第一次世界大戦終戦記念日を迎え、相変わらず日本がインド太平洋を守った事を欧米諸国だけでなく、肝心の日本人が知らない。
私はこの分野の専門家ではないのだが、日本が太平洋に進出した一つのきっかけなので興味を持って調べてみた。平間洋一先生の本に出会えた事は幸運だった、というか平間先生くらいしかこの事を研究していないのではないか？
そうでなければ日本人学者が「火事場泥棒」のようにミクロネシア地域を獲得した、などと言わないはずだ。
早速英語圏のジャーナリスト Michael Fieldにインド太平洋を豪州やニュージーランドが守った歴史はない。守ったのは日本と米国だけである、と平間先生の英文の論文を示しながら攻撃した。下記のサイトからアクセスできる。
Japanese naval assistance and its effect on Australian-Japanese relations
http://hiramayoihi.com/yh_e_papers_ichiji-Austraka.html
読みなおしながら利用できる箇所を引用しておきたい。英国の鶴岡大使にも伝えておいた。マクロンにもメイにも伝えたい。
In August 1918, the British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Sir Arthur J. Balfour, remarked to the Japanese Red Cross delegation that: ‘At present England could not get along without the aid of the Japanese Navy on the sea routes linking Britain to Egypt and Australia.'
The Times (ed.), The Times History of the War, vol. XVIII, London: Times,1919, pp. 458?9.
According to The Royal Australian Navy 1914-1917, joint operations were conducted in an atmosphere of ‘most cordial relations’ and ‘the Japanese admirals were supplied with all necessary information’. However, Australian actions led to complaints from the Japanese Navy on a number of occasions. The Captain of the Minotaur was protested to by the captain of the Ibuki, Captain Kato Kanji, for not relaying an emergency message when the Emden was sighted off the Cocos Islands.
Jose, The Official History of Australia in the War of 1914-1918, p. 341.
Kato Kanji Denki Hensan kai, Kato Kanji Taisho Den, pp.600?1.
Admiral Yamaji reported to the Naval General Staff that ‘Prime Minister Hughes must feel that if it became known that Australia was being defended by Japanese his previous posture towards Japan, and his “White Australian Policy” would appear as mistaken.’
‘Dai Ichi Kodo Gaiyo, Shoken 3 (No. 1 Operation Report, Impression No. 3)’;‘Dai San Tokumu Kantai Ninmu Hokoku’, NIDS.
On the occasion of the celebration of the Emperor’s birthday in Sydney in November 1920, political leader R.W. Caldwell stated: ‘I avail myself of this opportunity to express my deep regret and shame at the recrudescence of anti-Japanese prejudice, which has taken place in Australia since the conclusion of the late war.’
Frei, Japan’s Southward Advance and Australia, p. 105.
Also, in December 1927 the Australian Prime Minister S.M. Bruce, in response to a message from Prime Minister Kato (Foreign Minster during the war), on the occasion of the appointment of Tokugawa Iemasa as Consul-General in Melbourne, said ‘thank Japan for the aid which she gave us during the war’.
The Prime Minister of New Zealand, J.C. Coates, also replied saying that:he could not forget the deep impression made by the assistance extended by the IJN in the transporting of New Zealand troops in the early stages of the war and the fact that throughout the anxieties of the war period Japan had extended the friendship of alliance to the British peoples.
Consul-General Sydney to Minister of Foreign Affairs, ‘Report on an interview where a Message from Prime Minister Kato was convoyed to the Prime Minister of Australia in Melbourne and other matters’, 18 December 1925, Concerning the exchange of Message with the Prime Minister of New Zealand, 12 January 1927; Nichigo Kankei Tuzuri, op. cit.
As the First Lord of the Admiralty, Churchill, wrote in his memoirs, ‘warships flying the Japanese flag committed themselves to escorts for most of the transportation in the Pacific and the Indian Ocean’.
Winston S. Churchill, The World Crisis, 1911?1914, London: Thormon Buterworth, 1929, vol. 2, p. 299.
＜追記＞
書き写す気力ないので写真で失礼します。
平間先生が引用されたThe World Crisis 1911-1914 はなく見つけたのはThe World Crisis 1911-1918 Vol. II.
そこにも全日本海軍がインド太平洋にいる。チリからモザンビークまで敵（ドイツ）は追い払われている。（日本海軍によって、という意味だと想像します）と書かれています。
