SEARCHING FOR POLITICAL EFFECTIVENESS: THE STRATEGIES BEHIND THE MILITARY UNIFICATION OF JAPAN

Abstract

Over the course of millennia power laid in the hands of generals and rulers and their ability to act – but so did their downfalls. Thus, the first part of this presentation will be focused on the importance of strategy and tactics in any kind of rule. Furthermore, Japanese warfare will be anatomized – how the samurai became elite warriors, weaponry, the transition of samurai warfare during the Sengoku Period and its importance to the fight for supremacy between the Japanese Clans. The goal of this paper is to unravel the conundrums of The Age of War from a political frame of reference, under three powerful influences – Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu. The discussion will then shift towards analyzing the impetus that put in motion their plans and the ways they achieved power, their brilliant strategies and their undoing, whilst using the knowledge regarding Political Science and International Relations to determine the political legacy of their actions.