DOCSLIB.ORG

5 Last Chance of an Opportune War: Preempting Woodrow Wilson in Asia

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
5 Last Chance of an Opportune War: Preempting Woodrow Wilson in Asia 5 Last Chance of an Opportune War: Preempting Woodrow Wilson in Asia Away, then, with the alien and repulsive slogan, "democratic!" Never will the mechanical-democratic state of the West be naturalized with us. -Thomas Mann, Reflections of a Nonpolitical Man, 1918 The American president's propagation of democracy throughout the world in the wake of military victory has given a strong push [to parliamentary gov­ ernment and universal suffrage] .... For better or for worse, we are truly up against a time of crisis. -Mori Ogai, 1918 The principal belligerents entered the third year of war in the fall of 1916 reinvigorated for battle. The heroes of Germany's eastern campaign, General Paul von Hindenburg and Major General Erich Ludendorff, be­ came in August the chief of the German General Staff and quartermaster general, respectively, and refused to accommodate Russia by renouncing German gains in Poland. In France, General Robert Nivelle, architect of recent spectacular advances at Verdun, assumed the role of supreme commander on the Western front in November and announced that "victory is certain."1 In London, the Liberal Party's David Lloyd George, who had called in parliament for a "knock-out blow" against the Ger­ mans, in December formed a "national unity" cabinet and promised to prosecute the war with vigor. LAST CHANCE OF AN OPPORTUNE WAR 155 While the French and British thus focused on crushing the German menace, their Japanese allies had turned their attention to a very different challenge. That challenge was graphically described in the title of a spe­ cial three-part series in the monthly Chuo koron beginning October 1916: "A Study of America, Which Is Extending Its Expansionary Wings over the Pacific and East Asian Continent." Japan's most prominent intellec­ tuals, businessmen, and soldiers gathered in the fall of 1916 for a forum not on how to defeat Germany in the present but on how to confront the United States in the future. Like Japan, Kyoto University professor Sue­ biro Shigeo explained, the United States had not only avoided the de­ struction of the war but had actually benefited economically.2 If the con­ flict had dramatically raised Japanese national power and international authority, it promised to do the same for the United States. What did a boost to American international authority mean for Japan's future? Waseda University professor Oyama Ikuo clung to the desperate hope that the United States would "remain forever the peace­ maker of the world."3 But Suehiro was less sanguine. "Will not Japanese­ American relations," he wondered, "become in the future, in a certain sense, similar to British-German relations before the war?"4 Representa­ tives of Japan's two services described the rapid wartime growth of America's army and navy and demanded an equivalent augmentation of Japan's armed forces. 5 And the champion of Japanese democracy, Yo­ shino Sakuzo, noted the high probability of American expansion in China and the likelihood that this would lead to conflict with other pow­ ers with a stake on the continent.6 The tension between Japanese and American wartime goals would, indeed, become increasingly marked under the cabinet of General T erau­ chi Masatake. The cabinet would emerge in September 1916, after all, as the Yamagata faction's antidote to the movement for "constitutional gov­ ernment." And under T erauchi, the faction's bid for an autonomous Japanese diplomacy would reach its fullest fruition. The United States, on the other hand, would enter the war in April 1917 in a bid to make the world "safe for democracy." It would, as well, offer international coop­ eration over the balance of power as the primary object of international affairs. .
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Segunda Parte
    Verdún 1916 Una oda al infierno SEGUNDA PARTE Por José Mª García Núñez. nes, más de 190.000 hombres, 23.000 toneladas de municiones y 4 Universidad de Alcalá. 2.500 toneladas de vituallas . Así mismo, el buen funcionamiento de la “Voie Sacrée” permitió al general Pétain, llevar a cabo su “Verdún c’est une guerre tout entière insérée dans la Grande política de rotación de tropas. Guerre”1. Paul Valéry. Antes, los soldados marchaban a la batalla sin saber cuándo La luz llegó al ejército francés en el momento en que este más serían reemplazados por tropas de refresco, por lo que –en lo necesitaba. El general Philippe Pétain (1856-1951), se trasladó a general – no se hallaban con la motivación apropiada para com- su cuartel general de Souilly (cercano a Verdún) el 25 de Febrero. batir, ya que en muchas ocasiones se consideraban virtualmente Prontamente, su carácter –era un ferviente antipolítico-, sus muertos. Sin embargo, al fi jar una fecha más o menos estable escarceos amorosos con la joven enfermera Eugénie Hardon, de reemplazo – tras quince días en el frente-, permitía que cada junto con su particular visión militar, basada en la exaltación soldado, albergase en el fondo de su alma, una tímida esperanza de la defensa, – consciente de que tarde o temprano el ejército de supervivencia, por lo que ahora merecía la pena combatir con alemán se vería ahogado por su propia ofensiva – despertaron más ímpetu si cabe, a fi n de salvar la vida. en torno a la fi gura de Pétain, un fuerte amor odio que a día de Esta visión de Pétain, se basaba en el amplio respeto que tenía hoy, perdura.
    [Show full text]
  • Joffre, Joseph Jacques Césaire | International Encyclopedia of The
    Version 1.0 | Last updated 02 March 2021 Joffre, Joseph Jacques Césaire By Mathieu Panoryia Joffre, Joseph Jacques Césaire French general and statesman Born 14 January 1852 in Rivesaltes, France Died 03 January 1931 in Paris, France Joseph Joffre was commander-in-chief of the French army at the beginning of the First World War, which was supposed to be short. He fought to stop German progression and maintain the war effort in France over time. Despite being idolized by the people of France, he was removed from his positions at the end of 1916 due to a mixed record of success. Table of Contents 1 A colonial officer of the French Republic 2 At the head of the Army (1911-1916) 2.1 From preparations for war to practice 2.2 A global vision of the conflict 2.3 French dissensions 3 Disgrace or apotheosis? 4 Selected Archives: Selected Bibliography Citation A colonial officer of the French Republic Born in Rivesaltes, southern France, Joseph Joffre (1852-1931) entered the prestigious École Polytechnique in 1869, the youngest student of his year. In 1870, the Franco-Prussian War interrupted his classes and he was called to command an artillery battery in Paris. He was, however, never involved in action. A year later, he refused to take part in the Commune. After the second siege of Paris, he went back to his classes. He was a brilliant student and after graduating joined the Engineer Corps, where he became a specialist in fortifications and railways. He helped build several forts in mainland France, before applying his expertise, with great success, during the French colonial expeditions in Taïwan, Tonkin, Mali, and Madagascar.
    [Show full text]
  • The German Army, Vimy Ridge and the Elastic Defence in Depth in 1917
    Journal of Military and Strategic VOLUME 18, ISSUE 2 Studies “Lessons learned” in WWI: The German Army, Vimy Ridge and the Elastic Defence in Depth in 1917 Christian Stachelbeck The Battle of Arras in the spring of 1917 marked the beginning of the major allied offensives on the western front. The attack by the British 1st Army (Horne) and 3rd Army (Allenby) was intended to divert attention from the French main offensive under General Robert Nivelle at the Chemin des Dames (Nivelle Offensive). 1 The French commander-in-chief wanted to force the decisive breakthrough in the west. Between 9 and 12 April, the British had succeeded in penetrating the front across a width of 18 kilometres and advancing around six kilometres, while the Canadian corps (Byng), deployed for the first time in closed formation, seized the ridge near Vimy, which had been fiercely contested since late 1914.2 The success was paid for with the bloody loss of 1 On the German side, the battles at Arras between 2 April and 20 May 1917 were officially referred to as Schlacht bei Arras (Battle of Arras). In Canada, the term Battle of Vimy Ridge is commonly used for the initial phase of the battle. The seizure of Vimy ridge was a central objective of the offensive and was intended to secure the protection of the northern flank of the 3rd Army. 2 For detailed information on this, see: Jack Sheldon, The German Army on Vimy Ridge 1914-1917 (Barnsley: Pen&Sword Military, 2008), p. 8. Sheldon's book, however, is basically a largely indiscriminate succession of extensive quotes from regimental histories, diaries and force files from the Bavarian War Archive (Kriegsarchiv) in Munich.
    [Show full text]
  • BCMH First World War Occasional Paper
    British Commission for Military History First World War Occasional Paper No. 1 (2015) The Battle of Malmaison - 23-26 October 1917 ‘A Masterpiece of Tactics’ Tim Gale BCMH First World War Occasional Paper The British Commission for Military History’s First World War Occasional Papers are a series of research articles designed to support people’s research into key areas of First World War history. Citation: Tim Gale, ‘The Battle of Malmaison - 23-26 October 1917: ‘A Masterpiece of Tactics’’, BCMH First World War Occasional Paper, No. 1 (2015) This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution- NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. The Battle of Malmaison Page 2 BCMH First World War Occasional Paper Abstract: This occasional paper explores the background, planning, conduct and aftermath of the Battle of Malmaison in October 1917. The Battle of Malmaison was not a large battle by the standards of the First World War; however, it was of crucial importance in the development of French military thought during the war and it was a significant moment in the process of restoring morale within the French army. About the Author: Dr Tim Gale was awarded his PhD by the Department of War Studies, King's College London for his work on French tank development and operations in the First World War. He has contributed chapters on this subject in several academic books, as well as other work on the French Army during the First World War. Tim has made a special study of the career of the controversial French First World War General, Charles Mangin.
    [Show full text]
  • The French Army and the First World War'
    H-War Fogarty on Greenhalgh, 'The French Army and the First World War' Review published on Saturday, May 5, 2018 Elizabeth Greenhalgh. The French Army and the First World War. Armies of the Great War Series. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014. xv + 469 pp. $88.00 (cloth), ISBN 978-1-107-01235-6; $30.99 (paper), ISBN 978-1-107-60568-8. Reviewed by Richard Fogarty (University at Albany, SUNY)Published on H-War (May, 2018) Commissioned by Margaret Sankey (Air War College) Printable Version: http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showpdf.php?id=46655 Elizabeth Greenhalgh has written an indispensable book on France in the Great War. In fact, the book is indispensable more broadly to the history of the First World War, and to the history of modern France. One of the author’s primary arguments is that English-language historiography all too often underplays the critical importance of the French army to all aspects of the fighting, from the war’s beginning to its very end. After all, “France provided moral leadership” to the Allied coalition “by supplying the largest army of the belligerent democracies” (p. 2), and the decisive western front lay almost entirely in France. But beyond this argument about the war, Greenhalgh shows just how important the French army’s experience in the war was in shaping the nation and argues that by 1919 “the relationship between France and its Army could not have been closer” (p. 401). Since 1870, France had slowly made its army republican, but the war accelerated and finished the job, and joined the institution to the nation of citizens ever more closely.
    [Show full text]
  • HAIG, NIVELLE, and THIRD YPRES by Frank E. Vandiver"
    HAIG, NIVELLE, AND THIRD YPRES by Frank E. Vandiver" In a battle that raged from June to November, 1917, British troops under Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig advanced against German positions in Flanders. With the capture of the village of Passchendaele, the vaunted Third Battle of Ypres ended. Gains were balanced against Allied losses of nearly half a million men,' but the British commander considered his campaign a success. He had dented the powerful Hindenburg Line, had thinned German ranks by some 270,000 men, and had exhausted many of Germany's best divisions-all of which certainly constituted success. According to the relative definition of "success" in vogue on the Western Front in 1917, Haig might have been right. But if experience counted, his measure of success was challenged by an overriding question: Should he have launched Third Ypres at all? A recent biographer, John Terraine in Ordeal of Victory (1963), considers the campaign vital and suggests that it reflects Haig's study of the war. Did he study the war? Did it teach him anything?" Experience should be the constant tutor of generals. War in France and Belgium was rich in experience, most of it new and hectic. Cone were "the good old days" of Empire Wars. The uncomplicated tactics Haig had seen at Omdurman, in the South African campaigns, in India's myriad combats, had given way to the digging, dredging, and engineering that made the Western Front the epitome of modern warfare. First attempts at maneuver and open war had come to grief on the Marne; the "race to the sea" ended mass movements for inexplicable reasons.
    [Show full text]
  • Pershing's Right Hand
    PERSHING’S RIGHT HAND: GENERAL JAMES G. HARBORD AND THE AMERICAN EXPEDITIONARY FORCES IN THE FIRST WORLD WAR A Dissertation by BRIAN FISHER NEUMANN Submitted to the Office of Graduate Studies of Texas A&M University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY August 2006 Major Subject: History PERSHING’S RIGHT HAND: GENERAL JAMES G. HARBORD AND THE AMERICAN EXPEDITIONARY FORCES IN THE FIRST WORLD WAR A Dissertation by BRIAN FISHER NEUMANN Submitted to the Office of Graduate Studies of Texas A&M University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Approved by: Chair of Committee, Arnold P. Krammer Committee Members, H.W. Brands Charles E. Brooks Peter J. Hugill Brian M. Linn Head of Department, Walter Buenger August 2006 Major Subject: History iii ABSTRACT Pershing’s Right Hand: General James G. Harbord and the American Expeditionary Forces in the First World War. (August 2006) Brian Fisher Neumann, B.A., University of Southern California; M.A., Texas A&M University Chair of Advisory Committee: Dr. Arnold P. Krammer This project is both a wartime biography and an examination of the American effort in France during the First World War. At its core, the narrative follows the military career of Major General James G. Harbord. His time in France saw Harbord serve in the three main areas of the American Expeditionary Forces: administration, combat, and logistics. As chief of staff to AEF commander General John J. Pershing, Harbord was at the center of the formation of the AEF and the development of its administrative policies.
    [Show full text]
  • BROOKES David
    BROOKES David Private Royal Fusiliers 6th & 2nd Battalion. 86th Brigade, 29th Division. III Army Killed in action: 24/04/1917 Service No: G/14396 David was the brother of Arthur Brookes . For family details see the section on Arthur Brookes. He was born in Hammersmith in 1899 according to the 1901 census.. David, appears in the 23rd May 1915 edition of the Essex County Standard, as having joined the 9th Battalion of the East Surrey Regiment. However, in 1915 from the Duke of York's Royal Military School an early letter shows him serving with 8th Company of the 6th Battalion of the Royal Fusiliers; service number 14396. Both the 5th and 6th (Reserve) Battalions , which were formed in August 1914 in Hounslow, remained in UK and Ireland (6th) throughout the war. David would have been posted to the 2nd Battalion Royal Fusiliers, which was a regular Battalion, when they moved to the Western Front after fighting at Gallipoli:- 2 January 1916 the Division was withdrawn from Gallipoli and moved to Egypt; on the 29 March 1916 . The division landed at Marseilles and proceeded to the Western Front. They were involved in the Battles of the Somme which started on the 1st July 1916 & petered out in the mud in that November. The Battle of Arras, 9 April to 15 May 1917 .The British Army launched a large-scale attack at Arras as part of a master plan by new French Commander in Chief Robert Nivelle. Although initially successful, it soon bogged down and became a terribly costly affair. The British attack was against the formidable Hindenburg Line, to which the enemy had recently made a strategic withdrawal.
    [Show full text]
  • Verdun, Site of Memory | International Encyclopedia of the First World War
    Version 1.0 | Last updated 01 April 2021 Verdun, Site of Memory By Elise Julien The Franco-German battle of 1916 quickly became emblematic of the entire war to the French, while in Germany it subsequently inspired heroic literature highlighting the collective determination of the German soldier. After the Second World War, Verdun gradually emerged as a shared site of memory, a symbol of suffering and of an aspiration for peace. Table of Contents 1 One Battle, Two Distinct Myths 2 Post-1945: The Shift Towards a Shared Memory Selected Bibliography Citation One Battle, Two Distinct Myths Verdun may have been a long battle, but it was not a decisive one. It was a battle of materiel, yet it proved less murderous than the first months of the conflict. Combat conditions were terrible, but no worse than at Ypres or in the Aisne. At first, it was simply conceived on the German side as the suppression of a bothersome protrusion in the front, while on the French side it was intended to remain a secondary battle. But its memory, which was already taking shape in the heat of battle, and the tragic or triumphant narratives that emerged, provided the basis for subsequent reinterpretation. Thus, a battle of attrition morphed into an epic struggle or into a fight for the very survival of the nation. On the French side, defending Verdun at all costs stemmed from a logic that was more political than military. This choice, in turn, fuelled the existential myth of a German invasion and of a French resistance, encapsulated by Robert Nivelle’s (1856-1924) June 1916 phrase “they shall not pass.” The rotating door relief system implemented by Philippe Pétain (1856-1951) also made Verdun a national battle par excellence, one in which most French soldiers fought.
    [Show full text]
  • Chapitre 2 : Le Choc Des Champs De Bataille
    Erwan Le Gall Saint-Nazaire, les Américains et la guerre totale (1917-1919) Éditions Codex Chapitre 2 : Le choc des champs de bataille Éditeur : Éditions Codex Lieu d'édition : Bruz Année d'édition : 2018 Date de mise en ligne : 25 mars 2021 Collection : Une plus Grande Guerre ISBN électronique : 9782918783237 http://books.openedition.org Édition imprimée Date de publication : 2 mai 2018 Référence électronique LE GALL, Erwan. Chapitre 2 : Le choc des champs de bataille In : Saint-Nazaire, les Américains et la guerre totale : (1917-1919) [en ligne]. Bruz : Éditions Codex, 2018 (généré le 26 mars 2021). Disponible sur Internet : <http://books.openedition.org/codex/1404>. ISBN : 9782918783237. Chapitre 2 Le choc des champs de bataille Au front, la situation n’est pas particulièrement favorable à l’été 1917. Le recul des troupes allemandes sur plusieurs dizaines de kilomètres à la fin du mois de février est d’abord compris comme étant le premier signe de l’effondrement de Berlin mais masque en fait une savante opération de repli sur la ligne Hindenburg. En réalité, ce sont bien les troupes de Guillaume II qui disposent des meilleurs cartes en main. En France, l’échec de l’offensive Nivelle sur le Chemin des Dames n’en finit plus de se faire ressentir, tant au niveau des hautes sphères politiques et militaires que dans les rangs, bien souvent agités par de vastes mouvements de protestation. Sur le front Est, la situation est encore plus préoccupante. Une première puis une seconde révolution ébranlent puis renversent le pouvoir, donnant par la même occasion les mains libres à l’Allemagne.
    [Show full text]
  • La Lettre Du Chemin Des Dames N° 39
    La lettre du 39 Chemin des Dames Revue éditée par le Département de l’Aisne / Avril 2017 LA BATAILLE LES HOMMES LES LIEUX LES COMMÉMORATIONS LA MÉMOIRE Poilu au cri, 1917, G. Rabier 1917-2017 NUMéRO SPéCIAL SOMMAIRE 1917-2017 Le Centenaire L’offensive dite du Chemin des Dames a cent ans. Voici venu le moment de la ramener à ses justes dimensions dans la mémoire collective. Depuis un siècle, le Chemin des Dames résonne comme un cri d’effroi, de douleur, de révolte mais aussi d’espoir, à l’image de ce poilu en couverture, peint en 1917. Afin d’accompagner les commémorations du centenaire des événements de 1917, nous vous proposons un numéro spécial exceptionnel avec des documents rares et inédits, fruit de la recherche historique ou archéologique. Il poursuit le travail du Département de l’Aisne sur l’éclairage de l’histoire du Chemin des Dames et la mise en valeur de sa mémoire. 3 Actualité 33 Le 152e RI à bout de souffle 4/5 Les commémorations 34/35 Vincent Moulia et ses camarades 6/7 Une méta-bataille ? 36/38 Aurons-nous la révolution ? 8/11 Des réfugiés par milliers 39 La grève des tranchées 12/15 Dans l’intimité du général Nivelle 40/43 Ils étaient officiers 16/17 Micheler, Mangin, Mazel 44/46 Albert Copieux 18/21 A hauteur d’hommes 47 La médaille des rescapés 22/23 Un "tankeur" parmi d’autres 48/49 Les chansons de Craonne 24/25 Témoignages allemands 50/52 L’archéologie 26/27 "Un charnier horrifiant" 53 Adieu la vie, adieu l’amour 28/29 La carte et le territoire 54/55 Mémorial Virtuel 30/32 Alexandre Zinoview avec les Russes 56 Agenda La lettre du Chemin des Dames n° 39 Directeur de la publication : Nicolas Fricoteaux - Rédacteur en chef : Franck Viltart Edition spéciale avril 2017 : Secrétaire de rédaction : Karine De Backer Alliance Partenaires graphiques à Laon Comité de rédaction : Caroline Choain, Yves Fohlen, Michel Sarter, Loïc Dufour, avec le concours N° 39 / Avril 2017 / Tirage : 15 000 ex.
    [Show full text]
  • Chemin Des Dames Battlefield
    BATTLEFIELD Chemin and Matt Leonard. © WIPL images des Dames Photos: Matt Leonard reports on a unique subterranean museum that reconstructs the war below ground on the Western Front of the First World War. t 6 o’clock, on the morning Above Inside the Dragon’s of 16 April 1917, as dawn Cave – part of the underground broke across the Chemin world which became part of the des Dames, the French battlefield in 1917. Inset First World War trenches hurled themselves at as they survive today on the theA Germans dug in on the imposing Chemin des Dames battlefield. ridgeline. By 7 o’clock, only an hour later, the Second Battle of the Aisne was as good as lost. It was one of the costliest battles pass’), inspiring his men to triumph replaced by Douglas Haig at the head of of the war and would lead to General in one of the most horrendous battles the British armies, and old Marshal Joffre Nivelle’s removal from office and mutiny in modern history. By the time Verdun was replaced by Robert Nivelle at the head within the French army. was safe, Nivelle had been appointed of the French. Nivelle, like so many of his Commander-in-Chief of the French Army. predecessors, claimed to have a grand ‘Victory is certain’ Europe was weary of war. The 1914 war plan that would end the stalemate. Robert Georges Nivelle was born in 1856 of movement had turned into the 1915 After months of preparation, he to a French father and an English mother. war of trench stalemate.
    [Show full text]