimately misleading, to say that SCAP (that is, General MacArthur and officers of the American Occupation) “imposed” a Constitution ...
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Introduces the book's main argument: that it is too simple, and ultimately misleading, to say that SCAP (that is, General MacArthur and officers of the American Occupation) “imposed” a Constitution on postwar Japan. Rather, in this book, Japan is treated as a case study of democratization. The chapter also introduces the principal players (MacArthur, Whitney, and Kades on the American side; Shidehara, Yoshida, and Kanamori on the Japanese side). It then describes, in terms that invite comparison with other cases of democratization, the main features of the context (cultural, social, economic, and international) in which they worked to lay the foundation for constitutional democracy.Less
Introduces the book's main argument: that it is too simple, and ultimately misleading, to say that SCAP (that is, General MacArthur and officers of the American Occupation) “imposed” a Constitution on postwar Japan. Rather, in this book, Japan is treated as a case study of democratization. The chapter also introduces the principal players (MacArthur, Whitney, and Kades on the American side; Shidehara, Yoshida, and Kanamori on the Japanese side). It then describes, in terms that invite comparison with other cases of democratization, the main features of the context (cultural, social, economic, and international) in which they worked to lay the foundation for constitutional democracy.
Ray A. Moore and Donald L. Robinson
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195151169
- eISBN:
- 9780199833917
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/019515116X.003.0002
- Subject:
- Political Science, Democratization
Describes the U.S. government's wartime (1942–1945) planning of the occupation of Japan. American planners clashed over the role of Japan's emperor in a postwar democratic nation. Joseph Grew and ...
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Describes the U.S. government's wartime (1942–1945) planning of the occupation of Japan. American planners clashed over the role of Japan's emperor in a postwar democratic nation. Joseph Grew and Henry Stimson favored his retention, but failed to get their view in the Potsdam Declaration, which defined the conditions for Japan's surrender. Washington's directive to the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers (SCAP), General Douglas MacArthur, was ambiguous on constitutional reform and treatment of the emperor. This gave MacArthur an opportunity to interpret U.S. policy and place his indelible imprint on Japan's postwar political structure.Less
Describes the U.S. government's wartime (1942–1945) planning of the occupation of Japan. American planners clashed over the role of Japan's emperor in a postwar democratic nation. Joseph Grew and Henry Stimson favored his retention, but failed to get their view in the Potsdam Declaration, which defined the conditions for Japan's surrender. Washington's directive to the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers (SCAP), General Douglas MacArthur, was ambiguous on constitutional reform and treatment of the emperor. This gave MacArthur an opportunity to interpret U.S. policy and place his indelible imprint on Japan's postwar political structure.
Ray A. Moore and Donald L. Robinson
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195151169
- eISBN:
- 9780199833917
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/019515116X.003.0006
- Subject:
- Political Science, Democratization
Begins by noting that, early in the Occupation period, General Douglas MacArthur (SCAP) told Japanese leaders that their country could not fulfill the terms of the Potsdam Declaration without ...
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Begins by noting that, early in the Occupation period, General Douglas MacArthur (SCAP) told Japanese leaders that their country could not fulfill the terms of the Potsdam Declaration without revising its Constitution. It analyzes seminal documents from Washington (particularly JCS 1380 and SWNCC 228), emphasizing their warning that Japan should take leadership of this project. It shows that, by the end of January 1946, MacArthur, pressed by Allies on the Far Eastern Commission, had determined that Japan could not accomplish this goal without active American intervention.Less
Begins by noting that, early in the Occupation period, General Douglas MacArthur (SCAP) told Japanese leaders that their country could not fulfill the terms of the Potsdam Declaration without revising its Constitution. It analyzes seminal documents from Washington (particularly JCS 1380 and SWNCC 228), emphasizing their warning that Japan should take leadership of this project. It shows that, by the end of January 1946, MacArthur, pressed by Allies on the Far Eastern Commission, had determined that Japan could not accomplish this goal without active American intervention.
Gregor Thum
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691140247
- eISBN:
- 9781400839964
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691140247.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History
With the stroke of a pen at the Potsdam Conference following the Allied victory in 1945, Breslau, the largest German city east of Berlin, became the Polish city of Wroclaw. Its more than 600,000 ...
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With the stroke of a pen at the Potsdam Conference following the Allied victory in 1945, Breslau, the largest German city east of Berlin, became the Polish city of Wroclaw. Its more than 600,000 inhabitants—almost all of them ethnic Germans—were expelled and replaced by Polish settlers from all parts of pre-war Poland. This book examines the long-term psychological and cultural consequences of forced migration in twentieth-century Europe through the experiences of Wroclaw's Polish inhabitants. The book tells the story of how the city's new Polish settlers found themselves in a place that was not only unfamiliar to them but outright repellent given Wroclaw's Prussian-German appearance and the enormous scope of wartime destruction. The immediate consequences were an unstable society, an extremely high crime rate, rapid dilapidation of the building stock, and economic stagnation. This changed only after the city's authorities and a new intellectual elite provided Wroclaw with a Polish founding myth and reshaped the city's appearance to fit the postwar legend that it was an age-old Polish city. The book also shows how the end of the Cold War and Poland's democratization triggered a public debate about Wroclaw's “amputated memory.” Rediscovering the German past, Wroclaw's Poles reinvented their city for the second time since World War II. The book traces the complex historical process by which Wroclaw's new inhabitants revitalized their city and made it their own.Less
With the stroke of a pen at the Potsdam Conference following the Allied victory in 1945, Breslau, the largest German city east of Berlin, became the Polish city of Wroclaw. Its more than 600,000 inhabitants—almost all of them ethnic Germans—were expelled and replaced by Polish settlers from all parts of pre-war Poland. This book examines the long-term psychological and cultural consequences of forced migration in twentieth-century Europe through the experiences of Wroclaw's Polish inhabitants. The book tells the story of how the city's new Polish settlers found themselves in a place that was not only unfamiliar to them but outright repellent given Wroclaw's Prussian-German appearance and the enormous scope of wartime destruction. The immediate consequences were an unstable society, an extremely high crime rate, rapid dilapidation of the building stock, and economic stagnation. This changed only after the city's authorities and a new intellectual elite provided Wroclaw with a Polish founding myth and reshaped the city's appearance to fit the postwar legend that it was an age-old Polish city. The book also shows how the end of the Cold War and Poland's democratization triggered a public debate about Wroclaw's “amputated memory.” Rediscovering the German past, Wroclaw's Poles reinvented their city for the second time since World War II. The book traces the complex historical process by which Wroclaw's new inhabitants revitalized their city and made it their own.
Arthur J. Marder
- Published in print:
- 1990
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198201502
- eISBN:
- 9780191674907
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198201502.003.0017
- Subject:
- History, Military History
The first section of this chapter describes the final phase of the British Pacific Fleet assault on Japan. It discusses the air strikes against an undefended Japan, the difficulties of refuelling at ...
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The first section of this chapter describes the final phase of the British Pacific Fleet assault on Japan. It discusses the air strikes against an undefended Japan, the difficulties of refuelling at sea, Carney's efforts to exclude the British from final operations against the IJN, the private agonies of Rawlings, and the British carriers' performance. The second section describes the Royal Navy submarines against Japan. The last section discusses the events that triggered the Japanese surrender. It examines the Potsdam Declaration, the Hiroshima atomic bomb, the Soviet Declaration of War, Nagasaki, the Emperor's speech, and the last stand of the military.Less
The first section of this chapter describes the final phase of the British Pacific Fleet assault on Japan. It discusses the air strikes against an undefended Japan, the difficulties of refuelling at sea, Carney's efforts to exclude the British from final operations against the IJN, the private agonies of Rawlings, and the British carriers' performance. The second section describes the Royal Navy submarines against Japan. The last section discusses the events that triggered the Japanese surrender. It examines the Potsdam Declaration, the Hiroshima atomic bomb, the Soviet Declaration of War, Nagasaki, the Emperor's speech, and the last stand of the military.
Matthew Frank
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199233649
- eISBN:
- 9780191716294
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199233649.003.0004
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History
This chapter examines initial British responses to developments in Poland and Czechoslovakia during the transition period from war to peace, when these states began expelling German populations and ...
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This chapter examines initial British responses to developments in Poland and Czechoslovakia during the transition period from war to peace, when these states began expelling German populations and creating faits accomplis on the ground in advance of any formal decisions being taken at a peace conference. The first signs of public disquiet in Britain at the manner in which Germans, from Czechoslovakia in particular, were being treated are examined, as is the decisive role that the British delegation at the Potsdam Conference played in ensuring that the Great Powers endorsed the principle of population transfer, and called for a halt to further expulsions until a plan for the organized transfer of Germans was in place.Less
This chapter examines initial British responses to developments in Poland and Czechoslovakia during the transition period from war to peace, when these states began expelling German populations and creating faits accomplis on the ground in advance of any formal decisions being taken at a peace conference. The first signs of public disquiet in Britain at the manner in which Germans, from Czechoslovakia in particular, were being treated are examined, as is the decisive role that the British delegation at the Potsdam Conference played in ensuring that the Great Powers endorsed the principle of population transfer, and called for a halt to further expulsions until a plan for the organized transfer of Germans was in place.
Matthew Frank
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199233649
- eISBN:
- 9780191716294
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199233649.003.0005
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History
The initial focus of this chapter is on the situation in Berlin after the British took over their sector in July 1945. The circumstances around how the refugee story broke in August 1945 are then ...
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The initial focus of this chapter is on the situation in Berlin after the British took over their sector in July 1945. The circumstances around how the refugee story broke in August 1945 are then examined as are other accounts by concerned British personnel serving in various capacities in Berlin. The emphasis then shifts on to Britain and the initial public response to the German refugee crisis once this issue became ‘headline news’. The emphasis here is on two figures who became the mainsprings of activity in Britain over the expulsions — the publisher Victor Gollancz and the clergyman George Bell — and the initiatives each took in September 1945 to raise public awareness about conditions in Germany as well as to rally support behind any British government action to enforce the Potsdam moratorium on further expulsions.Less
The initial focus of this chapter is on the situation in Berlin after the British took over their sector in July 1945. The circumstances around how the refugee story broke in August 1945 are then examined as are other accounts by concerned British personnel serving in various capacities in Berlin. The emphasis then shifts on to Britain and the initial public response to the German refugee crisis once this issue became ‘headline news’. The emphasis here is on two figures who became the mainsprings of activity in Britain over the expulsions — the publisher Victor Gollancz and the clergyman George Bell — and the initiatives each took in September 1945 to raise public awareness about conditions in Germany as well as to rally support behind any British government action to enforce the Potsdam moratorium on further expulsions.
Matthew Frank
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199233649
- eISBN:
- 9780191716294
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199233649.003.0006
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History
This chapter examines the dilemma which the British government faced: doing too little to meet the anxieties of the British authorities in occupied Germany, and of critics at home, but enough to ...
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This chapter examines the dilemma which the British government faced: doing too little to meet the anxieties of the British authorities in occupied Germany, and of critics at home, but enough to alienate and arouse the suspicions of the expelling countries. Repeated attempts to gain assurances from the Polish government that expulsions had ceased, and the controversy around conditions among German civilians in Czech concentration camps are all highlighted and used to illustrate the limits to which the British government was willing to go in order to enforce the spirit and the letter of the Potsdam decisions. British efforts were instead largely restricted to preparing for a huge influx of refugees into the British zone, which is the focus of the last section of this chapter.Less
This chapter examines the dilemma which the British government faced: doing too little to meet the anxieties of the British authorities in occupied Germany, and of critics at home, but enough to alienate and arouse the suspicions of the expelling countries. Repeated attempts to gain assurances from the Polish government that expulsions had ceased, and the controversy around conditions among German civilians in Czech concentration camps are all highlighted and used to illustrate the limits to which the British government was willing to go in order to enforce the spirit and the letter of the Potsdam decisions. British efforts were instead largely restricted to preparing for a huge influx of refugees into the British zone, which is the focus of the last section of this chapter.
Konrad H. Jarausch
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195127799
- eISBN:
- 9780199869503
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195127799.003.01
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History
This chapter deals with the Potsdam policy of demilitarization, which went beyond disarming the Wehrmacht and eventually led to a distancing from militarism.
This chapter deals with the Potsdam policy of demilitarization, which went beyond disarming the Wehrmacht and eventually led to a distancing from militarism.
Warwick Lister
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195372403
- eISBN:
- 9780199870820
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195372403.003.0002
- Subject:
- Music, History, Western
This chapter describes the grand tour of Europe that Viotti and his teacher, Pugnani, undertook in 1780, which lasted for two years. An important eyewitness account of Viotti's playing in Geneva is ...
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This chapter describes the grand tour of Europe that Viotti and his teacher, Pugnani, undertook in 1780, which lasted for two years. An important eyewitness account of Viotti's playing in Geneva is given, as well as an account of the two musicians' visits to Berne, and the courts of Dresden, and Berlin and Potsdam, where they played for Frederick the Great and made music with Frederick's nephew, the Prince of Prussia. From there they went to Warsaw, where they were fêted by the Polish king, and to St. Petersburg, where they played for Catherine the Great, and to Moscow. After retracing their steps to Berlin the two Italians parted company—Pugnani returned to Turin and Viotti went to Paris. An account is given of Viotti's early works and his emergence as a world-class violinist.Less
This chapter describes the grand tour of Europe that Viotti and his teacher, Pugnani, undertook in 1780, which lasted for two years. An important eyewitness account of Viotti's playing in Geneva is given, as well as an account of the two musicians' visits to Berne, and the courts of Dresden, and Berlin and Potsdam, where they played for Frederick the Great and made music with Frederick's nephew, the Prince of Prussia. From there they went to Warsaw, where they were fêted by the Polish king, and to St. Petersburg, where they played for Catherine the Great, and to Moscow. After retracing their steps to Berlin the two Italians parted company—Pugnani returned to Turin and Viotti went to Paris. An account is given of Viotti's early works and his emergence as a world-class violinist.
Anna von der Goltz
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- February 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199570324
- eISBN:
- 9780191722240
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199570324.003.0009
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History
This chapter discusses the role of the Hindenburg myth during the early years of the ‘Third Reich’. Analyzing, amongst others, the celebrations of the ‘Day of Potsdam’ and the President's funeral in ...
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This chapter discusses the role of the Hindenburg myth during the early years of the ‘Third Reich’. Analyzing, amongst others, the celebrations of the ‘Day of Potsdam’ and the President's funeral in 1934, it is argued that the regime continued to accept Hindenburg as a parallel symbolic authority. His myth was crucial to consolidating Nazi rule after the ‘seizure of power’. It is shown that Hindenburg willingly participated in such propagandistic displays, and that the political will he left provided the regime with invaluable symbolic ammunition. A sense of trust in Hindenburg's personal integrity, and his power to alter people's fortunes, nevertheless survived among many of those pursued by the regime. That Hindenburg remained a rallying point for Nazi opponents highlights the perpetual polyvalence of his myth.Less
This chapter discusses the role of the Hindenburg myth during the early years of the ‘Third Reich’. Analyzing, amongst others, the celebrations of the ‘Day of Potsdam’ and the President's funeral in 1934, it is argued that the regime continued to accept Hindenburg as a parallel symbolic authority. His myth was crucial to consolidating Nazi rule after the ‘seizure of power’. It is shown that Hindenburg willingly participated in such propagandistic displays, and that the political will he left provided the regime with invaluable symbolic ammunition. A sense of trust in Hindenburg's personal integrity, and his power to alter people's fortunes, nevertheless survived among many of those pursued by the regime. That Hindenburg remained a rallying point for Nazi opponents highlights the perpetual polyvalence of his myth.
CHUSHICHI TSUZUKI
- Published in print:
- 2000
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198205890
- eISBN:
- 9780191676840
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198205890.003.0015
- Subject:
- History, World Modern History, Political History
The frontier wars of the 1930s had been more than ‘sideshows’ to the later Asia-Pacific War; they illustrate the process of the ‘abject slide’ into the war. The frontier war with Russia is ...
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The frontier wars of the 1930s had been more than ‘sideshows’ to the later Asia-Pacific War; they illustrate the process of the ‘abject slide’ into the war. The frontier war with Russia is illustrated. It also addresses the transition from French Indochina to Pearl Harbor. Jubilation over the initial victories in the war against the Allies lasted only six months; then came a series of disasters that continued for more than three years and ended in a final catastrophe. In addition, it outlines the Yokusan movement and war fascism, midway and Guadalcanal, ‘Tenshin’ and the ‘absolutely necessary national defence sphere’, and the Burma front. The American attempt to recapture the Philippines began with the landing of their troops on Leyte in October 1944 and on Luzon in January 1945. Discussion on home affairs and Tojo's resignation, the battle for Okinawa, the reckoning of a lost war, Teheran, Yalta, Potsdam, and Hiroshima, and Japanese surrender is given as well.Less
The frontier wars of the 1930s had been more than ‘sideshows’ to the later Asia-Pacific War; they illustrate the process of the ‘abject slide’ into the war. The frontier war with Russia is illustrated. It also addresses the transition from French Indochina to Pearl Harbor. Jubilation over the initial victories in the war against the Allies lasted only six months; then came a series of disasters that continued for more than three years and ended in a final catastrophe. In addition, it outlines the Yokusan movement and war fascism, midway and Guadalcanal, ‘Tenshin’ and the ‘absolutely necessary national defence sphere’, and the Burma front. The American attempt to recapture the Philippines began with the landing of their troops on Leyte in October 1944 and on Luzon in January 1945. Discussion on home affairs and Tojo's resignation, the battle for Okinawa, the reckoning of a lost war, Teheran, Yalta, Potsdam, and Hiroshima, and Japanese surrender is given as well.
CHUSHICHI TSUZUKI
- Published in print:
- 2000
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198205890
- eISBN:
- 9780191676840
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198205890.003.0016
- Subject:
- History, World Modern History, Political History
This chapter describes the new constitution and the Tokyo War Crimes Trial. It talks about the ‘unconditional’ surrender. It also presents some characteristics of the reform period of the American ...
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This chapter describes the new constitution and the Tokyo War Crimes Trial. It talks about the ‘unconditional’ surrender. It also presents some characteristics of the reform period of the American occupation. Democracy was not to be imposed. The chapter then explains the sabotaged democracy. In addition, it discusses the war crimes and the Far Eastern Military Tribunal. The revival of political parties under the occupation period is reported. The major concern of the Shidehara government was to put an end to the ‘aberration’ of wartime military rule and to return to pre-war parliamentary politics or what was known as Taisho democracy. Political parties took advantage of the Potsdam Declaration.Less
This chapter describes the new constitution and the Tokyo War Crimes Trial. It talks about the ‘unconditional’ surrender. It also presents some characteristics of the reform period of the American occupation. Democracy was not to be imposed. The chapter then explains the sabotaged democracy. In addition, it discusses the war crimes and the Far Eastern Military Tribunal. The revival of political parties under the occupation period is reported. The major concern of the Shidehara government was to put an end to the ‘aberration’ of wartime military rule and to return to pre-war parliamentary politics or what was known as Taisho democracy. Political parties took advantage of the Potsdam Declaration.
Anne Deighton
- Published in print:
- 1993
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198278986
- eISBN:
- 9780191684272
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198278986.003.0003
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
During the early postwar months, very little was achieved by way of implementing the Potsdam Agreement. Indeed, Ernest Bevin thought that the time had not yet come to take major political and ...
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During the early postwar months, very little was achieved by way of implementing the Potsdam Agreement. Indeed, Ernest Bevin thought that the time had not yet come to take major political and economic decisions necessary to establish British long-term foreign policy towards Germany. The dust had not yet settled after the war and European affairs were still in ‘a state of flux’. This was a view that seemed to be shared by the Russians and the Americans, who agreed that major German questions should still only be discussed through diplomatic channels. At the Potsdam Conference, the Americans had formally proposed the establishment of a Council of Foreign Ministers to carry out the preliminary work on the peace treaties with the defeated powers. The Soviet Union suggested at Potsdam that France should not participate in the preparation of peace treaties with countries with whom it had not signed an armistice agreement, clearly fearing that the presence of a third Western power might tip the balance against the Russians.Less
During the early postwar months, very little was achieved by way of implementing the Potsdam Agreement. Indeed, Ernest Bevin thought that the time had not yet come to take major political and economic decisions necessary to establish British long-term foreign policy towards Germany. The dust had not yet settled after the war and European affairs were still in ‘a state of flux’. This was a view that seemed to be shared by the Russians and the Americans, who agreed that major German questions should still only be discussed through diplomatic channels. At the Potsdam Conference, the Americans had formally proposed the establishment of a Council of Foreign Ministers to carry out the preliminary work on the peace treaties with the defeated powers. The Soviet Union suggested at Potsdam that France should not participate in the preparation of peace treaties with countries with whom it had not signed an armistice agreement, clearly fearing that the presence of a third Western power might tip the balance against the Russians.
Anne Deighton
- Published in print:
- 1993
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198278986
- eISBN:
- 9780191684272
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198278986.003.0004
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
The Potsdam Agreement had established a ‘strange and precarious framework’ for the settlement of the postwar German problem. Declaring in favour of Germany's economic and political unity, the Allies ...
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The Potsdam Agreement had established a ‘strange and precarious framework’ for the settlement of the postwar German problem. Declaring in favour of Germany's economic and political unity, the Allies had mapped out a vague and largely zonal reparations settlement which was dependent on continued cooperation. But there was no trust upon which this enterprise could be based. In the months following Potsdam, doubts about the Soviet Union crystallized into a perception of a coherent Soviet policy towards Germany, and fear of the Soviet Union was to become the first and major determinant of British policy towards Germany. In February and March 1946, a combination of events in Germany were to transform this long-term problem into a dangerous situation that required decisive action. One was the merger between the Social Democratic Party and the Communist Party that formed the new Unity Party.Less
The Potsdam Agreement had established a ‘strange and precarious framework’ for the settlement of the postwar German problem. Declaring in favour of Germany's economic and political unity, the Allies had mapped out a vague and largely zonal reparations settlement which was dependent on continued cooperation. But there was no trust upon which this enterprise could be based. In the months following Potsdam, doubts about the Soviet Union crystallized into a perception of a coherent Soviet policy towards Germany, and fear of the Soviet Union was to become the first and major determinant of British policy towards Germany. In February and March 1946, a combination of events in Germany were to transform this long-term problem into a dangerous situation that required decisive action. One was the merger between the Social Democratic Party and the Communist Party that formed the new Unity Party.
KEITH NEILSON
- Published in print:
- 1995
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198204701
- eISBN:
- 9780191676369
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198204701.003.0011
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History
This chapter describes Anglo-Russian relations from 1911 to 1914. Anglo-Russian relations were strained from the Potsdam conference to the outbreak of war in 1814. The British were apprehensive that ...
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This chapter describes Anglo-Russian relations from 1911 to 1914. Anglo-Russian relations were strained from the Potsdam conference to the outbreak of war in 1814. The British were apprehensive that too-intimate Russo-German relations would cause a collapse of Anglo-Russian amity. On the other, Edward Grey hoped for friendly Russo-German relations as part of his belief that cordial relations were possible throughout Europe. Grey's willingness to renegotiate the Anglo-Russian Convention in 1914 was an admission that the patch placed in 1907 on the long-standing running sore of Anglo-Russian enmity was only temporary.Less
This chapter describes Anglo-Russian relations from 1911 to 1914. Anglo-Russian relations were strained from the Potsdam conference to the outbreak of war in 1814. The British were apprehensive that too-intimate Russo-German relations would cause a collapse of Anglo-Russian amity. On the other, Edward Grey hoped for friendly Russo-German relations as part of his belief that cordial relations were possible throughout Europe. Grey's willingness to renegotiate the Anglo-Russian Convention in 1914 was an admission that the patch placed in 1907 on the long-standing running sore of Anglo-Russian enmity was only temporary.
Paul C. Gutjahr
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- May 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199740420
- eISBN:
- 9780199894703
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199740420.003.0019
- Subject:
- Religion, Church History
Chapter Nineteen traces Hodge’s final months in Europe, including the six months he spends in Berlin which he considers the highpoint of his trip. In Berlin he meets and befriends Ernst Hengstenberg ...
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Chapter Nineteen traces Hodge’s final months in Europe, including the six months he spends in Berlin which he considers the highpoint of his trip. In Berlin he meets and befriends Ernst Hengstenberg and Johann Neander, and attends the lectures of Alexander Von Humboldt. He partakes of many “Awakening” evening sessions with friends. He then travels home via France, England and Scotland.Less
Chapter Nineteen traces Hodge’s final months in Europe, including the six months he spends in Berlin which he considers the highpoint of his trip. In Berlin he meets and befriends Ernst Hengstenberg and Johann Neander, and attends the lectures of Alexander Von Humboldt. He partakes of many “Awakening” evening sessions with friends. He then travels home via France, England and Scotland.
Neil Boister and Robert Cryer
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199278527
- eISBN:
- 9780191706950
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199278527.003.0003
- Subject:
- Law, Public International Law
This chapter deals with the status and basis of the Tokyo IMT as an international tribunal. It covers the challenges to the jurisdiction of the court, such as those relating to the Potsdam ...
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This chapter deals with the status and basis of the Tokyo IMT as an international tribunal. It covers the challenges to the jurisdiction of the court, such as those relating to the Potsdam Declaration, the powers of General MacArthur to create such a Tribunal, the definition of ‘war crimes’, the status of the Tribunal as a ‘Victor's Tribunal’, wars which were not related to the Asia-Pacific war, and the status of some of the defendants as Prisoners of War. It also discusses the US Supreme Court decision that refused to review the Tokyo IMT's judgment on the basis that it was an international, not a US, Tribunal.Less
This chapter deals with the status and basis of the Tokyo IMT as an international tribunal. It covers the challenges to the jurisdiction of the court, such as those relating to the Potsdam Declaration, the powers of General MacArthur to create such a Tribunal, the definition of ‘war crimes’, the status of the Tribunal as a ‘Victor's Tribunal’, wars which were not related to the Asia-Pacific war, and the status of some of the defendants as Prisoners of War. It also discusses the US Supreme Court decision that refused to review the Tokyo IMT's judgment on the basis that it was an international, not a US, Tribunal.
Daniel F. Harrington
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780813136134
- eISBN:
- 9780813136837
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Kentucky
- DOI:
- 10.5810/kentucky/9780813136134.003.0003
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History
Chapter 2 describes the deterioration of Allied relations in Germany, 1945-48, the division of Germany, and the sources of Stalin’s willingness to blockade Berlin. These included the failure of the ...
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Chapter 2 describes the deterioration of Allied relations in Germany, 1945-48, the division of Germany, and the sources of Stalin’s willingness to blockade Berlin. These included the failure of the Potsdam system for Germany; disputes over reparations; the growing power of pro-Western political parties in Berlin; and the collapse of four-power cooperation, resulting in the failure of the 1947 London Council of Foreign Ministers meeting and the breakup of the Allied Control Council. It also describes Western initiatives—plans for a North Atlantic pact and a separate government in the Western occupation zones (the “London program”)—that Stalin believed he could thwart through pressure on Berlin.Less
Chapter 2 describes the deterioration of Allied relations in Germany, 1945-48, the division of Germany, and the sources of Stalin’s willingness to blockade Berlin. These included the failure of the Potsdam system for Germany; disputes over reparations; the growing power of pro-Western political parties in Berlin; and the collapse of four-power cooperation, resulting in the failure of the 1947 London Council of Foreign Ministers meeting and the breakup of the Allied Control Council. It also describes Western initiatives—plans for a North Atlantic pact and a separate government in the Western occupation zones (the “London program”)—that Stalin believed he could thwart through pressure on Berlin.