IAFF 1005 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Power Vacuum, Economic Nationalism, Government Cut
13 Jun 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Tuesday Lecture: World War II and Its Consequences
I. The Holocaust
A. Was a one-sided conflict
B. Unique in its human consequences and goals, scope, and bureaucratic organization
C. Genocide doesn’t “happen” on its own
1. Not a spontaneous eruption of mass hostility/insanity
2. International: conceived, planned, implemented
D. Dehumanization of “the other”
1. People characterized as animals, insects, diseases → subhuman
2. A key element: a marker of bad intent
3.
E. Why do the leaders lead?
1. True believers: racists and bigots
2. Opportunists: a scapegoat for national problems, a mechanism for achieveing/keeping
power
3. The rise of fascism
F. Why do followers follow?
1. Conditions: economic/political trauma, deprivation
2. Motivations: fear, revenge, greed, cowardice
3. Narratives are shaped/amplified by leaders → individuals make the choice
II. Origins of War in Asia
A. Strategic setting
1. Like Europe: 1 rising, aggressive power → Japan
a) Was Germany in Europe, but it was different because there were several nearby
balancing powers
2. Unlike Europe: no strong, nearby powers; China was weak, USSR was weak
3. US/European powers were far away
B. China → weak government, 1920s civil war → could have been a balancing power to Japan
but wasn’t
C. Japan
1. A rising power, with rising nationalism/militarism → expansionist power
2. Sino-Japanese War (Japan victory)
3. Japan invades Taiwan
4. Russo-Japanese War (Japan victory)
5. Japan’s annexation of Korea 1910
6. Build-up of naval capabilities 1920s
7. Japan invades Manchuria 1931
8. Japan launches full-scale invasion of China 1937
D. 1930s
1. US/European powers weakened by the Depression
2. Power vacuum in East/Southeast Asia
3. Japan
a) HIstorical grievances
b) Need for resources
c) Fear of containment
III. Crisis and war
A. July 1940: US partial embargo of oil/iron to Japan → beginning of economic strangulation →
military aggression
B. July 1941: Japan annexes French Indochina
1. US/UL?Dutch impose full embargo on Japan and freeze Japanese assets
2. Significant bc Japan knew they would run out of oil withint 12-18 months → use it
or lose it
C. December 1941: Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor to try and knock the US out of the pacific
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Tuesday lecture: world war ii and its consequences. Sub-state complications: us, frb wanted th eoil embargo to be modulated, hard-liners in government cut off all oil exports, secretary of state issued harsh ultimatum to japan without fdr"s approval, japan. Imperial navy"s plan to attack pearl harbor was never raised at the highest levels of the. What are the lessons from wwii: there are multiple paths to war, wwi: miscalculations and over-reactions, wwii: aggression and under-reactions (europe) aggression and power vacuum (asia, countries with aggressive hegemonic missions. Inadvertent escalation: distinguish between misunderstood adversaries and true aggressors, don"t learn a single set of lessons and apply them indiscriminately, lesson never learned munich. Why it matters: intelligence failures and deterrence failures, nationalism (economic, ethnic) and escalation, authoritarianism, militarism, and fascism, genocide and crimes against humanity, strategic bombardment and nuclear weapons. Postwar institutions: discussions during the war, multiple goals led to multiple institutions, the cold war changed everything.
