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Politics : Sharks in the Septic Tank -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Lazarus_Long who wrote (42060)	1/8/2002 3:44:18 PM
From: J. C. Dithers	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 82486

Laz, an excellent source is The Last Great Victory: The End of World War II, July/August 1945, by Stanley Weintraub (Pugh Professor of Arts and Humanities, Penn State University); 1995, 730pp. This is a day by day, often hour by hour, very detailed account of the events on both sides of the war during its final stage. The account of the attempted coup against the Emperor goes on for many pages. I don't have a scanner, but these passages convey the idea: Through the Guard's officers, however, especially Major Ishihara [and others] who had been brought into the conspiracy, the coup leaders had learned that the Emperor would be recording a surrender broadcast. Once it was aired, a mutiny would likely fall apart. Major _ and Lt. _ realized that they needed to prevent its broadcast. Even more they needed the support of General _. The palace was under his protection. By two, the Imperial Guards had already been acting on their faked orders. The palace police were being disarmed, the telephone wires cut, the grounds surrounded, and persons trying to enter or leave arrested. Captain_whose officers he summoned to proclaim his refusal to call the war over: "Surrender is not only against our traditions, it is against our law. Japan cannot surrender! Are you with me? There were shouts of Banzai! If you were asking about the militarists' slogan, it is mentioned more than once in this book, but difficult for me to locate at the moment. I'm pretty sure i remember it correctly. Yes, women of all ages were being armed with bamboo spears and children with bomb packs to be strapped to their bodies. And virtually every remaining civilian over 15 was conscripted into military service. Of course, there were those who favored surrender -- bu the situation was chaotic, violent, and unpredictable in the extreme.