HH2033 Total War in Asia & the Pacific, 1931-1951

The conflict between Japan and America, and the larger war it was associated with across Asia and the Pacific, changed our world and altered the way war has been conceptualized and fought ever since. A core aim of this course is to encourage you to examine the Second World War in Asia and the Pacific with a fresh approach, within larger thematic frameworks. and through 'big ideas,' rather than merely a narrow investigation of individual battles. By doing so, I believe you will be offered opportunities to develop new understandings of one of the most consequential

performances of inhumanity in history. Students interested in twentieth century history, the histories of Japan and America, war, race, science and technology, and society will find this course of keen interest. Some questions we will explore include ' Why did two empires that had grown increasingly interconnected economically over the previous century ultimately reverse course quickly and jeopardize all they had forged? Was war between these two emerging

Pacific empires 'inevitable,' or was it the result of very specific, conscious decisions made with a full understanding of the likely consequences? What role did America's leaders play in precipitating conflict with Japan? What accounted for the savage inhumanity unleased during this conflict and the scale upon which it was delivered? Why, during the course of this conflict, did it become so easy to obliterate any distinction between combatant and civilian? How did this

development change the nature of conflict and post-conflict 'justice' then, and to this day? Why did it take so long for Japanese leaders to accept the political reality of their military situation and surrender? And, how did this conflict not only alter maps, end empires, allow new empires to flourish, but also change and nature of war to this day?