Technology of empire : telecommunications and Japanese expansion in Asia, 1883-1945
Daqing Yang (Author)
Nearly half a century ago, the economic historian Harold Innis pointed out that the geographical limits of empires were determined by communications and that, historically, advances in the technologies of transport and communications have enabled empires to grow. This power of communications was demonstrated when Japanese Emperor Hirohito's radio speech announcing Japan's surrender and the dissolution of its empire was broadcast simultaneously throughout not only the Japanese home islands but also all the territories under its control over the telecommunications system that had, in part, made that empire possible. In the extension of the Japanese empire in the 1930s and 1940s, technology, geo-strategy, and institutions were closely intertwined in empire building. The central argument of this study of the development of a communications network linking the far-flung parts of the Japanese imperium is that modern telecommunications not only served to connect these territories but, more important, made it possible for the Japanese to envision an integrated empire in Asia. Even as the imperial communications network served to foster integration and strengthened Japanese leadership and control, its creation and operation exacerbated long-standing tensions and created new conflicts within the government, the military, and society in general
eBook, English, 2010
Harvard University Asia Center : Distributed by Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass., 2010
History
1 online resource.
9781684173792, 1684173795
1001536884
Print version:
Preliminary Material
Introduction
Genesis, 1853-1931
An Emerging Empire in the Age of Submarine Telegraphy
Wireless and the Crisis in the Informal Empire
Technology, 1931-1940
Toward a New Order on the Continent
Inventing Japanese Technology
Envisioning Imperial Integration
Control, 1936-1945
Negotiating Control at Home
Consolidating Control in China
Gaining Control in Southeast Asia
Network, 1939-1945
Systemic Integration
Operation, Meltdown, and Aftermath
Conclusion
Bibliography
Index
Harvard East Asian Monographs