Invasion Literature

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 Banzai!

by Parabellum (Psuedonym.)

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Written by Ferdinand Heinrich Grautoff

LEIPZIG
THEODOR WEICHER, Publisher

NEW YORK
THE BAKER & TAYLOR CO., Sales Agents
33 East 17th Street (Union Square)

Copyright, 1908, by
THEODOR WEICHER


Copyright, 1908, by
THE BAKER & TAYLOR CO.
All rights reserved


Entered at Stationers' Hall, London

Published, January, 1909

THE TROW PRESS, NEW YORK

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CONTENTS

Foreword
Introduction

In Manila
On the High Seas
How It Began
Echoes in New York
Father and Son
A Night in New York
The Red Sun Over the Golden Gate
In the Bowels of the Earth
A Forty-eight-hour Balance
Admiral Perry's Fate
Captain Winstanley
Are You Winstanley?
The Revenge for Portsmouth
On the Other Side of the Whirlpool
A Ray of Light
Through Fire and Smoke
What Happened at Corpus Christi
The Battle of the Blue Mountains
The Assault on Hilgard
—A Friend in Need
Dark Shadows
Remember Hilgard
In the White House

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The "yellow peril" was a subject exploited by many popular novelists of the early twentieth century.

Banzai!, first published in Germany in 1908, forecasts a world situation remarkably similar to that of the second world war, and anticipates in many ways the concepts of propaganda warfare developed in more modern times. The Japanese have infiltrated the Philippines, and have begun an underground campaign against the Americans that culminates with the destruction of an American warship. Meanwhile, organized
gangs of "bandits" seize railway trains and communication lines throughout the western US, and before the national government can react, the states of Oregon, Washington, and California are suddenly cut off from the rest of the country.

The Japanese Imperial fleet sails unopposed into San Francisco Harbour, as part of a supposed series of naval war games under the direction of Admiral Perry as  announced in the newspapers. Asian soldiers suddenly appear from their hiding places, and begin patrolling the streets of the city in strength, armed with weapons shipped to them in packing cases. American ships that have been loaded by Japanese stevedores unexpectedly begin blowing up in mid-ocean, and elsewhere on the sea strange new types of battleships are seen off the western American coast.

With the help of balloons and airplanes, the other major cities in the West are soon conquered, and the Japanese offer peace. But the government vows to fight on, and the country slowly begins to organize formal and guerrilla resistance. The culminating battle is fought in the Rocky Mountains.

FOREWORD

Every American familiar with the modern international political horizon must have experienced a feeling of solid satisfaction at the news that a formidable American fleet was to be dispatched to the waters of the Pacific, and the cruise of our warships has been followed with intense interest by every loyal citizen of our Republic. The reasons that rendered the long and dramatic voyage of our fleet most opportune are identical with the motives that actuated the publication of this translation from the German of a work which exhibits a remarkable grasp of facts coupled with a marvelously vivid power of description. It is no secret that our ships were sent to the Pacific to minimize the danger of a conflict with our great commercial rival in the Far East, if not to avert it altogether, and Banzai! it seems to me, should perform a similar mission. The graphic recital, I take it, is not intended to incite a feeling of animosity between two nations which have every reason to maintain friendly relations, but rather to call the attention of the American people to the present woeful lack of preparedness, and at the same time to assist in developing a spirit of sound patriotism that prefers silent action to blatant braggadocio. That the Pacific Ocean may become, in truth, the Peaceful Ocean, and never resound to the clash of American arms, is the devout wish of one who believes—implicitly—with Moltke in the old proverb, Si vis pacem, para bellum—If you wish for Peace, prepare for War.

(All illustrations much reduced in scale for the website)