War, Guilt, and World Politics after World War II

270 Pages·2012·2.03 MB·English

by  Thomas U. Berger

War,Guilt,andWorldPoliticsafterWorldWarII
Whendostateschoosetoadoptapenitentstancetowardthepast?When
dotheychoosetoofferapologiesforhistoricalmisdeeds,offercompensa-
tiontotheirvictims,andincorporatethedarkersidesofhistoryintotheir
textbooks,publicmonuments,andmuseums?Whendotheychoosenotto
doso?Andwhatarethepoliticalconsequencesofhowstatesportraythe
past?
This book pursues these questions by examining how governments in
post-1945 Austria, Germany, and Japan have wrestled with the difficult
legacyofWorldWarIIandtheimpactoftheirpoliciesonregionalpolitics
inEuropeandAsia.Thebookarguesthatstatescanreconcileoverhistor-
icalissues,buttodosorequiresgreaterpoliticalwillandimposesgreater
coststhaniscommonlyrealized.Atthesametime,inanincreasinglyinter-
dependentworld,failuretodosocanhaveaprofoundlydisruptiveeffect
onregionalrelationsandfeeddangerousgeopoliticaltensions.
Thomas U. Berger is an Associate Professor in the Department of Inter-
national Relations at Boston University. He is the author of Cultures of
Antimilitarism:NationalSecurityinGermanyandJapanandofRedefining
JapanandtheU.S.-JapanAllianceandcoeditorofJapaninInternational
Politics:BeyondtheReactiveState.Hehaspublishedextensivelyonissues
relating to East Asian and European international relations, including
essays that have appeared in International Security, Review of Interna-
tionalStudies,GermanPolitics,andAsianSecurity.Hisprimaryresearch
areasincludeinternationalsecurity,internationalmigration,andthepol-
iticsofmemoryandhistoricalrepresentation.Priortojoiningthefaculty
at Boston University in 2001, he was an Associate Professor at Johns
Hopkins University. He has held a number of postdoctoral and research
fellowships, including the Harvard Academy Junior Researcher Fellow-
ship, the Olin Postdoctoral Fellowship in International Security Studies,
and Fulbright, Japan Foundation, MacArthur, and DAAD doctoral re-
searchfellowships.HereceivedhisPhDinPoliticalSciencefromMITand
hisBAfromColumbiaCollege.

War, Guilt, and World Politics after
World War II
THOMAS U. BERGER
BostonUniversity
cambridgeuniversitypress
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Informationonthistitle:www.cambridge.org/9781107674950
(cid:2)C ThomasU.Berger2012
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Firstpublished2012
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
AcatalogrecordforthispublicationisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary.
LibraryofCongressCataloginginPublicationData
Berger,ThomasU.
War,guilt,andworldpoliticsafterWorldWarII/ThomasU.Berger.
pages cm
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
isbn978-1-107-02160-0(hardback)–isbn978-1-107-67495-0(paperback) 1.WorldWar,
1939–1945–Reparations. 2.WorldWar,1939–1945–Historiography. 3.Restitution–
Europe. 4.Reparationsforhistoricalinjustices–Europe. 5.Culturalproperty–Repatriation–
Europe. 6.WorldWar,1939–1945–Confiscationsandcontributions–Europe. 7.Guilt–
Politicalaspects. 8.WorldWar,1939–1945–Psychologicalaspects. 9.Warvictims. I.Title.
d818.b47 2012
940.53(cid:3)14–dc23 2011051170
isbn978-1-107-02160-0Hardback
isbn978-1-107-67495-0Paperback
CambridgeUniversityPresshasnoresponsibilityforthepersistenceoraccuracyofurlsfor
externalorthird-partyInternetWebsitesreferredtointhispublicationanddoesnotguarantee
thatanycontentonsuchWebsitesis,orwillremain,accurateorappropriate.
Contents
Tables pagevii
Introduction 1
1 PoliticsandMemoryinanAgeofApology 8
2 Germany:TheModelPenitent 35
3 Austria:TheProdigalPenitent 83
4 Japan:TheModelImpenitent? 123
5 TheGeopoliticsofRememberingandForgettinginAsia,
1991–2010:TowardanExpandedModel 175
6 Conclusions:VarietiesofPenance 230
Index 251
v

Tables
1.1 Summaryofdifferentapproachestoexplainingthe
determinantsofofficialhistoricalnarratives page31
5.1 KoreanviewsofJapan 200
5.2 JapaneseviewsofKorea 201
5.3 Japanesepublic’sviewofChina1978–2009 223
5.4 Japanesepublicperceptionoftheriskofwar,1969–2009 225
vii