12 World War II in Asia–Pacific, I
Japan and the politics of empire
Introduction: global war
In its origins, stakes and purposes, the war in Asia–Pacific was all but entirely unrelated
to the war in Europe. Nevertheless, it is still accurate, if strangely so, to regard the war
against Japan as an integral part of World War II. The principal connection between
the two wars, half a world apart, was that it was only the ongoing war in Europe that
emboldened Japan to seek a grand military solution to its strategic problems. Had there
been no active conflict in Europe, Japanese prospects for success would have been so
poor that war almost certainly would have been rejected as the policy choice. Even as it
was, in 1941 Japanese leaders were far from united in a determination to fight. Context
is vital. In 1940–1, as Japan’s material strategic condition worsened as a result of
American-led economic sanctions, so the radical changes in the global strategic context
effected by Germany’s victories appeared to offer a unique opportunity for Japan to
exploit.
It is useful to draw attention to an obvious political difference between the war in
Europe and that in Asia–Pacific. By 1939, perhaps after 1936, or even as early as 1933,
it is plausible to argue that war in Europe was unavoidable. Germany, which is to say
Adolf Hitler, wanted war. He might briefly be deterred tactically, but not strategically or
politically. By way of contrast, Imperial Japan did not want war with the United States,
though war with the British and the Dutch was unavoidable, given Tokyo’s need for the
raw material resources of South East Asia. It should have been possible to persuade Japan
not to embark on a course of war. But for a potential combatant to agree to be deterred
when the stakes are very high, it must be deprived of even an unreasonable hope of
military success. Also, it should be offered a politically tolerable alternative to war. In
1941, alas, those crucial conditions did not apply, as the world learnt on 7 December,
when the Imperial Japanese Navy attacked Pearl Harbor.
Considered as one global conflagration, World War II comprised two geostrategically
immense siege operations. The contrasting geographies of the Axis empires in Europe