Kamikaze (Mongol invasion)

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Kamikaze (from Japanese 神 風 , literally "divine wind") is a name ( borrowed from Japanese ) for a storm that helped prevent two Mongol invasions into Japan in the 13th century .

history

Under the Mongol ruler Kublai Khan , a grandson of Genghis Khan , a Mongol- Korean armed forces attempted to conquer the Japanese Empire in 1274 after Japan had previously refused to submit to the Mongols. At the Battle of Bun'ei they succeeded in landing on the islands of Kyushu and Tsushima and inflicting heavy losses on the Japanese defenders, but they withdrew to their ships at night and were caught by a typhoon there , which caused over 10,000 Man, around a third of the invading forces, perished.

Seven years later, another, much larger invasion fleet set sail ( Battle of Kōan ). Again the Mongols managed to land on Kyushu, but this time the Japanese were better prepared and were able to withstand the attackers until another typhoon destroyed most of the ships in the invasion fleet and most of the armed forces, allegedly over 100,000 men, died. Kublai Khan never gave up his conquest intentions, which Marco Polo had already reported, but the repeated uprisings in China and Korea did not allow another attempt at invasion.

These two storms were called the gods wind and encouraged the Japanese to believe that their country was protected by the gods.

See also

Wiktionary: Kamikaze  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations
  • Assumption command or "Kamikaze order"
  • Shimpū Tokkōtai or "Kamikaze Special Attack Force" - outside of Japan, pilots for suicide attacks by the Imperial Japanese Navy, often colloquially known as the "Kamikaze Force"

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. Kamikaze - Duden , Bibliographical Institute ; 2016
  2. The Brockhaus in Text and Image 2003 [SW], electronic edition for the office library, Bibliographisches Institut & FA Brockhaus, 2003; Article: "Korea".
  3. ^ John Whitney Hall, The Japanese Empire. 12th edition, ISBN 3-596-60020-0 , p. 95.