Stars and Stripes Across the Pacific: the United States, Japan and the Asia/Pacific Region, 1895-1945

Military Review,  Sept-Oct, 2003  by David G. Rathgeber

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William F. Nimmo, Praeger, New York, 2001, 289 pages, $65.95.

In 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt said before Congress that December 7 is "a date that will live in infamy." Certainly all students of U.S. history, and in particular military history, are keenly aware of the events surrounding the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Most writings portray the Japanese as aggressors and lay the blame squarely at the feet of that nation's military leaders. Some revisionists, however, claim that the Japanese were actually victims. Revisionists claim that U.S. politicians wanted an excuse to go to war, and that political intransigence on the part of the United States left the Japanese Empire no choice but to attack. This latter characterization is what William F. Nimmo sets out to disprove by chronicling the activities of both nations with regard to the Asia-Pacific region over a 50-year period ending with the defeat of Japan.

At the beginning of the 20th century, neither Japan nor the United States was considered a formidable world power. Japan was for many years a closed society, completely isolated from the Western world. Events over the latter half of the 20th century thrust both nations to the fore. To maintain sustained growth, the U.S. economy needed easy access to foreign markets. Japan's economy depended strongly on natural resources and needed space from external nations to sustain it.

After the 1898 Spanish-American war, the United States found itself a colonial power in the Asia-Pacific; a theater where former Spanish possessions were ceded to the United States--most notably the Philippines. Despite this, the United States endeavored to maintain its presence through treaty vice conquest. In fact, the United States was the first colonial power to voluntarily decide to grant independence to a possession.

Japan saw itself as a divine nation, with the emperor at its center. The nation had a long history of antagonistic acts toward its neighbors, and Japan's more militant leaders viewed territorial conquest as its right. During the first half of the 20th century Japan's dealings with its neighbors was brutal, harsh, and punishing. Even now Korea, China, and the Philippines harbor deep resentment and mistrust toward Japan. The Japanese also believed in their divine destiny and often obfuscated or outright lied in their treaty dealings with European powers, feeling no remorse in doing so.

Before 7 December 1941 Roosevelt told English Prime Minister Winston Churchill that the United States would eventually enter the war, but not until another nation had made the first strike. The common belief was that Germany or Italy would provide the excuse for the United States entering the war by attacking U.S. ships in the Atlantic.

The prevailing attitude in the United States was that Japan had neither the wherewithal nor the moxy to attack U.S. soil. The Japanese believed that a single, devastating attack on the United States would so demoralize its citizens that the United States would immediately sue for peace. That was why conflicting colonial methods and economic needs between the United States and Japan, combined with racism on both sides, made it inevitable that the two countries would become adversaries.

Nimmo presents an extremely well researched and documented account of the activities of both Japan and the United States. Although his sympathies are clearly with the United States, he presents facts in such a way as to support his position vice bolstering his prejudices. Stars and Stripes Across the Pacific: The United States, Japan and the Asia/ Pacific Region, 1895-1945, reads much like a textbook, which makes it well suited for serious students of the subject.

The book covers a period in history when two world wars were being fought and when the entire socioeconomic face of the earth was changing. Yet, Nimmo omits or merely highlights many important events of the Asian-Pacific conflict. Still, the book presents a valid chronology of events that will help put into perspective the relationship between the United States and Japan from 1895 to the present.

LTC David G. Rathgeber, USMC, Retired, Fallbrook, California

COPYRIGHT 2003 U.S. Army CGSC
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning