War Without Mercy, History Paper
Nikola Zuber
History/ War without Mercy Paper
4/7/12
Wan
War without Mercy Research Paper In the book, War without Mercy, Race and Power in the Pacific War, by John W. Dower and Published by Pantheon Books in 1986, the author powerfully illustrates the extreme racial tensions of Japan and the United States and how they affected policies in both countries. During World War II, the altercations between Japan and the United States were often overlooked, since Germany was taking all of the attention away from the world. But, as described by Dower, the ugly racial battles between Japan and the United States obviously point out that there was more friction between the two countries than most people believe. Another overlooked aspect of World War II is that racism was actually a major component of the war, not just a partial element of the War. Dower demonstrates that racism was a huge underlying factor that affected how people viewed the war as well as the war itself and that racism is highly neglected as a subject of World War II. Lastly, Dower argues how the racial stereotypes that fueled Pacific conflict did not disappear, but rather adapted to peacetime. Throughout the book Dower argues three major components of World War II; that the United States had more racist aggression against the Japanese over the Germans, that Racism was a huge influence during World War II, and that racism between that United States and Japan not only continued but also played a big role in peacetime and rebuilding policies between that two countries. Dower opens his book with the chapter: Patterns of a Race War. The chapter explains that the beginnings of the war not only started up racial conflicts between many countries, but also “sharpened awareness of racism within the United States”.(5) In fact many Asian Americans and African Americans had many mixed feelings about fighting a war for the white people of the United States. This stresses the importance that World War II spiked
History/ War without Mercy Paper
4/7/12
Wan
War without Mercy Research Paper In the book, War without Mercy, Race and Power in the Pacific War, by John W. Dower and Published by Pantheon Books in 1986, the author powerfully illustrates the extreme racial tensions of Japan and the United States and how they affected policies in both countries. During World War II, the altercations between Japan and the United States were often overlooked, since Germany was taking all of the attention away from the world. But, as described by Dower, the ugly racial battles between Japan and the United States obviously point out that there was more friction between the two countries than most people believe. Another overlooked aspect of World War II is that racism was actually a major component of the war, not just a partial element of the War. Dower demonstrates that racism was a huge underlying factor that affected how people viewed the war as well as the war itself and that racism is highly neglected as a subject of World War II. Lastly, Dower argues how the racial stereotypes that fueled Pacific conflict did not disappear, but rather adapted to peacetime. Throughout the book Dower argues three major components of World War II; that the United States had more racist aggression against the Japanese over the Germans, that Racism was a huge influence during World War II, and that racism between that United States and Japan not only continued but also played a big role in peacetime and rebuilding policies between that two countries. Dower opens his book with the chapter: Patterns of a Race War. The chapter explains that the beginnings of the war not only started up racial conflicts between many countries, but also “sharpened awareness of racism within the United States”.(5) In fact many Asian Americans and African Americans had many mixed feelings about fighting a war for the white people of the United States. This stresses the importance that World War II spiked