After Pearl Harbor, Lessons Learned

It was on this day in 1941 that United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt (Democrat) went addressed Congress about the attack on Pearl Harbor and requested and received a vote declaring war on the Empire of Japan. As I have pointed out before (here) Roosevelt was very misleading with the American public to say the least of it when it came to Pearl Harbor and (as discussed here) it was not true that the Empire of Japan wanted a war against the United States. The reason for that is simple enough as was proven by subsequent events; it was a war that all the military experts in Japan knew they stood very little chance of being able to win. The United States simply had Japan outmatched in terms of numbers, economic output, resources and industrial capacity. That fact itself was the main motivating factor behind the necessity for having the element of surprise in the attack on Pearl Harbor. Japan's only hope was to strike a crippling blow at the outset in order to stand any chance of winning or rather coming to a negotiated peace favorable to Japan in the long-term of the war. In the end, it didn't work out and many thousands of Americans lost their lives and Japan suffered immensely because of the conflict that never should have happened.

Despite what many people (in both countries actually) believe, Japan did not want to fight a war with the United States. It was something Japan was practically forced into, the Japanese government was backed into a corner and war was seen as the only way out. That really should not even be up for debate. However, what may surprise many people is that Japan did not really want to fight a war with China either and that was the event the United States seized upon to intervene against Japan, disapproval over the war in China. However, while Japanese forces had been fighting in China for about ten years, Japan had never declared war on China and the Republic of China did not declare war on Japan until after Britain and America had done so. At least as far as Japan was concerned, this was because Japan hoped that the "China Incident" could be ended. Japan hoped to come to some sort of agreement with the Chinese nationalists and was only concerned with the danger posed by the communist faction that had been gaining strength and was backed by powerful foreign interests.

The trouble in China began with the Marco Polo Bridge Incident, something which the Japanese did not start but which was probably provoked by Chinese communists because it served only their interests for Japan and the Chinese nationalists to go to war with each other. Later, during the talks between Japan and the United States to try to keep the peace between the two countries, one of the American demands was that the Japanese military forces be removed from China. This was something that Japan was prepared to agree to with the only concession being that a small force be left behind to deal with the communist threat which was all Japan was concerned about anyway. The problem was that there was a misunderstanding over this American proposal that was not clarified until after the war. The Japanese thought that the United States were demanding that the Japanese withdraw from Manchuria as well (which was then the Empire of Manchukuo) as the United States still considered Manchuria to belong to China. However, this was actually not the case and tragically it was only after the war that the Japanese learned that America did not mean to demand that they withdraw from Manchuria as well.

Communism was on the march in East Asia and Japan had every reason to be concerned. The Soviet Union had reached across Siberia to the Pacific, had taken control of Outer Mongolia, threatened Manchuria and was supporting the communists in China. Even the League of Nations commission led by the Earl of Lytton admitted that Japan had legitimate concerns about defending itself from expansionist communism. The Japanese civil and military leadership kept hoping that the fighting in China would end, hoping that the next victory would finally compel Chiang Kai-shek to come to terms and stop the fighting so they could focus on the communist threat. Even though the United States had taken a very pro-Chinese and anti-Japanese attitude, the government in Tokyo expressed its willingness for the United States to be the mediator in bringing about a peaceful settlement of the hostilities between China and Japan. Unfortunately, the Roosevelt government did not appreciate the threat that the Chinese communists represented. Among the international community, it was really only the Empire of Japan that recognized how great a danger Mao's communists posed to the peace and stability of East Asia.

The sad fact that no one else recognized this danger until it was too late and the Empire of Japan, which had been the best bulwark against communist expansion in Asia, was devastated by war. On the part of Japan, mistakes were certainly made regarding China though most of them were not a part of any official government policy. The only one which was probably an official mistake was the support for the Wang Jingwei government. He was not a very trustworthy fellow and the recognition of his government made it all but impossible for Chiang Kai-shek to ever come to terms with Japan. However, as far as the United States is concerned, the great mistake was in not recognizing the communist threat and going to war against the one country best equipped to deal with that threat. Fortunately, better late than never, the United States has learned the lesson. Of course, expecting any country to retract part of what has become the national narrative would be expecting too much but American actions speak louder than words and those actions indicate clearly that the lessons of the war in East Asia have been learned. Certainly, coming to this understanding has been helped by the fact that Communist China today is too powerful and too threatening to ignore. Today, unlike in 1941, the United States opposes Communist China and supports Japan as well as strengthening the Japanese Self-Defense Forces and the reinterpretation of the constitution to allow for collective self-defense.

Today, just like in those early days of communist aggression in East Asia, the Red Chinese are looking to expand and they are being supported by an expansionist Russia. However, this time Japan is not standing alone but has the pledged support of the United States as well as more friendly relations with almost every country in the region not being dominated by Red China. Tensions with South Korea are certainly problematic but in the worst case scenario they would have no choice but to join the non-communist powers opposing China or be dominated by the bandit government in Peking. As Communist China has become more aggressive and continues to build up its navy as a major offensive weapon, it is more important than ever to strengthen the ties of all the Pacific countries to form a defensive cordon around Red China. The Empire of Japan was the first to recognize the threat but everyone else can see it now and most are responding accordingly.