HIST 112
The Asia-Pacific War Fall 2023
Division II Writing Skills
Cross-listed ASIA 111
This is not the current course catalog

The “Asia-Pacific War,” as it is known in Japan, raged from the full-scale Japanese invasion of China in 1937 until Japan’s total defeat in 1945. This war, though certainly tied to the Allied war against Germany and Italy, was viewed by many participants at the time as truly a war apart due to the immense distances involved, the gleeful, racism-fueled brutality on both sides of the conflict, and the resultant abuses of POWs, use of atomic weapons, and other atrocities. Students will explore the intersection of colonialism, racism and opportunism that fed the conflagration, and the remarkable rapprochement between American and Japanese former enemies immediately after the war. It will examine in depth the roles of China and the USSR in this conflict, which are often mentioned but functionally ignored in the West. It will cover the various warzones and home fronts, focusing as much as possible on conveying the experiences of participants through primary sources. It will likewise seek to bridge the analysis of the military and socio-political sides of this conflict, which are often treated as distinct, by drawing on key academic works in the field.