The Culture of Japanese Fascism, Alan Tansman

The question of whether or not Imperial Japan should be properly considered fascist has divided academics for decades. In this video we take a look at one the most important pieces of literature in this debate.

[@onclesam1463]

On this subject, the essays written by the Japanese political scientist Maruyama Masao are also a must-read !

[@herrerasauro7429]

That's very interesting, thanks for the recomendation. I'm not an historian, I'm an economist that studies development specially in the periphery, and a common theme amongst the so called "late comer" industrialization on the periphery, specially those on the first half of the XXth century, is this rapid construction of the State, usually in one or two generations with a very abrupt movement and 9/10 experiences entail regimes which skirt on the verge of fascism and have a very controversial legacy. I always felt it was a phenom of having such a surge of centralization and basically, having to deal with the legitimacy of such centralization and it's contradictions.

[@TheFallofRome]

You’re welcome! And I’m glad to find someone who shared that view! I’m of the same opinion

[@herrerasauro7429]

@@TheFallofRome It's great having a more academic focused channel, I also love the more "pop" history channels because for the outsider they really seem to care about consistensy, but having reading suggestions for tangential topics for papers great. I debated internally about writing it because honestly I feel out of my depth in this discussion because, as I said, it's not my topic, it's just tangential on my studies and mostly an informed opinion without any methodological consistency. As a brazilian, I deal mostly with South American history so my real scope is somewhat limited.

[@lincolnhaldorsen5649]

Imperial Japan was a military dictatorship under a constitutional monarchy

[@tiberiuscgermanicus]

Great video really found it interesting. Was wondering if you could make one reviewing a book you own an think its pertinent to subject of the history o the USSR. Would really appreciate it as for many people the USSR is just what happened with Stalin from the late 1920s to the early 1950s (and even so they don't see this period with a critical and a unbiased eye; it's that I'm defending stalin but its pointing out the relevant events and peoples who lived at the time).

[@TheFallofRome]

Thanks! And yeah I know what you mean-many of the dictatorships are not really well known among non-professionals. I have a couple USSR books I can do videos on

[@hyokkim7726]

You don't need to be shy. Stalin was an amazing individual along with Mao. Stalin was a far better statesman than Mao, though. But Mao was the better operational strategist, and tactically more cunning than even Stalin. Mao even out bluffed Stalin at one time. Both were about equal as grand strategist, easily far better than both Churchill and FDR. Only one who was the better statesman, grand and operational strategist , and tactically as cunning as Mao was Franco. The best bios on Stalin were done by Montefiore, both 'Red Tsar' and 'Young Stalin'. The best bio on Mao is 'Mao: The Unknow Story'.

[@lincolnhaldorsen5649]

Imperial Japan was a military dictatorship under a constitutional monarchy

[@colin3424]

What if National Socialism is just Socialism based around the idea of the Race/People/Volk instead of the Worker? Adolf and Mussolini were both former Socialists/Marxists that felt like that party had failed them or proved to be unrealistic.

[@TheFallofRome]

The book I would recommend reading is The Crisis of German Ideology, it’s a deep dive into the intellectual origins of the NSDAP. Suffice it to say it was a Völkisch ideology not socialist. Historians are exceedingly clear about this