Full 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.
Contents
Part I: Age of Chaos: 1868-18782. Jewel in the Palace: The New Political Order, 1868-18733. "By Not Stopping": Military Insubordination and the Taiwan Expedition, 1874 4. Fatal Optimism: Rebels and Assassins in the 1870sPart II: Age of Military Independence: 1878-19135. Gold-Eating Monsters: Military Independence and the Prerogative of Supreme Command6. Three Puffs on a Cigarette: Miura Goro and the Assassination of Queen Min7. Coup D'etat in Three Acts: The Taisho Political Crisis, 1912-1913Part III: Into the Dark Valley, 1928-19368. The King of Manchuria: Komoto Daisaku and the Assassination of Zhang Zuolin, 19289. Cherry Blossom: From Resistance to Rebellion, 193110. Pure as Water: The Incident of February 1936 and the Limits of Military Insubordination Conclusion: The Dreadful and the Trivial
