World War I and the Triumph of a New Japan, 1919–1930

A new, integrative history of interwar Japan, highlighting the transformative effects of the Great War far from the Western Front.

Frederick R. Dickinson (Author)

9781107037700, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 3 October 2013

234 pages, 20 b/w illus.
23.1 x 15.2 x 2 cm, 0.48 kg

'Dickinson provides us with a thought-provoking reminder not to read the past in light of what we know came next. This book, in combination with his next, will become important … for students and specialists of interwar diplomacy, politics and culture in Japan.' Jeffrey P. Bayliss, Pacific Affairs

Frederick R. Dickinson illuminates a new, integrative history of interwar Japan that highlights the transformative effects of the Great War far from the Western Front. World War I and the Triumph of a New Japan, 1919–1930 reveals how Japan embarked upon a decade of national reconstruction following the Paris Peace Conference, rivalling the monumental rebuilding efforts in post-Versailles Europe. Taking World War I as his anchor, Dickinson examines the structural foundations of a new Japan, discussing the country's wholehearted participation in new post-war projects of democracy, internationalism, disarmament and peace. Dickinson proposes that Japan's renewed drive for military expansion in the 1930s marked less a failure of Japan's interwar culture than the start of a tumultuous domestic debate over the most desirable shape of Japan's twentieth-century world. This stimulating study will engage students and researchers alike, offering a unique, global perspective of interwar Japan.

Introduction
1. World War I as anchor
2. Structural foundations of a new Japan
3. Internationalism
4. Democracy
5. Disarmament
6. World power
7. Culture of peace
8. Hamaguchi Osachi and the triumph of the new Japan
Conclusion
Bibliography.

Subject Areas: 20th century history: c 1900 to c 2000 [HBLW], Asian history [HBJF]