frightfiction Chapter 468
Chapter 468
The contradictions between the United States, Britain and Japan in the Far East have a long history. In particular, Japan's full-scale invasion of China seriously damaged the economic interests of the United States and Britain in China. However, due to the increasingly tense situation in Europe, the decline of Britain's comprehensive national strength and the strong isolationist forces in the United States, they tried their best to avoid conflicts with Japan in the Far East, hoping to "sacrifice China's interests in exchange for Japan's concessions, achieve a conditional compromise between the two sides, and thus preserve the basic interests of Western countries in China" [20]. Under the guidance of this idea, the United States and Britain adopted a policy of appeasement and compromise towards Japan. In dealing with the issue of relations with Japan, Britain tried to push the United States to the front line to deal with the crisis. To show its sincerity, Britain also signed the Arita-Krachi Agreement with Japan, which "recognized Japan's special status in China and the responsibility of the Japanese army to maintain law and order in the occupied areas." [6][21-22]
After the September 18th Incident, as Japan continued to expand its aggression, the United States' trade with Japan, especially the sale of strategic raw materials to Japan, continued to increase.
From 1932 until the July 7 Incident, the United States sold 90% of the scrap steel, 65% of the oil and oil products, 90% of the copper and 45% of the lead needed for Japan's imports, as well as 70% of the machine tools needed to expand its military industry.[23] In 1937, the United States exported a total of US$28855.8 million worth of materials to Japan, of which cotton, oil, coal, steel, non-ferrous metals and other war materials accounted for 58% of the total exports to Japan; in 1938, the United States exported a total of US$23957.5 million worth of materials to Japan, of which cotton, oil, coal, steel, non-ferrous metals and other war materials accounted for 67% of the total exports to Japan; in 1939, 90% of Japan's imported oil was purchased from the United States.[24]
The appeasement policy pursued by the United States and Britain fueled Japan's ambitions and accelerated its efforts to launch the Pacific War. After the outbreak of the European war, Japan took advantage of France's defeat and Britain's siege of the British Isles to force them to close the Yunnan-Vietnam Railway and the Burma Road. In September 1940, Japan forcibly entered northern Indochina, taking the first step in its military campaign to seize European and American colonies in Southeast Asia.
On July 26, 1940, the United States announced measures such as "moral embargo", "export license" and "economic embargo" against Japan. After Japan entered Indochina, it implemented a scrap steel export license system for Japan. On October 18, Britain also reopened the Burma Road and began to transport aid materials to China.
After the outbreak of the European war, the United States and Britain, in their research and formulation of global strategies, believed that Britain itself was a European country with a vast colonial empire. If Japan's expansion in East Asia threatened Britain's limbs, then Germany's expansionist war in Europe threatened its heart. Obviously, the threat posed by Germany was greater than that posed by Japan. Europe was an important trading partner and a focus of the United States' hegemony. A large part of the United States' overseas investment was in the British Empire and European countries. "At least 42 percent of the United States' $12 billion in foreign investment was within the British Empire."[25] Therefore, the United States and Britain prioritized defeating Hitler on the European battlefield.
1940年7月26日～1941年1月15日，美国向日本签署了700万桶的石油输出许可证，其中有300万桶石油已经输入日本，占1936~1939年出口平均率1/3的数量[31]。直到1941年8月1日，美国才宣布对日实行石油禁运，9月美英两国才停止了与日本的所有贸易。[6]
From January 29 to March 27, 1941, the Chiefs of Staff of the United States and Britain reached the ABC-1 Staff Agreement in a secret meeting in Washington, which for the first time clarified the strategy of "Europe first, Asia later". However, due to the fact that the United States and Britain still had major differences on the issue of Far East defense, they did not reach an agreement on "who would play the main role in resisting Japan in the Pacific" [26]. Under the guidance of this strategy, the main task of the Allied forces was to concentrate superior forces to defeat Germany, and only take defensive measures against the attack that Japan would launch in Southeast Asia. [6]
3月～12月7日，美日两国进行了长达9个月的“马拉松”式谈判，这为日本发动战争赢得了时间[32]。在此期间，日本完成了南方作战兵力的部署；提高了军备生产能力，1941年日本年生产生铁600万吨、钢550万吨、飞机5000余架、下水舰艇48艘（包括航母5艘、战列舰、巡洋舰各1艘），完成了战争的最后准备。[6]
4～5月间，本用来防御东南亚的美国太平洋舰队有3艘战列舰、1艘航母、5艘驱逐舰等奉命调往大西洋舰队，以应付英国危机形势，致使东南亚防御力量大为减弱。[6]
In April, British Far East Commander Popham held two meetings in Singapore attended by representatives from the Netherlands, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States, and formulated the "ADB" agreement. The strategic deployment "required to concentrate on Singapore as the main base, while defending the two forward bases of Hong Kong and the Philippines, and blockade and attack Japan from these two places." [27] However, the United States believed that the strategic scope was too broad and the obligations it assumed were too many and refused to accept it. The plan of the United States and Britain to take joint action on the issue of Far East defense failed again. [6]
In July, Japan again forcibly entered southern Indochina and forced France to sign the "Japan-France Joint Defense of Indochina Protocol", thereby controlling the Saigon and Cam Ranh Bay naval bases and turning Indochina into a strategic base and logistics base for its "Southward Advance" plan. [6]
Pacific War Situation Map (2 pictures)
Faced with Japan's aggressive stance, the United States and Britain took corresponding economic sanctions against Japan.