I'm pretty ashamed to say that I don't know that much about World War
II.  I get it that Hitler took Germany to invade Poland, then set
about getting control of the rest of Europe and Britain wasn't having
any of it so the war started.... also that Japan tried taking out
Pearl Harbour and brought the US into the war, but how come Japan got
involved in the first place?  Why did they think it'd be a good idea
to try picking on the US?

Both of my grandparents were British soilders, one spent his time
mostly fighting in (I think Africa) and Japan.  The other was taken as
a POW by Japan.  I suppose I don't understand why Japan started
fighting - was it the same war as Germany started or a different one? 
VE Day came before VJ Day so they weren't that related were they?

This isn't any kind of coursework or anything, I'm just seeking some
kind of easy-to-understand synopsis of the war - and my shambolic
current knowledge prevents me from asking a more definite question.

Dear dan_uk-ga;

Thank you for allowing me an opportunity to answer your interesting question.

You are right; the war in Europe and the war with Japan were two
different wars taking place during the same era. A state of world war
(if there is such a definition by 1940's standards) already existed on
a much smaller scale. While they were related in the sense that Japan
perceived that US was weaker during this time, the similarities really
end with both Germany?s and Japan?s desire to conquer large portions
of the earth and to expand their controlling empires in their
respective realms (but for different reasons). In other words, both
countries wanted a larger portion of the world pie for themselves;
Japan for economic purposes and Germany for political purposes.

Basically the hard feelings between Japan and the United States
predated the US involvement in the War with Germany by several
decades. That is to say that there was existing bad blood between the
US and Japan well before Hitler ever came to power in Germany. Here is
a very good explanation of how it all came about, quoted to preserve
historical accuracy:

?After the Great Depression destroyed markets world-wide, the Japanese
sought new lands for natural resources. They invaded Manchuria in
northern China. When the U.S. demanded the Japanese pull-out of
Manchuria, they appeared to have a double standard: it was all right
for them to have Hawaii and the Philippines and control much of China
through Chian Kai Shek, but it wasn't all right for the Japanese to
pursue similar interests. When the U.S. cut-off oil supplies to Japan
in retaliation for not pulling-out of Manchuria, Japanese leadership,
now controlled by the military, decided to try to knock-out American
aircraft carriers based in Pearl Harbor. Success here, they thought,
would buy them time and allow them to seize natural resources of
America and the Dutch in the South Pacific.?
ASIA
http://www.worldclass.net/world/asia.htm

Japan made some gross miscalculations and their plan for a short-term
conflict with the United States resulted in the utter destruction of
their empire, their ruling monarchy (in the governmental sense) large
portions of their bigger cities (Nagasaki and Hiroshima among others)
and indeed an enormous portion of their population (both military and
civilian).

This page does a great job of condensing Japan?s reasoning for
entering into a conflict with the United States into one page than any
other I?ve read, but it offers some better chronological detail. I
think you will find it enlightening.

THE PEARL HARBOR DAY PAGE
http://www.ccdemo.info/PearlHarbor/PearlHarborDayRemembered.html

The war with Japan was in fact a very different war on a different
front, for somewhat similar reasons - just as you correctly suspected.

I hope you find that my research exceeds your expectations. If you
have any questions about my research please post a clarification
request prior to rating the answer. Otherwise I welcome your rating
and your final comments and I look forward to working with you again
in the near future. Thank you for bringing your question to us.

Best regards;
Tutuzdad-ga ? Google Answers Researcher



INFORMATION SOURCES

ASIA
http://www.worldclass.net/world/asia.htm

THE PEARL HARBOR DAY PAGE
http://www.ccdemo.info/PearlHarbor/PearlHarborDayRemembered.html


SEARCH STRATEGY


SEARCH ENGINE USED:

Google ://www.google.com


SEARCH TERMS USED:

JAPAN

JAPANESE

WAR

REASONS

?WHY DID JAPAN BOMB PEARL HARBOR??

---

Request for Answer Clarification by dan_uk-ga on 27 Feb 2004 12:54 PST

That's great - thanks.  Re-reading my question I realise I mentioned
Japan a lot and didn't ask much about the war in Europe, so say if you
think it should be a second question, but if it was basically Japan
and America in one 'war' and Britain/Europe v Germany in another - how
did British soilders end up fighting (and get taken POW in Japan)?

Having been round a museum in Singapore I know pre-war it was run by
Britain, and it looked like we goofed and Japan tried to erase the
English language and impose Japanese language/culture on Singapore. 
I'm guessing S'pore fell from British to Japanese control during the
war and Japan had to let it go again when they surrended to the US?

---

Clarification of Answer by tutuzdad-ga on 27 Feb 2004 14:26 PST

No problem. I?ll try to explain it here for you and if you think it?s
worthy you may add whatever additional you wish when you rate, rather
than trouble you to open a new question ? how?s that? If it doesn?t
significantly enhance your knowledge of the subject, you are of course
under no obligation to add anything. The choice is yours.

The sequence of how it came about was actually rather odd in today?s
terms, but given the communication technology of the day it is
certainly understandable. You see, following the attack on Pearl
Harbor, Britain, already embroiled in war with Germany, technically
declared war on Japan three days before the United States formally did
it. Britain?s declaration of war against Japan for attacking her ally
came on December 8, 1941.

The United States, on December 11, 1941, publicly announced that a
state of war had existed between it and the empire of Japan since
December 7, 1941 (basically, four days retroactively declaring war on
Japan). Knowing the value of help in this crisis from willing allies
and seeing the need to show support for Britain in order to obtain
support from Churchill, the United States, largely in response to
Britain?s prompt declaration of war on Japan, expanded it?s
declaration to officially include Germany and Italy, the Nazi?s chief
ally.

US DECLARATIONS OF WAR
http://www.ibiblio.org/pha/77-1-148/77-1-148.html

So, you see, Britain was already at war with Japan from virtually the
same instant the United States entered into war with them (and even
before, if one wants to get really technical about it).

To give you a better view of how and in what sequence the war
declarations came into being, here is a brief list of ?who-who? in
World War II:

Great Britain on Germany .............................. Sept. 3, 1939, 11 A.M. 

France on Germany ...................................... September 3, 1939, 5 P.M. 

India on Germany ........................................ September 3, 1939 

Australia on Germany .................................... September 3, 1939 

New Zealand on Germany ............................. September 3, 1939 

Union of South Africa on Germany................... September 6, 1939 

Canada on Germany ..................................... September 10, 1939 

Norway and Germany ................................... No formal
declaration of war

Belgium and Germany .................................. No formal
declaration of war

Luxembourg and Germany ............................ No formal declaration of war 

The Netherlands on Germany ........................ May 10, 1940 

Italy on France ............................................ June 10, 1940 

Canada on Italy ........................................... June 10, 1940 

New Zealand on Italy ................................... June 11, 1940 

Australia on Italy .......................................... June 11, 1940 

Union of South Africa on Italy ........................ June 11, 1940 

Greece on Italy ............................................ October 28, 1940 

Germany and Greece .................................... No formal
declaration of war

Germany on Yugoslavia ................................. April 6, 1941 

Italy and Yugoslavia ...................................... No formal
declaration of war

Yugoslavia on Bulgaria ................................... April 6, 1941 

Yugoslavia on Hungary .................................. April 10, 1941 

Bulgaria on Greece ........................................ April 24, 1941 

Bulgaria on Yugoslavia ................................... April 24, 1941 

Germany on U.S.S.R. ..................................... June 22, 1941 

Italy on U.S.S.R. ........................................... June 22, 1941 

Rumania on U.S.S.R. ..................................... No formal
declaration of war

Finland on U.S.S.R. ....................................... No formal
declaration of war

Hungary on U.S.S.R. ..................................... June 27, 1941 

Albania on U.S.S.R. ....................................... June 29, 1941 

Great Britain on Finland ................................. Dec. 7, 1941 

Great Britain on Rumania ............................... Dec. 7, 1941 

Great Britain on Hungary ............................... Dec. 7, 1941 

Canada on Finland ........................................ Dec. 7, 1941 

Canada on Rumania ...................................... Dec. 7, 1941 

Canada on Hungary ...................................... Dec. 7, 1941 

Australia on Finland ....................................... Dec. 8, 1941 

Australia on Rumania ..................................... Dec. 8, 1941 

Australia on Hungary ..................................... Dec. 8, 1941 

Union of South Africa on Finland ..................... Dec. 8, 1941 

Union of South Africa on Rumania ................... Dec. 8, 1941 

Union of South Africa on Hungary .................... Dec. 8, 1941 

New Zealand on Finland ................................. Dec. 7, 1941 

New Zealand on Hungary ............................... Dec. 7, 1941 

New Zealand on Rumania ............................... Dec. 7, 1941 

Japan on the United States ............................. Dec. 7, 1941 

Japan on the British Empire ............................ Dec. 7, 1941 

Great Britain on Japan ................................... Dec. 8, 1941 

The United States on Japan ............................ Dec. 8 

Canada on Japan .......................................... Dec. 8, as
of Dec. 7, 1941

Costa Rica on Japan ...................................... Dec. 8, 1941 

Dominican Republic on Japan ......................... Dec. 8, 1941 

Guatemala on Japan ...................................... Dec. 8, 1941 

Haiti on Japan ............................................... Dec. 8, 1941 

Honduras on Japan ........................................ Dec. 8, 1941 

El Salvador on Japan ...................................... Dec. 8, 1941 

Panama on Japan .......................................... Dec. 8, 1941 

Cuba on Japan .............................................. Dec. 9, 1941 

The Netherlands on Japan .............................. Dec. 8, 1941 

The Netherlands Indies on Japan ..................... Dec. 8, 1941 

China on Japan .............................................. Dec. 9, 1941 

China on Germany .......................................... Dec. 9, 1941 

China on Italy ................................................. Dec. 9, 1941 

Union of South Africa on Japan ........................ Dec. 8, 1941 

Australia on Japan .......................................... Dec. 8, 1941 

Free France on Japan ..................................... Dec. 8, 1941 

Germany on the United States ......................... Dec. 11, 1941 

Italy on the United States ................................ Dec. 11, 1941 

The United States on Germany ......................... Dec. 11, 1941 

The United States on Italy ............................... Dec. 11, 1941 

Costa Rica on Germany and Italy ...................... Dec. 11, 1941 

Guatemala on Germany and Italy ..................... Dec. 11, 1941 

Cuba on Germany and Italy ............................. Dec. 11, 1941 

Nicaragua on Germany, Italy and Japan ............ Dec. 11, 1941 

Poland on Japan ............................................. Dec. 11, 1941 

Dominican Republic on Germany and Italy ......... Dec. 11, 1941 

Haiti on Germany and Italy ............................... Dec. 12, 1941 

Honduras on Germany and Italy ........................ Dec. 12, 1941 

El Salvador on Germany and Italy ...................... Dec. 12, 1941 

Panama on Germany and Italy ............................ Dec. 12, 1941 

Rumania on the United States ........................... Dec.12, 1941 

Bulgaria on the United States ............................ Dec. 13, 1941 

Bulgaria on Great Britain .................................. Dec. 13, 1941 

Hungary on the United States ........................... Dec. 13, 1941 

Czchoslovakia on all countries at a state of war with Great Britain,
the United States, or the U.S.S.R.
................................................ Dec. 16, 1941

Albania on the United States ............................. Dec. 17, 1941 

Nicaragua on Bulgaria, Hungary, and Rumania ... Dec. 20, 1941 

Belgium on Japan ............................................ Dec. 20, 1941 

Haiti on Bulgaria, Hungary, and Rumania ........... Dec. 24, 1941 

Great Britain on Bulgaria ................................... Dec. 27,
1941, as of Dec. 13, 1941

The Netherlands on Italy .................................. Dec. 30,
1941, as of Dec. 11, 1941

Union of South Africa on Bulgaria ....................... Dec. 31,
1941, as of Dec. 13, 1941


I hope this answers your question about how Britain became involved in
the pacific theater during World War II and how your brave souls ended
up having to endure the one of the greatest nightmares in recorded
history. May God bless them all ? each and every one.

Regards;
Tutuzdad-ga

Thanks to tutuzdad & hlabadie - you've both given me a lot to read,
mull over and maybe come back another day to start off some new
questions :)  It is a shame that more is not made of WW2 in schools. 
Clearly a schoolchild can never grasp the gravity of such events from
a classroom, though it does seem shameful that I left school 8 years
ago knowing so little about it.  Those starting school today won't
even have grandparents who were there - such dramatic and recent
history effectively lost is really bad.  Hopefully they'll someday
find this and other pages for themselves.

Germany and Japan shared common aspirations, i.e., imperial status to
rival that of the colonial powers England, France, and to a lesser
extent the US, and common interests, which they formally acknowledged
in a pact of cooperation for their mutual defense. The pretext for the
pact was the perceived threat of the spread of communism from the
Soviet Union. (Japan and Russia were old enemies, having fought the
Russo-Japanese War, the end of which was mediated by President
Theodore Roosevelt, for which he won the Nobel Peace Prize. Germany
and Russia had been opponents in the First World War, although Russia
had made a separate peace with Germany after the Russian Revolution.
The Nazis used the threat of communism as a political issue in their
propaganda. So Germany and Japan had a common enemy in the USSR.
Germany made a secret non-aggression agreement with the USSR, however,
but this was a sham and Germany invaded the USSR.)

The US was formally neutral and isolationist, although President
Franklin Roosevelt was very early aware of the inevitability of US
involvement in the coming European conflict. The diplomatic crisis
with Japan can only be viewed as a second front in that conflict,
especially in consideration of the aid that the US, although a
non-belligerent, was giving to Britain and to the USSR. After Pearl
Harbor, the US declared war on Japan, and Germany and Italy followed
by declaring war on the US, which reciprocated with declarations of
war on those countries.

Japan attacked British colonies in the East after Britain declared war
on Japan on December 8, 1941.
http://www.bletchleypark.net/ww2/ww2-1941.html

The Russo-Japanese War Research Society
http://www.russojapanesewar.com/

SOME DOCUMENTS RELEVANT TO THE ALLIANCE OF GERMANY, JAPAN, AND ITALY
DURING WORLD WAR II.
http://www.ibiblio.org/pha/policy/pre-war/361125a.html

The Avalon Project at Yale Law School
From Versailles to NATO : 1918-1949
http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/wwii/wwiichro.htm

hlabadie-ga