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  • For four long years, Europe had been devastated  during the First World War, leaving almost 30  

  • million casualties along with many more dying  of famines and disease. As such, the world had  

  • suffered enough, so another major conflict like  that one was strictly avoided by the main Western  

  • powers. But in the 30s, all of this would change  with the rise of fascism and nazism in Italy and  

  • Germany. While the war between Japan and China  intensifies and reaches a stalemate in 1939, a new  

  • conflict is brewing in Europe; a conflict that is  destined to change the course of history. Join us  

  • as we take a look at the start of the Second World  War and the effects it had on the Japanese Empire  

  • and the United States. By the way, don't forget  to check out our podcast on the Pacific Warit  

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  • At the end of the Great War, the balance  of power was drastically changed with  

  • the downfall of the German Empire and the  rise of the United States as a world power.  

  • Because of the humiliating Treaty of Versaillesthe newborn Weimar Republic was in a very  

  • difficult situation at the start of the Roaring  Twenties, having to pay immense war reparations  

  • to their former enemies and suffering a heavy  military restriction upon its armed forces.  

  • Both of these problems would then lead  to hyperinflation and economic crisis,  

  • as well as a lack of unity and political extremism  plaguing the nation. The Germans also lost a big  

  • portion of their homeland and all of its overseas  territories, giving rise to a national sense of  

  • irredentism and revanchism, which would be key  to the rise of ultranationalism in the country.  

  • Concurrently, the Treaty of Versailles would  also fail to concede to the Kingdom of Italy  

  • all of the territories that they had been  promised for their participation in the war.  

  • This was seen as a great humiliation by the  Italian nationalists, leaving the way open for  

  • the rise to power of Benito Mussolini and his  fascist movement. From 1922 to 1934, Mussolini  

  • would go on to impose a totalitarian rule and  to build a solid groundwork for his dictatorship  

  • and his future expansionist prospects. Meanwhile in Germany, the far-right  

  • National Socialist German Workers' Party rose to  prominence under the leadership of Adolf Hitler,  

  • with ultranationalism, radical antisemitism  and anti-Bolshevism, as well as a complete  

  • rejection of the Treaty of Versailles , as their  core principles. Amidst the political chaos of  

  • the Weimar Republic and the deterioration  of the economy due to the Great Depression,  

  • Hitler's oratory skills promising a strong  central government, a racial cleansing and  

  • an economic recovery would earn immense  support for the Nazi Party in the Reichstag.  

  • In 1932, the Nazis thus won the national elections  and subsequently started a campaign of political  

  • pressure and intimidation against the other  parties that would allow Hitler to establish a  

  • dictatorship and to becomehrer by 1934. Hitler  would then start a massive rearmament programme,  

  • directly repudiating the Treaty of Versailles  and remilitarizing the Rhineland by 1936.  

  • It's at this point that the mutual hatred for  Bolshevism prompted the Japanese Empire and Nazi  

  • Germany to sign the Anti-Comintern Pact, directed  against the Communist International and the Soviet  

  • Union in particular. Japan hoped that this would  become a military alliance against the Soviets,  

  • but Hitler surprised them by signing the  Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact with Stalin, this was  

  • not an option anymore. Relations between Germany  and Italy also improved during this period,  

  • resulting in the creation of the Berlin-Rome Axis. As the United Kingdom and France couldn't contain  

  • the rise of Nazi Germany, and as they didn't  want a second world war that would be even more  

  • devastating for their empires, an approach  of appeasement was taken towards German and  

  • Italian aggression. In this way, Austria, Memel  and the Sudetenland were annexed and Ethiopia,  

  • Albania and Czechoslovakia were invaded by  the Axis powers without any retaliation.  

  • Wary of the growing conflict that was brewing in  Europe, the Congress of the United States passed  

  • a series of Neutrality Acts in the 30s that  promoted isolationism and non-interventionism,  

  • trying to assure that the US wouldn't be entangled  in European affairs yet again. And as the Axis  

  • powers were becoming ever more aggressive, the  UK and France had no other choice but to prepare  

  • for war, guaranteeing the independence  of Poland, Romania and Greece in 1939.  

  • In response, Germany and Italy formalised  their own alliance with the Pact of Steel;  

  • thus, the war was now inevitable. Meanwhile in China,  

  • after two years of bloody fighting, the Chinese  were completely demoralized and the Japanese  

  • continued to press their advantage. In FebruaryHainan Island fell to the Japanese, hoping to  

  • use it as a base for future naval invasions  and bombing operations in Southern China.  

  • Furthermore, the long Nanchang campaign concluded  with the occupation of the city by early May  

  • and the consolidation of their presence in the  Jiangxi and Hunan regions. At the same time,  

  • conflicts with the UK would erupt because  of the foreign aid that was flowing to China  

  • through Hong Kong and Indochina, consequently  straining the British-Japanese relationships

  • But the Japanese momentum would be interrupted  by the escalation of border conflicts with the  

  • Soviet Union. As we've already covered, a big  portion of the IJA command desired war with  

  • the Russians with the objective of destroying  communism and securing the resources of Siberia.  

  • This expansionist doctrine, known as Hokushin-ron  , drove Tokyo to sign the Anti-Comintern Pact  

  • in 1936, thus threatening the position of the  Soviet Union in the East. But, while the Soviets  

  • continued to reinforce their Manchurian border due  to the threat that posed the Japanese Empire, the  

  • Kwantung Army saw some of their most elite forces  redirected to fight in the ongoing war with China,  

  • leaving them in a weaker state along the borderAlready in 1938, the Japanese had been defeated  

  • at the Battle of Lake Khasan, and the humiliation  of this defeat prompted them to intensify a border  

  • conflict with the Mongolian People's Republic, a  puppet state under the Soviets. In the resulting  

  • Nomonhan Incident, the Kwantung Army was defeated  yet again, and the plans for a northward expansion  

  • were finally revised due to the Soviet strength in  the region. If you want a more in depth coverage  

  • of this incident, don't forget to check out our  video on the Battle of Khalkhin Gol, we know  

  • you'll absolutely love it. What is important  from this battle is that the Hokushin-ron was  

  • finally dropped in favor of the Nanshin-ron,  a doctrine backed by the IJN that sponsored  

  • a southward expansion into the rich and strategic  regions of Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands

  • Concurrently, the Japanese launched a new  offensive directed against the cities of Suixian  

  • and Zaoyang , after their successful capture  of Wuhan. Although Zaoyang had been captured by  

  • early May, the NRA managed to stop the Japanese  advance towards Suixian at the Tongbai mountain  

  • ranges. The success in the defense of Suixian gave  confidence to the NRA to counterattack Zaoyang,  

  • expelling the Japanese divisions that  held the town by the end of the month.  

  • Taking advantage of the successful defense and the  Japanese difficulties at the Manchurian border,  

  • Chiang Kai-Shek would continue to build  up the military capabilities of the NRA  

  • army and would start to contemplate  a possible major counteroffensive.

  • Returning to Europe, the growing tensions between  the Allies and the Axis would culminate on  

  • September 1 with the German invasion of Polandtriggering the start of the Second World War.  

  • On September 27, Warsaw fell to the Germans  and the last elements of the Polish army  

  • surrendered by October 6. The Germans would  then occupy western and central Poland,  

  • preparing themselves for a general offensive  against France, while the Soviets occupied eastern  

  • Poland, as per the agreement between Molotov  and Ribbentrop . And back in China, the Japanese  

  • wanted to restore morale after their last defeats  and the general stalemate on the Chinese front,  

  • so they started a new offensive south of the  Yangtze River aimed at the major city of Changsha.  

  • The campaign was bloody, but General Xue Yue  cunningly started to execute magnetic warfare,  

  • in which the advancing Japanese  soldiers were attracted to ambushes,  

  • flanking attacks and encirclements, thus  inflicting heavy casualties on the IJA

  • The loss of life finally forced the Japanese  to withdraw across the Laodao River by late  

  • September, making Changsha the first major city  to successfully repel Japanese advances, and  

  • Xue would press his advantage with a counterattack  that decimated the retreating invaders. By October  

  • 10, the success of Xue's counteroffensive meant  that the Chinese had recovered much of Hunan,  

  • southern Hubei and northern Jiangxi. Nonethelessanother Japanese offensive in November was highly  

  • successful at occupying South Guangxi and  its capital, Nanning, thus cutting off  

  • Chongqing from the ocean and effectively severing  foreign aid to China's war effort via the sea.  

  • Now Indochina, the Burma road and the "hump " were  the only remaining effective trade routes.". But  

  • at the same time, Chiang's Winter Offensive was  finally ready to be launched. The NRA planned  

  • to conduct multiple attacks on all fronts to  tie down the Japanese forces and prevent them  

  • from preparing new offensives. In late Novemberthe Winter Offensive commenced and the Japanese  

  • braced themselves to withstand the NRA onslaughtseeing major fighting until late March, 1940.  

  • In the north , despite tying down and causing  heavy damage to Japanese forces, the objective of  

  • seizing all major towns in southern Shanxi was not  met and thus the operation was seen as a failure.  

  • Yet the Japanese invasion of West Suiyuan  and Ningxia was also defeated by Warlord  

  • Ma Hongbin and his Hui Muslim troops, forcing  the invaders back to the town of Baotou during  

  • the Battle of Wuyuan. Meanwhile in central  China , Japanese soldiers were successfully  

  • tied down south of the Yangtze River with  relentless attacks, although the objective  

  • of recuperating Nanchang and Wuchang didn't  come into fruition; while north of the Yangtze,  

  • Chinese forces would be completely defeated by the  Japanese defenders, suffering heavy casualties.  

  • And in the south , the Japanese advance at  South Guangxi and Yunnan was finally stopped  

  • and a counterattack by General Bai Chongxi managed  to recapture the cities of Longxian and Yingde,  

  • getting near Guangzhou . While the NRA failed  to meet many most of their prime objectives,  

  • overall the winter offensive was very successful  at cutting down the Japanese strength in China,  

  • inflicting more than 20000 casualties  on the invaders. It also demonstrated  

  • to the British and Americans that the KMT  were capable of tying down the Japanese,  

  • thwarting them from aiding Nazi Germany  of Fascist Italy. From this point on  

  • Britain and American began loaning greater  amounts of money to the Chinese war effort 

  • At the same time that the Winter Offensive was  ending, Nazi Germany was preparing for their  

  • major offensive against France. But first, the  Nazis would invade Denmark and Norway in April,  

  • conquering the two countries within  two months. To circumvent the strong  

  • Maginot Line on the French border, Germany then  decided to invade Belgium, the Netherlands and  

  • Luxembourg to blitzkrieg through the Ardennes  and cut off Allied defenses in the north.  

  • On May 10, the Battle of France began, and in two  weeks, the Benelux nations had already been deeply  

  • penetrated. Pushed to the sea, the surrounded  British, French and Belgian soldiers fiercely  

  • resisted the German assaults until June 4, when  the evacuation from Dunkirk was finally completed

  • The next day, the Nazis started the general  offensive through the Somme and Aisne Rivers,  

  • decisively defeating Allied forces with their  superior tanks and airplanes, and occupying  

  • Paris on June 14. The ensuing collapse of the  French Army successfully terminated the campaign,  

  • and the Axis powers would go on to occupy France  and to establish a puppet government in Vichy led  

  • by Philippetain. In July, the Germans then  prepared to start a naval and air blockade of  

  • the British Isles. A battle for air supremacy  over the islands ensued, and the Nazis would  

  • start night-bombing operations on Britain with the  objective of forcing them to surrender. The UK was  

  • now alone, under bombardment and suffering  the threat of a possible naval invasion;  

  • this was the darkest hour for the Allies. The  Japanese knew the battle of Britain would see  

  • large numbers of British forces leaving Asia to  help the home front, leaving places like Hong Kong  

  • vulnerable to attack. Hong Kong remainedmajor trade route for foreign aid to China

  • Furthermore, since the start of World War TwoPresident Franklin Delano Roosevelt had announced