ABSTRACT
In its origins, stakes and purposes, the war in Asia-Pacific was all but entirely unrelated to the war in Europe. Nevertheless, it is still accurate, if strangely so, to regard the war against Japan as an integral part of World War II. The principal connection between the two wars, half a world apart, was that it was only the ongoing war in Europe that emboldened Japan to seek a grand military solution to its strategic problems. Had there been no active conflict in Europe, Japanese prospects for success would have been so poor that war almost certainly would have been rejected as the policy choice. Even as it was, in 1941 Japanese leaders were far from united in a determination to fight. Context is vital. In 1940-1, as Japan’s material strategic condition worsened as a result of American-led economic sanctions, so the radical changes in the global strategic context effected by Germany’s victories appeared to offer a unique opportunity for Japan to exploit.
