Why was William Randolph Hearst a Japan hawk in the 1910s & a Japan noninterventionist in 1930s?

Why was William Randolph Hearst a Japan hawk in the 1910s & a Japan noninterventionist in 1930s?

  • a) Hearst felt guilty about his own advocacy of the Spanish-American War by the 1930s

    Votes: 2 11.1%
  • b) Hearst only cared when Japanese migration was an issue, once that ended in 1920s he didn't care

    Votes: 11 61.1%
  • c) Hearst was all for a "splendid little war" in 1898, but knew from WWI he didn't like a big war

    Votes: 8 44.4%
  • d) Germanophilia, that’s why he opposed both World Wars even though he was a Spain hawk in '98

    Votes: 3 16.7%
  • e) Anglophobia – didn’t like early Anglo-allied Japan, didn’t care about Japan after alliance ended

    Votes: 3 16.7%

  • Total voters
    18

raharris1973

Gone Fishin'
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Between visiting Hearst Castle (great site if you're ever in south-central California) last winter and seeing some incidental references to Hearst's editorial opinions, it appears he demogogued fears of the "yellow peril", particularly with regard to a war scare in 1913 (if not also earlier).

If you were not Korean or Russian or in former Chinese territories, Japanese foreign policy back then was not particularly malign.

But, fast-forward a couple decades to the Panay incident, the Hearst Papers were adamant that Japanese aggression in Asia was none of America's business. I believe he later brought back Yellow Peril themes in his papers, but only *after Pearl Harbor*.

In terms of Japan's actual behavior, not only towards Asians, but even Americans as well, Hearst's timing was odd and misplaced.

So I speculated on some reasons for the shifts in Hearst's views.


a) Hearst felt guilty about advocacy of the Spanish-American War by the 1930s

b) Hearst only cared about Japan when Japanese immigration was an issue, once that ended in the 20s he did not care about Far East

c) Hearst was all for a "splendid little war" in 1898, but knew from WWI he didn't like a big war

d) He was a Germanophile, that’s why he opposed US involvement in both World Wars even though he was hawkish on Spain

e) He was an Anglophobe – didn’t like early Anglo-allied Japan, didn’t care about Japan after alliance ended
 
I know it's not playing along with the theme of this site, but, Occam's Razor would suggest that it was good for business to be one way early and then the other, later...money is behind almost everything that people like Hearst do.
 

raharris1973

Gone Fishin'
Donor
Monthly Donor
I know it's not playing along with the theme of this site, but, Occam's Razor would suggest that it was good for business to be one way early and then the other, later...money is behind almost everything that people like Hearst do.

Hah, that idea never occurred to me, though it should have. Maybe it was based on an assessment of what the reading public would be enticed with.
 
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