Fat Electrician Debates History Of Everything On Emperor Hirohito | History Teacher Reacts

[@MrTerry]

How much power did Hirohito have?

[@Swedishpolymath]

I don't know a lot about Japanese history but I am fascinated by it. I know Hideki Tojo was a quite a brutal guy and was sort of the "eminence grise" in Japan during that era if I have understood everything correctly.

[@LJ-pi6np]

I think Hirohito was complicit in approving wars of aggression, and gave orders that allowed war crimes, whether Hirohito envisioned them or not. I think historians agree that the consensus in Japanese society was for colonial expansion, it's just a question of whether it would be by a military or less violent approach. But I think it's impossible to know how much power Hirohito had to stop it, if he had wanted to. The military had achieved effective superiority over civil democratic government decades before Hirohito took office. The military had also shown the will and ability to use extreme violence get its way, eliminate rival centers of power, and settle its internal disputes. Hirohito didn't orchestrate that military supremecy. The military hierarchy knew the formalities and the realpolitik of how the gov worked, that Hirohito was a human constitutional monarch, and how the god king myth and propaganda was a means to control popular opinion. They were inventive and ruthless in eliminating opposition from other revered centers of power, and probably would have thought of something had Hirohito made more trouble. The military ran the country by the time Hirohito was coronated, and had been inventive and ruthless in getting their way long before Hirohito.

[@Swedishpolymath]

@@LJ-pi6np Interesting. I feel like Americans have a naive view that the president is some sort of magical pixie that protects them no matter what because "Murica is a Christian Nation". They have borders with Canada and a resurging Mexico. I would not be so smug. But that's Muricans for you.

[@InquisitorXarius]

As someone who has studied Japanese history the Emperor despite appearing powerless undeniably had extensive powers. You could never act against the will of the Emperor, you had to always claim you were serving the Emperor or you were a traitor as seen in the Boshin war once the Satauma and Choshu Rebels unfurled the Imperial Chrysanthemum Banner the Tokugawa loyalties diminished severely. Another example is that Hideyoshi never successfully attempted to force the Imperial household to grant him the title of Shogun and he was forced to have the lesser title of Imperial Regent. Furthermore the Emperor was the head of Japan’s state religion, Shintoism as the literal descendant of a Goddess, Amaterasu alongside being the head of the secular state. The closest comparison I can think of in the West are the Islamic Caliphates whom ruled both Theologically and Secularly by the Caliphs who are Sayyids, descendants of Muhammad’s bloodline. Furthermore Hirohito had enough power to directly sign off on and order the creation of Unit 731, dictate and orchestrate the surrender of Japan, despite the military’s efforts to stop him, and his household had enough power to personally order the military to committ atrocities like when Prince Asaka orchestrated the Nanking Atrocity.

[@joesmith701]

@@LJ-pi6np I read a book that brought up Hirohito and how the Japanese Government had largely isolated him due to the military/military loyalists take over of most of the government. He still had power but it painted the time as if Hirohito was being advised by mostly what the military would want with little opposition to the military. I'd say he was complicit in what happened and it's hard to say he was just a puppet considering at anytime he could say no to ideas but seemingly refused to do anything to stop their actions.

[@bcbgaming4481]

Fat Electrician, Stakuyi, AND Mr. Terry is a perfect lineup. I clicked immediately.

[@chrisquiett1776]

The moment I saw it I did too 😂

[@aniruddhbhatkal1834]

Same 😂

[@Trevors_Dragons]

We need all three to be on unsub

[@ohioanempire]

​@@Trevors_Dragonsyes

[@m2hmghb]

The take that has pissed me off forever was what my sister learned in college. She went to me "you know the only reason that we dropped the a bombs was to scare the russians right?" She had no retort when I said "so you think 2 million injured and 500,000 dead Americans from an invasion is nothing?"

[@Gardenstategreat1225]

Definitely theres multiple reasons. But the Japanese did make it clear that they rather surrender to us instead of the russians. The other thing not mentioned much is that we wanted the emperor to renounce his role as a demigod. The Japanese refused and dragged the peace talks onwards. Couple that with the fact that an invasion was sure to be a bloodbath, yeah the bombs were necessary. Also we have to look at it from a global view. If we dont drop them and show what theyre capable of, i promise the russians wouldve done it. War is hell. So as far as im concerned i rather it have happened then than wait to see someone else without restriction. My country is not a saint but we do everything in our power to restrict ourselves in wars post WW2. At the cost of our men.

[@captin3149]

I find it both sad and ironic that colleges, the institutions of higher learning, are becoming more and more centers of revisionist history

[@garrettgrooms2773]

It doesn't have to be one or the other. There can be many contributing factors, just like why Japan surrendered when they did.

[@alexwest2573]

Correct me if I’m wrong but when Hirohito made that radio broadcast most people couldn’t fully understand him because the dialect of Japanese that was spoken by the imperial family wasn’t largely known outside of the palace.

[@LJ-pi6np]

IIRC, he spoke in an archaic and very formal form of Japanese used in diplomacy. I think the only thing the average person got from it was that Hirohito said Japan lost and the war was over.

[@JaxMerrick]

16:00 Mr Terry was not ready for that name of the "Struggle Snuggle" of Nanking...

[@owenjauregui]

I think they were having a bit of a 'glass half full or half empty' misunderstanding. I think they both arrived to the same conclusions just with different contexts as to why and how.

[@paulbyrne4538]

I watched this when it first came out. I was not disappointed by the level of debate from these two. Thank you again Mr. Terry!

[@captainrueben4841]

Fat Electrician, Mr. Terry, History of Everything, and Vlogging Through History walk into a bar...

[@brandonmercer499]

They then proceed to tell you the entire history of said bar

[@Batmans_Pet_Goldfish]

​@@brandonmercer499 no, they tell you the whole history of alcohol.

[@ohioanempire]

No they bring in Brandon Herrera and the rest of the unsub cast @Batmans_Pet_Goldfish

[@jonathanarnfeltramstrom8022]

I think the biggest evidence for Hirohito having (maybe not no power at all) very little actual power was the whole concept of the Showa Restoration, a movement which failed with the Kodoha coup in March 1936. The Kodoha movement wanted him to have absolute control, and went as far as to offer their lives for this matter, something that failed, It is not very likely that even then Emperor Showa had the power to control the military if organizations and actions like these could happen in the first place.

[@Grimmance]

The sword like the full suit of armour was a status symbol, it showed you had the time to train Bow, Horse, spear, AND sword as well as afford something considered high quality metal as opposed to the normal quality of Iron they used in most mass produced weapons.

[@Grimmance]

Leaders rule only so long as their military leaders allow them to, that is a common theme for civilization.

[@silbury2325]

Military leaders lead only so long as they have soldiers willing to follow. Cue infinite recursion comment chain.

[@samiaaltonen7456]

Soldiers will follow orders as long farmers Give food

[@wannaknowwho25]

farmers Gives food as long as they can produce effectively

[@TheBlazzer12]

Farmers continue to produce effectively so long as the qing dynasty has the mandate of heaven

[@josephvarno5623]

OK. I'm gonna put this in context of Star Trek for a bit. Specifically, the next generation episode where Khaless is cloned. The Emperor is Khaless. The government is Gowron's government. The Emperor has quite a bit of power, but more of a spiritual one. But he wasn't the sole driving force. Still militaristic, but driving the effort from the spiritual side. The government was more of the nuts and bolts part of it. And holy crap did they go overboard with the widespread war crimes and human experimentation on perceived lesser races. It's why the government held out for the protection of the Emperor. The government would outwardly show deference to the Emperor but would conduct the war without consulting him on matters. Hirohito could have faced war crimes. Like Lord HawHaw and Tokyo Rose. But the conduct of the war was Tojo and his government alone. And, like their German counterparts, the leaders of Unit 731 were quietly spirited away to the US for their information and research. Like Operation Paperclip. So FE is partially right that Hirohito held a lot of blame for the war. But so is HoE in saying he was largely uninvolved in the day to day operations. Hirohito was largely involved in diplomatic decisions and matters. The military was Tojo's domain.

[@justinhess2747]

I see they diverged from the initial point. I have seen a doc detailing the boats of the Mongol fleet invading Japan. Those craft were built for rivers. It's the doc that takes away the water and shows the bottom of the water body. It's certainly an argument for the failure of Mongol logistics due to a land-based culture judging the seaworthiness of capture boats.

[@blaze87b]

You, Fat Electrician, and History of Everything having a history podcast would probably break the internet and I'd love every second of it

[@alecrizer4222]

Love when debates do go the direction of looking for common ground. Too many people get too caught up in who's right and who's wrong.

[@viclorenzo5016]

Mr Terry, will you react to "Imperial Japan: The Fall of Democracy" by Kraut?

[@SOGOnic]

Hirohito was a chess king. He had the final vote on what happened, but also wasn't the most powerful piece on the board. He had the place and the throne, but what could he really do besides lay down.

[@ektran4205]

more like go

[@jamescheddar4896]

Those ceremonial traditional values that represent his position are what he would have to oppose to go against what his government does. He might have came out "only a true emperor would challenge his own crown"

[@joeldykman7591]

He's basically the vp in us politics, good for tiebreakers, but will be often be overwhelmed by the military factions.

[@jamescheddar4896]

@@joeldykman7591 and it takes serious balls for an emperor to just ultimatum the military. Hirohito was no Napoleon, it wouldn't have worked

[@ActuallyJamie]

Donut wasn't in this episode. Trout is the skinny guy in white shirt, Eli is the guy on the right in the white shirt with Kirby on it.

[@Vfanatic1]

I want badly for Nic to research into Ieyasu Tokugawa just to rant about how much the guy actually fucked up Japan as a society even to this day with things like forced filial piety, anti charity ideology, the nail that sticks out mentality, all of which were to basically keep a tight grip on his control. Hell even the Seiza sitting position was him paranoid someone could attack him and thought the position made it harder to do such.

[@RG-di8ni]

Cant wait till you make a video on the most recent unsubcribe podcast about Angry Cops giving Brandon Harrera a gift.

[@steveclarke6257]

@MrTerry, hi ok I'm also not in anyway an expert on Japanese politics ...but neither are these two people arguing on this video. However I have spoken to people who do know more say look up a Japanese Admiral and former Prime Minister called "Mitsumasa Yonai". Now, to make a point on why we in the west are so weak in what we know.... if you read the English language Wikipedia and compare this to a translated version of the Japanese language wiki page on Yonai- there is a significant difference in the amount of information. Yonai is really important in Japan, but is little known about in the west, as he was first a personal tutor and later an advisor to Hirohito. Yonai was seen by Hirohito in the late 1930s as his last chance to subvert power away from the militaristic of the army faction , a project which failed in 1940 and at that point Hirohito becomes a "passenger" to the events leading to war and the control of his position as emperor, by that militarism faction led by Tojo.

[@michaelmurphy748]

Another thing to consider: Information! If the Emperor did not know how the war was actually going because the military gives false or bad information, why would the emperor do things different? There was no real TV, limited radio, and any newspapers the emperor might have seen could have had the information the military wanted him to see.

[@Yamato-tp2kf]

The Navy took almost 2 months to tell him about the defeat of Midway...

[@HobbiesGamesChillin]

@@michaelmurphy748 yeah they told him next to nothing to the point he asked the navy which was basically devastated and ineffective what their plans for a counterattack was after Okinawa

[@kamrankhalid2153]

Don't know about Hirohito but Prince Chichibo and the prince running unit 731 should not have been let go.

[@shy404usernotfound]

The clipped version of the unsubscribe podcast with the fat electrician ranting about communism video, is one of the best things I've seen in my life 😂😂😂😂 should react to it! It'd be a hit! @mrterry

[@BoyNamedSue4]

The did one on the “bat bombs” that I think you’ll really enjoy.

[@newwaveinfantry8362]

Even looking at just territory, the British Empire was the biggest that ever existed.

[@alrun1836]

I’d love for you to watch DJ Peach Cobblers history videos. His videos are super introspective on how we view history and how it is used. I also think there’s some validity to what FE said I think there’s a good amount of rewriting history in order to favor the Emperor and was probably common practice for a lot of emperors.

[@PopeSixtusVI]

I can sum it up in a sentence (not all of history is this easy). If Hirohito didn't back up the Army, the Army would've killed him.

[@HobbiesGamesChillin]

They wouldn’t have killed him They would have “seized” him for his own protection and then puppeted the nation like they did anyway The Japanese relationship with the “royal family” is a weird one but it would have been unheard of to execute one like that

[@Yamato-tp2kf]

Not killing him, just made him abdicate and replaced by his brother who was more warmonger than him

[@Ghost_6012]

It'd awesome if they invite you some time, that'd be a fun episode to watch.

[@trololopez2437]

8:07 you can say they shifted away from the "Shogunate" to the more "Imperial" Throne

[@shaylane4095]

This would be a fun exercise in your ap classes. “Was the empire a puppet or had power?”

[@matthewlemmon6454]

So you’re telling me that I’ve been playing Ghost of Tsushima wrong this entire time… I knew I should’ve used the bow more lol

[@karlvonhabsburg1581]

The Mongols inadvertently assisted in the fall of the Hojo Regency due to the ambitious Castle projects in the west against future potential invasion

[@jeffslote9671]

Japan wasn’t punished enough after the war. To many people didn’t pay for their crimes

[@austinwallace6338]

That's factually incorrect

[@jeffslote9671]

@@austinwallace6338 How so?

[@HobbiesGamesChillin]

@@austinwallace6338bro almost none of the war criminals in Japan were punished In fact one of the reasons the US military had to literally stand between them during exercises is because they weren’t punished and a lot of them were allowed to brush it under the rug after the war

[@MainMan10]

Bro they had the sun dropped on them twice.

[@hitokiriizo]

246,000 deaths wasn't enough? Sounds warmongery.

[@charliealphatango9269]

Has Mr Terry reacted to Lazar pigs video eating an acquired Russian MRE? It's a bit of a longer video so I can't remember if he has.

[@Gunny426HemiPlymouth]

So Terry. When are you going on? 🤣 I'd love to see that. I actually found out about the history of everything podcast from his episode. Can't believe I never watched his content before. Might help you grow to another audience. 💪

[@sloshed-rat]

My thought is that the Meiji War was the last stand of the Shogunate, right? The Shogunate was a super-duper militaristic form of government that acted alongside the emperor. The ramping up of the Japanese military before World War II was just a continuation of that system in all but name. Now (1931), it's no longer "the shogunate." It's just "the military."

[@hollunk6969]

I think Mr Terry would be great on Unsub

[@Flash_Flood44]

I love how much the fat electrician likes to get under people skin. comedy gold

[@InquisitorXarius]

To me the answer is obvious based on my personal studies of WWII (1937-1945) and of Japanese History. The Emperor and the Imperial Household held and still hold extensive secular and theological powers over Japan that enabled them to commit some of the worst atrocities in History so far and that has allowed them to do so unpunished, infuriating as it is.

[@ektran4205]

japan wanted the allies to give them land at the end of WWI

[@rustbuster69]

I can’t debate people who debate like the guy on the left. Every “do you have any idea” is like nails on chalkboard to me

[@Bonbonguy]

Hi Mr. Terry! Would love to see you review some left leaning podcast and videos as well! Love your stuff man!

[@mister-8658]

Hirohito wanted the war with America but unlike Hitler who obsessed over every decision and needed to micromanage his military, Hirohito left it to his generals and admirals to handle the war that Hirohito had declared. Following the orders of the emperor was the entire impetus behind the zealotry of the imperial military that lead to all of the atrocities and willingness to carry out orders even if they were kamikaze orders.

[@Darth_Traitorous]

The book I read called ghost in the fog the real story of World War II in Alaska stated that prime minister Tojo who took power prior to December 7th 1941 what is known to personally assassinate anybody who stood in his way and he was gunning for the emperor so that means the emperor would either die or live and forced to go to war with America. He chose the latter option live and be forced to go to war with America. A lot of people don't understand that it was Tojo who forced his hand not the admirals or the generals his prime minister.

[@jamescheddar4896]

Tojo was their Stalin

[@kamrankhalid2153]

The war led by Japan was just a d**k measuring contest by the Army and Navy both looking to out do each while at the same time both loathed each other. The Navy and the army did not mutually support each other so much so that the Navy had its own army and airforce which would not help the army and the Army had its own airforce and navy which would not help the navy all this due to rival families/clans going to navy and army. Its a miracle Japan lasted as long as it did given this dysfunction.

[@Gardenstategreat1225]

Thats why theres alot of personal notes and letters from Japanese that were against an American war. They knew they had one shot. If it failed, we would be coming. They actually thought we were weak and lazy. This id actually a stereotype i noticed people still have. One thing i can say for sure as an American is that we dont take kindly to outsiders attacking us. When we have a nationalistic fever like after 9/11 and pearl harbor, its a wrap for our enemies.

[@TheStickCollector]

Hirohito is definitely an interesting figure.

[@michaelusswisconsin6002]

Hirohito is the equivalent of “I was just following orders”. Also it’s just weird that Japan started the Pacific theater just to take over China.

[@Thaddeus49]

I love when you react to Nic and the Unsub gang.

[@keithcharboneau3331]

Hirohito, was the "ABSOLUTE" ruler of Japan, and he did rule with an iron fist, it was taught to him by his father, and after his staff convinced him that China and Korea was where they needed to get their resources from, and he AUTHORIZED the invasion of Korea, and China, once that happened, he took a hands off approach as far as the military was concerned, and there was constant struggle between Admiral Yamamoto, and General Tojo, for those resources, but they discovered that neither Korea or China had OIL, Japan was able to steal coal, iron, aluminum from China and Korea, but had ZERO infrastructure in place for oil, but in the Southern Pacific ocean, the islands of Indo-China DID HAVE LOTS OF OIL, but conquering that area and transporting the millions of gallons of oil to Japan, meant sailing right past the Philippines, which was an American Territory, and they considered that as a threat to the supply line they wanted to exploit, and after their quick victory over Russia in the Ruso-Japanese war, they thought that they could do it again to the United States, Hirohito HAD to sign off on the attack on Pearl Harbor, and then let the military handle to war after that point. and it was Hirohito himself who ORDERED his military to surrender, the military DID NOT want to surrender.

[@Broken_dish]

the truth is probably somewhere in the middle of both their takes it tends to always be that way from what i can tell lol

[@paulbyrne4538]

Hey good morning!

[@InquisitorXarius]

Good morning Terry!!!

[@cbogolo]

Look radios were invented by this time so horihito had more power than anyone previously over the population of Japan as a emperor with their beliefs at the time

[@JamesBond-jt4xb]

Yellow 👋 I learned something today and thought maybe you could make a vid on it. And that's what to do with a old American flag, and why it's folded into a triangle how you always see.

[@jankusthegreat9233]

They drink white claws??

[@theoholmgaard2428]

Will you react to imperial Japan the fall of democracy

[@wuxiagamescentral]

"God sends forth his children into the world. Will they cause chaos or build great works in his name." This is how I feel about Emperor Hirohito. He unleashed the army but is he responsible for all doings of the army? If that is the case why would a ruler ever yield military authority if they will be found liable.

[@winchelseabeach4863]

i will say nick is very smart but he seems annoying to debate with because he considers every interpretation and every theory that he reads from books to be fact. yes he knows an absolute metric ton of history very well but, at least to me, he doesn't seem to differentiate theories and assumptions from said facts and so he always seems like he thinks whatever he is saying is right. (at least most of the time. here he seems a bit better than usual) still really like him and his videos though

[@Kazihirom]

The Japanese do have a history of rewriting history.

[@MootRental78]

in my country history,Japan king personally give royal medal to one of our leader,Every japan Generals hate that leader because he put that medal in front of his office door so every japan generals need bowing him and medal at the same time when they come to see him🤣🤣🤣

[@minoru-kk]

Of course Hirohito was responsible for the war. As a rubber stamp or on the same level as King George of UK. His position was never legalized and had a short history as a customary law, so he was recorded as a dictator to suit Allies preferences. Thats partly due to the fact that although JP govt and military had been used his name to wipe their ass, these generals and officials entrusted the decision to himself only when they surrendering

[@chrisquiett1776]

Guy in the white shirt is "king Trout" I'm blanking on his real name because I've been drinking. He has good videos but he does their legal work so he doesn't make a lot of videos.

[@jayshah7106]

I would love for you to go on unsuscribe with the bros to discuss history

[@omegamanrad]

🍿 history

[@pyro4squirrel]

The history of everything is right.

[@HistoryPoliticsFiction]

Actually there were still Muslims in Europe. Spain, Christian lands in North Africa just to name a few places. Sure France fought them off and the English were never threatened aside from piracy by the Barbary Pirates centuries later, so yeah both Europe and Christians beyond Europe were under threat.

[@RipOffProductionsLLC]

Indeed, Spain was exempt from participation in the Crusades because of the Reconquesta still goibg on.

[@ooo_Kim_Chi_ooo]

I like Stakuyi a lot but he is so off on this one. Nic really had him on this one.

[@lloydgush]

Wrong wasn't the typhoon. Read your first hand sources again.

[@MrTerry]

Is Fascism Left Wing or Right Wing? kzbin.info/www/bejne/hZmrmGelmax5d8k

[@InquisitorXarius]

Politically Fascism is universally Far-Right but economically it tends to vary between AuthLeft and AuthRight based on the needs of the Elite and the State.

[@paulshaw3907]

Fascism is left wing wearing the skin of traditionalism

[@Gardenstategreat1225]

Left or right wing is a outdated term. I definitely believe in a political compass thats more like a cross with four quadrants. Facism is honestly a term that has a broad definition. Germany, italy and spain all practiced forms government that differ from each other widely. Ive always believed facism is a term for a highly nationalistic, socialist society and theres many ways for it to be implemented.

[@Captain-Axeman]

Left-wing.

[@pothoc1]

Hey Mr Terry a high school history teacher, do you really want your student subscribing to Unsubscribe? I love that show but I would not call it child friendly but clips from it can be.

[@Yamato-tp2kf]

You don't like it? Then you can see other things...

[@HannahHäggAutisticTransWoman]

Stakuyi is good, he is very knowledgeable about history

[@alfredkabatay656]

The Emperor had all the power to end the war, first time japanese heard his voice on the radio proved that.

[@JohnShepherd117]

Didn’t the military try to coup Hirohito when he announced surrender? I’m not trying to nullify his responsibility but it really does seem like the military is willing to remove him if he becomes a nuisance

[@Yamato-tp2kf]

That was only a couple of officers (a capt., a Lt., and a major I think) that were very fanatics, but their Generals were respecting the will of the emperor, that's why that the moment those officers that tried to do a coup killed the commander of the imperial guard and the army that was stationed East of Tokyo discovered, those officers were considered traitors some of them were captured and executed, but the main instigators of the coup committed suicide when they saw that they failed

[@ryantannar5301]

powerful or not, he was the leader and is responsible by virtue of that alone. at best you've got passive participation going on. Hirohito should have been put before a tribunal, convicted, and subjected to a long drop followed by a short stop. Their debate aside, the fact that Hirohito was allowed to live and rule after WWII is one of the most sickening things to come out of the post WWII period. Japan was given waaaaay too much leeway which has led to Japan today still denying most of their worst atrocities to this day.

[@austinburras2993]

That's not necessarily true. You could be in a head and you know a leader or something and not have any control. That's like saying the president of the united states is the head of the country, but he really doesn't have that much power

[@ryantannar5301]

@@austinburras2993 so tell me, what stopped the emperor from sending a transmission to the Allies or a neutral nation to report that he lost control of the military and said military was doing things that made the Germans look like a convent of nuns? Hirohito as a human being with arms, legs, fingers, and a brain could have done plenty that had nothing to do with his effective power. He had knowledge and knew how to operate a phone or write a letter.

[@ryantannar5301]

@@austinburras2993 For further proof of the gross mishandling, Hirohito is remembered fondly in Japan to this very day. If that doesn't turn your stomach it's time for some inner reflection

[@austinburras2993]

@@ryantannar5301 oh, there's nothing wrong with that. You don't need reflection to think that way. You could say that about a lot of u.S presidents too

[@austinburras2993]

@@ryantannar5301 you obviously don't know much about japanese culture

[@johnallen98]

Yea he was powerless even though he stopped the war with two words 😂😂😂

[@titomakani8973]

You said what would have happened if Japan succeeded you don’t know how the ideology would have made the world look same way the it is with some differences now such as certain countries existing but it would be the same as American ideals and Russian ideals influencing things now just with a different ideology

[@nolifealan9746]

I'm early

[@nitewulf2020]

The Mongols had the largest contiguous empire, but the largest is the British Empire, though most of their territories were separated by oceans.