For four long years, Europe had been devastated during the First World War, leaving almost 30
million casualties along with many more dying of famines and disease. As such, the world had
suffered enough, so another major conflict like that one was strictly avoided by the main Western
powers. But in the 30s, all of this would change with the rise of fascism and nazism in Italy and
Germany. While the war between Japan and China intensifies and reaches a stalemate in 1939, a new
conflict is brewing in Europe; a conflict that is destined to change the course of history. Join us
as we take a look at the start of the Second World War and the effects it had on the Japanese Empire
and the United States. By the way, don’t forget to check out our podcast on the Pacific War – it
has all the episodes in a longform format with extra details, the link is in the description!
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At the end of the Great War, the balance of power was drastically changed with
the downfall of the German Empire and the rise of the United States as a world power.
Because of the humiliating Treaty of Versailles, the newborn Weimar Republic was in a very
difficult situation at the start of the Roaring Twenties, having to pay immense war reparations
to their former enemies and suffering a heavy military restriction upon its armed forces.
Both of these problems would then lead to hyperinflation and economic crisis,
as well as a lack of unity and political extremism plaguing the nation. The Germans also lost a big
portion of their homeland and all of its overseas territories, giving rise to a national sense of
irredentism and revanchism, which would be key to the rise of ultranationalism in the country.
Concurrently, the Treaty of Versailles would also fail to concede to the Kingdom of Italy
all of the territories that they had been promised for their participation in the war.
This was seen as a great humiliation by the Italian nationalists, leaving the way open for
the rise to power of Benito Mussolini and his fascist movement. From 1922 to 1934, Mussolini
would go on to impose a totalitarian rule and to build a solid groundwork for his dictatorship
and his future expansionist prospects. Meanwhile in Germany, the far-right
National Socialist German Workers' Party rose to prominence under the leadership of Adolf Hitler,
with ultranationalism, radical antisemitism and anti-Bolshevism, as well as a complete
rejection of the Treaty of Versailles , as their core principles. Amidst the political chaos of
the Weimar Republic and the deterioration of the economy due to the Great Depression,
Hitler’s oratory skills promising a strong central government, a racial cleansing and
an economic recovery would earn immense support for the Nazi Party in the Reichstag.
In 1932, the Nazis thus won the national elections and subsequently started a campaign of political
pressure and intimidation against the other parties that would allow Hitler to establish a
dictatorship and to become Führer by 1934. Hitler would then start a massive rearmament programme,
directly repudiating the Treaty of Versailles and remilitarizing the Rhineland by 1936.
It’s at this point that the mutual hatred for Bolshevism prompted the Japanese Empire and Nazi
Germany to sign the Anti-Comintern Pact, directed against the Communist International and the Soviet
Union in particular. Japan hoped that this would become a military alliance against the Soviets,
but Hitler surprised them by signing the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact with Stalin, this was
not an option anymore. Relations between Germany and Italy also improved during this period,
resulting in the creation of the Berlin-Rome Axis. As the United Kingdom and France couldn’t contain
the rise of Nazi Germany, and as they didn’t want a second world war that would be even more
devastating for their empires, an approach of appeasement was taken towards German and
Italian aggression. In this way, Austria, Memel and the Sudetenland were annexed and Ethiopia,
Albania and Czechoslovakia were invaded by the Axis powers without any retaliation.
Wary of the growing conflict that was brewing in Europe, the Congress of the United States passed
a series of Neutrality Acts in the 30s that promoted isolationism and non-interventionism,
trying to assure that the US wouldn’t be entangled in European affairs yet again. And as the Axis
powers were becoming ever more aggressive, the UK and France had no other choice but to prepare
for war, guaranteeing the independence of Poland, Romania and Greece in 1939.
In response, Germany and Italy formalised their own alliance with the Pact of Steel;
thus, the war was now inevitable. Meanwhile in China,
after two years of bloody fighting, the Chinese were completely demoralized and the Japanese
continued to press their advantage. In February, Hainan Island fell to the Japanese, hoping to
use it as a base for future naval invasions and bombing operations in Southern China.
Furthermore, the long Nanchang campaign concluded with the occupation of the city by early May
and the consolidation of their presence in the Jiangxi and Hunan regions. At the same time,
conflicts with the UK would erupt because of the foreign aid that was flowing to China
through Hong Kong and Indochina, consequently straining the British-Japanese relationships.
But the Japanese momentum would be interrupted by the escalation of border conflicts with the
Soviet Union. As we’ve already covered, a big portion of the IJA command desired war with
the Russians with the objective of destroying communism and securing the resources of Siberia.
This expansionist doctrine, known as Hokushin-ron , drove Tokyo to sign the Anti-Comintern Pact
in 1936, thus threatening the position of the Soviet Union in the East. But, while the Soviets
continued to reinforce their Manchurian border due to the threat that posed the Japanese Empire, the
Kwantung Army saw some of their most elite forces redirected to fight in the ongoing war with China,
leaving them in a weaker state along the border. Already in 1938, the Japanese had been defeated
at the Battle of Lake Khasan, and the humiliation of this defeat prompted them to intensify a border
conflict with the Mongolian People’s Republic, a puppet state under the Soviets. In the resulting
Nomonhan Incident, the Kwantung Army was defeated yet again, and the plans for a northward expansion
were finally revised due to the Soviet strength in the region. If you want a more in depth coverage
of this incident, don’t forget to check out our video on the Battle of Khalkhin Gol, we know
you’ll absolutely love it. What is important from this battle is that the Hokushin-ron was
finally dropped in favor of the Nanshin-ron, a doctrine backed by the IJN that sponsored
a southward expansion into the rich and strategic regions of Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands.
Concurrently, the Japanese launched a new offensive directed against the cities of Suixian
and Zaoyang , after their successful capture of Wuhan. Although Zaoyang had been captured by
early May, the NRA managed to stop the Japanese advance towards Suixian at the Tongbai mountain
ranges. The success in the defense of Suixian gave confidence to the NRA to counterattack Zaoyang,
expelling the Japanese divisions that held the town by the end of the month.
Taking advantage of the successful defense and the Japanese difficulties at the Manchurian border,
Chiang Kai-Shek would continue to build up the military capabilities of the NRA
army and would start to contemplate a possible major counteroffensive.
Returning to Europe, the growing tensions between the Allies and the Axis would culminate on
September 1 with the German invasion of Poland, triggering the start of the Second World War.
On September 27, Warsaw fell to the Germans and the last elements of the Polish army
surrendered by October 6. The Germans would then occupy western and central Poland,
preparing themselves for a general offensive against France, while the Soviets occupied eastern
Poland, as per the agreement between Molotov and Ribbentrop . And back in China, the Japanese
wanted to restore morale after their last defeats and the general stalemate on the Chinese front,
so they started a new offensive south of the Yangtze River aimed at the major city of Changsha.
The campaign was bloody, but General Xue Yue cunningly started to execute magnetic warfare,
in which the advancing Japanese soldiers were attracted to ambushes,
flanking attacks and encirclements, thus inflicting heavy casualties on the IJA .
The loss of life finally forced the Japanese to withdraw across the Laodao River by late
September, making Changsha the first major city to successfully repel Japanese advances, and
Xue would press his advantage with a counterattack that decimated the retreating invaders. By October
10, the success of Xue’s counteroffensive meant that the Chinese had recovered much of Hunan,
southern Hubei and northern Jiangxi. Nonetheless, another Japanese offensive in November was highly
successful at occupying South Guangxi and its capital, Nanning, thus cutting off
Chongqing from the ocean and effectively severing foreign aid to China's war effort via the sea.
Now Indochina, the Burma road and the "hump " were the only remaining effective trade routes.". But
at the same time, Chiang’s Winter Offensive was finally ready to be launched. The NRA planned
to conduct multiple attacks on all fronts to tie down the Japanese forces and prevent them
from preparing new offensives. In late November, the Winter Offensive commenced and the Japanese
braced themselves to withstand the NRA onslaught, seeing major fighting until late March, 1940.
In the north , despite tying down and causing heavy damage to Japanese forces, the objective of
seizing all major towns in southern Shanxi was not met and thus the operation was seen as a failure.
Yet the Japanese invasion of West Suiyuan and Ningxia was also defeated by Warlord
Ma Hongbin and his Hui Muslim troops, forcing the invaders back to the town of Baotou during
the Battle of Wuyuan. Meanwhile in central China , Japanese soldiers were successfully
tied down south of the Yangtze River with relentless attacks, although the objective
of recuperating Nanchang and Wuchang didn’t come into fruition; while north of the Yangtze,
Chinese forces would be completely defeated by the Japanese defenders, suffering heavy casualties.
And in the south , the Japanese advance at South Guangxi and Yunnan was finally stopped
and a counterattack by General Bai Chongxi managed to recapture the cities of Longxian and Yingde,
getting near Guangzhou . While the NRA failed to meet many most of their prime objectives,
overall the winter offensive was very successful at cutting down the Japanese strength in China,
inflicting more than 20000 casualties on the invaders. It also demonstrated
to the British and Americans that the KMT were capable of tying down the Japanese,
thwarting them from aiding Nazi Germany of Fascist Italy. From this point on
Britain and American began loaning greater amounts of money to the Chinese war effort
At the same time that the Winter Offensive was ending, Nazi Germany was preparing for their
major offensive against France. But first, the Nazis would invade Denmark and Norway in April,
conquering the two countries within two months. To circumvent the strong
Maginot Line on the French border, Germany then decided to invade Belgium, the Netherlands and
Luxembourg to blitzkrieg through the Ardennes and cut off Allied defenses in the north.
On May 10, the Battle of France began, and in two weeks, the Benelux nations had already been deeply
penetrated. Pushed to the sea, the surrounded British, French and Belgian soldiers fiercely
resisted the German assaults until June 4, when the evacuation from Dunkirk was finally completed.
The next day, the Nazis started the general offensive through the Somme and Aisne Rivers,
decisively defeating Allied forces with their superior tanks and airplanes, and occupying
Paris on June 14. The ensuing collapse of the French Army successfully terminated the campaign,
and the Axis powers would go on to occupy France and to establish a puppet government in Vichy led
by Philippe Pétain. In July, the Germans then prepared to start a naval and air blockade of
the British Isles. A battle for air supremacy over the islands ensued, and the Nazis would
start night-bombing operations on Britain with the objective of forcing them to surrender. The UK was
now alone, under bombardment and suffering the threat of a possible naval invasion;
this was the darkest hour for the Allies. The Japanese knew the battle of Britain would see
large numbers of British forces leaving Asia to help the home front, leaving places like Hong Kong
vulnerable to attack. Hong Kong remained a major trade route for foreign aid to China.
Furthermore, since the start of World War Two, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt had announced
that he would revise the Neutrality Acts with a “cash and carry” policy that allowed the sale
of military arms to China and the Allies, hoping that the American support would be enough to stop
Japan and Germany. China in particular had already been receiving valuable American aid since the USS
Panay Incident , as no formal declaration of war had ever happened. But after the fall of France,
although the US population was still definitely anti-war, FDR would intensify the naval build-up
pushed with the Vinson Acts and would begin to preemptively prepare for war against the Nazis.
Concurrently, the Japanese would be victorious in June with a minor offensive directed towards
the capture of the cities of Yichang and Zaoyang, setting up an important air base to
intensify the bombardment operations in China and against the capital at Chongqing in particular.
The Japanese would also allow German raiders operating in the Pacific during this period
to resupply at Micronesia, which greatly increased tensions between Japan and the Allies. In the end,
the problem of the British and American aid to China would force Japan to formalize its
alliance with Germany and Italy with the signing of the Tripartite Pact in September, although it
wouldn’t join the war efforts, only blockading by land the British and French concessions in China.
It’s with this layout that we leave you with for now, but join us next week as we finally cover
the rising tensions between Japan and the US, as well as the events that directly led to the start
of the Pacific War. make sure you are subscribed and have pressed the bell button to see the next
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