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Russo-Japanese War Novels – Emile Driant

Posted: July 21st, 2014 | No Comments »

This year is of course the 110th anniversary of the Russo-Japanese War. Just as before with the Boxer Rebellion, the Russo-Japanese War inspired a raft of novels based on the war, the fear of invasion from the east (the Yellow Peril) and general concerns following the defeat of a European power by an Asian one.

Emile Driant (below) produced one of the best sellers in this quick fire post-war genre, L’invasion Jaune (The Yellow Invasion), published under the pseudonym Capitaine Danri. Driant was a French army officer and novelist of a decidedly nationalistic bent. The Yellow Invasion was published in 1905. The story depicts the surprise attack against the Western world by a gigantic Sino-Japanese army, covertly equipped with American-made weapons and secretly trained in the remote Chinese hinterland (so all the enemies – Japanese, Chinese and, of course, Les Americans too). The plot is hatched by a Japanese veteran of the Russo-Japanese War coming out of the conflict with a fanatical hatred of Westerners, he organizes a world-spanning secret society named the Devouring Dragon in order to destroy Western civilization.

And there you have it….

Driant

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danrit-invasion

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