Overview
When in 1852 US President Fillmore's plans to send a large naval expedition to Japan to negotiate a treaty of amity and commerce became known in Europe, Britain decided on a wait-and-see policy, while Holland worried that it might become involved in a distant war. Russia, however, saw Japan as a neighbouring empire, to whose ports it had itself long sought access, and consequently its own strategic imperatives would not permit America to now exclude it. Thus, the stage was set for the race to open Closed Japan along with the surrounding seas. For America, access to Japanese ports was a vital link in the chain of trans-Pacific commerce and navigation, whose completion could no longer be postponed, while for Russia, it meant crucial bases and supplies for its warships in hostile seas. In the event, America's Black Ships under Commodore Matthew Perry won the race, but they were soon followed by their Russian rivals. Ultimately, the continued appearance of these two squadrons in 1853 and 1854 left Japan no option but to accept the new reality of Western naval might, and agree to the opening of a few of its ports for the repair and supply of American and Russian warships, but not yet to the idea of trade . In this informed and painstaking study, McOmie pieces together a more complete picture of the competition and cooperation, distrust and open hostility, that marked the joint Western enterprise. He also provides a detailed and critical comparison of the first treaties.
Full Product Details
Author: William McOmie
Publisher: Brill
Imprint: Global Oriental Ltd
Dimensions:
Width: 18.00cm
, Height: 3.50cm
, Length: 25.50cm
Weight: 1.500kg
ISBN: 9781901903768
ISBN 10: 1901903761
Pages: 528
Publication Date: 22 June 2006
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Professional and scholarly
,
Undergraduate
,
Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: In Print
This item will be ordered in for you from one of our suppliers. Upon receipt, we will promptly dispatch it out to you. For in store availability, please contact us.
Author Information
William McOmie graduated in psychobiology at the University of California at Santa Cruz and received an MA in Russian language, literature and history from the University of California at Davis. He subsequently travelled and lived abroad, studying German and Japanese to an advanced level. For the last ten years he has been accessing primary sources in English, Russian, German and Dutch for the writing of this book, most recently as a visiting scholar at the Center for Japanese Studies,at the University of California, Berkley (2001-2). He is currently Associate Professor in the Faculty of Foreign Languages, Kanagawa University, Japan, and is also author of the forthcoming The Opening of Japan, 1853-55. A comparative study of the American, British and Russian campaigns to force the Tokugawa shogunate to conclude treaties and open ports to their ships (Global Oriental, 2005)
