Episode 4: An Extraordinary Measure

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U.S bombing pounds the Japanese home islands. Slave labour and sex slavery are evident. In August 1945, atomic bombs fall on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Calls for surrender are resisted and as agreed at Potsdam, the Red Army invades Manchuria. For the first time the Japanese hear the voice of their Emperor in a broadcast telling them to “bear the unbearable”. Finally, General MacArthur accepts Japan’s surrender on behalf of the Allied Powers. Japan begins the slow journey to miraculous recovery.

The episode opens on the Empire of Japan rising on the international Stage. In 1931, the political structures that allowed the military to operate outside of the control of civilian government result…

In a few weeks a vast empire has been created. The episode begins with Victory in Malaya and the fall of Singapore. Then the Philippines and Burma fall, and Thailand is bullied into an alliance. On…

The episode turns attention to the experience in the occupied territories; the various puppet governments, resistance and attempts at guerrilla-warfare. The treatment of POWs is examined. The…

U.S bombing pounds the Japanese home islands. Slave labour and sex slavery are evident. In August 1945, atomic bombs fall on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Calls for surrender are resisted and as agreed at…