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Why was Japan in China?
Simple question. Complicated answer.
Traditionally it's been given as "living space and resources." Well, maybe. But fewer than 15,000 Japanese civilians moved into Manchuria up to 1944, and the resources they were buying already before they invaded China proper. So, maybe this isn't the whole answer.
How about, because they wanted to?
Postwar imagery and dialog has been centered around the notion that the Japanese were just a bunch of farmers growing rice. Well, with the largest textile industry in Asia, some of the best fighter aircraft in the world, and the first fast-carrier strike force in operational history, that dosen't sound quite right, either.
Also, traditionally, there's that awful Hroshima/Nagasaki thing, the one that ended the war. The Japanese were already on the ropes and along come these A-bombs and the government just yelled "STOP!"
Well, not really. The military was about to scrap the civil government, what there was left of it. The military was readying for the final battle. The air forces would be immolated in a week, the Navy in perhaps a month after the first invasion forces appeared. The military was prepared to go out in a blaze of glory, A-bombs or not.
They informed the Emperor after Nagasaki that the Soviets would invade Japan by late September, and the Americans likely by November.
At this the Showa emperor realized that he could no longer protect the sacred regalia, that he regarded as the soul of Japan and the symbols of his authority. He decided to throw in the towel. A few militarists tried to stop the transmission and destroy the recording of his voice.
So what's this to do with China, say you? Well, think. How did the war spread beyond China? Would there have been a conflict without China? If not, then why was Japan in China in the first place?
Think on it.
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