Read Empires in the Balance: Japanese and Allied Pacific Strategies to April 1942

Empires in the Balance: Japanese and Allied Pacific Strategies to April 1942

H.P. Willmott

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Description:Of the countless books written about the war in the Pacific, few have offered a truly objective overview of the struggle. Most accounts tend to examine events from the perspective of a single nation. For Americans, Pearl Harbor and the mid-Pacific island campaigns overshadow all other aspects of the war. For the British, the struggle for Southeast Asia and Singapore is the main concern. Rarely do either American or British authors give adequate attention to Japanese plans and policies.Empires in the Balance breaks away from this narrow approach by critically appraising the strategic policies of all countries involved in the conflict. H. P. Willmott, a respected military historian, offers here a careful analysis of the short- and long-term strengths and weaknesses of each of the major powers. The book covers the whole range of political, economic, military, and naval activity, to expose the myths and the realities that motivated each of the combatants. The author explains how and why Japan placed herself in a position from which, in 1941, she could not move except by war, and why she decided to take on both the most powerful industrial state in the considers fully Japan'sworld and an empire that was still great.Willmott begins by exploring the effects of European and American colonial expansion in the Pacific and Far East, and pointing out the reasons for Japan's ascent to power. He continues with a chronological analysis of the conduct of operations through the first five months of World War II, when the Japanese succeeded in securing the economic resources and defensive positions they considered vital—in the Philippines, the Dutch East Indies, Malaya, and Burma. In the process, eh shows how the seeds of Japan's eventual defeat were to be found during this time of her greatest triumphs.Rather than deal with various battles on an individual basis, Empires in the Balance describes the unfolding of Japan's campaign on the ground, in the air, and at sea, and then explains the Allied responses to those initiatives. The author considers fully Japan's prewar economy, the dynamic nature of her attacks, the feebleness of Allied countermoves, and the compounding of errors by miscalculations on both sides. He demonstrates, for example, how the attack on Pearl Harbor, in effect, assured the Japanese defeat, and how the Allies' belief in white supremacy led them not to take Japan seriously before the war.No respecter of reputations, Willmott is incisive in his assessments of Allied and Japanese military commanders alike. He is equally candid about his own country's performance in the Malaya campaign, in the defense of Singapore, and in meeting her colonial obligations.The books concludes with the Doolittle Raid on the Japanese mainland, April 18, 1942, an event less important for the physical than the psychological damage it did. Willmott sees the raid as a natural turning point in the war, for it forced Japanese leaders to reexamine basic assumptions. If the Japanese homeland itself was vulnerable, could Japan's far-flung conquests be secured? Did the peoples of Southeast Asia share the view that Japanese domination was natural, even predestined, after the defeat of the European empires there? And could Japan maintain the strategic initiative without committing the fleet in a major offensive operation?Remarkable in its scope and depth of research, this thoughtful analysis of the entire flow of events in the Pacific theater through the spring of 1942 is certain to stimulate debate among all those with a keen interest in World War II.We have made it easy for you to find a PDF Ebooks without any digging. And by having access to our ebooks online or by storing it on your computer, you have convenient answers with Empires in the Balance: Japanese and Allied Pacific Strategies to April 1942. To get started finding Empires in the Balance: Japanese and Allied Pacific Strategies to April 1942, you are right to find our website which has a comprehensive collection of manuals listed.
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ISBN: 1591149487

Description: Of the countless books written about the war in the Pacific, few have offered a truly objective overview of the struggle. Most accounts tend to examine events from the perspective of a single nation. For Americans, Pearl Harbor and the mid-Pacific island campaigns overshadow all other aspects of the war. For the British, the struggle for Southeast Asia and Singapore is the main concern. Rarely do either American or British authors give adequate attention to Japanese plans and policies.Empires in the Balance breaks away from this narrow approach by critically appraising the strategic policies of all countries involved in the conflict. H. P. Willmott, a respected military historian, offers here a careful analysis of the short- and long-term strengths and weaknesses of each of the major powers. The book covers the whole range of political, economic, military, and naval activity, to expose the myths and the realities that motivated each of the combatants. The author explains how and why Japan placed herself in a position from which, in 1941, she could not move except by war, and why she decided to take on both the most powerful industrial state in the considers fully Japan'sworld and an empire that was still great.Willmott begins by exploring the effects of European and American colonial expansion in the Pacific and Far East, and pointing out the reasons for Japan's ascent to power. He continues with a chronological analysis of the conduct of operations through the first five months of World War II, when the Japanese succeeded in securing the economic resources and defensive positions they considered vital—in the Philippines, the Dutch East Indies, Malaya, and Burma. In the process, eh shows how the seeds of Japan's eventual defeat were to be found during this time of her greatest triumphs.Rather than deal with various battles on an individual basis, Empires in the Balance describes the unfolding of Japan's campaign on the ground, in the air, and at sea, and then explains the Allied responses to those initiatives. The author considers fully Japan's prewar economy, the dynamic nature of her attacks, the feebleness of Allied countermoves, and the compounding of errors by miscalculations on both sides. He demonstrates, for example, how the attack on Pearl Harbor, in effect, assured the Japanese defeat, and how the Allies' belief in white supremacy led them not to take Japan seriously before the war.No respecter of reputations, Willmott is incisive in his assessments of Allied and Japanese military commanders alike. He is equally candid about his own country's performance in the Malaya campaign, in the defense of Singapore, and in meeting her colonial obligations.The books concludes with the Doolittle Raid on the Japanese mainland, April 18, 1942, an event less important for the physical than the psychological damage it did. Willmott sees the raid as a natural turning point in the war, for it forced Japanese leaders to reexamine basic assumptions. If the Japanese homeland itself was vulnerable, could Japan's far-flung conquests be secured? Did the peoples of Southeast Asia share the view that Japanese domination was natural, even predestined, after the defeat of the European empires there? And could Japan maintain the strategic initiative without committing the fleet in a major offensive operation?Remarkable in its scope and depth of research, this thoughtful analysis of the entire flow of events in the Pacific theater through the spring of 1942 is certain to stimulate debate among all those with a keen interest in World War II.We have made it easy for you to find a PDF Ebooks without any digging. And by having access to our ebooks online or by storing it on your computer, you have convenient answers with Empires in the Balance: Japanese and Allied Pacific Strategies to April 1942. To get started finding Empires in the Balance: Japanese and Allied Pacific Strategies to April 1942, you are right to find our website which has a comprehensive collection of manuals listed.
Our library is the biggest of these that have literally hundreds of thousands of different products represented.

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Empires in the Balance: Japanese and Allied Pacific Strategies to April 1942

Empires in the Balance: Japanese and Allied Pacific Strategies to April 1942

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