Douglas MacArthur w historiografii USA

General Douglas MacArthur, one of the most controversial figures in the twentieth-century history of the United States, was, until the end of his military service (1951), mostly praised as an army commander and champion of democracy. Then, doubts arose, and in the era of the dominance of the so-called New Left, he was denied all achievements in the military fields. The disclosure of new documents at the end of the twentieth century brought a gradual and at least partial rehabilitation of his person.Generał Douglas MacArthur, jedna z najbardziej kontrowersyjnych postaci w historii USA w XX w., do końca służby wojskowej (1951) był przeważnie wysławiany jako dowódca i orędownik demokracji. Następnie pojawiły się wątpliwości, a w dobie dominacji tzw. Nowej Lewicy odmówiono mu wszelkich osiągnięć na polu tak wojskowym, jak i militarnym. Ujawnienie nowych dokumentów u schyłku XX w. przyniosło stopniową i przynajmniej częściową rehabilitację

Emperor’s Shōwa possible (but unrealized) abdication after World War II

At the end of World War II, the Allies were almost unanimous that Japanese Shōwa Emperor (known as Hirohito) had to be tried as a war criminal and the imperial institution, seen as the foundation of Japanese militarism, be abolished. The final decision was left to general Douglas MacArthur, who carried the responsibility for occupation policies in Japan. The general, especially after the first meeting with the Emperor (27 Sept. 1945), found the throne as “a symbol which unites all Japanese” and a key to the success of the occupation reforms. He telegraphed Washington that no evidence had been discovered that would implicate the Emperor in war crimes. The British occupation authorities in Japan (sir Alvary Gascoigne, George Sansom) fully shared this opinion. Hirohito was not put on trial, but in 1948, when IMFTE sentenced to death seven former ministers and generals, there were rumours that he was seriously considering whether to abdicate. MacArthur, believing that such a step would be politically disastrous, on 12th November 1948 intervened confidentially and successfully via prime minister Yoshida Shigeru and director of the imperial Household agency Tajima Michiji. The last abdication rumours appeared in October 1951, after the peace treaty was signed. But the Emperor, bound by a promise given to MacArthur, remained on the throne

Parting with a villain? : Yuan Shikai in light of new research

Yuan Shikai, the military strongman of late Qing Empire, talented administrator and reformer, crucial figure during the 1911 (Xinhai) Republican Revolution, president with dictatorial power and, finally, a self-proclaimed emperor, is the most controversial figure of 20th-century China. After his death during the civil war that his actions provoked, historiography (communist and non-communist) portrayed Yuan as traitor and chief villain. In following years Yuan was almost unanimously denounced by Soviet (S.L. Tikhvinsky, O. Nepomnin) and Western (L. Sharman, E. Hummel) historiography. His first biography, written by Jerome Ch’en in 1960, fully upheld this portrait. Significant studies (1968 and 1977) of Ernest P. Young, based on important primary sources, went unnoticed at the time. It was also the case with Stephen McKinnon’s volume on Yuan as brilliant Qing official in Tianjin and Beijing between 1901 and 1908. During the two last decades of the 20th century some smaller studies changed this unfavorable portrait. In the eyes of Marie-Claire Bergère, Madleine Ch’i, Luke Kwong and Henerietta Harrison, Yuan appears as a far-sighted statesman and defender of Chinese raison d’état. The last biography written by Patrick Fuliang Shan portrays Yuan as an extremely power-hungry and astute politician and as a conservative reformer and modernizer, at the same time. His political failure was both his personal tragedy and a catastrophe of the Chinese nation

Miotani wichrem wojny. Chińscy uchodźcy w czasie wojny z Japonią 1937–1945

TOSSED ABOUT BY THE WINDS OF WAR. CHINESE REFUGEES DURING THE WAR WITH JAPAN 1937–1945 The Sino-Japanese War drove tens of millions of Chinese people from their homes. Only occasionally did they receive any help. Some had never returned home. A majority of the refugees were men. Many of them (sometimes even a half half of them) were related to the sphere of culture and education. This was surprising since the average Chinese was illiterate. The Republic of China’s government attempted to evacuate universities and secondary schools. It also did not have the means to arm all the men of military age

Mediator : a new look at general George C. Marshall’s Chinese mission

General George Catlett Marshall, a soldier and diplomat, went down in history as the US secretary of state and the author of the famous Marshall Plan. In the years 1945–1947, he conducted a mediation mission in China which ended in a total fiasco. It is usually indicated that the reason for such a catastrophic conclusion was the inability to reach a compromise on the part of the Nationalist and Communist parties. The article points out that the actual goal of the Marshall Mission was to avoid America’s political and military entanglement in China. The Truman administration’s attention was focused on Europe. Real support for the KMT – which might have changed the outcome of the civil war – was not considered at all. The purpose of Marshall Mission was to provide an excuse to withdraw