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2020-10-29 15:28:47 UTC
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EDM II·
October 17
What did Japan think would happen after attacking Pearl Harbor?
It boiled down to what two men thought. Not the civilian government
leaders, not Yamamoto and the Navy, and not the general population.
In the 1920’s a Japanese Army officer took a 1 week train ride across
the United States. What he saw during that train ride convinced him that
the average US citizen did NOT want to fight a war. They were only
interested in a life of luxury. If hit hard, the US would fold up and
give the Japanese what they wanted.
That officer’s nickname in the Imperial Army was “The Razor.”
Hideki Tojo.
First of all understand, the Imperial Army was in charge in 1940–45 time
frame. The Prime Minister, Interior Minister, and Foreign Minister had
no control over the military. Both the Imperial Army and Navy appointed
their own ministers who reported to the Emperor for direction.
What the population and civilian ministers believed was NOT relevant. In
all of Japan, outside of the Army, only Hirohito’s personal orders
carried any weight. So if Hirohito decided NOT to say something things
were assumed to be approved by him.
The decision to invade China wasn’t a decision made by the Emperor, the
Prime Minister, the Foreign Minister, the Navy Minister or the Army
Minister. It was a decision made by Senior officers in Manchuria.
The invasion of China put Japan on a collision course with the USA.
When Tojo finally came to power as the Prime Minister he eventually took
over the civilian police, and the Kenpeitai military and secret police.
The Senior leadership of the Navy were very reluctant to go to war with
the US. The senior leadership were sent to the USA to study the nation.
The naval leadership understood Japan wasn’t in the same industrial
league as the US.
The Navy, it turns out, basically followed the Army’s lead. As the
author of Japanese Destroyer Commander Tameichi Hara said. “The Army led
and the Navy followed.”
Once the war started Tojo was confident of final victory. His confidence
remained after the Coral Sea, Midway and Guadalcanal battles. When
Tarawa finally fell he announced in triumph that the heavy losses the US
sustained were going to bring Japan victory.
Then Saipan, Tinian and Guam fell. Tojo remained confident. Then one
morning he phoned the Imperial Palace requesting a meeting with the
Emperor. The response was the Emperor was not interested in talking to Tojo.
Tojo’s government then fell. His job as Prime Minister was taken by a
civilian. But nothing really changed. The Army and Navy did as they
pleased, sometimes in direct opposition to each other. The Army and Navy
quarreled, and neither service was willing to risk accepting the demand
for complete surrender.
That stalemate in the Japanese government held. Past the fall of the
Philippines, past Iwo Jima, and past the fall of Okinawa. All the while
the Army and some of the Navy insisted that Japan only agree to an
armistice IF-
The Home Islands NOT be occupied.
Japan to try its own war criminals.
Japan to disarm its own armed forces.
It held during the US Submarine blockade of Japan, which almost cut
Japan off from it supplies overseas.
That held past March 9–10th 1945, and the firebombing of Tokyo. That was
the single biggest killer of human beings ever in a bombing raid.
That held while Curtiss LeMay began Operation Starvation. He dropped
naval mines in the Japanese ports virtually stopping inter island shipping.
It also held August 6, 1945 when the first atomic bomb was dropped on
Hiroshima.
It also held past the second Atomic Bomb dropped on August 9, 1945, and
the invasion of Manchuria by USSR troops, the same day.
The position held until the very moment Hirohito ordered the Ministers
to accept the Potsdam declaration.
77.5K viewsView UpvotersView Sharers · Answer requested by Bryan Jones
EDM II·
October 17
What did Japan think would happen after attacking Pearl Harbor?
It boiled down to what two men thought. Not the civilian government
leaders, not Yamamoto and the Navy, and not the general population.
In the 1920’s a Japanese Army officer took a 1 week train ride across
the United States. What he saw during that train ride convinced him that
the average US citizen did NOT want to fight a war. They were only
interested in a life of luxury. If hit hard, the US would fold up and
give the Japanese what they wanted.
That officer’s nickname in the Imperial Army was “The Razor.”
Hideki Tojo.
First of all understand, the Imperial Army was in charge in 1940–45 time
frame. The Prime Minister, Interior Minister, and Foreign Minister had
no control over the military. Both the Imperial Army and Navy appointed
their own ministers who reported to the Emperor for direction.
What the population and civilian ministers believed was NOT relevant. In
all of Japan, outside of the Army, only Hirohito’s personal orders
carried any weight. So if Hirohito decided NOT to say something things
were assumed to be approved by him.
The decision to invade China wasn’t a decision made by the Emperor, the
Prime Minister, the Foreign Minister, the Navy Minister or the Army
Minister. It was a decision made by Senior officers in Manchuria.
The invasion of China put Japan on a collision course with the USA.
When Tojo finally came to power as the Prime Minister he eventually took
over the civilian police, and the Kenpeitai military and secret police.
The Senior leadership of the Navy were very reluctant to go to war with
the US. The senior leadership were sent to the USA to study the nation.
The naval leadership understood Japan wasn’t in the same industrial
league as the US.
The Navy, it turns out, basically followed the Army’s lead. As the
author of Japanese Destroyer Commander Tameichi Hara said. “The Army led
and the Navy followed.”
Once the war started Tojo was confident of final victory. His confidence
remained after the Coral Sea, Midway and Guadalcanal battles. When
Tarawa finally fell he announced in triumph that the heavy losses the US
sustained were going to bring Japan victory.
Then Saipan, Tinian and Guam fell. Tojo remained confident. Then one
morning he phoned the Imperial Palace requesting a meeting with the
Emperor. The response was the Emperor was not interested in talking to Tojo.
Tojo’s government then fell. His job as Prime Minister was taken by a
civilian. But nothing really changed. The Army and Navy did as they
pleased, sometimes in direct opposition to each other. The Army and Navy
quarreled, and neither service was willing to risk accepting the demand
for complete surrender.
That stalemate in the Japanese government held. Past the fall of the
Philippines, past Iwo Jima, and past the fall of Okinawa. All the while
the Army and some of the Navy insisted that Japan only agree to an
armistice IF-
The Home Islands NOT be occupied.
Japan to try its own war criminals.
Japan to disarm its own armed forces.
It held during the US Submarine blockade of Japan, which almost cut
Japan off from it supplies overseas.
That held past March 9–10th 1945, and the firebombing of Tokyo. That was
the single biggest killer of human beings ever in a bombing raid.
That held while Curtiss LeMay began Operation Starvation. He dropped
naval mines in the Japanese ports virtually stopping inter island shipping.
It also held August 6, 1945 when the first atomic bomb was dropped on
Hiroshima.
It also held past the second Atomic Bomb dropped on August 9, 1945, and
the invasion of Manchuria by USSR troops, the same day.
The position held until the very moment Hirohito ordered the Ministers
to accept the Potsdam declaration.
77.5K viewsView UpvotersView Sharers · Answer requested by Bryan Jones