Why did we go to war with Japan in WWII?
Discussion
The Allies used up vast amounts of treasure and blood to force Japan's unconditional surrender.
But Japan was not a threat to the UK home countries or to the US mainland. Unlike Germany, it had no intention of invading us. It simply wanted dominion of the western pacific, and access to the raw materials of the far east.
It was a threat to the parts of the British Empire in that region, but did we go to war with Japan to protect Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia and India? They all became independent soon after anyway.
They may have taken India and China, but due to the massive populations and different cultures they may not have been able to hold them for long, and they would have been bled dry trying to.
How would it have played out if the allies had just let Japan get on with it anywhere north of Australia and west of Hawaii?
But Japan was not a threat to the UK home countries or to the US mainland. Unlike Germany, it had no intention of invading us. It simply wanted dominion of the western pacific, and access to the raw materials of the far east.
It was a threat to the parts of the British Empire in that region, but did we go to war with Japan to protect Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia and India? They all became independent soon after anyway.
They may have taken India and China, but due to the massive populations and different cultures they may not have been able to hold them for long, and they would have been bled dry trying to.
How would it have played out if the allies had just let Japan get on with it anywhere north of Australia and west of Hawaii?
irocfan said:
Halb said:
A lot of top NAZIs were useful after the war, also top Japanese scientists too. The stuff they did at Unit 731
fueled decades of research.
I've read that the security branches of the USA (NSA, CIA others) followed the German route of sub brackets to ensure no other groups really knew what each others were up to, and one has to keep climbing to get a clearer picture. The way Hans Kammler had it during the war.
IIRC this caused a fair bit of soul-searching by the allies. On the one hand advances in how to treat hypothermia and issues WRT survivability at high altitude were incredibly useful for the war effort - however it was, in part, the result of 'medical experiments' in places like Dachu fueled decades of research.
I've read that the security branches of the USA (NSA, CIA others) followed the German route of sub brackets to ensure no other groups really knew what each others were up to, and one has to keep climbing to get a clearer picture. The way Hans Kammler had it during the war.
Gassing Station | News, Politics & Economics | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff