Japanese deterrence assumptions drew partly on the foreign officers hired to train the army and other institutions. Some had served on opposing sides in the American Civil War and brought perspectives formed by a recent conflict over the Union itself. Japanese observers could therefore question how politically solid the United States would remain under the cost of another difficult war. This explains part of Japan's reasoning without establishing that the United States would actually fragment.
Notable Point · 15:02-15:50
Civil War veterans shaped Japanese views of U.S. cohesion
Former Union and Confederate officers employed in Japan gave Japanese planners an unusual perspective on American political solidarity.