document_title: Pretty Little Liars (book series)

question_text: pretty little liars in the books who is a

text: Pretty Little Liars (book series)

text: Overview[edit]

text: The series is loosely divided into four arcs, chronicling the introduction and reveal of each "A". Set in the suburbs of Philadelphia The series follows the lives of four teenage girls nicknamed the Pretty little Liars or simply the Liars, whose clique falls apart after the disappearance of their Queen bee leader, "Alison DiLaurentis". Three years after her disappearance, the girls begin receiving threatening messages from an anonymous character named "A," who threatens to expose their secrets, including long-hidden ones they thought only Alison knew. Shortly after the messages begin, Alison's body is discovered buried in her yard. The books progress with the four girls trying to figure out the identity of "A" and facing many dangerous obstacles and twists as they do so.

text: Characters[edit]

text: The series has many characters, most of them recurring. The main characters are:

text: Spencer Hastings: Spencer is a headstrong, intelligent, overachieving girl who comes from the wealthy Hastings family.

text: Hanna Marin: Hanna is the bubbly, strong, and fierce "it-girl" of the group following Alison's disappearance. She suffers from an eating disorder, about which she received taunts from Alison.

text: Aria Montgomery: Aria is a quirky and artsy girl who, at the beginning of the books, is trying to find herself.

text: Emily Fields: Emily is considered the jock of the group, being a physical, loyal girl who struggles with her sexuality.

text: Alison DiLaurentis: Alison is the former "Queen Bee" of her clique, consisting of: Spencer, Hanna, Aria and Emily. She had supposedly been killed at the beginning of the series however is revealed to have been alive and also their tormentor "A" as she was mistaken for her twin sister Courtney who pretended to be like her and was sent to The Preserve at Addison Stephens, which she believed was the Liars fault and has been plotting revenge ever since.

text: Courtney DiLaurentis: Courtney is really Charlotte in the books. She used to be sweet, until she started pretending to be Alison, where her personality morphed into her. She is the third child to Jessica and Kenneth and was sent to The Preserve at Addison Stephens after a physical argument with Alison who she eventually turned into and befriended the Liars up until the night of her infamous disappearance when she was killed and buried by the real Alison DiLaurentis and her accomplice Nick Maxwell.

text: A: A is the main antagonist of the series, being, for the most part, an anonymous character who relentlessly torments many characters, in particular the Liars. Mona Vanderwaal, Alison DiLaurentis and Nick Maxwell are discovered to be A. Mona became A due to Alison and the Liars being responsible for The Jenna Thing, which burned her too. However, she is killed when Spencer pushes her off a cliff face and her neck is caught between rocks. However, a new "A" rises, this time even more determined to hurt the Liars. This A is revealed to be Alison herself who wanted revenge on the Liars for ruining her life and Nick, who is revealed to be her accomplice.

text: Novels[edit]

text: First Arc[edit]

text:
Book #
Title
Publication Date
ISBN
Pages

1
Pretty Little Liars
October 3, 2006[5]
978-0-06-088730-8
286[5]

The story introduces an exclusive group of friends: Alison DiLaurentis, the popular yet manipulative queen bee, Aria Montgomery, an independent girl who is considered to be the oddball in Rosewood, she also went to Iceland for the summer, Emily Fields, a swimmer who holds secret feelings for Alison, she actually loved her, Hanna Marin, who strives to be thin and popular like Alison, and Spencer Hastings, an overachiever who is brave enough to stand up against Alison's manipulative ways. Alison mysteriously disappears during a sleepover with the girls in the summer before 8th grade.
The story then jumps 3 years later, when the girls are living their own lives and don't speak to each other.
Aria returns to Rosewood from a 3-year trip to Iceland with her family and comes back much more sophisticated than before she left. She meets and makes out with a guy in a local bar who is revealed later to be her English teacher, Ezra Fitz.
Emily befriends the new girl in town, Maya St. Germain, and soon develops romantic feelings for her, even though Emily has a boyfriend, Ben. Ben later finds Maya and Emily kissing in the photo booth at a party and dumps beer on them.
Hanna is the new popular girl in town alongside the former nerd, Mona Vanderwaal. However, she and Mona sometimes shoplift though both can clearly afford their steals. Hanna battles the urge to turn back to bulimia, and struggles to manage the stress of keeping her queen bee status.
Spencer continues to struggle in her long-standing rivalry with Melissa Hastings, her perfect older sister. Problems occur when she begins to feel attracted to Melissa's new boyfriend, Wren Kim
Throughout the story, the liars get messages threatening to reveal their secrets of the present and past, including a terrifying incident the girls refer to as "The Jenna Thing". They automatically believe it is their missing friend, Alison, because she is the only one each of them confided in regarding their darkest secrets. However, they are shocked when the police find her corpse buried in the gazebo of her former house. The book ends with the liars receiving a text at Alison's funeral saying, "I'm still here, bitches. And I know everything. -A ". The girls have made up at this point.

2
Flawless
March 27, 2007[6]
978-0-06-088733-9
330[6]

Spencer Hastings, Hanna Marin, Aria Montgomery, and Emily Fields continue to receive text messages from an unknown person, "A", and are more desperate than ever to discover the identity of "A", who is still taunting them with the threat of exposing their many secrets. At first the girls think "A" is Alison, because she is the only person who knew their secrets, but then they start to believe the person behind the threats is Toby, because some messages they receive refer to 'The Jenna Thing' and with Alison dead, he is the only other person who was a part of the incident, although everyone but Spencer is unaware of why he took the blame for what happened to Jenna.
"The Jenna Thing" is revealed to be an incident in which Ali had set off a stink bomb in Jenna Cavanaugh's step-brother Toby's treehouse to get revenge after supposedly spying on her, only to see the treehouse burst into flames, not knowing that Jenna was inside, and due to that, she was permanently blinded. Toby was framed for the garage fire by Alison.
"A" sends Emily a text message hinting that "A" knows about Emily and Maya's romantic relationship and threatens to tell everyone about it. Emily becomes close with Toby and goes to a big benefit party with him but then later tells him that she thinks she might be gay.
"A" leaves a note for Hanna that forces her to tell Naomi and Riley that she makes herself throw up and that Sean was the one who broke up with her. Later on, she receives a text that tells her Sean is at Foxy with another girl. Hanna is shocked to discover her former boyfriend Sean Ackard ignoring his Virginity Club vows and nearly having sex with Aria.
"A" continuously tells Aria to either 'get rid of the problem' or to tell her mom the truth about Byron, her father, that he is seeing another woman. Aria goes to confront the other woman, Meredith, but when she does Meredith tells her that she and Aria's father are in love. Ella finds out that Byron is having an affair with a student named Meredith Gates and kicks him out, leaving Ella and Aria's mother-daughter relationship shattered.
Spencer continues to date with her sister Melissa's now ex-boyfriend Wren and later loses her virginity to him. However, Melissa starts to hook-up with him as well and eventually makes sure that he will be out of both of their lives for good.
Emily blames herself for Toby's suicide. In this book it is revealed that Toby was forcing himself on Jenna when they were in middle school and Ali and Spencer were the only ones who knew about it, which is how Alison forced Toby to take the blame.

3
Perfect
August 21, 2007[7]
978-0-06-088736-0
298[7]

Now homeless, Aria goes to live with her new boyfriend, Sean Ackard. Still seeing Ezra, their relationship is broken up when Sean informs the police, having found out the secret from "A".
Emily plans to go to the police to stop "A", which leads to "A" taking revenge by outing her to the whole school. Emily's parents threaten to send her away if she does not attend a "de-gaying" program, however, Emily realizes she can't change who she is.
Spencer is nominated for a Golden Orchid Award for the essay she copied from her sister Melissa, which "A" threatens to expose. Spencer's family discovers she cheated on her Golden Orchid essay, but keep it quiet to protect their reputation. Spencer comes to believe she might have killed Alison after discovering she suffers from rage-induced blackouts.
Hanna and Mona get into a fight, and Hanna seeks comfort with an "uncool" boy named Lucas. She goes to Mona's birthday party but gets humiliated, but she receives a text from "A" and recognizes the number. She intends to reveal the true identity of "A" to the other girls, but is run down by "A" before she can do so. The girls recognize it is A from the eerie text: She Knew Too Much-A

4
Unbelievable
May 27, 2008[8]
978-0-06-088739-1
335[8]

Hanna barely survives being rundown by "A", and due to a head injury, she loses her memory of the previous day, thus forgetting "A"'s identity.
Emily's parents catch her with Maya at a party and send her to Iowa to live with her strict, religious relatives. She is glad to be safe from "A", but after Emily is accused of threatening her cousins, she runs away. Emily returns home when she sees her parents on TV, who tell her that they love her and accept her for who she is. Emily and Maya are reunited, but Trista, a girl who Emily had met and flirted with in Iowa comes to visit, their relationship is shattered, and Emily is saddened further when she sees Trista and Noel hooking up.
After being kicked out of Sean's house, Aria reluctantly moves in with Byron and Meredith, who announces that she is pregnant and when Bryon's and Ella's divorce is finalized, they are to be married. While at Hollis College, Aria takes an art class and befriends Jenna, who she suspects could be "A".
"A" reveals to Melissa (Spencer's sister) that Spencer stole her essay for the Golden Orchid competition, but the family keeps quiet to protect their reputation. Melissa and Spencer grow closer, and Spencer confesses that she kissed Ian, and that he and Alison were secretly dating. When fragments of her memory from the night Alison died are restored, Spencer is horrified when it dawns on her that she may have accidentally killed Alison.
Mona and Hanna's friendship is restored, and to celebrate Hanna's recovery, Mona and Spencer plan a party for her. Spencer is surprised to discover that she enjoys Mona's company, and even more so when Mona tells her that she has been receiving messages from "A". Hanna is thrilled that Spencer approves of Mona, and they consider letting her join their clique.
"A" tells Aria that Meredith has a secret job at Hooters, and she goes there with Mike, only to discover that "A" was lying. Darren Wilden and several other cops are there, and Aria is tempted to tell them about "A". When Mike realizes that something is troubling his sister, he urges her to tell Darren, and she eventually does. On the night of Hanna's party, Aria tells Jenna what happened the night she was blinded and apologizes for not stopping Alison, but Jenna reveals that she and Alison had planned it together to get rid of Toby. Aria asks Jenna about "A", but Jenna becomes scared and quickly leaves, hinting that she knows who "A" is.
Melissa confronts Spencer about seeing Ian behind her back, which Spencer denies, and when she leaves, Spencer and Mona discover another note from "A" and suspect that Melissa killed Alison because she was jealous of her relationship with Ian. They inform the others, and decide to turn Melissa in. Mona drives Spencer to the police station, and Aria tells Emily and Hanna the truth about The Jenna Thing. When Hanna says that one in four boys sexually abuse their sister, Emily tells her not to believe everything she hears, which causes Hanna's memory to return, and she is horrified when she remembers who "A" is: Mona.
Spencer is hesitant about turning in Melissa, but Mona comforts her and convinces her otherwise. Moments later, Spencer receives a text from Emily, telling her that Mona is "A". When she receives several more from the girls, who are worrying about what Mona will do, Mona realizes that they finally figured it out. While Aria, Emily and Hanna go to the police station to tell Darren that Mona is "A", Mona drives Spencer to Floating Man's Quarry, where she explains that she saw what happened on the night of The Jenna Thing, and when Maya moved in, she found Alison's diary, which contained the girls' secrets. Using the information to her advantage, she got a new phone and became "A" to get revenge on the girls for blinding Jenna. Spencer accuses Mona of killing Alison, but Mona says that it was Ian who killed her, as Alison had blackmailed him about their relationship.
Spencer secretly calls Darren, who overhears her conversation with Mona and learns of their location. Mona tells Spencer that she originally planned to frame her for Alison's murder, but recently grew to like her, and thus decided to frame Melissa to do Spencer a favor. She then offers Spencer her life in return that she becomes "A" with her, as they could pin the blame on someone else. Spencer refuses and Mona attacks her. They fight on the cliff's edge, and in the struggle, Spencer accidentally pushes Mona off the cliff to her death. Aria, Emily and Hanna arrive on the scene with Darren and police, and find Mona's body and an unconscious Spencer.

text: Second Arc[edit]

text:
Book #
Title
Publication Date
ISBN
Pages

5
Wicked
November 25, 2008[9]
978-0-06-156607-3
310[9]

A new "A" begins making threats. Ian denies being Ali's killer.
Emily finds herself confused about her sexuality once again, as she now has feelings for a boy she met at church, Christian singer Isaac. Emily tries to date Isaac without him finding out about her orientation, though "A" keeps interfering. Emily tells Isaac about Maya and he then hugs her and tell her that he accepts her for who she is.
Hanna, still overcome with shock after discovering Mona Vanderwaal was really "A", can't seem to catch a break. She now has trouble with her stepsister Kate Randall. At a party at a hotel opening, Hanna and Kate continue to fight over title of "Queen Bee". Hanna and Lucas break up after Hanna tells everyone that Kate has herpes at a party to sabotage her. Eventually, Hanna's father forbids her from talking to anyone except Kate.
Aria has feelings for a man, Xavier, who she met at an art show; however, he ends up meeting and dating her mother through an online match site. This puts her at risk of hurting her mother again and further damaging their newly repaired relationship. Aria moves in with Meredith and Byron to avoid Xavier as his true intentions will jeopardize Aria and Ella's relationship.
After a shock at her gran's will reading and her family neglecting her, Spencer comes to believe that she is adopted and starts searching a reuniting website for answers.
In the end, Spencer, Emily, Aria, and Hanna find Ian's body in the woods behind Spencer's house, but when they return with the police, the body is missing. Wilden sort of pushes it off, and begins the search hours after the girls had shared their story.

6
Killer
June 30, 2009[10]
978-0-06-156611-0
321[10]

The girls discover that the person they think is Ali's murderer — Ian Thomas — has actually been framed, and they start to wonder if the new "A" really wants to threaten them or just to solve the mystery.
Spencer meets a woman named Olivia Caldwell who she thinks is her real mother, and attempts to move to New York, but it turns out to be a scam and she loses her college money.
Hanna and Kate compete for the affections of Aria's brother Mike Montgomery.
Aria falls in love with Jason DiLaurentis again.
Emily has sex with her new boyfriend Isaac, whose mother finds out and banishes Emily from their house without Isaac knowing. At the opening party for Radley, a former so-called "haven for troubled youth", Emily finds proof that Jason DiLaurentis had been a patient there, and soon Hanna, Aria, and Emily all come to believe that Jason and Darren Wilden had something to do with Ali's murder.
Ian Thomas confirms their suspicions about Darren and Jason right before someone sets the woods behind Spencer's house to fire. Although at first they had their doubts about Ian being alive, they are now confident he is.
While Aria is trying to get to Spencer's barn to show them Ali's flag from 6th grade, she finds someone caught in the woods because of the fire, saves this person, and then they all recognize her as Ali.

7
Heartless
January 19, 2010[11]
978-0-06-156614-1
274[11]

After the fire, no one believes the girls when they insist that they saw Alison.
"A" sends Emily to Lancaster, where Emily comes to believe that Ali was not the girl in the hole, but that Wilden has murdered a girl named Leah and covered it up by making it seem like it was Ali.
Aria begins a relationship with Noel Kahn, after he defends her at a party. She visits a medium, who produces a message in Ali's handwriting that states that "Ali killed Ali." This leads her to believe that Ali might have committed suicide.
Hanna's father sends her to a clinic to prevent her eating disorder from reappearing due to stress, where she befriends a troubled girl named Iris. Hanna has more dreams about Ali, which causes her to suspect that Iris had something to do with Ali's death.
"A" reveals to Spencer that her father had an affair (and that Alison is Spencer's half-sister), making her suspicious of her mother.
The Liars are arrested for Ali's murder. They realize that "A" has tricked each of them into believing someone else killed Ali. However, a man named Billy Ford is soon arrested for murdering Alison and Jenna Cavanaugh. Everyone now believes Ian is dead.

8
Wanted
June 8, 2010[12]
978-0-06-156617-2
259[12]

Aria, Hanna, Emily and Spencer are shocked to learn of the existence of Alison's twin sister, Courtney, when she's introduced at a press conference. Courtney had spent her life in institutions due to "health issues" and her existence was kept secret by her family. It is revealed that Jason was not a patient at the Radley but instead he was visiting Courtney. She was finally released and went home to Rosewood, where she attempts to resume her sister's life and begins tentative friendships with Ali's old friends. She later reveals that she's actually Ali, the real Courtney had pretended to be her on the night of Ali's disappearance, and she was the one who was killed. When she had tried to tell her family who she was, they didn't believe her because Courtney was notorious for pretending to be Ali, and sent her back to the institution in Courtney's place. The girls are thrilled that Ali is back, and jump at the chance to go with her to the family's house in the Poconos after a school dance.
On the way there, Spencer gets a frantic call from her mother telling her that Melissa has disappeared. Spencer had begun to believe that her sister was the one who killed Ali and that she may be after the rest of them, but once they arrive at the house it's revealed that Ali is the killer. They discover that the girl they were friends with years ago was actually Courtney, and the real Ali was stuck in an institution. She had killed Courtney for ruining her life, attempted to kill the girls in the forest fire, tried to have them arrested, and is now going to kill them by setting the house on fire.
They're able to escape after stumbling onto Ian's body hidden in a closet and releasing a bound Melissa, who Ali had kidnapped and was planning to kill as well. Ali is trapped inside the house and it's assumed she died in the fire, although her body is never found.
After learning that her ex-husband shipped Hanna off to a mental institution, Ashley Marin transfers back to Rosewood and kicks Hanna's father, Isabel and Kate out of the house, thrilling Hanna. Hanna and Mike get back together.
Meredith goes into labor, giving birth to a girl named Lola. Aria and Noel get back together after it is revealed that Ali kissed him, not the other way around, and Ella breaks up with Xavier after learning of his inappropriate behavior towards Aria.
Spencer's father proclaims that even though he and her mother may not get back together, things are going to change for the better in their family, and Spencer and Melissa grow closer after almost being killed.
Emily buries everything she can find that reminds her of Ali at Courtney's grave, hoping she can finally find closure, but is unsure of whether the noises she hears at the cemetery are real or imagined. And somewhere, a new girl starts her senior year at an anonymous school, a girl whose name just so happens to be an anagram of Alison DiLaurentis. The reader is left wondering if Alison is alive.

text: Third Arc[edit]

text:
Book #
Title
Publication Date
ISBN
Pages

9
Twisted
July 5, 2011[13]
978-0-06-208101-8
305[13]

The book begins with the girls vacationing in Jamaica and Emily seeing a girl who she believes is Ali. Throughout the rest of the book, details about that fateful vacation emerge.
In the meantime, Noel, Aria's boyfriend, has an exchange student, from Finland, come to live with him. Instead of being the nerdy boy, Klaudius, that Noel expected, the exchange student turns out to be a gorgeous blonde, Klaudia, who tries to steal Noel from Aria. Aria ends up accidentally pushing Klaudia off of a ski lift as an act of self-defense; however, Klaudia uses that information against Aria. By that point, Aria and Noel's relationship is shaky and uncertain.
Emily meets a new girl, Chloe, who moves into the Cavanaugh's old house. They immediately become good friends, bonding over Chloe's baby sister, Grace. Emily has now given up hope of getting a swim scholarship, her only option for college. Chloe's dad offers to help but also hits on Emily, even making sexual moves towards her. Chloe walks in on her dad kissing Emily, but thinks that it's Emily who is wrecking her family (her father had previously been cheating).
Hanna's dad runs for senator of Pennsylvania. Patrick, somebody who's helping out at the set, offers Hanna a modeling job, but he takes some naughty pictures and threatens her with them, saying he will release them to the public and ruin her dads' chances of becoming senator, unless she gives him $10,000. Hanna steals money from her dad and frames Jeremiah, a mean man who is also working on set.
Spencer's mom has begun to date Nicholas Pennythistle, the father of snobby Amelia and her brother Zach, in whom Spencer develops a romantic interest. When they go out dancing, she kisses him, only to find out Zach is gay. When the Hastings and Pennythistles travel to New York together, Spencer and Zach drunkenly fall asleep in the same bed. During the night, Spencer had kicked off her clothes because she was hot, leaving her in her blouse and underwear. The next morning Mr. Pennythistle wakes them both up by entering the room. Their indecent clothing and close proximity leads Mr. Pennythistle to believe that they had slept together and acts violent. Spencer tells him that Zach didn't touch her and that he's gay, hoping to help, but Mr. Pennythistle becomes furious and sends Zach to military school. Zach and Spencer's friendship ends, Zach leaving Spencer with the words "Rot in hell, bitch".
The girls start to get messages from a new "A", and believe it's Ali and that she somehow survived the fall from the building. In the end of the book, the news turns on and a teenage girl's dead body was found floating in the water in Jamaica. They identify this girl as Tabitha Clark from New Jersey. The cops believe her death was a tragic accident - not a murder. The girls realize they killed an innocent girl.

10
Ruthless
December 6, 2011[14]
978-0-06-208186-5
338[14]

It is revealed that last summer while Spencer was taking AP courses at Penn, she began taking speed pills as a way to help with studying. After being arrested by the police for possession, she arranges for Hanna to help her frame her roommate, Kelsey, as a dealer, in order for Spencer to not face charges. After landing the role of Lady Macbeth in the school play, the stress and guilt begin to take their toll on Spencer, causing her to have frequent hallucinations in which she is haunted by Kelsey and Tabitha. She becomes paranoid and begins to believe Kelsey is "A" and is taking revenge on her for being framed.
Emily accidentally meets Kelsey at a party and is instantly smitten with her. She and Kelsey grow close, much to Spencer's disapproval. After Emily is hurt by Spencer's remarks about her love for Alison, she angrily tells Kelsey that Spencer framed her for the drug possession. Depressed, Kelsey overdoses and attempts to throw herself into the quarry where Mona died, but Emily saves her and Kelsey is sent to the Preserve for treatment. While visiting Kelsey, the girls realize that Tabitha was also a patient at the Preserve and was the same age as Alison and Courtney.
Hanna's father asks her to help with the social media aspect of his campaigning. She meets a boy named Liam, who she falls for, despite knowing he is the son of her father's political opponent. They break up when she learns he has been seeing multiple other girls while dating her, and reconciles with Mike.
After Aria is dumped by Noel, she seeks out comfort in Ezra, in hopes of rekindling their romance. However, things are strained between them, and Aria eventually goes back into a relationship with Noel, after discovering Ezra and Klaudia being intimate.
The Liars attempt to circumvent "A's" threats by coming clean about their secrets, with varied success. Meanwhile, "A" becomes more violent, shoving Emily down a hill at Stockbridge trail. "A" sends Spencer an email of Tabitha on the beach with a head injury, indicating that "A" was the one who disposed of Tabitha's body. "A" taunts the Liars, stating they will never discover "A's" true identity. Kelsey cannot be A. Emily and Spencer have their biggest rivalry.

11
Stunning
June 5, 2012[15]
978-0-06-208189-6
302[15]

The Liars begin to suspect a woman, Gayle, might be "A", when she comes to Rosewood and begins to harass them; it is revealed that Emily backed out of a deal to let Gayle adopt her daughter in exchange for $50,000 paid under the table. Emily finds herself reconnecting with Isaac while attempting to tell him about her pregnancy, but she fears the repercussions of such a confession.
Spencer visits Princeton hoping to join an Eating Club, but "A" interferes and spikes Spencer's pot brownies with LSD and Ritalin.
Aria panics when she finds out Noel's father is a drag queen and ends up putting her relationship with Noel at risk when "A" threatens Aria to expose Noel's father photo publicly.
On a tip from "A", Hanna begins spying on Mike's new girlfriend, Colleen. Later she becomes publicly humiliated by "A" when she sends everybody a video of Hanna stalking Colleen, and her desperate ways of getting Mike back.
Gayle is murdered by "A" and it is revealed that she was Tabitha's stepmother. Tabitha's father speaks at Gayle's funeral, and announces that Tabitha's autopsy showed no trace of alcohol, meaning that she was murdered. He thus plans to re-open the investigation into her death, and threatens the killer that he will find him, both Gayle's and Tabitha's killer. The girls get very nervous about this.

12
Burned
December 4, 2012[16]
978-0-06-208192-6
319[16]

It is revealed that prior to the events of Twisted, the Liars covered up Hanna's involvement in a car accident that left another girl, Madison, badly injured. While on a school-sponsored cruise in the Caribbean, the Liars uncover clues that suggest "A" is more than one person. They begin to suspect Naomi Zeigler of being "A", after she befriends Hanna (who is unaware that Madison is Naomi's cousin) and attempts to sabotage Spencer's new relationship. Aria becomes friends with a boy named Graham, only to discover he is Tabitha's ex-boyfriend, leading the Liars come to believe that Naomi and Graham are working together as "A". Meanwhile, Emily falls for a stowaway, Jordan, unaware that she is a thief on the run from the authorities.
After an explosion on the boat, the Liars go off on their own to bury "evidence" of their connection to Tabitha (Tabitha's locket, which "A" had planted for Noel to find). "A" tampers with their lifeboat, nearly stranding them in the middle of the ocean. The near-death experience pushes the girls into wanting to confess about killing Tabitha. However, as they make plans to come clean about everything, they discover that they were not responsible for Tabitha's death at all: She had been bludgeoned to death by "A".
The Liars finally come to believe that "A" is, in fact, Alison, as Emily reveals that she may have helped Alison escape the burning Poconos house in Wanted. Suspiciously though Naomi was at Gayle's funeral.

text: Fourth Arc[edit]

text:
Book #
Title
Publication Date
ISBN
Pages

13
Crushed
June 4, 2013
978-0-06-219971-3
340

Weeks before the annual Rosewood Day Prom, the four girls are put under much stress. They break down and try being one step ahead of "A", and marking off who their suspects could be. In this novel it is revealed there are two people working as A. Spencer, Hanna, and Emily agree that the main suspect is Noel Kahn, Aria's boyfriend. Aria doesn't want to believe it but the facts tell her otherwise. He was on the trip to Jamaica, he went to Iceland. He was good friends with Ali (he loved her), and he visited her in the Preserve when she was there. He knew about the twins. He knew enough to make him look like A. Emily tries getting information of out of Ali's old friends, Iris, (who we met in ''Heartless). Iris tells Emily little tidbits of Ali, and at Prom Iris recognizes Noel and for sure he was Ali's secret boyfriend who visited her. Spencer finds an internet blogger, who blogs about Alison DiLaurentis theories. She meets him and actually ends up liking him, finding his name is Chase. He helps Spencer get information on Alison. Hanna, in an attempt to get information on a burned victim from the last book, Graham, starts volunteering at the Burn Clinic. There, Graham is still in a coma and right when he's about to wake up, he dies -all the information is kept hidden for good. Aria, worried and paranoid about what happened last summer, is trying to handle things with Noel being A, even though she doesn't want to believe it. At Prom, Noel admits to loving Ali, and Aria, furious, freaks out and asks Noel if Ali is still alive. He says he doesn't know. While Aria is attempting to get away, Noel pins her to the ground. Spencer, Hanna, and Emily arrive and Noel flees. The morning later, Hanna gets a text from A saying to go to the shed in the Rosewood Day back. She and the three other girls go, and just in case bring Cops and police and inside is a supposedly unconscious Noel tied up to a chair. It is not revealed if Noel is dead or alive. The girls get a text, signed by A, informing them that they've failed to make progress, Noel wasn't A, and they are back where they started.

14
Deadly
December 3, 2013[17]
978-0-06-219974-4
320

The book starts out as the real Alison DiLaurentis is limping out of the burning house in her vacation home right after she tried to kill the liars. It's seemingly said in the start that she survived by the help of "Helper A" her boyfriend. Aria visits Noel in the hospital and it is shown that he is in fact still alive. Agent Fuji comes to the girls after they are arrested for the charges they have committed over the past year. The girls finally admit to Agent Fuji about "A" and told her that all of their charges had to be dropped. They also told her that they thought that Alison was still alive and that they needed 24-hour protection of their family. Agent Fuji tells the girls to give her all of the "A" notes and the girls do as they are told. As a result of telling the police, "A" gave the police a fake security video of the girls beating up Tabitha before she is killed. The police arrest all of them and told the girls that all of the texts from "A" had come from their phones. The girls are put on bail and go home. Emily's family seem to hate her and Emily and Carolyn get into a fight. As this happens Emily's mom has a heart attack. Hanna's father wants nothing to do with her because it will hurt the campaign. After their hearing they are sentenced to go to trial in Jamaica the next day. Certain to find "A" they go searching. They find a house by Hanna's fathers office and go inside. It is small and disgusting. As they are walking in Nick Maxwell comes in pointing a gun at the girls. He is "Helper A" Real Ali's boyfriend. The girls all know him as someone else. Spencer knows him as Phineas, a guy at Penn's summer program who sold her study drugs. Hanna knew him as Jackson, the bartender who kept on giving Madison drinks and refusing to get a cab, resulting in Hanna getting in a wreck with Madison. Emily knew him as Derrick, a friend she had at her job, telling him all of her secrets. And Aria knew him as Olaf, a guy she stole The Starry Night with while vacationing in Iceland. Right as they realized what was happening Alison shows up with a gun and tells the girls to get in the basement. They girls do as they are told and the go down. They see a mural of Ali on the wall and they are confused. Ali tells them that after she kills them that it is going to look like they did it to be with Ali because they were sad that she was gone. Astonished the girls ask questions. After, Nick and Ali grab gas masks and turn on a poisonous gas. They girls awake in the hospital and Agent Fuji tells them that Nick Maxwell was caught but not Ali. In the epilogue Ali is running away and goes to a little house that Nick didn't know of. She has money and reveals that she is going to lure someone else to kill with her again.

15
Toxic
June 3, 2014[18]
9780062287014
336

With A apparently arrested, the girls attempt to move on with their lives. Hanna gets a film offer, and Spencer starts an anti-bullying campaign. However, it is soon revealed that the real A is still seeking vengeance.

16
Vicious
December 2, 2014[19]
9780062287045

After being falsely accused of killing Alison, the girls seek to outwit her and avoid jail time.

text: Companion novels[edit]

text:
Book #
Title
Publication Date
ISBN
Pages

0.6
Alison's Pretty Little Diary
September 6, 2010
978-0-06-223336-3
14

Ali made changed the lives of The Liars forever. But now thanks to this diary never seen before, you finally know what Alison was thinking in the day she picked those four girls to be her new best friends.

4.5
Pretty Little Secrets
January 3, 2012[20]
978-0-06-212591-0
464[20]

Set between Unbelievable and Wicked, the book is told from the point of view of the second "A", Alison DiLaurentis, as she spies on the girls during their Christmas vacation. The novel is divided into a series of four short stories, with each one focusing on the exploits of a specific girl.
Spencer: Spencer and her family go to Nana Hastings mansion in Florida, and Spencer falls in love with a tennis player named Colin at the country club. Melissa seems to be helping Spencer win Colin's heart, but Colin ends up taking an interest in Melissa. During the trip, Spencer and her mother also run into Mrs. DiLaurentis several times, and Spencer is confused by her mother's strange behavior around Mrs DiLaurentis. Spencer also decides to fight for Colin. After Colin dumps Melissa to go out with her, Spencer and Melissa discover that Colin's actually 33 years old and also has a wife and child. Spencer and Melissa decide to team up to get revenge on Colin by putting crushed Viagra in his Aminospa vitamin water right before his important tennis game. In the end, they all have a fun vacation, but Spencer worries that someone has been following her. Melissa and Spencer seem to briefly make up in this, hence the sisters' wary friendship in Wicked.
Emily: Emily is asked to go undercover as Santa Claus at the new mall, in order to catch 4 girls who work as elves there, who are suspected of vandalizing Christmas decorations around town, including Emily's mom's baby Jesus ceramic figure. The 4 girls, who call themselves the "Merry Elves", take a liking to Emily, and it's revealed that one of the girls, Cassie, was close with Alison. Emily accompanies the girls on their biggest prank yet, but Emily's mom uses her phone to track her, and the Merry Elves get caught. Eventually, the elves forgive Emily after she bails them out of jail. In the end, everyone realizes the true meaning of Christmas, but Emily can't shake off the weird feeling that someone is following her. It is revealed that A is blonde (she will later be revealed as Alison) as Emily sees a blonde figure run off.
Hanna: Hanna joins a boot camp after thinking she gained too much weight at a holiday party. She develops feelings for the instructor, Vince. She also develops a rival, Dinah, another girl who also likes Vince. After competing for Vince's affection, she and Dinah become friends after catching Kate making out with the mall's new Santa (prior to Emily), something which Hanna also photographs. After agreeing to stop chasing Vince, she celebrates by going out for drinks with Dinah, where Dinah admits she knew Alison. Hanna goes home drunk, causing her to oversleep. As she arrives at boot camp, she discovers Vince and Dinah kissing, revealing that Dinah only pretended to be friends with Hanna to have Hanna let down her guard. Hanna flees the scene, devastated, and is confronted by Kate, who, after receiving a tip-off, followed Hanna around, taking unflattering photos of her at boot camp, which she threatens to put on Facebook. Hanna counterattacks by showing Kate the pictures of her and Santa, causing Kate to back off. Hanna also improves her relationship with her father, who gives Hanna her grandmother's Cartier locket for Christmas. Hanna has a happy Christmas, despite the fact that she thinks someone other than Kate has been watching her every move. Some of what Dinah said may be true such as she knew Alison. But it is likely she made most of it up to get Hanna's trust.
Aria: Aria goes with her father and Mike to Bear Claw Resort, but leaves to go back home after finding out that Byron invited Meredith along as well. Upon arriving at home, Aria's surprised to see Halbjorn, an old boyfriend of hers from Iceland. Halbjorn tells her that he's running from the Icelandic police who're after him because he protested against the demolition of a puffin sanctuary. Unfortunately, his travel visa only lasts for a week. Aria proposes the idea of marrying him, and the two head off to Atlantic City to elope. At the hotel, they attend a magic show involving two panthers, which greatly angers Halbjorn, who cares a lot about the environment. After getting married the following day, which requires Aria to forge her mother's signature and lie about her age, they go to the place where the panthers are kept. After convincing Halbjorn not to release the panthers, they go back to the hotel. The next morning, Aria wakes up to find Halbjorn gone and his clothes missing as well. On the lobby's TV, Aria sees that Halbjorn ended up releasing the panthers anyway. Aria goes to the courthouse and confesses to lying about her age and forging her mother's signature, making the marriage null and void. Upon returning to Rosewood, she is joined by Mike and Byron, who know nothing about her marriage. As they watch TV, it shows that Halbjorn has been caught, and it also reveals that he's done these sorts of things in the past, including trying to blow up a demolition office. Aria's satisfied with breaking up with him, but is paranoid about someone following her. In Wicked, it's briefly stated that Aria and Meredith did converse about the baby.
The book ends with a sign-off from the new "A," (as always) who says that the Liars' lives are going to get a lot worse. All of which comes true...

0.5
Ali’s Pretty Little Lies
January 2, 2013[21]
978-0062233363
304[21]

Before there was "A," there was "Alison DiLaurentis". Boys wanted to date her, girls wanted to be her and somebody wanted her dead.
It's the end of seventh grade, and "Alison DiLaurentis" and her friends are the alpha girls of Rosewood Day. "Ali" runs her clique with an iron fist, and she's got enough dirt on Hanna, Emily, Aria and Spencer to keep them in line. But "Ali's" hiding a dark secret of her own, something so huge it would destroy everything if it ever got out. She's desperate to keep the perfect life she's worked so hard to build, but in Rosewood deadly secrets have deadly consequences.
Set in the weeks leading up to "Ali's" murder, this special Pretty Little Liars tale is told by the prettiest little liar of all: "Ali" herself. For the first time ever, we see how the mystery began—and how "Alison DiLaurentis'" life ended.
Note: This book is titled Ali's Pretty Little Lies but it's actually about her twin sister, Courtney, who pretended to be Alison because she didn't want to go to a psych ward. This book reveals a lot of secrets.


document_title: Imperial Japanese Army

question_text: what was the name of japan army during second world war

root

text: Imperial Japanese Army

text: History[edit]

text: Foundation[edit]

text: Ōmura Masujirō (1824 – 1869) was the "Father of the Modern Japanese Army". Under the new Meiji government, Ōmura became hyōbu daiyu, or Vice Minister of War, in the newly created Army-Navy Ministry. His chief missions were to create a national army along European lines, and maintain domestic order. Ōmura followed the policies he had previously successfully implemented in Chōshū on a larger scale, namely, the introduction of conscription and military training for commoners, rather than reliance on a hereditary feudal force. He also strongly supported the discussions towards the abolition of the han system, and with it, the numerous private armies maintained by the daimyō, which he considered a drain on resources and a potential threat to security. This approach was highly controversial, as it pointed to the end of the samurai system, that occasioned widespread disobedience, leading to the Saigo rebellion. This position prevailed as well on a second, interrelated issue: whether the Army should concentrate on internal affairs, as Ōmura wanted, or focus primarily on taking control of Korea.[1]

tag: p

text: The Imperial Army became even more essential after the abolition of the han system in 1871. To reform the military, the government instituted nationwide conscription in 1873, mandating that every male between the age of 17 and 40 undertake three years' active service, followed by a further two years in the first reserve (active) and another two in the second reserve (standby). One of the primary differences between the samurai and the peasant class was the right to bear arms; this ancient privilege was suddenly extended to every male in the nation.[2]

text: By 1873, the central government had 12,000 soldiers, drawn from only four domains. That is, the newly formed army was basically a collection of warriors, most of whom were loyal to their former lords. This conscription program slowly built up the numbers. Public unrest began in 1874, reaching the apex in the Satsuma Rebellion of 1877, which used the slogans, "oppose conscription," "oppose elementary schools," and "fight Korea." It took a year for the new army to crush the uprising, but the victories proved critical in creating and stabilizing the Imperial government and to realize sweeping social, economic and political reforms that enable Japan to become a modern state in comparison to France, Germany and the other European powers. From 1878 to the outbreak of war with China in 1894, the central mission of Ōmura and his team was to professionalize the Army, following the European models.[3]

text: Ōmura ideas for modernizing Japan's military were largely implemented after his assassination in 1869 death by Yamagata Aritomo, Kido Takayoshi, and Yamada Akiyoshi.[4] Yamada Akiyoshi was the strongest leader out of the four and was mainly responsibly for establishing Japan's modern military using Ōmura's ideas, such as by establishing military academies and barracks. Yamagata Aritomo and Saigō Tsugumichi also had Ōmura's ideas in mind when passing legislation imposing universal military conscription in 1873.

text: Yamagata Aritomo study European techniques that could be adapted in Japan. Upon returning from Europe, he organized a 10,000 men force to form the core of the new Imperial Army. As Ōmura had hoped for, the French military mission returned in 1872 to help equip and train the new army. Although Ōmura died before having the opportunity to enforce many of his radical ideas, the lasting impression that he left on his followers led to his policies and ideas to shape the making of the Meiji military years later.

text: Foreign assistance[edit]

text: The early Imperial Japanese Army was developed with the assistance of advisors from France,[5] through the second French military mission to Japan (1872–80), and the third French military mission to Japan (1884–89). However, after France's defeat in 1871 the Japanese government switched to the victorious Germans as a model. From 1886 to April 1890, it hired German military advisors (Major Jakob Meckel, replaced in 1888 by von Wildenbrück and Captain von Blankenbourg) to assist in the training of the Japanese General Staff. In 1878, the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office, based on the German General Staff, was established directly under the Emperor and was given broad powers for military planning and strategy.

text: Other known foreign military consultants were Major Pompeo Grillo from the Kingdom of Italy, who worked at the Osaka foundry from 1884 to 1888, followed by Major Quaratezi from 1889 to 1890; and Captain Schermbeck from the Netherlands, who worked on improving coastal defenses from 1883 to 1886. Japan did not use foreign military advisors between 1890 and 1918, until the French military mission to Japan (1918–19), headed by Commandant Jacques-Paul Faure, was requested to assist in the development of the Japanese air services.[6]

text: Taiwan Expedition[edit]

text: The Japanese invasion of Taiwan under Qing rule in 1874 was a punitive expedition by Japanese military forces in response to the Mudan Incident of December 1871. The Paiwan people, who are indigenous peoples of Taiwan, murdered 54 crewmembers of a wrecked merchant vessel from the Ryukyu Kingdom on the southwestern tip of Taiwan. 12 men were rescued by the local Chinese-speaking community and were transferred to Miyako-jima in the Ryukyu Islands. The Empire of Japan used this as an excuse to both assert sovereignty over the Ryukyu Kingdom, which was a tributary state of both Japan and Qing China at the time, and to attempt the same with Taiwan, a Qing territory. It marked the first overseas deployment of the Imperial Japanese Army and Navy.[7]

text: An Imperial Rescript to Soldiers and Sailors of 1882 called for unquestioning loyalty to the Emperor by the new armed forces and asserted that commands from superior officers were equivalent to commands from the Emperor himself. Thenceforth, the military existed in an intimate and privileged relationship with the imperial institution.

text: Top-ranking military leaders were given direct access to the Emperor and the authority to transmit his pronouncements directly to the troops. The sympathetic relationship between conscripts and officers, particularly junior officers who were drawn mostly from the peasantry, tended to draw the military closer to the people. In time, most people came to look more for guidance in national matters more to military than to political leaders.

text: By the 1890s, the Imperial Japanese Army had grown to become the most modern army in Asia: well-trained, well-equipped, and with good morale. However, it was basically an infantry force deficient in cavalry and artillery when compared with its European contemporaries. Artillery pieces, which were purchased from America and a variety of European nations, presented two problems: they were scarce, and the relatively small number that were available were of several different calibers, causing problems with ammunition supply.

text: First Sino-Japanese War[edit]

text: The First Sino-Japanese War (1 August 1894 – 17 April 1895) was a war fought between Qing China and Meiji Japan over control of the Kingdom of Korea, which had been under de facto Japanese control since the Japan–Korea Treaty of 1876. The Sino-Japanese War would come to symbolize the weakness of the military of the Qing dynasty, with the Japanese securing victory after victory over the Qing forces. This was the result by Japan's 120,000-strong western-style conscript army of two armies and five divisions, which was well-equipped and well-trained when compared with their Qing counterparts. The Treaty of Shimonoseki made the Qing defeat official, with a resulting shift in regional dominance in Asia from China to Japan, and dealing a fatal blow to the power and prestige of the Qing Dynasty.

text: Boxer Rebellion[edit]

text: In 1899–1900, Boxer attacks against foreigners in China intensified eventually resulting in the siege of the diplomatic legations in Beijing. An international force consisting of British, French, Russian, German, Italian, Austro-Hungarian, American, and Japanese troops was assembled to relieve the legations. The Japanese provided the largest contingent of troops, 20,840, as well as 18 warships. Of the total number, 20,300 were Imperial Japanese Army troops of the 5th Infantry Division under Lt. General Yamaguchi Motoomi; the remainder were 540 naval rikusentai from the Imperial Japanese Navy. The rebels used traditional Chinese martial arts, as opposed to modern military weapons and tactics. This led to them being called "Boxers" by Westerners, as that is how they perceived martial arts at the time. While she officially condemned the movement, the Boxers had the unofficial support of the Empress Dowager Cixi. In the end, the Boxer leaders were captured and executed, and the Empress Dowager was forced to flee the palace as the foreign armies entered the Forbidden City.

text: Russo-Japanese War[edit]

text: The Russo–Japanese War (1904–1905) was the result of tensions between Russia and Japan, grown largely out of rival imperialist ambitions toward Manchuria and Korea. The Japanese army inflicted severe losses against the Russians; however, they were not able to deal a decisive blow to the Russian armies. Over-reliance on infantry led to large casualties among Japanese forces, especially during the siege of Port Arthur.[citation needed]

text: World War I[edit]

text: The Empire of Japan entered the war on the Entente side. Although tentative plans were made to send an expeditionary force of between 100,000 and 500,000 men to France,[8] ultimately the only action in which the Imperial Japanese Army was involved was the careful and well executed attack on the German concession of Tsingtao in 1914.[9]

text: Inter-war years[edit]

text: During 1917–18, Japan continued to extend its influence and privileges in China via the Nishihara Loans. During the Siberian Intervention, following the collapse of the Russian Empire after the Bolshevik Revolution, the Imperial Japanese Army initially planned to send more than 70,000 troops to occupy Siberia as far west as Lake Baikal. The army general staff came to view the Tsarist collapse as an opportunity to free Japan from any future threat from Russia by detaching Siberia and forming an independent buffer state.[10] The plan was scaled back considerably due to opposition from the United States.

text: In July 1918, the U.S. President, Woodrow Wilson, asked the Japanese government to supply 7,000 troops as part of an international coalition of 24,000 troops to support the American Expeditionary Force Siberia.[11] After a heated debate in the Diet, the government of Prime Minister Terauchi Masatake agreed to send 12,000 troops, but under the command of Japan, rather than as part of an international coalition. Japan and the United States sent forces to Siberia to bolster the armies of the White movement leader Admiral Aleksandr Kolchak against the Bolshevik Red Army.

text: Once the political decision had been reached, the Imperial Japanese Army took over full control under Chief of Staff General Yui Mitsue; and by November 1918, more than 70,000[11] Japanese troops had occupied all ports and major towns in the Russian Maritime Provinces and eastern Siberia.

text: In June 1920, the United States and its allied coalition partners withdrew from Vladivostok, after the capture and execution of the White Army leader, Admiral Kolchak, by the Red Army. However, the Japanese decided to stay, primarily due to fears of the spread of communism so close to Japan and Japanese-controlled Korea and Manchuria. The Japanese Army provided military support to the Japanese-backed Provisional Priamurye Government, based in Vladivostok, against the Moscow-backed Far Eastern Republic.

text: The continued Japanese presence concerned the United States, which suspected that Japan had territorial designs on Siberia and the Russian Far East. Subjected to intense diplomatic pressure by the United States and Great Britain, and facing increasing domestic opposition due to the economic and human cost, the administration of Prime Minister Katō Tomosaburō withdrew the Japanese forces in October 1922.[12]

text: Rise of militarism in Shōwa era[edit]

text: In the 1920s the Imperial Japanese Army expanded rapidly and by 1937 had a force of 300,000 men. Unlike western countries, the Army enjoyed a great deal of independence from government. Under the provisions of the Meiji Constitution, the War Minister was held accountable only to the Emperor (Hirohito) himself, and not to the elected civilian government. In fact, Japanese civilian administrations needed the support of the Army in order to survive. The Army controlled the appointment of the War Minister, and in 1936 a law was passed that stipulated that only an active duty general or lieutenant-general could hold the post.[13] As a result, military spending as a proportion of the national budget rose disproportionately in the 1920s and 1930s, and various factions within the military exerted disproportionate influence on Japanese foreign policy.

text: The Imperial Japanese Army was originally known simply as the Army (rikugun) but after 1928, as part of the Army's turn toward romantic nationalism and also in the service of its political ambitions, it retitled itself the Imperial Army (kōgun).

text: Conflict with China[edit]

text: In 1931, the Imperial Japanese Army had an overall strength of 198,880 officers and men, organized into 17 divisions.[14] The Manchurian incident, as it became known in Japan, was a pretended sabotage of a local Japanese-owned railway, an attack staged by Japan but blamed on Chinese dissidents. Action by the military, largely independent of the civilian leadership, led to the invasion of Manchuria in 1931 and, later, to the Second Sino-Japanese War, in 1937. As war approached, the Imperial Army's influence with the Emperor waned and the influence of the Imperial Japanese Navy increased.[15] Nevertheless, by 1938 the Army had been expanded to 34 divisions.[16]

text: Conflict with the Soviet Union[edit]

text: From 1932–1945 the Empire of Japan and the Soviet Union had a series of conflicts. Japan had set its military sights on Soviet territory as a result of the Hokushin-ron doctrine, and the Japanese establishment of a puppet state in Manchuria brought the two countries into conflict. The war lasted on and off with the last battles of the 1930s (the Battle of Lake Khasan and the Battles of Khalkhin Gol) ending in a decisive victory for the Soviets. The conflicts stopped with the signing of the Soviet–Japanese Neutrality Pact on April 13, 1941.[17] However, later, at the Yalta Conference, Stalin agreed to declare war on Japan; and on August 5, 1945, the Soviet Union voided their neutrality agreement with Japan.[18]

text: World War II[edit]

text: In 1941, the Imperial Japanese Army had 51 divisions[16] and various special-purpose artillery, cavalry, anti-aircraft, and armored units with a total of 1,700,000 men. At the beginning of the Second World War, most of the Japanese Army (27 divisions) was stationed in China. A further 13 divisions defended the Mongolian border, due to concerns about a possible attack by the Soviet Union.[16] From 1942, soldiers were sent to Hong Kong (23rd Army), the Philippines (14th Army), Thailand (15th Army), Burma (15th Army), Dutch East Indies (16th Army), and Malaya (25th Army).[19] By 1945, there were 5.5 million men in the Imperial Japanese Army.

text: From 1943, Japanese troops suffered from a shortage of supplies, especially food, medicine, munitions, and armaments, largely due to submarine interdiction of supplies, and losses to Japanese shipping, which was worsened by a longstanding rivalry with the Imperial Japanese Navy. The lack of supplies caused large numbers of fighter aircraft to become unserviceable for lack of spare parts,[20] and "as many as two-thirds of Japan's total military deaths [to result] from illness or starvation".[21]

text: Fanaticism and war crimes[edit]

text: Throughout the Second Sino-Japanese War and World War II, the Imperial Japanese Army had gained a reputation both for its fanaticism and for its brutality against prisoners of war and civilians alike – with the Nanking Massacre being one such example.[22] After Japan surrendered in the summer of 1945, many Imperial Japanese Army officers and enlisted men were tried and punished for committing numerous atrocities and war crimes. In 1949, the trials ceased, with a total of 5,700 cases having been heard.[23]

text: Major General Tomitarō Horii did issue a "Guide to Soldiers in the South Seas", in late 1941, which ordered troops not to loot or kill civilians. This order was intended to prevent a repeat of atrocities that the Army committed in China; however, the order only affected men under his command.[24]

text: Several reasons are given for the especially brutal and merciless behavior exhibited by many members of the IJA towards their adversaries or non-Japanese civilians. One is probably the brutal behavior that they themselves experienced. The IJA was known for its extremely harsh treatment of enlisted soldiers from the start of training,[25] including beatings, unnecessarily strenuous duty tasks, lack of adequate food, and other violent or harsh disciplinary tactics. This was contrary to the Imperial Rescript to Soldiers and Sailors of 1882, which instructed officers to treat subordinates respectfully.[26] Not until 1943 did the senior command realize this brutality had an effect on morale and ordered an end to it, an order which was routinely circumvented or ignored in the field.[27]

text: During the Pacific War, the Imperial Army's reputation for refusing to surrender was established by the few Japanese survivors of numerous battles throughout the Pacific campaign: 921 captured out of a garrison strength of 31,000 in the Battle of Saipan, 17 out of 3000 in the Battle of Tarawa, 7,400–10,755 out of 117,000 in the Battle of Okinawa, with a high number of battlefield suicides sanctioned by the Imperial Army. The spirit of gyokusai ("glorious death") saw commanders order suicidal attacks with bayonets, when supplies of hand grenades and ammunition were still available.[28] In the South West Pacific Area (SWPA), just over 1,000 surrendered in each of 1942 and 1943, around 5,100 in 1944, and over 12,000 in 1945,[29] and might have been greater except for disease.[30] Propaganda through leaflet drops by the Americans accounted for about 20% of surrenders,[31] equating to about one POW for every 6,000 leaflets dropped;[32] while the Japanese objected to the "unscrupulous" leaflets,[33] which contained some truth with regard to the willingness of American forces to accept surrenders from the Japanese.[34] This was in contrast to Imperial Japanese Army's practice of depicting American troops as cruel and merciless, referring to them as 鬼畜米英 (Kichiku Beiei, "Demonic Beast American and English") and informing their own troops that Americans would rape all captured women and torture the men, leading directly to brutal Japanese treatment of POWs in incidents such as the Bataan Death March and the mass suicide of Japanese soldiers and civilians during the battles of Saipan and Okinawa.

text: Imperial General Headquarters and the power of the Emperor in the Shōwa era[edit]

text: During the first part of the Showa era, according to the Meiji Constitution, the Emperor had the "supreme command of the Army and the Navy" (Article 11). Hirohito was thus legally supreme commander of the Imperial General Headquarters, founded in 1937 and wherein the military decisions were made.

text: Primary sources such as the "Sugiyama memo", and the diaries of Fumimaro Konoe and Kōichi Kido, describe in detail the many informal meetings the Emperor had with his chiefs of staff and ministers. These documents show the Emperor was kept informed of all military operations and frequently questioned his senior staff and asked for changes.

text: According to historians Yoshiaki Yoshimi and Seiya Matsuno, Hirohito authorized, by specific orders transmitted by the Chief of staff of the Army such as Prince Kan'in or Hajime Sugiyama, the use of chemical weapons against Chinese civilians and soldiers. For example, Hirohito authorized the use of toxic gas on 375 separate occasions during the invasion of Wuhan in 1938.[35] Such weapons were also authorized during the invasion of Changde.

text: According to historians Akira Fujiwara and Akira Yamada, Hirohito even intervened in planning some military operations. For example, Hirohito pressed Field Marshal Hajime Sugiyama, four times during January and February 1942, to increase troop strength and launch an attack on Bataan.[36] In August 1943, he scolded Sugiyama for being unable to stop the American advance on the Solomon Islands and asked the general to consider other places to attack.[37]

text: Only in rare moments of special importance were decisions made in Imperial council. The Imperial government used this special institution to sanction the invasion of China, the Greater East Asia War, and Japan's surrender. In 1945, executing a decision approved in Imperial council, Emperor Shōwa, as commander-in-chief, ordered, for the only time directly via recorded radio broadcast to all of Japan, the surrender to United States forces.

text: Post World War II[edit]

text: Ground Self Defense Force[edit]

text: Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution renounced the right to use force as a means of resolving disputes.[38] This was enacted by the Japanese in order to prevent militarism, which had led to conflict. However, in 1947 the Public Security Force was formed; later in 1954, in the early stages of the Cold War, the Public Security Force formed the basis of the newly created Ground Self Defense Force.[39] Although significantly smaller than the former Imperial Japanese Army and nominally for defensive purposes only, this force constitutes the modern army of Japan.

text: Continued resistance[edit]

text: Separately, some soldiers of the Imperial Japanese Army continued to fight on isolated Pacific islands until at least the 1970s, with the last known Japanese soldier surrendering in 1974. Intelligence officer Hiroo Onoda, who surrendered on Lubang Island in the Philippines in March 1974, and Teruo Nakamura, who surrendered on the Indonesian island of Morotai in December 1974, appear to have been the last holdouts.[40][41][42][43][42][43]

text: Growth and organization of the IJA[edit]

text:
1870: consisted of 12,000 men.
1873: Seven divisions of c. 36,000 men (c. 46,250 including reserves)
1885: consisted of seven divisions including the Imperial Guard Division.
In the early 1900s, the IJA consisted of 12 divisions, the Imperial Guard Division, and numerous other units. These contained the following:

380,000 active duty and 1st Reserve personnel: former Class A and B(1) conscripts after two-year active tour with 17 and 1/2 year commitment
50,000 Second line Reserve: Same as above but former Class B(2) conscripts
220,000 National Army

1st National Army: 37- to 40-year-old men from end of 1st Reserve to 40 years old.
2nd National Army: untrained 20-year-olds and over-40-year-old trained reserves.

4,250,000 men available for service and mobilization.

1922: 21 divisions and 308,000 men
1924: Post-WWI reductions to 16 divisions and 250,800 men
1925: Reduction to 12 divisions
1934: army increased to 17 divisions
1936: 250,000 active.
1940: 376,000 active with 2 million reserves in 31 divisions

2 divisions in Japan (Imperial Guard plus one other)
2 divisions in Korea
27 divisions in China and Manchuria

In late 1941: 460,000 active in 41 divisions

2 divisions in Japan and Korea
12 divisions in Manchuria
27 divisions in China
plus 59 brigade equivalents.

Independent brigades, Independent Mixed Brigades, Cavalry Brigades, Amphibious Brigades, Independent Mixed regiments, Independent Regiments.

1945: 5 million active in 145 divisions (includes three Imperial Guard), plus numerous individual units, with a large Volunteer Fighting Corps.

includes 650,000 Imperial Japanese Army Air Service.
Japan Defense Army in 1945 had 55 divisions (53 Infantry and two armor and 32 brigades (25 infantry and seven armor) with 2.35 million men.
2,25 million Army Labour Troops
1.3 million Navy Labour Troops
250,000 Special Garrison Force
20,000 Kempetai[44]

tag: ul

text: Total military in August 1945 was 6,095,000 including 676,863 Army Air Service. [45]

text:
Imperial Japanese Military

Administration

Imperial General Headquarters

Components

 Imperial Japanese Army
(Dai Nippon Teikoku Rikugun)

        Imperial Japanese Army Air Service

        Railways and Shipping Section

    Uniforms

 Imperial Japanese Navy
(Dai Nippon Teikoku Kaigun)

        Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service

        Imperial Japanese Navy Land Forces

    Major battles

    List of ships

    List of aircraft

    Main admirals

Rank insignia

Army rank insignia

Naval rank insignia

History of the Japanese Military

Military History of Japan during World War II

tag: table

text: Casualties[edit]

text: Over the course of the Imperial Japanese Army's existence, millions of its soldiers were either killed, wounded or listed as missing in action.

text:
Taiwan Expedition of 1874: 543 (12 killed in battle and 531 by disease)
First Sino-Japanese War: The IJA suffered 13,823 dead and 3,973 wounded
Russo-Japanese War: The number of total Japanese dead in combat is put at around 47,000, with around 80,000 if disease is included
World War I: 1,455 Japanese were killed, mostly at the Battle of Tsingtao
World War II:

Deaths

Between 2,120,000 and 2,190,000 Imperial Armed Forces dead including non-combat deaths (includes 1,760,955 killed in action),
KIA Breakdown by Theatre:

Army 1931–1945 [China: 408,605 KIA, Against U.S Forces: 485,717 KIA, Burma Campaign: 208,026 KIA, Australian Combat Zone: 199,511 KIA, French Indochina: 2,803 KIA, U.S.S.R/Manchuria: 7,483 KIA, Others/Japan: 33,931 KIA]
Navy: 414,879 KIA All Theatres.

672,000 known civilian dead,

810,000 missing in action and presumed dead.
7,500 prisoners of war