[Homer_J_Simpson]

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John Toland, The Rising Sun: The Decline and Fall of the Japanese Empire, 1936-1945

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Roosevelt Moves – 2
The International Situation – 3
R.A.F. Pounds Reich – 4
Heavy Nazi Raids Center on London – 5-6
Nazis Seize 5 in Holland As Flying British Spies – 6
Bomb Tamer in London Seriously Hurt by Auto – 6
Texts of the Day’s War Communiques – 8-9

[henkster]

Thanks for posting from Toland’s “The Rising Sun.” It’s one of my favorite books. Toland’s wife was Japanese, so while he was able to write the war from the Japanese point of view, he was not a Japanese apologist. His account of the Bataan Death March left little to the imagination and after reading it, I had no problems with firebombing Tokyo. Something about “reaping the whirlwind.”

Even though Matsuoka signs this pact this week, on his way back to Japan through the USSR he will conclude a Non-Aggression Pact with the USSR, which Japan will scrupulously honor and the USSR will breach in August 1945. This shows how all Axis powers were really pursuing their own contradictory aims during the war. Hitler’s inability to get the Japanese to look north rather than south may have forfeited his chance to defeat the USSR and win WW2. But if you were a Japanese leader, it would be hard to look anywhere but south, since Siberia did not offer the readily accessible war materiel Japan desired.

So here you have an example, in today’s NYT, of these historical forces weaving their complex tapestry. The Japanese conclude their pact with Hitler, while America puts more economic screws on Japan’s war economy. Having been given a bloody nose by the Soviets, and with France defeated and Britain isolated, Japan is lured away from the USSR and towards conflict with Britain and the USA. So in a way, Hitler becomes a victim of his own success by defeating France so quickly. These are the ironies of history that make it so compelling to study.

[CougarGA7]

Something interesting here with Toland’s account of the event.

He states that the American’s ban on shipping scrap metal was an immediate retaliation to Japan’s signing of the Tripartite Pact. Yet when I look at this time line it appears that the ban may have come before the signing of the pact. I would think for the ban to be in today’s paper it must have been decided on yesterday at the latest and the pact wasn’t signed until today. It just doesn’t seem that a ban like this would be a gut check reaction to me.

I think the ban is more in line with a measured response to the Japanese actions in north Indochina and the signing of the Tripartite Pact is more of a affirmation of the U.S. policy makers being correct in their decision.