ABSTRACT
While considerations of race were connected to most aspects of the war in the Asia–Pacific region from 1941 to 1945, it was far from the only or main factor in its causes, course or outcomes. Issues of national interest played a major role in its causes, while political theories such as nationalism and communism were huge factors driving governments, armies and popular movements. Many nations that fought or grew up as a result of the war made room for more than one ethnic group and focused on patriotism rather than racism. The war was won not by prejudice and anger but primarily by hard-headed thinking about strategy and about improvements in technology and tactics. The irrationalities of race, destructive though they were, probably led to fewer deaths than the cold logic of ‘total war,’ which all the major combatant nations saw as justifying the slaughter of civilians.
