Thread: today in 1968

ha
the german bit was the only thing i knew about nauru

The Japanese in WW1, can't help feeling they were thinking ahead, Bob
[ Nauru gets a mention, interesting]

Japan Joins the Allies


Japan joined the Allies almost at the onset of the War (August 23, 1914). It seems surprising that Japan would have entered the War so quickly when the German Army was marching through Belgium and seemed likely to reach Paris. Japan had signed an Alliance with Britain (1902), but it was not aimed at Germany nor did it require Japan to join the Allies when war broke out in Europe. The British fearing that the German Far Eastern Squadron would disrupt trade, asked the Japanese for assistance. The Japanese Government for largely domestic reasons quickly agreed to the British request. Here Germany's colonies were a substantial enducement. Japan saw the opportunity to seize Germany’s Pacific colonies and obtin control over its Chinese concessions. [Strachan] Germany had acquired several colonial possessions, including concessions in China and Pacific islands.
Tsingtao


The Germans build a major naval base at Tsingtao. It was hear that the only major engagement in the Far East was fought. The Japanese supported by the British succeeded in seizing Tsingtao a very little cost in a combined land sea operation (November 1914).
Shantung Railway


More importantly for the future, the Japanese seized control of the formerly German owned Shantung Railway.
Pacific Islands


Japan seized German Pacific islands without resistance, includung Palau and the Marshall, Caroline, and Marianas islands. This gave them the naval bases at Yap, Ponape, and Jaluit. Japanese naval surveyors subsequently discovered the potential fleet base of Truk, and after the war built a major naval base there. As agreed by the Allies, the Japanese seized German colonies north of the Equator while those to the south were seized by British and Dominion forces. A New Zealand force escorted by British, French and Australian warships seized German Samoa (August 28, 1914). A British ship seized the guano-mining island of Nauru. The Australian Navy seized the Bismarck Islands (September 1914). The German forces surrendered German New Guinea and the Bismarck, Admiralty, and Solomon Islands. There were small German military units in these colonies as well as civilians. We do not notice any attrocities by the Japanese during World War I like they committed during World War II.
Naval Assistance


After seizing the German bases, the Japanese Navy assisted the Allies in convoy protection from German raiders.
21 Demands


Japan secured Formosa from China (1895) and reduced Korea to a colonia dependency (1910). The Russo-Japanese War had achieved important territorian concessions, especially part of Sakalin as well as expanded interests in Manchuria in the Russo-Japanese War (1904-05). Japan hoped to achieve much more, especially in China, as a result of participation in the War. It thus submitted its 21 Demands to the Chinese Government (January 1915). This would have essentially reduced China to a colonial dependendency.
Versailles Peace Treaty


After the War, the Treaty of Versailles awarded Japan a mandate over the islands.
Washington Naval Treaties (1921)

The Washington Naval Treaties sought to control military spending and to prevent a post-War arms race. The delegates at the Washington Conference also discuss issues concerning China and the Pacific. The United States argued for the acceptance of Open Door policies which were in effect a redudisation of Japn's 21 Demands.

Hello All,

I thought there was another Rolling Stones song associated with the Vietnam War - it was Gimme Shelter 1969

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sM8ix0siRVQ"]Gimme Shelter - Rolling Stones Vietnam - YouTube[/ame]


This is what Mick Jagger mentions about the song - extract from Wikipedia accessed Feb 3rd 2013 from ([ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gimme_Shelter"]Gimme Shelter - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame])
Inspiration and recording Written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, "Gimme Shelter" was created from the combined efforts of the singer and the guitarist. Richards had been working on the song's signature opening in London while Jagger was working on the film Performance. The song is a churning mid-tempo rocker and begins with a rhythm guitar intro by Richards, followed by Jagger's lead vocal. On the recording of the album, Jagger said in a 1995 interview with Rolling Stone, "Well, it's a very rough, very violent era. The Vietnam War. Violence on the screens, pillage and burning. And Vietnam was not war as we knew it in the conventional sense..." On the song itself, he concluded, "That's a kind of end-of-the-world song, really. It's apocalypse; the whole record's like that." Similarly, on NPR in 2012: "It was a very moody piece about the world closing in on you a bit ... When it was recorded, early '69 or something, it was a time of war and tension, so that's reflected in this tune. It's still wheeled out when big storms happen, as they did the other week [during Hurricane Sandy]. It's been used a lot to evoke natural disaster."

Kind Regards
Lionel