Airpower as a tool of diplomacy: the Sino-American alliance in World War II, 1941-1945
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2013-05
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University of Hawaii at Manoa
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This thesis strives to bridge the gap between the two: focusing specifically on military force, but making connections to the larger political sphere of foreign relations and diplomacy. The essence of American military aid to the beleaguered Chinese, then, was in the form of airpower. This thesis will examine the many ways in which this support was manifested, arguing that the usage of airpower in China was first and foremost a diplomatic initiative, more subject to political motivations than military need. The history of the Sino-American alliance in World War II, especially in terms of airpower, lends itself both to a chronological as well as a thematic approach: the three main operations discussed here are the fighters of the American Volunteer Group (AVG, or "Flying Tigers"), the Hump airlift, and the bombing offensive against Japan known as Operation Matterhorn. Conveniently enough, the volunteer pilots of the Flying Tigers were operational in the first six months of American involvement in the East Asian war, from late December 1941 through early July 1942; the Hump began operations in April 1942 and continued all the way until November 1945; and Operation Matterhorn launched its first raid in June 1944, being terminated in March 1945. Thus, in addition to covering three primary forms of airpower, the narrative follows a roughly chronological format.
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Sino-American Cooperative Organization, Military operations, Naval--American, World War (1939-1945), Air power
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Theses for the degree of Master of Arts (University of Hawaii at Manoa). History.
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