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To: Dr. Franklin

[The Soviet edge over the Japanese was in armor. Had Hitler shared some German tank technology and designs with the Japanese to encourage them to attack the Soviets rather than the U.S., the Soviet Union would have been conquered and world history would have been much different. Hitler’s racist mindset cost him a victory. ]


Ultimately, German and Japanese interests were diametrically opposed. From Japan’s standpoint, a Germany that had conquered Europe *and* Russia was in a position to conquer Japanese holdings in China and Japan itself.

Similarly, the Germans presumably weren’t interested in owning only European Russia. If they had given the Japanese their technologies, the odds are reasonable that they would eventually have clashed on the battlefield on much more even terms. Hitler was presumably hoping that the Japanese would exhaust themselves against Russia, leaving any Japanese gains in Russia and Japanese holdings in China open to German conquest.

The debate about the limited cooperation between Germany and Japan tends to focus on missed opportunities. IMHO, there were good strategic reasons both sides hedged.


38 posted on 04/10/2022 5:44:53 PM PDT by Zhang Fei (My dad had a Delta 88. That was a car. It was like driving your living room.)
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To: Zhang Fei
Ultimately, German and Japanese interests were diametrically opposed. From Japan’s standpoint, a Germany that had conquered Europe *and* Russia was in a position to conquer Japanese holdings in China and Japan itself.
Similarly, the Germans presumably weren’t interested in owning only European Russia. If they had given the Japanese their technologies, the odds are reasonable that they would eventually have clashed on the battlefield on much more even terms. Hitler was presumably hoping that the Japanese would exhaust themselves against Russia, leaving any Japanese gains in Russia and Japanese holdings in China open to German conquest.
The debate about the limited cooperation between Germany and Japan tends to focus on missed opportunities. IMHO, there were good strategic reasons both sides hedged.


Hitler's goal was to push all of the Slavs across the Urals. It wasn't to conquer all of Asia. Even Hitler wasn't that foolish, at least not in the short term. Hitler had no problem making short term deals, like partitioning Poland and the Baltics, etc. If not for Sino-Japanese war, Hitler might have offered China the return of Siberia. Racism is the best explanation for Germany's failure to fortify its alliance with Japan. It took a lot of Western aid to keep the Soviets in the war, although they deny it.
39 posted on 04/10/2022 7:51:56 PM PDT by Dr. Franklin ("A republic, if you can keep it." )
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