MILITARY SUBVERSION: Evidence from the Imperial Japanese

Why do military officers become political subversives? Soldiers and officers, in particular, are expected to be loyal to their governments. However, there are numerous cases in history of political conspiracies among officers, including plans and attempts to overthrow those in power. This project systematically investigates which biographical characteristics--both personal and career-related--motivate officers to engage in subversive activities directed against an incumbent regime. Empirically, we focus on the Imperial Japanese Army. Our dataset contains systematic information on all 15,000 career-track officers who graduated from the military academy between 1904 and 1932. Importantly, it includes those officers who were members of conspiratorial secret societies and those who were not politically active. The findings have implications for understanding polarization in the security apparatus, military insubordination, and civil-military relations.

Professor Harunobu Saijo is an Assistant Professor at the Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences, International Economic Development Program at Hiroshima University. He earned his PhD in Political Science from Duke University in 2022. His research interests include authoritarian politics, state capacity, factionalism, and the state’s role in social and ethnic conflict.

Hosted by the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin 

Faculty Organizers: Diego Romero