Pre-View: 
WW2 – an insight into its blind spot
The Second World War (hereinafter: WW2) was fought principally in 2 widely separated areas of the world, one in the East (the Asian war) and the other in the West (the European war).
The area of the Asian war was defined principally by Japan's military activities in the Far East and the Pacific Ocean. The area of the European war was defined principally by Germany's military activities in Europe, the Mediterranean, North Africa, and the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans. The distance between Japan and Germany resulted in 2 war areas separated by more than 5,000 km; e.g. the battles of Taierzhuang (1938) and Stalingrad (1942) were fought more than 6,000 km apart, the battles of Guadalcanal and Stalingrad were fought simultaneously more than 9,600 km apart.
WW2 began in East Asia (Mukden Incident, September 1931) 8 years before it began in Europe (Germany invaded Poland, September 1939) and continued to be fought in East Asia (until late August 1945) 4 months after it ended in Europe (early May 1945).
Questions crucial to the development and outcome of WW2 are a blind spot in the conventional wisdom on, and histories of, WW2:
- Why did Japan invade China and what difference did it make to WW2?
- Japan intended to invade Siberia (USSR) at the time of Operation Barbarossa but attacked Pearl Harbor instead – what made Japan change its target?
- What saved Russia (USSR) from having to fight a 2-front war against Germany and Japan – at the same time – in WW2?
- Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor forced the US to join the war against Japan and Germany in WW2 – what made Japan attack the US (Pearl Harbor) instead of the USSR (Siberia)?
WW2 was the culmination of 3 events:
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1 |
In September 1931, Japan invades China – starting the war in Asia |
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2 |
In September 1939, Germany invades Poland – starting the war in Europe |
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3 |
In December 1941, Japan makes a desperate bid to break the stalemate in China, attacking British and US territories in East Asia and the Pacific, including Pearl Harbor – to gain the upper hand in China – merging the wars in Asia and Europe into a worldwide war of Axis versus Allies |
As the war progressed, the belligerents realized that no single belligerent could – by itself – win the war.
Neither Japan nor Germany could have individually won ultimate victory – and they both knew it. Hence, Germany wooed Japan into an alliance – the alliance of "Axis Powers" – by the Tripartite Pact (which Japan drafted) of 27 September 1940.
The targets of the Axis alliance realized that they needed to work in alliance to defeat the Axis. Hence, they formed a counter alliance – the alliance of "Allied Powers" – by a "Declaration by United Nations" on 1 January 1942.
The desperate need to work in alliance to defeat the Axis – required arch-enemies to work in alliance. Thus, the western democracies (the British and the US) formed an alliance with their communist arch-enemy (the USSR).
It required the combined efforts of the Allied Powers – principally China, the British, the USSR, and the US (in the sequence in which they were attacked by the powers that formed the Axis Powers) – to win WW2.
The war may be considered in 4 unequal quarters, 2 quarters being the Asian war and the other 2 quarters being the European war:
Quarter-1 – fought inside China (first of the 4 quarters to begin)
Quarter-2 – fought in the Far East & Pacific Ocean outside China
Quarter-3 – the Eastern Front of the European War
Quarter-4 – the European War outside the Eastern Front
English language accounts of WW2 are primarily about Quarter-4, and secondarily about the war in the Pacific Ocean (a part of Quarter-2). As a rule, English language histories of WW2 confer the greatest importance to Quarter-4, secondary importance to the war in the Pacific Ocean (a part of Quarter-2), lesser importance to Quarter-3 – and overlook Quarter-1.
However, the major portion of Japan’s military might was – at all times from 1931 to 1945 – consumed in China (Quarter-1). And the major portion of Germany’s military might was – at all times from 1941 to 1945 – consumed in the Eastern Front (Quarter-3).
Therefore, to understand WW2 it is necessary to balance the accounts by searching for the answers to these questions:
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If the war in China (Quarter-1) was secondary to the war in the Pacific Ocean (part of Quarter-2) – why did Japan deploy the major portion of its military might in China?
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If the Eastern Front (Quarter-3) was secondary to the Western Front (part of Quarter-4) – why did Germany deploy the major portion of its military might in the Eastern Front?
The US was unable to win the Korean War (it ended in a stalemate) and lost the Vietnam War because what happened in China in WW2 was – overlooked and not understood.
In WW2 China:
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Japan’s military could move at will, win battles, and occupy territory – but could not pacify the territory it occupied, and ultimately lost the war.
A decade later, in the Korean War the US, too, fought against an opponent that was seemingly inferior in every aspect, and yet the US was stalemated.
In the Vietnam War, Hu Zhiming (Ho Chi Minh) led the resistance against the French and then the US but how many Europeans and Americans were ever even aware of where he was and what he was doing up to 1941? Maps showing the Japanese occupation of China show between a quarter and a half of China under Japanese control (depending on who drew the map) yet the reality was – the Japanese military controlled only "points and lines" with the rest of the "occupied" areas being controlled by Chinese guerillas (does this sound similar to the situation in Vietnam later?) who ran their own administration and taxation systems completely beyond the control of the "occupying" Japanese army!
Had what happened in China been understood – instead of being a blind spot – the US might have had a different experience and result in the Vietnam War.
Then, in the wars in Korea and Vietnam the US did not "Know thine enemy and know thyself" – so Korea became a draw and Vietnam became an outright failure for the US. Korea was a draw because the communists could not communize South Korea but neither could UN/US intervention de-communize North Korea. Vietnam was an outright failure for the US because the US objective – a viable non-communist South Vietnam – was not achieved and all of Vietnam became communist.
Now, how many Americans truly understand who or what attacked the US on 9/11 and the relationship between 9/11 and the wars in Iraq and Aghanistan?
The war in China is the most seriously overlooked aspect of WW2. It is a quarter of WW2 yet it is a blind spot in the histories of WW2. Such blind spots are dangerous because the result is history repeating itself as happened in Korea and Vietnam.
Excerpts from interview with SearchBeat.com
2) What area of history are you most interested in?
There are 3 areas of history which are most interesting:
why Rome fell
why China is resurgent
the 9/11 attacks in the US (and – Bali 2002, Madrid 2004, Beslan 2004, London 2005, Mumbai 2008...)
because the survival of the US depends on correctly understanding these 3 subjects.
States have a finite lifespan, few states last centuries and even fewer are those states that prosper for more than a century.
The Roman Empire lasted 5 centuries (27 BC–AD 476) but the Pax Romana lasted only 2 centuries (27 BCE to 180 CE). The Umayyad Caliphate lasted less than 90 years (661–750) and the Abbasid Caliphate (750–1258) which overthrew the Umayyad lasted only 5 centuries during the last 350 years of which the Abbasid had lost most of its power and even lost its capital (Baghdad) in 1258.
The Roman Empire is the archetypal political super-state in the West – where the Pax Romana has never been equalled. The USA is a liberal democracy or a constitutional republic depending on one’s opinion. The US concepts of liberty, democracy, constitution, and republic originated in ancient Rome, e.g., the ancient Roman Senate is the ultimate model of the modern US Senate. It is now 235 years since the Declaration of Independence in 1776. In view of the fact that the Pax Romana lasted only 207 years – what is next for the US?
...
China and the US fought the Korean War (1950–1953) because WW2 in China had been such a blind spot in the US where it was believed – China had become a victor in WW2 only by riding on the coattails of the US.
The original mandate for UN/US intervention in Korea was to secure the south up to the 38th parallel. China could have intervened, but did not do so, when UN/US forces were almost defeated and within the Pusan Perimeter in early September 1950. On 3 October 1950, China warned that it would intervene if the US crossed the 38th parallel but UN/US troops crossed the 38th parallel and went on to Chosan and Hyesan on the Yalu River border of China. When the UN/US troops reached the Yalu – US planes were already bombing airbases inside China. China intervened on 25 October 1950.
The Chinese military that intervened were Communist and former Nationalist veterans of the war against Japan’s invasion of China and the Chinese civil war. But China’s military capabilities were not recognized and China’s warnings ignored – because WW2 in China was such a blind spot to the US. So, the Korean War became a protracted war and very costly in US blood and treasure.
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Beginning in 1931 China became the target of Japan’s Holy War and the US became included in the list of targets in December 1941 after ignoring the obvious since September 1931. The 9/11 attacks in the US – and Bali 2002, Madrid 2004, Beslan 2004, London 2005, Mumbai 2008... – how those who are the targets deal with their attackers will decide whether the American way remains the American way or is supplanted by something else. To survive – the USA cannot afford a blind spot here.
The purpose of these pages is to balance the books on WW2 by providing insight into this blind spot – see 2-page Preview of upcoming book: Taierzhuang 1938 – Stalingrad 1942
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