Prompt 1: Isn’t it just swell about the war being over! (Name of source image)
To what extent was World War II in Asia and the Pacific a race war? Did that have any impact on the way in which the war was fought?
Prompt 2: “A struggle for supremacy between the United States, as the representative of the West, and Japan, as the champion of the East, will decide who will control [the world].
The basic principle of our national policy must be to acquire rapidly what we need to qualify as the champion of the East.
… The solution of the so-called Manchuria-Mongolia problem should be our first priority….
…. To stabilize our national defenses as the guardian of the East against Russia, we must be aware that there is no solution to the Manchuria-Mongolia problem but to make the region our own territory.
…. The mission of our Japan is to overthrow the warlords and bureaucrats who are the common enemy of the 30 million people living in Manchuria. Our country’s control over the Manchuria-Mongolia region … will bring about the unification of China proper….”
Use this excerpt to argue for/against the proposition that World War II in Asia and the Pacific began with the Manchurian Incident of September 1931.
Prompt 3: Japan did not declare war on the United States before the Pearl Harbor attack. This explains the name “surprise attack” or “sneak attack.” A key question continues to exercise historians: Who was responsible for delaying delivery of Japan’s last diplomatic note in Washington?
One of Japan’s best military historians has written:
“[In any attempt at assigning responsibility], it is essential to assemble all the pertinent facts, combing through historical documents and consulting with the few remaining witnesses so as to get as close to the truth as possible.”
(c.f., Hata Ikuhiko, “Going to War: Who Delayed the Final Note,” Journal of American-East Asian Relations, vol. 3 no. 3 (Fall 1994): p. 229).
1. Argue/prosecute the case that the Japanese embassy in Washington was responsible for delay in delivery of the last note.
2. Defend the Japanese embassy in Washington and explain why it should not be held responsible for delay in delivery of the last note.
3. Reach your own conclusions, and be sure to explain why delay in delivery of the last note still matters.
