Japan in World War II

When we talk about World War II, we often recall the European theater of military operations. Meanwhile, in the vastness of Asia and the Pacific, where the allies of the Germans were Japanese, the battles unfolded, which also had considerable influence on the outcome of the war and the future destinies of the Asian peoples.

Lightning strike

Military operations in Asia began for the Japanese a few years before the German tanks entered Poland. Taking advantage of the weakness of China, where there was a struggle for power between several military groups, Japan already in 1932 successfully captured Manchuria, creating there the semblance of an independent state. After 5 years, the descendants of the samurai started the war already for the seizure of the whole of China. Therefore, the main events of the Second World War in 1939-1940 occurred only in Europe, and not in the Asian expanses. The Japanese government was slow to disperse its forces until the leading colonial powers capitulate. When France and Holland were under German occupation, preparations for war began.

The country of the rising sun had very limited resources. Therefore, the main focus was on the rapid seizure of territories and their colonization. We can say that Japan in the Second World War used tactics similar to the German blitzkrieg. After the surrender of the French and the Dutch, the most serious adversaries in this region were the USSR and the United States. After June 22, 1941, the Soviet Union was not up to Japan, so the main blow was required to inflict on the American fleet. December 7, it was done - in an attack on Pearl Harbor were destroyed almost all American aircraft and ships in the Pacific.

This event became a complete surprise for the Americans and their allies. Nobody believed that Japan, engaged in war in China, would attack another territory. Meanwhile, military actions have developed more and more rapidly. Under the Japanese occupation, Hong Kong and Indochina quickly found themselves, in January 1942 British troops were driven out of Malaysia and Singapore, and by May the Philippines and Indonesia were in the hands of the Japanese. Under the power of the descendants of samurai, thus, there was a huge area of 10 million square kilometers.

The successes that Japan initially made in World War II were promoted by well-thought-out propaganda. The peoples of Asia were taught that the Japanese came to liberate them from white imperialism and to build a prosperous society together. Therefore, the local population supported the invaders at first. Similar sentiments were also in the countries that had not yet been seized, for example, in India, to which the Japanese prime minister promised independence. This is only after seeing that "their" at first sight aliens are no better than Europeans, the locals began an active insurgency.

From victories to defeats

But the blitzkrieg of the Japanese collapsed with the same bang as the "Barbarossa" plan. By the middle of 1942, the Americans and the British had recovered and started an offensive. Japan could not win this fight with its limited resources. In June 1942, the Americans inflicted a crushing defeat on the enemy at Midway, near the famous Pearl Harbor. Four Japanese aircraft carriers and the best Japanese pilots left the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. In February 1943, after bloody battles lasting several months, the Americans occupied Guadalcanal.

For half a year the US, taking advantage of the lull at the front, increased the number of aircraft carriers many times over, and launched a new offensive. The Japanese left the Pacific archipelagos one by one under the onslaught of the enemy, which surpassed them in armament and strength.

At the same time, it is worth saying that these victories were not given to Americans easily. The battles that Japan lost in World War II brought many losses to the enemy. Soldiers and officers of the imperial army, in accordance with samurai traditions, did not hurry to surrender and fought to the last. This stability the Japanese command actively used, a vivid example of which are the famous kamikaze. Even the besieged units, blocked on the islands, held to the last. As a result, by the time of capitulation, many soldiers and officers of the Japanese army had simply died of starvation.

But neither heroism nor self-sacrifice helped the Land of the Rising Sun to survive. In August 1945, after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the government decided to capitulate. So Japan in the Second World War was defeated.

The country was quickly occupied by American troops. War criminals were executed, elections to the parliament were held, and a new constitution was adopted. Carried out agrarian reform for ever liquidated the samurai estate, which already existed more in traditions. The Americans did not dare to abolish the monarchy, fearing a social explosion. But the consequences of the Second World War for other Asian countries were such that they forever changed the political map of this region. The peoples who fought with the Japanese were no longer willing to tolerate the colonial authorities and entered into a fierce struggle for their independence.