Figure 1.-- Japanese militarists after World War I began to play an increasingly important role in both the government and society. And the military increasingly took an anti-Western when the United States led an effort to restrict Japanese expansion in China. The military took an increasingly strident tone with the onset of the Depression. The militay increased its role in government and began asssination political figures friendly to the West and with liberal democratic beliefs. Japanese secondary schools had military training for the boys as part of the curriculum. Here we see a gtoup of boys about to graduate in 1941. Most would soon fond themselves involved in the Pacific War or operations in China and Southeast Asia.
Japan fought World War II with two services, the Imperial Army and the Imperial Navy. The Imperial Army was the dominant servioce. There of course was a third unit, the Air Force, but like the United States it was part of the Imperial Army and the Navy had its own separate air service. The strongest support for Pacific War came from the Imperial Army which was determined to complete its subjacation of China. It was the Army that led the militarization of Japanese society, assainating any political leader who questioned the military. Curiously this was after failing to win the War in China which was being fought at enormous cost. Not only had the Army failed to complete its victory in China, but the Army was decisevely defeated by the Red Army in a sharp engagement on the Mongolian Border (July 1939). Fighting the poorly armed Chinese was one thing. Fighting a well armed, modern army was a different matter.
One might have though with that Japanese commanders would have realized that there equipment was deficent in fighting a well-armed foe. Incredibly, the Japanese militarists decided that they could go to war with the United States and Britain. The militarists apparently concluded that the Deutsche Wehrmcht after launching Barabrossa (June 1941) would smash the Red Army and the United States would have to concentrate its efforts in Europe. They also did not believe that the Americans had the warrior spirit neede to fight a war. The Whermcht not only failed to destroy the Red Army, but suffered devestating losses in a Red Army Winter Offensive before Moscow. The most technologically advanced service was the Imperial Navy. And they would have to bear the brunt of the Pacific War. They had a magnificent fleet and well trained sailors and aviators. And it was with the First Air Fleet that Japan attacked Pearl Harbor Laubching the Pacific War. It was a brilliant executed attack and one of the gretest blunders in miitary history. The Japanese air forces proved highly effective at the beginning of the War, both because of advanced air craft and superbly trained air crews. The Imperial Army achieved some stunning successes early in the War, but as American industry began to restore the military balance, weaknesses in Army tactical doctrine and weaponry led to one failure after another in the Pacific despite the fanatical commitment of the individual soldier. As the Allies began to field well-trained and -equipped forces, the Japanese string of victories ended. Even when the Japanese had a substantial superority in forces, they failed to retake Guadalcanal, in large part because of astonishly amateurish tactics--especially suisidal Banzai attacks. Army doctrine soon degenerated into how to kill as many Americans as possible in hopeless defenses of one Pacific island after another.
The Imperial Army was the dominant Japanese military service. It was muxh larger than the Imperial Navy. The strongest support for Pacific War came from the Imperial Army which was determined to complete its subjacation of China. It was the Army that led the militarization of Japanese society, assainating any political leader who questioned the military. It was the Kwantung Army not the Government which decided to seize Manchuria (1931). And Army commanders turned a small incident at the Marco Polo Bridge into a full scale invasion of China (1937). At the tome of the Pacidic War, the Imperial Army had been fighting a war in China for 4 years. Curiously this was after failing to win the War in China which was being fought at enormous cost. Not only had the Army failed to complete its victory in China, but the Army was decisevely defeated by the Red Army in a sharp engagement on the Mongolian Border (July 1939). Fighting the poorly armed Chinese was one thing. Fighting a well armed, modern army was a different matter. One might have though that after fighting the Red Army that Japanese commanders would have realized that there equipment was deficent in fighting a well-armed foe. Incredibly, the Japanese militarists decided that they could go to war with the United States and Britain. The militarists apparently concluded that the Deutsche Wehrmacht after launching Barabrossa (June 1941) would smash the Red Army and the United States would have to concentrate its efforts in Europe. They also did not believe that the Americans had the warrior spirit neede to fight a war. The Wehrmacht not only failed to destroy the Red Army, but suffered devestating losses in a Red Army Winter Counter-offensive before Moscow (December 1941). The Imperial Army achieved some stunning successes early in the War, but as American industry began to restore the military balance, weaknesses in Army tactical doctrine and weaponry led to one failure after another in the Pacific despite the fanatical commitment of the individual soldier. As the Allies began to field well-trained and -equipped forces, the Japanese string of victories ended. And after Midway and the Solomons, the Imprial Navy cold offer very limited support. They were not only inavble to provide military support, but commonly supplie were not delivered. , even with supply. Even when the Japanese had a substantial superority in forces, they filed to retake Guadalcanal, in large part because of astonishly amateurih tactics, including suisidal Banzai attacks. Army doctrine soon degenerated into how to kill as many Americans as possible in hopeless defenses of one Pacific island after another.
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The most technologically advanced service was the Imperial Navy. And they would have to bear the brunt of the Pacific War. They had a magnificent fleet and well-trained sailors and aviators. And it was with the First Air Fleet that Japan attacked Pearl Harbor Launching the Pacific War. It was a brilliant executed attack and one of the gretest blunders in military history. Conspiracy theorists make the absurd charge that President Rooselvelt and Secretary of War Marshall were responsible for the debacle at Pearl Harbor. Unsaid is the racist assumption that the Japanese on their own could not have carried out such a devestating attack. The simple truth, however, is that in 1941 the Japanese had the most powerful naval force in the world. Not only did the Japanese have more carriers and carrier aircraft, their planes were superior to American and British carrier aircraft. (the British were still uding biplanes), And the Japanese pilots were better trained and more exoperienced. The real question is not how the Japanese succeeded at Pearl Harbor, but how the U.S. Navy managed to stop the Japanese only 6 months after Peal Harbor before American industry could provide the stream of planes and ships that would eventually destroy the Imperial Navy.
There of course was a third unit, the Air Force, but like the United States it was part of the Imperial Army and the Navy had its own separate air service. The Japanese air forces proved highly effective at the beginning of the War, especially the carrier pilots. They had advanced air craft and superbly trained air crews.
The Meiji Restoration (1868) was largely the result of the realization that Japan would have to modernize to resist Western imperialism. As a result, one of the primary goal of the new Japanese imperial government was to build a powerful military along European lines with modern arms. Thus in the early-20th century when Western countries began assessing the military potential of the airplane, the Japanese military followed these developments. Japan at the time did not have the capability of designing and building their own aircraft. The first Japanese-owned plane was purchased by a private individual (1910). It was similar to a plane designed and flown by the French aviator Henri Farman. The Tokugawa Balloon Factory began to build the plane on a limited basis (1911). Japan had a naval treaty with Britain abnd joined the Allied side when World War I broke out. As a result, the Japanese military acquired several advanced Allied aircraft types, including some French Nieuport fighters and Salmson 2A-2 bombers. After World War I, Japan actively followed air craft developments and acquired mostly European techhnology. They hosted military aviation delegations and sent their own military delegations abroad. Slowly Japan was able to develop their own aviation design capability. Both the Army and Navy had active programs, but there was no independent air force established. The Japanese dominated the skies over China, until the United States began supplying modern aircraft and trained pilots to China--the American Volunteer Group (AVG), popularly known as the Flying Tigers. The Allies significantly underestimated the effectiveness of Japanese aircraft. Before the Japanese struck, it was widely thought in the West that Japan was not capable of making high-performance modern aircraft and that Japanese pilots were not particularly skilled. The Mitsubishi Zero shocked the Americans and British. The result was the virtual destruction of the U.S. Pacific fleet at Pearl Harbor and the loss of wide areas of Southeast Asia and the Pacific (1942). The Japanese, however, badly miscalculated their ability to compete with American industrial strength. Japanese aircraft designers were competent, but their industry had a limited capacity. The U.S. Navy and Army Air Corps fought the first year of the Pacific War with inferior aircraft. Within less than a year of Pear Harbor, however, American air units were receiving new aircraft that out performed the Zero and other Japanese aircraft. New types continually rolled off American assembly lines while the Japanese continued to use the same aircraft types with which they began the War. The Japanese in the final year of the War were reduced to using suiside tactics--the Kamakazze. And their aircraft could not capable of reaching sufficent alditudes to engage the American B-29s that reduced Japanese cities to ashes.
