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.
• A new, integrative history of interwar Japan, avoiding conventional political and diplomatic analysis to highlight the intimate connection between early twentieth-century politics, diplomacy, society and culture • Highlights the transformative effects of the First World War far from the Western Front • Views interwar trends on their own terms, free from the burden of hindsight
Contents
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.
Reviews
Advance praise: 'Dickinson provides a fresh perspective on interwar Japan. His argument is forceful, his prose fluid, and he is sure to spark a heated debate about the nature of change in early twentieth-century Japan.' Andrew Gordon, Harvard University
Advance praise: 'Instead of looking at the 1920s as a pre-stage for militarism, Dickinson suggests that the political transformation of interwar Japan was both broad and deep; that the reformist ideas inspiring these changes were widely embraced by political and social elites; and that political reform was anchored by a number of structural changes which took place after World War I. This study seamlessly integrates political and international history, bringing the insights of new trends in intellectual and cultural history to an earlier tradition of political history.' Louise Young, University of Wisconsin
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