ABSTRACT
The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on 7-8 December 1941 did not immediately alter the stalemate that had developed by then in the Sino-Japanese War. Initial Japanese operations elsewhere were unexpectedly successful. After conquering the Philippines and Malaya, Japan invaded and conquered Burma, thus cutting the Burma Road and ending for the time being Chinese hopes of effective assistance now that the English-speaking Great Powers had joined the war against Japan. While China could be supplied by air from India to a limited extent, the precondition for significant Chinese participation in the war against Japan was the reconquest of Burma and the reopening of the Burma Road. By the time this was achieved in 1945, Japan already faced imminent defeat, chiefly because of US naval victories in the Pacific.
