[Marxism] Re: Marxism Digest, Vol 7, Issue 98

[Paul C <clyder@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Rob Lucas wrote
---------------------

 This
is particularly the case with Japan, whose sudden thrusting into the modern
world was the result of the gunboat diplomacy that forced open it's ports.
In the case of Japan, nationalist chauvinism, pan-Asianism,
anti-imperialism, fascism (or militarism as some prefer to call it in this
case) and Japanese imperialism itself are all closely connected
manifestations of the complex class movement that was underway with such
breathtaking speed throughout the earlier years of the century. Furthermore,
the actual effects of Japanese imperialism, whether intentional or not, were
fundamentally destructive of the classical empires and, (as is obviously not
the case the case with European fascisms) were strongly supported by an
anti-imperial (pan-Asianist) ideology. We could probably argue this in
circles- we certainly shouldn't regard the case of Japan in any sense as a
systematically anti-imperialist imperialism (if this were possible), but it
is equally clearly not a case of simple imperialism- at least not in the
classical sense- and it did not operate with an imperialist logic in any way
identical with that of, say, the British empire.
-----------------------

I think this is right. The victory of Japan over British forces in
Signapore was the worst defeat ever suffered by British armed forces and
set in train the eventual collapse of the British empire by demonstrating
that an Asian army could defeat Britain.


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