The Journal
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With Commodore Perry to Japan: The Journal of William Speiden, Jr., 1852-1855
January 15, 2015
The 1852-1855 voyage of the US Navy’s East India Squadron to Asia has long been recognized as a watershed moment in history. Not only did it signal the emergence of the United States as a major power in Asia and the Pacific, but it also resulted in re-opening Japan to trade and diplomatic relations after … CONTINUE READING ❯
Clouds Above The Hill (“Saka No Ue No Kumo”)
January 15, 2015
Perhaps the most perennially fascinating conflicts in military history are those in which a weaker force seeks to defeat a numerically stronger opponent by superior tactics, materiel, and fighting quality. Classic examples are the German High Seas Fleet vs. the British Grand Fleet in WWI, and Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia vs. the Union’s Army … CONTINUE READING ❯
Blue versus Orange: The U.S. Naval War College, Japan, and the Old Enemy in the Pacific, 1945-1946
July 1, 2014
The role of the United States Naval War College and the planning pursued prior to 1941 in anticipation of having to fight Japan have been surveyed previously. Hal Friedman takes our understanding, though, a step further and examines the style of Naval War College education in the immediate aftermath of the just concluded war. Along … CONTINUE READING ❯
Strategy, Language, and the Culture of Defeat: Changing Interpretations of Japan’s Pacific War Naval Demise
October 10, 2013
By Hal M. Friedman Henry Ford Community College Military historians say that military history is written from the perspective of the victor. Japan’s naval defeat in the Pacific War, however, provides a highly arguable case. Much of the translated postwar literature on the Pacific War has been written from an Allied perspective which overemphasizes Japanese … CONTINUE READING ❯