you have to love the fins. i wonder when the russians actually invaded and how long that war took? i guess the US looked the other way, hoping to keep stalin on board? be curious how the current border of finland relates to the border when WW2 broke out. have the finns ever got their teritory back?
fascinating article on how japan views the situation. pearl harbor is two years away, but japan is calling out the US as a possible war adversary, but only after Germany finishes off the europeans. just guessing but i bet the Japanese thought that after Hitler got as far as Moscow suburbs in december 1941, that the war was pretty much over so they could attack. oops.
also, fascinating that the Japanese dont see the US Navy as a credible opponent. In this they were pretty much right, up until 1944 the USN had poorer ships, planes. By then of course, US production kicked in and the US produced in that year alone new ships, carriers, planes greater than the entire Japanese Navy, essentially producing a new Navy per year. The Japanese were unable to replace their losses. Interesting statistic, but the US produced over 400,000 combat planes in WW2. the japanese around 50,000.
I guess the other lesson from the Japanese 1939 view is that weakness invites attack.
The Red Army will be enjoying a white Christmas in Finland. Excursion scheduled to begin at the end of November. They may be having a white Valentine's day, also. The survivors's, anyway.
i guess the US looked the other way, hoping to keep stalin on board?
I'm not sure we considered Stalin to be on board at this point.