Japan is a typical militarist country, and since the Meiji Restoration, as soon as it has achieved industrialization and modernization, it has begun the process of aggression with impunity.
In the eyes of Japan, the realization of greater East Asia co-prosperity is an eternal topic that has haunted the minds of generations, and they are well aware that to achieve this goal, it is necessary to have sufficient resources and territories, which are often those of other countries. Therefore, Japan does not hesitate to enter into conflicts and wars with other countries in order to pursue its own interests. This is one of the reasons why the Japanese were reluctant to face history and admit their mistakes after the war.
Japan's main opponents in World War II were not only China and the United States, but also Britain and the Netherlands. But the Japanese also found a high-sounding reason for themselves - being forced to be helpless, what kind of forced helplessness is it?Let's start at the beginning.
At the time of Japan's Meiji Restoration, the world pattern had been basically determined, and if it wanted to expand again, it would definitely touch the interests of the old system, and the European and American powers began to oppose and obstruct Japan's expansion, especially the United States, which has always been the hegemon of the Pacific Ocean, and the rise of Japan is definitely a major threat to the United States, which is rampant with its navy.
In the middle of World War I, Japan saw the opportunity to join the Entente, pocketed all the German colonies in the Far East, and did not pay it back when the interests were redistributed after the war, which made other countries have a deeper view of Japan.
After Japan's invasion of China, in 1941, the United States imposed economic sanctions such as an oil embargo and an asset freeze on Japan, forcing Japan to face an existential crisis. In addition, the war of aggression against China at this time has already plunged Japan into a quagmire, and in order to break through this predicament, it can only solve the problem by force. However, Japan's navy is not in the same order of magnitude as the United States, and if it wants to start a war, it must carry out a sneak attack, so the battle of Pearl Harbor is inevitable.
Japan's strategy is to fight quickly and decisively, and this strategy has been decided from the moment it invades China, and the frenzied clamor for the destruction of China within three months is precisely out of this strategic consideration, and Japan itself knows in its heart that resources and manpower are not superior, and only by defeating the resistance forces in the fastest time can the ultimate goal of colonization be achieved.
Japan's mistake was that it pinned most of its hopes on Germany and Italy, which, as allies of the Axis powers, were able to contain the United States and Britain in the European theater and disperse their forces. Japan still underestimated the war potential and will of the United States and China, especially the powerful manufacturing capacity of the American world factory, and in less than a year, the US Navy had expanded to a level far more powerful than before the attack on Pearl Harbor.
This is also doomed to Japan's inevitable defeat!
Japan's conflict with China has a long history, dating back to the Sino-Japanese War at the end of the 19th century, when Japan defeated the Qing Dynasty and seized Taiwan and the Liaodong Peninsula. Later, in the Russo-Japanese War, Japan won control of the Tohoku region.
In 1928, Japan launched the Huanggutun Incident in Beijing and assassinated Zhang Zuolin, commander-in-chief of China's National ** Northern Expeditionary Army, in an attempt to obstruct China's reunification and resistance to Japan. In 1931, Japan could no longer hold back its ambition to invade the entire Northeast, and created the September 18 Incident, and the Kwantung Army began to fully occupy the Northeast.
Pu Yi, who was full of dreams of recovering the country, also appeared at this time, and with the support of the Japanese, he established the puppet state of Manchukuo in 1932 and became a puppet emperor himself.
In 1937, Japan launched the July 7 Incident near Beijing, and a full-scale war of aggression against China broke out. Japan's aim was to eliminate China's resistance, control China's politics and economy, and turn China into a Japanese colony and market.
Again, as long as the hope of winning with fast fighting is dashed, there is only one ending left for Japan - the destruction of the country and the death of the people.
After the European battlefield was calmed down, the Soviet Union turned its guns and went directly from the northeast to the south, destroying all the way, and the Kwantung Army, which was showing off its might in the northeast, was directly pushed down without even decent resistance under the steel torrent of the Soviet Union.
As for the conflict with Britain and the Netherlands, there is nothing to say, in the final analysis, it is resources. Britain and the Netherlands owned Malaya, Singapore, Burma, Indonesia, and other places respectively, which were rich in strategic materials such as oil, rubber, and tin, and were the targets of Japan's expansion. In order to seize these regions, Japan did not hesitate to go to war with Britain and the Netherlands, and at the same time clashed with British interests in China. At one point, Japan occupied these areas at one point in the early days of the Pacific War, but with the United States and China, Japan gradually lost control of these areas.
The madness of Japanese militarist ideology is the most fascist country in the entire World War II, and the Japanese military department formulated the policy of "100 million jade pieces" for a decisive battle in the local area, requiring all the people to resist to the death against the invading allied forces for the honor of the country, even if they are women, children, old and weak, they must pick up **, or commit suicide, and do not surrender until death, and they are afraid of dying, and it is precisely in this mentality that they have eaten two atomic bombs of the United States in a row.
This is the last madness of Japanese militarism and the greatest evil for the Japanese people.