Japanese Militarism - Blood on the Railway - Extra History - Part 3

[@extrahistory]

Looking to cut your monthly phone bill? Use extracredits.ting.com/ to get a $25 credit!

[@humanperson9443]

Ok

[@loganfish1015]

Merry Christmas and a happy new year. Plus can you please make a series of the history of hypnosis please.

[@euansmith3699]

Nothing says "Christmas" quite like Japanese Militarism. Thank you for another great year of fascinating videos. "Shut the front door!" always makes me smile.

[@PoggoMcDawggo]

Merry Christmas everybody! Why not celebrate with some research on Japanese militarism? It's the best way to spend the holidays imo.

[@moustachio05]

@Leo the British-Filipino *TENNO HEIKA BANZAI

[@weefweef]

Agreed

[@Jake-rm4be]

My kind of Christmas

[@GetLurantisd]

Yes

[@calinescuandrei9662]

Indeed

[@UwURainUwU]

That last bit got me. How many wars were started in "retaliation" and actually managed to get away with the facade.

[@Johia_Mapping_2]

Spanish american war.

[@ewok40k]

Way too many, from USS Maine detonation to Radio Gleiwitz to shelling of Mainila to Gulf of Tonkin... And of course related here and now events!

[@jorenvanderark3567]

The Gulf of Tonkin incident on the other hand was one.

[@Copyright_Infringement]

The Spanish-American war comes to mind, but the same could arguably be said of WW1

[@ecurewitz]

The European Theater of WWII as well

[@rodrigolealmartir5902]

That opening scene feels an awful lot like one of the climatic scenes near the end of Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood. Maybe the mangaka took inspiration from Zhang Zuolin's assasination.

[@kevinsiagian1436]

Which scene/s

[@WaywardVet]

I just said that before reading yours, lol. I'm on the same page as you

[@caiomansourcastilho4614]

@@kevinsiagian1436 Spoiler: the fuhrer's murder attempt by the army, when they blew up his train

[@samiai8905]

Exactly what I thought too!

[@str2010]

They probably drew inspiration from that and operation Valkyrie

[@connorgolden4]

The face of the senior officers when they found out about the junior officers plot got me good.

[@loke6664]

Yeah, not punishing those bombers initially really came back to bite everyone. Japan got deeper and deeper dragged into the conflict in China while most of the people in charge were more interested in a conflict with the Soviets. You don't have to be a mathematical genius to realize that the Japanese army were too small to occupy the entire country of China no matter how much better gear and training they got. But constant incidents created on the ground like the Marco Polo bridge incident just pulled Japan deeper and deeper into the quagmire until their economy where on their knees and all the western powers (including Germany initially) were angry at them. That lead to sanctions, hurting the Japanese economy even more until 2 thirds of their GDP went to the military budget at the beginning of 1941.

[@SusCalvin]

"A group of junior officers" is going to be repeating itself a lot. Some blokes within one faction or the other of the armed forces are going to push a thing and force the rest to go along, or assassinate leaders from rival factions.

[@dariusgunter5344]

They wouldn't have to occupy a defeated china though, they set up a collaborators government which they would and have during the war, support with weapons and money and let them handle the occupation. Their brutal methods let to much more resistance than normally would be expected but that's a whole other story.

[@sanhcman666]

This reminds me of the man in the high castle. The axis won but japan still keep fighting in asia XD

[@str2010]

@@dariusgunter5344 how are they going to set up collaborators in central, eastern and southern china when those are the more patriotic holdouts? Especially after the atrocities in the north, in Shanghai and in Nanjing?

[@scoutobrien3406]

@@str2010 realistically they probably wouldn't but the successful parallel historical examples do exist and involve using troops from the existing collaboration zones to defeat patriotic zones in detail and digesting each bite to repeat the process.

[@powerist209]

This was a major plot of Blue Lotus from Tin Tin comics. And this was before the horrors of Second Sino-Japanese war.

[@jasminemiller7485]

Just what I wanted for Christmas, more history. Thanks Extra Credits and happy holidays!!

[@gzer0x]

“Those in power were hesitant to punish bad actors if they claimed patriotic motives or said they acted to protect the emperor and further national interests.” … 🤔

[@MorgenPeschke]

Yeah, that hit a little close to home 😖

[@stephenjenkins7971]

@@MorgenPeschke Where do you live where that is acceptable? Last time "patriots" claimed to be doing something for the country, the FBI started hunting them down. That seems relatively standard.

[@lostbutfreesoul]

@@stephenjenkins7971 , Wake me when someone important is charged with more then Contempt of Congress.

[@stephenjenkins7971]

@@lostbutfreesoul That's pretty much the worst those people did. What, you wanna charge them for treason when they didn't commit treason yet? Cause that's a very dangerous precedent to set for everyone involved. Edit: In this story of governments cracking down on people by using very "flexible" laws to arrest them, you really wanna try and emulate that? Funny how nobody bothers to learn from history.

[@SusCalvin]

@@stephenjenkins7971 Our coup defence doesn't need to be very flexible to stop armed blokes from walking into the parliament building. We started building paramilitary police to counter the terrorism wave in the 70's.

[@daniel_sannguyen]

I love how Extra Credits upgraded their arsenal. They went from mouth explosions at the beginning of the Bombing in Wuchang video to proper sound effects at 8:09

[@Waldemarvonanhalt]

Japan's a great example of how generals often direct military actions worse than civilian governments.

[@stephenjenkins7971]

Military Generals should be focused on strategic and tactical objectives given to them by a civilian authority. War is a tool; not an end onto itself.

[@nemm9483]

Merry Christmas extra credits! You’re an amazing history channel

[@SanDiego_Railfan]

Merry Christmas!

[@uncrazy2614]

Since, Christmas is over. I’m gonna said Happy year.

[@ilovemuslimfood666]

TL;DR-The Japanese civilian bureaucrats and the military, with all their differing ideologies and butting of heads, all claimed to be serving the best interests of the Emperor, regardless of whether or not their intentions or actions spoke truth to such a claim.

[@SusCalvin]

Like you take a room full of ultrapatriots. Every now and then, they stab the least patriotic bloke in the room. Everyone agrees everyone else is superpatriots, because if you don't you might be the next least superpatriotic in the room.

[@alex_zetsu]

Heck this is what the Shoguns did too and the Shogunate was essentially a military government, so this is just full circle.

[@AllahCat7889]

*TL;DW

[@puppetguy8726]

I'd really love a political thriller movie/series set in 1930s Japan about all of these factions and their shenanigans.

[@Chuckakhan]

Japan have worked very very hard to be seen as a largely benign state they will have people doing a tv series on that haha

[@asdkotable]

There are a lot of Chinese dramas about this, I'm sure.

[@zackakai5173]

If you like this level of shenaniganry, you should go read up on the later part of the Heian period and the events leading up to the Genepi War. The amount of double-crossings and factions pulling unexpected wins out of their ass would be hilarious if so many people hadn't been killed.

[@krishaysrivastav6043]

Watch Kraut's video on the fall of Japanese democracy.

[@SusCalvin]

1920 China is chaotic place. You have these japanese military factions but also US and european investors, a whole load of warlords squabbling over one province or the other, communists in the mountains, triad societies, the international concession areas like in Hong King and Shanghai.

[@manuelespinosa1123]

I love this kind of videos. Extra Credits is doing a great job

[@Alteviler]

I don’t think I’ve ever been this early to an extra history episode, what a great thing to wake up to

[@maxpower2480]

Seems a disillusionment in the populous with "democracy" is something Japan had in common with Germany before WWII. I would love to hear your take on the similarities (or lack thereof if you disagree) during the lies episode...

[@joecurran2811]

Another similarity is economic crisis.

[@arturoaguilar6002]

2:30 Preaching authoritarianism by hearkening back to an imaginary past. Pure coincidence, right?

[@abcdef27669]

4:38 - That officer face is pure meme material.

[@aaronia291]

if you think that check out the cover of last video, even more so

[@cheater556]

I always love seeing history about the fall of democracy and rise of authoritarian rule.

[@sketchye5943]

Yeah they are usually very interesting time periods with equally interesting characters

[@luxborealis]

May you live in interesting times.

[@sovietdoge1515]

Congratulations, you're now on the KGB watchlist

[@SidheKnight]

Don't you mean the KGB list, "Soviet Doge"?

[@sovietdoge1515]

​@@SidheKnight That doesn't exist anymore but ok

[@bthsr7113]

You could do an entire episode on the divisions between Imperial Japan's Army and Navy.

[@davidwright7193]

Ah yes signing a treaty that allows you to build more ships than you can afford and limits your likely opponents building (both of whom can comfortably out build you in an open race) and then the navy says you are acting against their interests because you could now afford to feed the army…

[@SusCalvin]

The general feeling of the militarists is that they are getting short-handed out of colonial expansion. A lot of what they argue wouldn't be out of place at a conference of great powers in 1880, and a lot of the great powers thought Japan was an upcoming part of the club with the right to have a sphere of influence into China. But this isn't 1880 any more.

[@carso1500]

@@SusCalvin Its crazy how fast things change, in little over 100 years we went from "yeah conquering and colonizing other nations is natural and something that stronger nations do all the time" to be considered one of the worse crimes by most and something that no modern nation should do (even if some still engage in such conflicts, coff coff China coff coff Russia coff coff)

[@KingofAwesomness14]

merry christmas to all! also that bit about hearkening back to a samurai past that never existed was amazing. well done.

[@EmporerAaron]

Merry Christmas everyone. Why not enjoy some history on this wonderful time of the year?

[@davididiart5934]

I see we're getting a "happy" history story this Christmas. Yay?

[@gurufabbes1]

Great series. I think a mention of the May 15th incident should come up with I think particularly illustrates the political atmosphere at the time. In short in 1932 several academy students, officers and some radicals, part of a group called the League of Blood, assassinate the then Japanese Prime Minister. The reaction from section of the public, which included 100 000 letters, some signed in blood, calling for lighter sentences, and GRIZZLY (nine youths in Niigata asking to take their place, sending the court a jar containing nine of their own pickled severed pinky fingers as a gesture of their sincerity), resulted in the attackers receiving very light sentences indeed.

[@zackakai5173]

2:30 I have to point out that you wouldn't necessarily know that just from having seen those other series, as from the Asuka period to the end of the Heian period, the Emperor was actually the head of state... ostensibly at least, because even during the classical era, the real power was often in the hands of factions like the Soga, Fujiwara, or Minamoto rather than the emperor personally xD

[@lucacassar9371]

I always look forward to these videos!

[@jaojintalonis92]

Yo, props to your artist(s). The details are on point and really rep that 1920's japan vibe.

[@leeboy26]

4:52 'Then Shang Tsung came to power'. Well, the handover of Manchuria was a flawless victory...

[@Librarian356]

Writing this in February of 2022 hearing about plots to stage reasons for invasion just hits too close to home

[@rennor3498]

Nothing like recieveing a new Extra Credit video about Japan on Christmas day.

[@Ecoraptor3339]

Neat, I did my Bachelors on all this madness (starting with Hara Takashi's murder). Spoilers below: You will see the Cherry Blossom Society again. And the aptly named League of Blood after that. But that's not the end of things, oh no. Its where the Imperial Way and Control Faction truly come into view.

[@SidheKnight]

On the other hand, I was wondering when would vampires make an appearance in this story..

[@Ecoraptor3339]

Oh yeah the next episode will be wild. Again, spoilers: Nine chopped-off pinky fingers in a jar and over 100,000 clemency petitions signed or witten entirely in blood.

[@junethegoon309]

Merry Christmas my fellow historians I hope you all have a very special and great day

[@jaichind]

By 1928 Chiang and the USSR already had a break in their relationship due to the KMT-CCP split of early 1927

[@leileijoker8465]

Chiang was still in relatively good terms with the Soviets until the second Chinese civil war. Soviets sent aid to KMT against both the CCP and Japanese until operation Barbarossa.

[@jaichind]

@@leileijoker8465 Only because Chiang and the CCP made a tentative peace in late 1936. Between early 1927 and late 1936, the position of the USSR toward Chiang was hostile although did prefer him to the Japanese.

[@matthewbarr2264]

“tried to spark riots to pave the way for a coup, but the riots were badly organized.” *chuckles nervously in 2021 American*

[@IndustrialParrot2816]

the locomotives and other equipment for the South Manchurian railway were built by the American Locomotive Company or ALCo in the early 1900s

[@fandomcake5158]

I'm starting to wonder how the heck Imperial Army had SURVIVED its infightjng to reach WWII without the in fighting biting everyone in the ass.

[@SusCalvin]

In practice, they negotiate with eachother and try to agree on some middle ground or trade favors. They have enough general stuff they agree on to push ahead. The government by assassination doesn't cause a full civil war. The government by assassination will target other militarists as well. You have these cliques of junior officers who think they can push events ahead. Rival miltiarists ministers will start taking bullets as well.

[@SusCalvin]

Most of their plans end up with "Let's do all the things at once", and the different militarist factions end up pushing through with their plan. They will haggle for who gets which resources to use more efficiently. The army in China needs more resources to continue the war in China to secure the resources needed for a war in China, kind of.

[@27794Sinbad]

In practice, the infighting never ended and was a major part of why the Japanese war effort was so ineffective and self defeating.

[@Noidonteatbabiesstopasking]

Perhaps you could say that about all of Japanese history

[@petertrudelljr]

Imagine that, people in power orchestrating a coup, failing, and then not getting consequences from their actions...

[@SusCalvin]

It's more like several different cliques staging their separate coups, each convinced they are the most ultrapatriot. A lot of these militarist factions don't really want to hand any power to the other, rival militarists. And sometimes the targets in this government by assassination is other militarist officer-politicians. Like if some National Guard captains got together and shot a member of the joint chiefs because they thought his faction wasn't ultrapatriotic enough. In practice, the factions cut deals with eachother and negotiate about what to do. A lot of that arrives at "let's do everything at once". Different parts of the army can grab resources and push in their direction without stepping on other factions, in theory.

[@tavernburner3066]

Alot of people were punished for that

[@Amieto759]

I think he was talking about some blond billionaire with an eye on Capitol Hill….

[@yarugatyger1603]

Back in 2016 when I did higher level history in school we vaguely touched on that period, but the general happenings of the area were never that clear to me. Although there is more depth to these topics I am quite fond of your videos they clear a lot of things up for me concerning the situation in the area pre ww2.

[@l.a.xgunner]

The Japanese doctrine was to go into the Dutch East Indies also. Don’t forget about that part

[@juliancoenen4917]

Merry Christmas and have a happy good episode

[@ecurewitz]

Extra credits updates today. That certainly counts as a great present

[@Galaxy-qf4vc]

Nothing like an Extra Credit video for Christmas!

[@fighter_750]

Everyone is saying “Merry Christmas” but dam, those junior officers were pretty dumb

[@SHAHIDKC]

I love how tojo turned into a shogun.

[@sharkronical]

Fun fact: Zhang Zhuo Lin was also the leader of Manchuria in Fengtian Clique in Kaiserreich

[@kaltaron1284]

I guess you are talking about the Hearts of Iron 4 mod? Not sure how many will get that.

[@LordLobov]

It's Zhang Zuolin, not Zuo Lin

[@TheSci-fiAnarchist42]

Happy non-denominational Winter holiday everyone! I'm glad to be celebrating the holiday season with some Japanese history! 👍😉

[@avraham-yair-stern]

China: Exists Japan: It's free real estate

[@billy6044]

Palestine: exists Israel: huehuehuehue

[@Ilyak1986]

@@billy6044 I think Palestine did a lot more than *exist*. Try all the terrorist bombings, intifadas, etc. Good try, though.

[@billy6044]

@@Ilyak1986 do you know what intifada means

[@billy6044]

@@Ilyak1986 well, freedom fighter bombings

[@artyom9103]

Merry Christmas! 🎁

[@youraveragemedicmain8434]

i got an add as i got to the bomb part lol

[@eliteal2188]

Merry Christmas EC! Happy history-ing!

[@theminipetabyte4610]

A militaristic christmas!

[@Shadowreaper5]

"The populace believed that the politicians were being influenced by big industries." >looks at modern elections. No sir, nothing like that happens in our enlightened modern age

[@silesiaball9505]

Merry Christmas

[@larryalvares1369]

MERRY CHRISTMAS, EXTRA CREDIT TEAM!

[@amadortv971]

Best Christmas present ever

[@fireiron369]

Merry Christmas Extra Credits 🎄❤️

[@Thats_quite_cool]

Merry militarist Christmas everyone!

[@TheManFromWaco]

So basically, the Imperial Japanese Army wanted to fight a land war with a country that could eat steel and crap tanks, and the Imperial Japanese Navy wanted to fight a maritime war with a country that could eat steel and crap aircraft carriers.

[@HaloFTW55]

Pretty much, on top of already invading China later. Both events happened where the IJA decided to pick two large fights with the country that eats steel and shits tanks (USSR). Unsurprisingly, the RKKA (Red Army) stalemates the IJA at Lake Khasan and outright steamrolls the IJA at Khalkhin Gol. So, the IJN strikes south. Unsurprisingly, the United States starts to both win victories after shifting into war mode and starts shitting out warships (with literally one warship launched a day) as well as printing out aircraft. The IJN was quickly so thoroughly trashed that it effectively was a useless force by 1945. Yeah, fighting two great powers didn’t work out.

[@nursestoyland]

@@HaloFTW55along with the Russian invasion of Manchuria in 1945, the RKKA destroyed the remainder of the Kwangtung Army

[@fireofargentis]

The beginning reminded me of FMA's attempt on killing King Bradley

[@fatheadgaming3584]

the title sounds like an 80s band "blood on the railway".

[@gabr.7878]

I like learning

[@Darasilverdragon]

Wait... *Was the train sabotage of Fuhrer Bradley in FMA:B a reference to this?!*

[@taneelbrightblade6622]

I'm not sure, but I had the same thought

[@cosmedelustrac5842]

Interesting point.

[@CliffCardi]

Merry Xmas, EC! Also, the Japanese would install Puyi, the last emperor of China, as the puppet governor of Manchuria.

[@avraham-yair-stern]

I know that

[@napoleonibonaparte7198]

Everything that is today is shaped by the past, illustrated with the Japanese militarism giving rise to anime.

[@ElBandito]

Hentai was always in Japanese mindset, as illustrated by "The Dream of the Fisherman's Wife" in 1814.

[@bernardoheusi6146]

What the hell lol

[@theoutlook55]

Such a good episode.

[@starry_wizard22]

Merry Christmas everybody. If you don’t celebrate Christmas, happy holidays to you.

[@Hortifox_the_gardener]

Navy: southern expansion, Army: northern expansion, the sensible option that would have preserved them while improving Japan: no outside expansion

[@ISAF_Ace]

merry Christmas EC, keep up the good work

[@michaelyeas9294]

Thanks!

[@extrahistory]

Thank you for helping support our channel and the amazing people that work here!

[@godofdun]

"The military, voters increasingly thought, was Japan's last pure institution" .............Loving this series, but the parallels are making me a bit nervous.

[@JustABoringAsianGuy]

4:24 Hey look, it’s the Pringles Man! Oh wait…

[@Ilyak1986]

HAHAHAHAHA. Fucking died.

[@alexanderrowley9870]

Just look at this as backstory for Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence. Boom, it's a Christmas episode now xD

[@krisdemeter6521]

Oh yay another video

[@bensonfang1868]

This is why his son Zhang Xueliang joined Chiang and the KMT. Zhang Xueliang became a prominent nationalist general who later fell out of favor with Chiang, living in exile in Hawaii and dying past 100.

[@SlapstickGenius23]

Awesome!?

[@algorythmico]

Thanks for everything, Extra Credits!

[@Mr110074]

In the words of the 1942 American Why We Fight film, Prelude to War: "Remember that date, September 18th 1931, a date we should remember as well as December 7th 1941, for on that date in 1931, the war we are now fighting began."

[@duelbuster123]

the key that made japan, a small country abled to detest in ww2 wasnot only they were forced to modernize instead of colonize, but also they always had each other throats. make themselves developed and tactical

[@williamshortfilm5818]

7:43 This event is depicted in the Tintin: The Blue Lotus, by Herge!

[@kknives36]

I really hope you mention Yukio Mishima at end.

[@Ryu_D]

Thank you for the video.

[@voidknightspawn8676]

Merry Christmas everyone!

[@ritamayachattakhandi6732]

Wasn't this incident referenced in the Tintin comic The Blue Lotus?

[@Notsosmartguy453]

Merry Christmas Zhuge liang northern expeditions please

[@twahaalim5712]

Second this!

[@thatsroughbuddy8742]

Merry Christmas!!!

[@pointly]

And so begins the Second Sino-Japanese War. Which will become part of WWII. SOON, the city of Nanking will become famous for the horrors of Japanese Militarism.

[@bigfind7914]

Watching this after the Cleveland Browns game and I need some history to cope with the Futility of My team

[@randomperson6988]

Facinating

[@abcdef27669]

7:03 - Otoya Yamaguchi ancestor, I guess?

[@skybluskyblueify]

Harkening back to an imaginary past. Sounds familiar. How many countries have done this?

[@Noidonteatbabiesstopasking]

It’s human nature

[@SoraOfTheDarkness]

nothing like learning extra history before work

[@neyrayolbisneto3251]

I love your job !!

[@marloyorkrodriguez9975]

I thought it’s Zhang Zhouquan the Based General of the Warlords era of China

[@MLJ___]

God I love this art style!!!

[@herickferraz4850]

I'm looking forward to talking about nobusuke kishi, aka the devil of showa

[@userthomash]

Merry xmas

[@Tacticlethermonucleargnome]

Learning matters

[@KeithShizuo]

The way that train is drawn hurts me

[@steyn1775]

0:48 that's....not how train wheels work on a single unit/cabin