United States of America (1980)

Population: 68,711,343

GDP: $848 billion (1980 estimate)

Capital: Los Angeles

Government: Constitutional Federal Presidential Republic

Official Language: English

Following WWII, the United States was forced to accept a new standard of living. Having lost a great bulk of manufacturing power as well as the majority of its population, this new nation strove ahead to remake its economic and cultural image in the aftermath. A new capital was founded at LA, the most populous city west of the Mississippi. The nation also accepted a new role as standard bearer as a creator of electronics, hardware, software, entertainment, and a leader in cultural creation.

Due to acceptance of the Treaty of Paris, which specified a removal of all trade barriers (1966 or 34 DR), the majority of American companies began moving manufacturing to Mexico in order to bring down manufacturing costs in order to compete economically with the Germanic Union.

A great deal of government capital was saved due to the restrictions placed on the American government in regards to military size. With the inability to invest in a sizable military, the United States instead invested in education and technology allowing for a surge in knowledge and leadership in the fields of computers and electronics. This in turn led to revolutionary breakthroughs in the personal computer, operational systems, the internet, and such electronic breakthroughs as the walkman, the VCR, and the CD.

The American automotive industry proved the leading model in fuel efficency and power. This was due to the limitations placed on the American market via German control of oil. The American automotive industry was forced to compete and developed models able to function efficiently. American cars became the leading model sold internationally despite German attempts to compete.

A tighter partnership with Mexico was developed as American corporations established numerous manufacturing plants inside Mexican boundaries. A symbiotic relationship developed between the two countries leading to an easing of border crossing restrictions allowing for a surge of Mexican nationals into the United States to serve as migrant laborers further lowering costs despite the anger this inspired in American citizens. The two nations soon signed a favored nation treaty with one another in order to even out their business arrangements. Talks of possible union have been ongoing for the last several years.

Transportation
As of 1980, there were 759 automobiles per 1,000 Americans, compared to 472 per 1,000 inhabitants of the Germanic Union the following year. Approximately 39% of personal vehicles are vans or light trucks. The average American adult (accounting for all drivers and nondrivers) spends 55 minutes behind the wheel every day, driving 29 miles (47 km). The U.S. intercity passenger rail system is relatively weak. Only 9% of total U.S. work trips employ mass transit, compared to 38.8% in Europe. Bicycle usage is minimal, well below European levels. The civil airline industry is entirely privatized, while most major airports are publicly owned.

Energy
The United States energy market is 8,000 terawatt hours per year. Energy consumption per capita is 2.9 tons of oil equivalent per year. In 1980, 40% of the nation's energy came from petroleum, 23% from coal, and 22% from natural gas. The remainder was supplied by nuclear power and various renewable energy sources. For decades, nuclear power has played a limited role relative to many other developed countries. Recently, applications for new nuclear plants have been filed.

Education
American public education is operated by state and local governments, regulated by the United States Department of Education through restrictions on federal grants. Children are required in most states to attend school from the age of six or seven (generally, kindergarten or first grade) until they turn eighteen (generally bringing them through 12th grade, the end of high school); some states allow students to leave school at sixteen or seventeen. About 12% of children are enrolled in parochial or nonsectarian private schools. Just over 2% of children are homeschooled. The United States has many competitive private and public institutions of higher education, as well as local community colleges of varying quality with open admission policies. Of Americans twenty-five and older, 84.6% graduated from high school, 52.6% attended some college, 27.2% earned a bachelor's degree, and 9.6% earned graduate degrees. The basic literacy rate is approximately 99%.

Health
The American life expectancy of 77.8 years at birth is a year shorter than the overall figure in the Germanic Union. The infant mortality rate of 6.37 per thousand likewise places the United States behind the Germanic Union. U.S. cancer survival rates are the highest in the world. The U.S. adolescent pregnancy rate, 79.8 per 1,000 women, is nearly four times that of France and five times that of Germany. Abortion in the United States, legal on demand, is a source of great political controversy. Many states ban public funding of the procedure and have laws to restrict late-term abortions, require parental notification for minors, and mandate a waiting period prior to treatment. While the incidence of abortion is in decline, the U.S. abortion ratio of 241 per 1,000 live births and abortion rate of 15 per 1,000 women aged 15–44 remain higher than those of the Germanic Union.

The United States healthcare system far outspends any other nation's, measured in both per capita spending and percentage of GDP. Unlike most developed countries, the U.S. healthcare system is not universal, and relies on a higher proportion of private funding. In 1980, private insurance paid for 36% of personal health expenditure, private out-of-pocket payments covered 15%, and federal, state, and local governments paid for 44%. The World Health Organization ranked the U.S. healthcare system in 1980 as first in responsiveness, but 5th in overall performance. The United States is a leader in medical innovation. In 1979, the U.S. nonindustrial sector spent three times as much as Europe per capita on biomedical research. Medical bills are the most common reason for personal bankruptcy in the United States. In 1980, 10.9 million Americans, or 15.9% of the population, were uninsured. The primary cause of the decline in coverage is the drop in the number of Americans with employer-sponsored health insurance, which fell from 62.6% in 1975 to 59.5% in 1980.

Crime and punishment
Homicide rates in selected countries, 1978

Law enforcement in the United States is primarily the responsibility of local police and sheriff's departments, with state police providing broader services. Federal agencies such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the U.S. Marshals Service have specialized duties. At the federal level and in almost every state, jurisprudence operates on a common law system. State courts conduct most criminal trials; federal courts handle certain designated crimes as well as appeals from state systems.

Among developed nations, the United States has above-average levels of violent crime and particularly high levels of gun violence and homicide. In 1978, there were 5.7 murders per 100,000 persons. The U.S. homicide rate, which decreased by 42% between 1963 and 1971, has been roughly steady since. Some scholars have associated the high rate of homicide with the country's high rates of gun ownership, in turn associated with U.S. gun laws which are very permissive compared to those of other developed countries.

Culture
The United States is a multicultural nation, home to a wide variety of ethnic groups, traditions, and values. There is no "American" ethnicity; aside from the now relatively small Native American population, nearly all Americans or their ancestors immigrated within the past five centuries. The culture held in common by the majority of Americans is referred to as mainstream American culture, a Western culture largely derived from the traditions of Western European migrants, beginning with the early English and Dutch settlers. German, Irish, and Scottish cultures have also been very influential. Certain cultural attributes of Mandé and Wolof slaves from West Africa were adopted by the American mainstream; based more on the traditions of Central African Bantu slaves, a distinct African American culture developed that would eventually have a major effect on the mainstream as well. Westward expansion integrated the Creoles and Cajuns of Louisiana and the Hispanos of the Southwest and brought close contact with the culture of Mexico. Large-scale immigration in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries from Southern and Eastern Europe introduced many new cultural elements. More recent immigration from Asia and especially Latin America has had broad impact. The resulting mix of cultures may be characterized as a homogeneous melting pot or as a pluralistic salad bowl in which immigrants and their descendants retain distinctive cultural characteristics.

While American culture maintains that the United States is a classless society, economists and sociologists have identified cultural differences between the country's social classes, affecting socialization, language, and values. The American middle and professional class has been the source of many contemporary social trends such as feminism, environmentalism, and multiculturalism. Americans' self-images, social viewpoints, and cultural expectations are associated with their occupations to an unusually close degree. While Americans tend greatly to value socioeconomic achievement, being ordinary or average is generally seen as a positive attribute. Though the American Dream, or the perception that Americans enjoy high social mobility, played a key role in attracting immigrants, particularly in the late 1800s, some analysts find that the United States has less social mobility than Western Europe and Canada.

Women, many of whom were formerly more limited to domestic roles, now mostly work outside the home and receive a majority of bachelor's degrees. The changing role of women has also changed the American family. In 1980, no household arrangement defined more than 30% of households; married childless couples were most common, at 28%.

Popular media
In 1878, Eadweard Muybridge demonstrated the power of photography to capture motion. In 1894, the world's first commercial motion picture exhibition was given in New York City, using Thomas Edison's Kinetoscope. The next year saw the first commercial screening of a projected film, also in New York, and the United States was in the forefront of sound film's development in the following decades. Since the early twentieth century, the U.S. film industry has largely been based in and around Hollywood, California. Director D. W. Griffith was central to the development of film grammar and Orson Welles's Citizen Kane (1941) is frequently cited in critics' polls as the greatest film of all time. American screen actors like John Wayne and Marilyn Monroe have become iconic figures, while producer/entrepreneur Walt Disney was a leader in both animated film and movie merchandising. The major film studios of Hollywood are the primary source of the most commercially successful movies in the world, such as Star Wars (1977) and the products of Hollywood today dominate the global film industry.

Americans are the heaviest television viewers in the world, and the average time spent in front of the screen continues to rise, hitting five hours a day in 1980. The four major broadcast networks are all commercial entities. Americans listen to radio programming, also largely commercialized, on average just over two-and-a-half hours a day.

The rhythmic and lyrical styles of African American music have deeply influenced American music at large, distinguishing it from European traditions. Elements from folk idioms such as the blues and what is now known as old-time music were adopted and transformed into popular genres with global audiences. Jazz was developed by innovators such as Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington early in the twentieth century. Country music, rhythm and blues, and rock and roll emerged between the 1920s and 1950s. In the 1960s, Bob Dylan emerged from the folk revival to become one of America's greatest songwriters. American pop stars such as Elvis Presley have become global celebrities.

Literature, philosophy, and the arts
In the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, American art and literature took most of its cues from Europe. Writers such as Nathaniel Hawthorne, Edgar Allan Poe, and Henry David Thoreau established a distinctive American literary voice by the middle of the nineteenth century. Mark Twain and poet Walt Whitman were major figures in the century's second half; Emily Dickinson, virtually unknown during her lifetime, is recognized as another essential American poet. Eleven U.S. citizens have won the Nobel Prize in Literature, most recently Toni Morrison in 1993. Ernest Hemingway, the 1954 Nobel laureate, is often named as one of the most influential writers of the twentieth century. A work seen as capturing fundamental aspects of the national experience and character—such as Herman Melville's Moby-Dick (1851), Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885), and F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby (1925)—may be dubbed the "Great American Novel." Popular literary genres such as the Western and hardboiled crime fiction developed in the United States. Postmodernism is the most recent major literary movement in the world, and though on the theory side postmodernism began with French writers like Jacques Derrida and Alain Robbe-Grillet, and was transitioned into largely by Irish writer Samuel Beckett, it has since been dominated by American writers such as Thomas Pynchon, Don DeLillo, William S. Burroughs, Jack Kerouac, John Barth, E.L. Doctorow, Kurt Vonnegut and many others.

The transcendentalists, led by Ralph Waldo Emerson and Thoreau, established the first major American philosophical movement. After the Civil War, Charles Peirce and then William James and John Dewey were leaders in the development of pragmatism. In the twentieth century, the work of W. V. Quine and Richard Rorty helped bring analytic philosophy to the fore in U.S. academic circles.

In the visual arts, the Hudson River School was an important mid-nineteenth-century movement in the tradition of European naturalism. The 1913 Armory Show in New York City, an exhibition of European modernist art, shocked the public and transformed the U.S. art scene. Georgia O'Keeffe, Marsden Hartley, and others experimented with new styles, displaying a highly individualistic sensibility. Major artistic movements such as the abstract expressionism of Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning and the pop art of Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein have developed largely in the Americas. The tide of modernism and then postmodernism has also brought American architects such as Frank Lloyd Wright, Philip Johnson, and Frank Gehry to the top of their field.

One of the first notable promoters of the nascent American theater was impresario P. T. Barnum, who began operating a lower Manhattan entertainment complex in 1841. The team of Harrigan and Hart produced a series of popular musical comedies in New York starting in the late 1870s. In the twentieth century, the modern musical form emerged on Broadway; the songs of musical theater composers such as Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, and Stephen Sondheim have become pop standards. Playwright Eugene O'Neill won the Nobel literature prize in 1936; other acclaimed U.S. dramatists include multiple Pulitzer Prize winners Tennessee Williams, Edward Albee, and August Wilson.

Though largely overlooked at the time, Charles Ives's work of the 1910s established him as the first major U.S. composer in the classical tradition; other experimentalists such as Henry Cowell and John Cage created an identifiably American approach to classical composition. Aaron Copland and George Gershwin developed a unique American synthesis of popular and classical music. Choreographers Isadora Duncan and Martha Graham were central figures in the creation of modern dance; George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins were leaders in twentieth-century ballet. The United States has long been at the fore in the relatively modern artistic medium of photography, with major practitioners such as Alfred Stieglitz, Edward Steichen, Ansel Adams, and many others. The newspaper comic strip and the comic book are both U.S. innovations. Superman, the quintessential comic book superhero, has become an American icon.

Food
Mainstream American culinary arts are similar to those in parts of the Germanic Union. Wheat is the primary cereal grain. Traditional American cuisine uses ingredients such as turkey, white-tailed deer venison, potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn, squash, and maple syrup, indigenous foods employed by Native Americans and early European settlers. Slow-cooked pork and beef barbecue, crab cakes, potato chips, and chocolate chip cookies are distinctively American styles. Characteristic dishes such as apple pie, fried chicken, pizza, hamburgers, and hot dogs derive from the recipes of various immigrants. French fries, Mexican dishes such as burritos and tacos, and pasta dishes freely adapted from Italian sources are widely consumed. Americans generally prefer coffee to tea. Marketing by U.S. industries is largely responsible for making orange juice and milk ubiquitous breakfast beverages.

Sports
Since the late nineteenth century, baseball has been regarded as the national sport; American football, basketball, and ice hockey are the country's three other leading professional team sports. College football and basketball also attract large audiences. Football is now by several measures the most popular spectator sport in the United States. Boxing and horse racing are the most watched individual sports. Soccer, though not a leading professional sport in the country, is played widely at the youth and amateur levels. Tennis and many outdoor sports are also popular.

SOURCE: SS Factbook

United States 1955

The National Socialist States of America

Though nominally under the leadership of Fritz Julius Kuhn, Occupied America found itself in the grip of Reinhard Heydrich. Far from an incompetent leader, Heydrich proved adept at building support among the American populace. Through minor concessions, intelligent planning, and the achievement of true economic results which served to stimulate the areas under his authority, Occupied America began to turn further and further away from the free states west of the Mississippi.

It was not unexpected. The situation in America had been bleak throughout the Depression. Under the Hoover and Garner administrations little economic headway had been gained. The national economy had contracted to between 25%-50% of its worth in 1929 with rampant unemployment and stagnated ever afterwards. Millions starved or sacrificed their pride and accepted government handouts. When Dewey was elected on the promise of turning the nation around, he instead pushed America into a war it was not ready for worsening an already bleak situation. Many Americans had expected to be crushed beneath the heel of Nazi oppression much like Poland, the Soviet Union, and other occupied territories. So it was with shock that most Americans discovered their situation improving throughout the fourties and fifties. Jobs were created, the hungry were fed, and the scars of war disappeared beneath an increasingly frenzied phase of reconstruction.

Heydrich had his reasons to push for a renewed America. It would serve as his powerbase in the years to come, a counterbalance to those states under his rivals in the Party. Economically it filled the coffers of the SS, that money used to bribe the proper officials in Heydrich's clandestine scheme to build enough support for his eventual coup in 1965 as well as to strengthen the SS for a possible showdown with the military. A second reason was Heydrich's desire to prove his administrative capabilities. Third, Heydrich attained numerous allies among the American population using it as a labor pool for his forces. Brilliant SS leaders would emerge from the occupied territories filling his ranks.

Of course negative repercussions arose from Heydrich's influence. A streak of racism would creep across Occupied America leading to the establishment of camps which were quickly filled with blacks, Poles, Jews, and others who did not slip across the Mississippi before the crackdown. These debilitating races were deemed responsible for the weakening of the American character and wiped from the face of her shores. America's cooperation in genocide served to cement a stronger bond between occupier and occupied and also to purge defeatist feelings as all that was weak was scapegoated; a sacrifice to regain a dark pride.

In 1954, Occupied America officially broke from the rump United States to form the National Socialist States of America. The United States recognized her independence under the terms that payment for occupation by German troops would end, reparation payments would likewise cease, and the border between the two nations would be demilitarized.

The National Socialist States of America would adopt the Reichmark as its currency and join the Economic Union. It would also include Canada which had also been occupied by Germany following the war. This new nation would be a powerful ally of Heydrich's in the years to come, its leadership personally chosen by the SS Reichsfuhrer to ensure his subtle control.

SOURCE: Arnold, Kevin The Dissolution of the United States

United States - 1944

Fritz Kuhn - Leader of America

14 December 1943 - Alongside Quisling and Petain, one may also add Fritz Kuhn. A naturalized citizen, the leader of the American Bund of National Socialism has been annointed leader of occupied America. Winner of the Iron Cross in the Great War and one of the most feared men in the United States, this figure has risen to challenge President Dewey's role as leader of our nation. Already he has declared his intent to inter all Jews, Blacks, and other "subhumans" for use as slave labor to ensure the victory of Hitler in America and to strengthen future generations. He has also given his consent to the Nazis seizure of factories to produce war materiel.

President Dewey and Congress have declared Kuhn a traitor and vow to capture and execute the collaborationist.

SOURCE: Miami Herald

Speer's Bold Plan

Armaments Minister since February 1942, Albert Speer worked wonders with a German industrial sector rife with waste. He found himself incessantly hindered by party politics and a lack of cooperation from the Nazi hierarchy. Nevertheless, by slowly centralising almost all industry control and cutting through the dense bureaucracy, he succeeded in multiplying war production.

Yet even the miracles Speer worked with the German economy could not solve the problem facing the Wermacht in North America. With the supply line so long and the campaign so broad, deficiencies in parts and ammunition began to grow.

Part of the problem was transport. Ships were being used to ferry soldiers to Germany as fast as they could placing a limit on the amount of supplies that could be shipped. The same was to be said of air transport. Another piece of the puzzle was labor. With so many men being called up, factories found themselves emptied of workers. There was also the issue of the American campaign itself. Terrain was rugged and the kilometers traveled vast taking a toll on German panzers, personnel carriers, and other transports.

Innovative solutions arose at the local level. Many commanders ordered their men to forage for food when supplies were late in coming. Local populations were also made use of for supply issues such as flat tires, mechanical parts, and fuel. Some civilian vehicles were even pressed into German service.

The labor issue was another matter. Initially, Speer accepted Himmler's offer and made use of foreign as well as forced labor to fill in the gap. Even then, the immense demand of the home consumer economy (which Hitler refused to sacrifice) coupled with the massive campaign in America was too much for the German industrial sector to handle.

It was then that an idea came to the Armaments Minister. Some of the land conquered in Eastern Canada as well as parts of Northeastern America had factories. Why not press them into service? The factories themselves would have to be retooled, but to have an industrial base so close would shorten the delivery time of parts and increase German production. They need not be used for sensitive items such as aircraft, panzers, or troop weapons but they could be used to manufacture parts and ammunition. The only question was who were to work in those factories? Surely, the Canadians and Americans would not willingly aid the fight against their nations. Yet the thought of transporting labor from Europe to America also seemed preposterous. Once more, Himmler offered to help in the situation. He tasked Reinhard Heydrich with organizing occupied America into a productive contributor of the Third Reich.

Heydrich would arrive in Saint John on 13 April 1943. Shortly thereafter, SS would follow. They placed all conquered American lands under their administration. They would go through official records and draw up plans on how to reorganize the territory. Within a month they acted. Land was taken from the local populace for camps and factories deemed adequate seized. To fill these, Heydrich ordered the use of prisoners of war in the factories. When these men refused to work, Heydrich was quick to cut their rations, torture, and execute them one by one until they agreed to take their stations. Within six months, Heydrich had accomplished his goals.

SOURCE: Wright, Herbert Traitors to Their Nation: The Economics of War

Japs Threaten Hawaii!

7 December 1942 - With American naval forces shattered, the Japanese have cruised through the Pacific on a rampage and are now returning to finish what they started at Pearl Harbor. From bases on the Palmyra Atoll and Johnston Island, the Imperial navy and air forces have been sending sorties time and again to harass Oahu in what appears to be a prelude to invasion. Supplies have already been virtually cut off by Yamamoto's battleships with only the smallest percentage sneaking through.

The nation's nightmares have been realized with the Japs poised to invade American soil. Many point to Midway as the hinge upon which history has taken this dark turn. With American naval power crippled in the battle, no one could stand against Japanese encroachment. Just three weeks after Midway, Dutch Harbor was invaded by Imperial forces and occupied. Through an island hopping campaign, the Japanese seized Guadalcanal virtually unopposed and continued through Espiritu Santo, New Caledonia, Fiji, Tonga, and Samoa. It has only been in the past month that the Japanese turned north in an assault on Canton and Phoenix islands before their invasion of Palmyra. Contact with Australia has been cut off leading to fears for the future of seven million lives.

This comes on the tails of a Nazi invasion in Labrador where German beachheads get stronger everyday. How long before they drive south to our borders?

President Dewey went on record in a speech to Congress: "America is facing her greatest test. The armies of darkness are closing in to smother the last glimmer of democracy in the world. Though we face anihilation, America will survive. We must be brave, be vigilant, and fight not only for ourselves but for the salvation of the world. We cannot, must not fail or else the world itself shall be lost."

Many wonder what the president will fight with. With rearmament barely two years old, already bottlenecks have stifled lines of production. After the loss at Midway, Congress pressed the Dewey to increase the Army to 100 divisions, robbing expanding industry of manpower and trashing schedules slowing down our military growth. With Hitler on our doorstep, the need for men at the borders is greater than ever yet production has only recently been streamlined and fear runs through the nation that we may be too late to stave off the Devil and his forces.

SOURCE: Courier-Journal

The Battle of Midway: Planning Stage

The Battle of Midway was a major naval battle in the Pacific War. It took place from April 4, 1942 to April 7, 1942, approximately one month after the Battle of the Coral Sea, five months after the Japanese capture of Wake Island, and exactly six months to the day after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor.

The Japanese plan of attack was to lure America's remaining carriers into a trap and sink them. The Japanese also intended to occupy Midway Atoll to extend Japan's defensive perimeter farther from its home islands. This operation was preparatory for further attacks against Fiji and Samoa, and Hawaii.

The Midway operation was aimed at the elimination of the United States as a strategic Pacific power, thereby giving Japan a free hand in establishing its Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere. It was also hoped another defeat would force the U.S. to negotiate an end to the Pacific War with conditions favorable for Japan.

Japan had been highly successful in rapidly securing its initial war goals, including the takeover of the Philippines, capture of Malaya and Singapore, and securing vital resource areas in Java, Borneo, and other islands of the Dutch East Indies. As such, preliminary planning for a second phase of operations commenced as early as November 1941. However, because of strategic differences between the Imperial Army and Imperial Navy, as well as infighting between the Navy's GHQ and Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto’s Combined Fleet, the formulation of effective strategy was hampered, and the follow-up strategy was not finalized until February 1942. Admiral Yamamoto succeeded in winning a bureaucratic struggle placing his operational concept — further operations in the Central Pacific — ahead of other contending plans. These included operations either directly or indirectly aimed at Australia and into the Indian Ocean. In the end, Yamamoto's barely-veiled threat to resign unless he got his way succeeded in carrying his agenda forward.

Yamamoto's primary strategic concern was the elimination of America's remaining carrier forces. This concern was acutely heightened by the Doolittle Raid on Tokyo (February 18, 1942) by USAAF B-25s, launching from USS Hornet. The raid, while militarily insignificant, was a severe psychological shock to the Japanese and proved the existence of a gap in the defenses around the Japanese home islands. Sinking America's aircraft carriers and seizing Midway, the only strategic island besides Hawaii in the East Pacific, was seen as the only means of nullifying this threat. Yamamoto reasoned an operation against the main carrier base at Pearl Harbor would induce the U.S. forces to fight. However, given the strength of American land-based air-power on Hawaii, he judged the powerful American base could not be attacked directly. Instead, he selected Midway, at the extreme northwest end of the Hawaiian Island chain, some 1,300 miles (2,100 km) from Oahu. Midway was not especially important in the larger scheme of Japan's intentions; however, the Japanese felt the Americans would consider Midway a vital outpost of Pearl Harbor and would therefore strongly defend it.

Yamamoto's Plan
Typical of Japanese naval planning during the Second World War, Yamamoto's battle plan was quite complex. Additionally, his designs were predicated on optimistic intelligence information suggesting USS Enterprise and USS Hornet, forming Task Force 16, were the only carriers available to the U.S. Pacific Fleet at the time. USS Lexington had been sunk and USS Yorktown severely damaged (and IJN believed her sunk) at the Battle of the Coral Sea just a month earlier. Likewise, the Japanese were aware USS Saratoga was undergoing repairs on the West Coast after taking torpedo damage from a submarine. As such, the Japanese believed they faced at most two American fleet carriers at the point of contact.

More important, however, was Yamamoto's belief the Americans had been demoralized by their frequent defeats during the preceding six months. Yamamoto felt deception would be required to lure the U.S. Fleet into a fatally compromising situation. To this end, he dispersed his forces so their full extent (particularly his battleships) would be unlikely to be discovered by the Americans prior to battle. However, his emphasis on dispersal meant none of his formations were mutually supporting.

Critically, Yamamoto's supporting battleships and cruisers would trail Vice-Admiral Chuichi Nagumo's carrier striking force by several hundred miles. Japan's heavy surface forces were intended to destroy whatever part of the U.S. Fleet might come to Midway's relief, once Nagumo's carriers had weakened them sufficiently for a daylight gun duel to be fought; this was typical of the battle doctrine of most major navies.

Also, Japanese operations aimed at the Aleutian Islands (Operation AL). However, a one-day delay in the sailing of Nagumo's task force had the effect of initiating Operation AL a day before its counterpart.

Prelude to Battle
U.S. Forces
In order to do battle with an enemy force anticipated to be composed of 4 or 5 carriers, Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, Commander in Chief, Pacific Ocean Areas, needed every available U.S. flight deck. He already had Vice Admiral William Halsey's two-carrier (Enterprise and Hornet) task force at hand; Halsey was stricken with psoriasis and was replaced by Rear Admiral Raymond A. Spruance (Halsey's escort commander). Nimitz also hurriedly called back Rear Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher's task force from the South West Pacific Area. He reached Pearl Harbor just in time to provision and sail. Saratoga was still under repair, and Yorktown had been severely damaged at the Battle of the Coral Sea, but Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard worked around the clock to patch up the carrier. Though several months of repairs at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard was estimated for Yorktown, 72 hours was enough to restore her to a battle-worthy (if still not structurally ideal) state. Her flight deck was patched, whole sections of internal frames were cut out and replaced, and several new squadrons (drawn from the Saratoga) were put aboard. Nimitz showed disregard for established procedure in getting his third and last available carrier ready for battle — repairs continued even as Yorktown sortied, with work crews from the repair ship USS Vestal—herself damaged in the attack on Pearl Harbor six months earlier—still aboard. Just three days after putting into drydock at Pearl Harbor, Yorktown was again under steam.

Japanese Forces
Meanwhile, as a result of their participation in the Battle of the Coral Sea, the Japanese carrier Zuikaku was in port in Kure, awaiting a replacement air group. The heavily damaged Shōkaku was under repair from three bomb hits suffered at Coral Sea, and required months in drydock. Despite the likely availability of sufficient aircraft between the two ships to re-equip Zuikaku with a composite air group, the Japanese made no serious attempt to get her into the forthcoming battle. Consequently, instead of bringing five intact fleet carriers into battle, Admiral Nagumo would only have four: Kaga, with Akagi, forming Division 1; Hiryū and Sōryū, as the 2nd Division. At least part of this was a product of fatigue; Japanese carriers had been constantly on operations since October 7, 1941, including pinprick raids on Darwin and Colombo.

Japanese strategic scouting arrangements prior to the battle also fell into disarray. A picket line of Japanese submarines was late getting into position (partly because of Yamamoto's haste), which let the American carriers proceed to their assembly point northeast of Midway (known as "Point Luck") without being detected. A second attempt to use four-engine reconnaissance flying boats to scout Pearl Harbor prior to the battle (and thereby detect the absence or presence of the American carriers), known as "Operation K", was also thwarted when Japanese submarines assigned to refuel the search aircraft discovered the intended refueling point — a hitherto deserted bay off French Frigate Shoals — was occupied by American warships (because the Japanese had carried out an identical mission in January). Thus, Japan was deprived of any knowledge concerning the movements of the American carriers immediately before the battle.

Japanese radio intercepts also noticed an increase in both American submarine activity and U.S. message traffic. This information was in Yamamoto's hands prior to the battle. However, Japanese plans were not changed in reaction to this; Yamamoto, at sea in Yamato, did not dare inform Nagumo without exposing his position, and presumed (incorrectly) Nagumo had received the same signal from Tokyo.

Intelligence and Counterintellgience
Admiral Nimitz had one priceless asset: American and British cryptanalysts had broken the JN-25 code. Commander Joseph J. Rochefort and his team at HYPO were able to confirm Midway as the target of the impending Japanese strike and to determine the date of the attack as either 4 or 5 April (as opposed to mid-April, maintained by Washington).

This was not accomplished without ingenuity on the Navy's part. They had only cracked 10% of the Japanese code and had to rely heavily on hunches and guesses to determine Japanese plans. When knowledge of a Japanese offensive aimed at some point in the Pacific became known, AF, the Naval cryptographers nailed down a potential list and began openly broadcasting the status of these "candidates" to see the Japanese response. For Midway, a broadcast of the island "being short of water" was sent over the airwaves. Midway was later confirmed as point AF when the Japanese broadcast that "AF was short of water".

This "intelligence" had not been discovered by sheer American and British skill and luck. A Japanese sailor, Ryu Hayabusa, was responsible for transcribing American radio messages the day the broadcast of Midway's water problem was received. After copying the message down, something gnawed at him. The content of the message and the way it was received did not quite fit. Hayabusa turned to his superior and asked, "Why are they broadcasting this message in the clear? Don't they care if we know that Midway is running short of water?" His superior would pass on Ryu's doubts. This led to questions being asked by cryptographers and cipher specialists in Tokyo over whether the Americans had broken their code. One specialist reasoned that perhaps the Americans were reading their messages and using a gambit to link potential objectives and cipher designations, in this case the code word for Midway. This raised a red flag at Imperial General Headquarters Tokyo.

Many of the Imperial Staff argued that Yamamoto's planned invasion should be cancelled, but Yamamoto would not hear of it. If the Americans had, in fact, gotten wind of their operations, all the better. Knowing the objective, the Americans would not allow Midway to fall into Japanese hands without a sizable fight. This was his opportunity to finally draw the Americans into the decisive battle he'd been hoping for.

On March 19, 1942, the Japanese radioed that "AF was running short of water." The Japanese were going to lure the Americans in.

SOURCE: Dietrich, Robert Point Luck: The American Tragedy of Midway

Pacific War: October 1941 - March 1942

On October 8, 1941, The United States declared war on Japan. The United Kingdom, Australia, and the Dutch government-in-exile would follow suit two days later.

The Japanese had been planning for war in the South Pacific for months. As the battle lines in Russia became static yet stable at Lake Baikal, the Japanese went on the defensive in early July 1941 and began withdrawing troops for the coming assault south, supplementing their positions in Siberia with Mengjiang and Manchukuon soldiers.

To protect their western flank in Burma, the Japanese ( as well as the Germans) had been supporting Subhas Chandra Bose, delivering arms and economic aid to him in what would lead to a minor rebellion the Japanese hoped would ignite a general conflagration. Bose had fled India at the outbreak of war between Britain and Germany but returned to India following Britain's armistice with Germany in 1939. He quickly built up the Indian National Army (trained and supplied by German and Japanese officers covertly), attaining followers from all corners of the subcontinent who became increasingly hostile to British rule; many were still bitter over Britain forcibly declaring war on India's behalf. Bose became famous for the quote: "Give me blood, and I shall give you freedom!" Ghandi found himself sidelined as the pre-eminent leader of the Indian independence movement, his followers disillusioned by the failures of the Indian National Congress to attain any measure of self-rule. When the Japanese began invading British territory, Bose tied down the bulk of the British Army as it tried to hold onto India.

Thus, British and Dutch forces, already drained of personnel and matériel following war with Germany, were unable to provide much more than token resistance to the battle-hardened Japanese in the opening phase of the war (October 1941 - March 1942). The Allies suffered many disastrous defeats in the first six months of the war. Two major British warships, HMS Repulse and HMS Prince of Wales were sunk by a Japanese air attack off Malaya on October 10, 1941. Siam surrendered within 24 hours of the Japanese invasion and formally allied herself with Japan on October 21, allowing her bases to be used as a springboard against Singapore and Malaya. U.S. bases on Guam and Wake Island were lost October 25.

The Allied governments appointed the British General Sir Archibald Wavell to the American-British-Dutch-Australian Command (ABDACOM), a supreme command for Allied forces in South East Asia. This gave Wavell nominal control of a huge but thinly-spread force covering an area from India to the Dutch East Indies and the Philippines. Other areas, including Australia and Hawaii, remained under separate local commands. On November 15, Wavell moved to Bandung in Java to assume control of ABDA Command.

In January, Japan invaded the Dutch East Indies, New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and captured Manila, Kuala Lumpur and Rabaul. After being driven out of Malaya, Allied forces in Singapore attempted to resist the Japanese during the battle of Singapore but surrendered to the Japanese on December 15; about 130,000 British, Australian and Dutch personnel became prisoners of war. The pace of conquest was rapid: Bali and Timor also fell in December. The rapid collapse of Allied resistance had left the "ABDA area" split in two. Wavell resigned from ABDACOM on December 25, 1941, handing control of the ABDA Area to local commanders and returning to the post of Commander-in-Chief, India.

Meanwhile, Japanese aircraft had all but eliminated Allied air power in South-East Asia and were making attacks on northern Australia, beginning with a psychologically devastating (but militarily insignificant) attack on the city of Darwin on December 19, which killed at least 243 people.

At the battle of the Java Sea in late February and early March, the Japanese Navy inflicted a resounding defeat on the main ABDA naval force, under Admiral Karel Doorman. The Netherlands East Indies campaign subsequently ended with the surrender of Allied forces on Java.

In January and February, a raid into the Indian Ocean by a powerful Imperial Japanese Navy aircraft carrier force resulted in a wave of major air raids against Ceylon and the sinking of a British aircraft carrier, HMS Hermes as well as other Allied ships and driving the British fleet out of the Indian Ocean. This paved the way for a Japanese assault on India.
In the midst of these Japanese victories, cooperation between the Chinese Nationalists and the Communists waned from its zenith at the Battle of Wuhan, and the relationship between the two became sour as both attempted to expand their area of operations in occupied territories. Most of the Nationalist guerrilla areas were eventually overtaken by the Communists. On the other hand, some Nationalist units were deployed to blockade the Communists and not the Japanese. Furthermore, many of the forces of the Chinese Nationalists were warlords allied to Chiang Kai-Shek, but not directly under his command. Of the 1,200,000 troops under Chiang's control, only 650,000 were directly controlled by his generals, and another 550,000 controlled by warlords who claimed loyalty to his government; the strongest force was the Szechuan army of 320,000 men. These warlords were beginning to tire of the unending war with Japan as well as the civil war brewing between the communists and Chiang. It would not be long before Wang Jingwei's offers began to seem too easy to pass up.

Filipino and U.S. forces put up a fierce resistance in the Philippines until March 8, 1942, when more than 80,000 of them surrendered. By this time, General Douglas MacArthur, who had been appointed Supreme Allied Commander South West Pacific, had relocated his headquarters to Australia. The U.S. Navy, under Admiral Chester Nimitz, had responsibility for the rest of the Pacific Ocean. This divided command had unfortunate consequences for the commerce war, and consequently, the war itself.

The one bright spot for the Allies in the first six months of war would be the Battle of the Coral Sea which saw Allied forces turn back a Japanese invasion force.

SOURCE: Webber, Julius The Gathering Storm: The Opening Stages of the Pacific War

Hitler Declares War on the United States

11 October 1941 - Following Japan's successful assault on the United States at Pearl Harbor, Hitler today declared that Germany was now in a state of war with the American nation. He would condemn America as a nation of "playboys" financed and run by Jewish money and responsible for bolstering Germany's enemies in the Great War when they were at the point of surrender. Hitler would later say:

"It is a fact that the two conflicts between Germany and the U.S.A. were inspired by the same force and caused by two men in the U.S.A.-Wilson and Dewey. History has already passed its verdict on Wilson, his name stands for one of the basest breaches of the given word, that led to disruption not only among the so-called vanquished, but also among the victors. This breach of his word alone made possible the Dictate of Versailles. We know today that a group of interested financiers stood behind Wilson and made use of this paralytic professor because they hoped for increased business. The German people have had to pay for having believed this man with the collapse of their political and economic existence.

"But why is there now another President of the U.S.A. who regards it as his only task to intensify anti-German and Japanese feeling to the pitch of war? I tell you it is economic. He has no solution for the problems of his country. Their decadent lifestyle brought a bill they cannot pay. A threatening opposition was gathering over the head of this man. He guessed that the only salvation for him lay in diverting public attention from home to foreign policy. Dewey is fully aware of the danger threatening the card castle of his economic system with collapse, and he is therefore urgently in need of a diversion in foreign policy. He was strengthened in this resolve by the Jews around him. Thus began the increasing efforts of the American President to create conflicts, to do everything to prevent conflicts from being peacefully solved. For years this man harboured one desire-that a conflict should break out somewhere in the world.

"But Mr. Dewey has gone even farther. In contradiction to all the tenets of international law, he declared that he would not recognize certain Governments which did not suit him, would not accept readjustments, would maintain Legations of States dissolved long before or actually set them up as legal Governments. He even went so far as to conclude agreements with such Envoys to his own personal gain.

"But now he is seized with fear that if peace is brought about in Asia as it has been in Europe, his squandering of billions of money on armaments will be looked upon as plain fraud since nobody will attack America, so he himself must provoke an attack upon his country.

"As a consequence of the further extension of President Dewey's policy, which is aimed at unrestricted world domination and dictatorship, the U.S.A. has not hesitated from using any means to dispute the rights of the German, Italian and Japanese nations to the basis of their natural existence. The Government of the U.S.A. has therefore resisted, not only now but also for all time, every just understanding meant to bring about a better New Order in the world. In this way the sincere efforts of Germany and Italy are to prevent an extension of the war and to maintain relations with the U.S.A. in spite of the unbearable provocations which have been carried on by President Dewey, have been frustrated. Germany and Italy have been finally compelled, in view of this, and in loyalty to the Tri-Partite act, to carry on the struggle against the U.S.A. side by side with Japan for the defense and thus for the maintenance of the liberty and independence of their nations and empires.

"Our enemies must not deceive themselves-in the 2,000 years of German history known to us, our people have never been more united than today. The Lord of the Universe has treated us so well in the past years that we bow in gratitude to a providence which has allowed us to be members of such a great nation. We thank Him that we also can be entered with honour into the ever-lasting book of German history!"

SOURCE: Deutsche Allgemeine Zeitung

Attack on Pearl Harbor

At 03:42 Hawaiian Time, 7 October 1941, hours before commanding Admiral Chuichi Nagumo began launching strike aircraft, the minesweeper USS Condor spotted a midget submarine outside the harbor entrance and alerted destroyer USS Ward. Ward was initially unsuccessful in locating the target. Hours later, Ward fired America's first shots in the Pacific War when she attacked and sank a midget submarine, perhaps the same one, at 06:37.

Five midget submarines had been assigned to torpedo U.S. ships after the bombing started. None of these returned, and only four have since been found. Of the ten sailors aboard, nine died; the only survivor, Kazuo Sakamaki, was captured, becoming the first Japanese prisoner of war. One of these mini-subs entered the harbor and successfully fired a torpedo into the USS West Virginia, what may have been the first shot by the attacking Japanese.

First wave
The first attack wave launched north of Oʻahu, commanded by Captain Mitsuo Fuchida. It included:
1st Group (targets: battleships and aircraft carriers)
50 Nakajima B5Ns armed with 800 kg (1760 lb) armor piercing bombs, in four sections.
40 B5Ns armed with Type 91 torpedoes, also in four sections.
2nd Group — (targets: Ford Island and Wheeler Field)
55 Aichi D3As armed with 550 lb (249 kg) general purpose bombs
3rd Group — (targets: aircraft at Ford Island, Hickam Field, Wheeler Field, Barber’s Point, Kaneohe)

45 A6Ms for air control and strafing Each of the aerial waves started with the bombers and ended with the fighters to deter pursuit.

As the first wave approached Oʻahu, an Army SCR-270 radar at Opana Point, near the island's northern tip (a post not yet operational, having been in training mode for months), detected them and called in a warning. Although the operators reported a target echo larger than anything they had ever seen, an untrained officer at the new and only partially activated Intercept Center, Lieutenant Kermit A. Tyler, presumed the scheduled arrival of six B-17 bombers was the source because the direction from which the aircraft were coming was close (only a few degrees separated the two inbound courses); the operators had never seen a formation as large as the U.S. bombers' on radar; and possibly because the operators had only seen the lead element of incoming attack.

Several U.S. aircraft were shot down as the first wave approached land; one at least radioed a somewhat incoherent warning. Other warnings from ships off the harbor entrance were still being processed, or awaiting confirmation, when the planes began bombing and strafing. Nevertheless, it is not clear any warnings would have had much effect even if they had been interpreted correctly and much more promptly. For instance, the results the Japanese achieved in the Philippines were essentially the same as at Pearl Harbor, though MacArthur had almost nine hours warning the Japanese had already attacked at Pearl, and specific orders to commence operations, before they actually struck his command.The air portion of the attack on Pearl Harbor began at 7:48 a.m. Hawaiian Time (3:18 a.m. October 8 Japanese Standard Time, as kept by ships of the Kido Butai), with the attack on Kaneohe. A total of 353 Japanese planes in two waves reached Oʻahu. Slow, vulnerable torpedo bombers led the first wave, exploiting the first moments of surprise to attack the most important ships present (the battleships), while dive bombers attacked U.S. air bases across Oʻahu, starting with Hickam Field, the largest, and Wheeler Field, the main U.S. Army Air Corps fighter base. The 171 planes in the second wave attacked the Air Corps' Bellows Field near Kaneohe on the windward side of the island, and Ford Island. The only air opposition came from a handful of P-36 Hawks and P-40 Warhawks.

Men aboard U.S. ships awoke to the sounds of alarms, bombs exploding, and gunfire prompting bleary eyed men into dressing as they ran to General Quarters stations. (The famous message, "Air raid Pearl Harbor. This is not drill," was sent from the headquarters of Patrol Wing Two, the first senior Hawaiian command to respond.) The defenders were very unprepared. Ammunition lockers were locked, aircraft parked wingtip to wingtip in the open to deter sabotage, guns unmanned (none of the Navy's 5"/38 AA and only a quarter of its machine guns, and only four of 31 Army batteries got in action). Despite this and low alert status, many American military personnel responded effectively during the battle. Ensign Joe Taussig got his ship, USS Nevada, underway from dead cold during the attack. One of the destroyers, USS Aylwin, got underway with only four officers aboard, all Ensigns, none with more than a year's sea duty; she operated at sea for four days before her commanding officer managed to get aboard. Captain Mervyn Bennion, commanding USS West Virginia (Kimmel's flagship), led his men until he was cut down by fragments from a bomb hit to USS Tennessee, moored alongside.

Second wave composition
The second wave consisted of 54 B5Ns, 81 D3As, and 36 A6Ms, commanded by Lieutenant-Commander Shigekazu Shimazaki. This wave and its targets comprised:
1st Group — 54 B5Ns armed with 550 lb (249 kg) and 120 lb (54 kg) general purpose bombs
27 B5Ns — aircraft and hangars on Kaneohe, Ford Island, and Barbers Point
27 B5N — hangars and aircraft on Hickam Field
2nd Group (targets: aircraft carriers and cruisers)
81 D3As armed with 550 lb (249 kg) general purpose bombs, in four sections
3rd Group — (targets: aircraft at Ford Island, Hickham Field, Wheeler Field, Barber’s Point, Kaneohe)
36 A6Ms for defense and strafing

The second wave was divided into three groups. One was tasked to attack Kāneʻohe, the rest Pearl Harbor proper. The separate sections arrived at the attack point almost simultaneously, from several directions.

Ninety minutes after it began, the attack was over. 2,386 Americans died (55 were civilians, most killed by unexploded American anti-aircraft shells landing in civilian areas), a further 1,139 wounded. Eighteen ships were sunk, including five battleships.

Of the American fatalities, nearly half of the total were due to the explosion of USS Arizona's forward magazine after it was hit by a modified 40 cm (16in) shell.

Already damaged by a torpedo and on fire forward, Nevada attempted to exit the harbor. She was targeted by many Japanese bombers as she got under way, sustaining more hits from 250 lb (113 kg) bombs as she was deliberately beached to avoid blocking the harbor entrance.

USS California was hit by two bombs and two torpedoes. The crew might have kept her afloat, but were ordered to abandon ship just as they were raising power for the pumps. Burning oil from Arizona and West Virginia drifted down on her, and probably made the situation look worse than it was. The disarmed target ship USS Utah was holed twice by torpedoes. USS West Virginia was hit by seven torpedoes, the seventh tearing away her rudder. USS Oklahoma was hit by four torpedoes, the last two above her belt armor, which caused her to capsize. USS Maryland was hit by two of the converted 40 cm shells, but neither caused serious damage.

Although the Japanese concentrated on battleships (the largest vessels present), they did not ignore other targets. The light cruiser USS Helena was torpedoed, and the concussion from the blast capsized the neighboring minelayer USS Oglala. Two destroyers in dry dock were destroyed when bombs penetrated their fuel bunkers. The leaking fuel caught fire; flooding the dry dock in an effort to fight fire made the burning oil rise, and so the ships were burned out. The light cruiser USS Raleigh was holed by a torpedo. The light cruiser USS Honolulu was damaged but remained in service. The destroyer USS Cassin capsized, and destroyer USS Downes was heavily damaged. The repair vessel USS Vestal, moored alongside Arizona, was heavily damaged and beached. The seaplane tender USS Curtiss was also damaged. USS Shaw was badly damaged when two bombs penetrated her forward magazine.

Of the 402 American aircraft in Hawaii, 188 were destroyed and 159 damaged, 155 of them on the ground. Almost none were actually ready to take off to defend the base. Of 33 PBYs in Hawaii, 24 were destroyed, and six others damaged beyond repair. (The three on patrol returned undamaged.) Friendly fire brought down several U.S. planes on top of that, including some from an inbound flight from USS Enterprise. Japanese attacks on barracks killed additional personnel.

Fifty-five Japanese airmen and nine submariners were killed in the action. Of Japan's 414 available planes, 29 were lost during the battle (nine in the first attack wave, 20 in the second), with another 74 damaged by antiaircraft fire from the ground.

Thus began the Pacific War.

SOURCE: Banzai! The Japanese Assault on Pearl Harbor

The Fall of Konoe

In Siberia, Vlassov saw Japanese forces cross the Ussuri River in late May 1941. Following the collapse of Russian forces at Khabarovsk and the fall of Vladivostok, the Russian Army was rent through with pessimism and thoroughly demoralized. Not even stories of rape and murder filtering out of the occupied Far East could fire up their souls. Vlassov needed a victory to save his country. Desperate, he committed his final reserves of aircraft and armor to stop the Japanese drive at Irkutsk in mid-June. Japanese forces, overextended and overconfident, found themselves surprised. Japanese armor had failed to keep up with the infantry, breaking down along the rough terrian, their fuel tanks running dry as their supply line was stretched thin. Japanese aircraft also lagged behind, waiting for new airfields to be built to accomodate them. Caught off guard without air or armor support, the Japanese suffered heavy casualties. The Japanese drive once more stalled. With Russian survival feasible for the foreseeable future, Dewey had American military aid increased to Vlassov's government.

Back in Japan, the Imperial Staff continued to plan for war with the United States. While the Emperor received detailed reports from Sugiyama and Nagano about the planned operations in the South Pacific and the attack of Pearl Harbor, Prime Minister Konoe made one last desperate attempt to avoid war. That very evening, he arranged a secret dinner conference with the US Ambassador to Japan. Konoe told the ambassador that he was prepared to travel to meet Dewey on a moment's notice. The ship had already been prepared. He was convinced that the United States and Japan could reach a true agreement, and when that happened, he would radio back to the palace, and the Emperor would issue a rescript ordering a complete halt to all aggressive activities.

The US Ambassador was impressed with Konoe's sincerity. He cabled back, urging his superiors to advise Dewey to accept the summit proposal. The State Department continued to think that an open-ended summit was a waste of time. If Japan were serious, it would begin meaningful and detailed negotiations that would be affirmed at a summit. Konoe's last push for a diplomatic solution was taken in vain.

Throughout July the Army and Navy continued to prepare for war. Konoe had hoped that the August deadline would not be observed. The Army and Navy leaders disabused him of this notion. Japan had to act soon, because of the oil embargo. Otherwise it would be conceding defeat through delay. Also, American aid had to be cut off if Japan was to break through and finish off Russian forces. War with America had become inevitable in their eyes. This came to a head at a cabinet meeting on August 14. Army Minister Tojo Hideki stated that negotiations had failed, the deadline had passed. Konoe and his allies had become convinced that if the Army would only agree, in principle, to an ultimate withdrawal from China and SIberia, a negotiated settlement could be reached with the US. This was brought up at the meeting and General Tojo responded heatedly:

To yield to the American demand and withdraw their troops, he exploded, would wipe out all the fruits of the Chinese and Russian Wars, endanger Manchukuo, and jeopardize the governing of Korea. To accept troop withdrawal in name only would not benefit Japan either, he said. Withdrawal would mean retreat. It would depress morale. A demoralized Army would be as worthless as no Army. Our troops in China and Russia are the "heart of the matter," he persisted. Having made one concession after another, why should Japan now yield the "heart?" "If we concede this, what is diplomacy? It is surrender … a stain on the history of our empire!"

At the close of this meeting, Konoe realized that he had lost the struggle with the military. He knew that many in the Navy were convinced that war with the United States would end in disaster. Yet he was not able to win Navy backing against the adamant Army stance. Navy Admiral Nagano summed up his service's ambivalent attitude during this period by observing "The government has decided that if there is no war, the fate of the nation is sealed. Even if there is a war, the country may be ruined. Nevertheless, a nation that does not fight in this plight has lost its spirit and is doomed."
Konoe resigned on 16 August 1941, one day after having recommended Prince Naruhiko Higashikuni to the emperor as his successor. Two days later, Hirohito chose General Hideki Tōjō as Prime Minister despite the wish of the Navy and the Army, who would have preferred Prince Higashikuni. In 1946, he explained this decision : "I actually thought Prince Higashikuni suitable as chief of staff of the Army; but I think the appointment of a member of the imperial house to a political office must be considered very carefully. Above all, in time of peace this is fine, but when there is a fear that there may even be a war, then more importantly, considering the welfare of the imperial house, I wonder about the wisdom of a member of the imperial family serving [as prime minister]." Six weeks later, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor.

Konoe justified his demission to his secretary Kenji Tomita. "Of course his Majesty is a pacifist and he wished to avoid war. When I told him that to initiate war was a mistake, he agreed. But the next day, he would tell me : 'You were worried about it yesterday but you do not have to worry so much.' Thus, gradually he began to lead to war. And the next time I met him, he leaned even more to war. I felt the Emperor was telling me: 'My prime minister does not understand military matters. I know much more.' In short, the Emperor had absorbed the view of the army and the navy high commands."

SOURCE: The Legacy of Konoe

The Path to a Pacific War

Many questions have arisen as to why the Japanese invaded Russia (Operation Haichi-Go) with an ongoing conflict in China as well as American pressure not to intervene in Siberia. The leading theory is that the Japanese believed Russia was nothing more than a corpse waiting to be dismembered, the head chopped off by the Germans and the life blood of industry, population, and raw materials bled out and lost with its European lands. Siberia held less than 30% of the Soviet Union's former population, nearly every factory was now in German hands, and the Russian Army, or what was left of it, was poorly armed. The lure of potential raw materials and land at so little cost drew Japan like the Sirens' call.

Many in the Imperial Army were sure the campaign would be over quickly and that President Dewey of the United States would not intervene in their affairs, much like his predecessor, President Garner. Garner, being a staunch isolationist, was against any involvement in Asia despite Congress' constant attempts to intervene throughout the Second Sino-Japanese War as stories of atrocities and threats to American investment in the region mounted. Dewey's saber rattling was perceived as a hollow threat to sate the interventionists in America. Some records have arisen corroborating this theory with many Japanese generals on record stating their belief that the whole of Siberia would fall within a month. A thorough combing of Imperial records also revealed there was little to no planning on the contingency of American intervention in Operation Haichi-Go.

Thus it came as a surprise to the Kwangtung Army when their initial drive was blunted by dug in Siberian troops. Russian soldiers are famous for their defensive capabilities as the Japanese quickly discovered. The first week of fighting along the border was brutal with the Japanese taking incredible casualties for every foot of earth. Each step forward saw Siberian forces stiffen. Despite a numerical advantage of troops (3:1) and the use of aircraft and armor, the Japanese could not shatter the Russian line.

Though the Russians were surprising the world with their resistance, their forces were beginning to crumble. Nearly half of the Russian Air Force was lost in the opening stages of the war, the remainder pulled back to protect the core of the rump Russian nation should the Japanese break through. Russian armor, meanwhile, proved useless as fuel stocks quickly ran dry and resupply proved impossible. Vlassov knew there was no way to defeat the Japanese offensively. He could only hope to bleed the Japs and pray that the American embargo would make future attacks untenable. He sacrificed men and land for time.

With the failure of the opening week, many in the Imperial Staff were afraid they had found themselves in another China. Siberia had seemingly become another meat grinder into which Japanese soldiers were lost. The situation was further exacerbated by the American oil embargo. With stocks of oil limited, the campaign had to be settled quickly. Incredible solutions were offered to successfully conclude the war from the use of gas to biological weapons. The most radical approach of all was a proposal of diplomacy with America made by the Prime Minister. For once, the Imperial Staff was inclined to listen.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumimaro Konoe felt pressure from the Imperial Staff to find some solution to the debacle they had bumbled into. Already, the Imperial Staff were putting together a plan to seize the Dutch East Indies to alleviate the oil problem, part of the staff certain America wouldn't end the embargo even if Siberia fell. The oil of the Indies would solve Japan's needs and make her immune to future American economic dependence. Likewise, seizure of British possessions in the region would help to create a buffer to protect against American counterattacks sure to come. British power had been waning since 1939, their colonies ripe for the taking. Also, problems continued to fester in India which Japan fostered tying up what few British troops were available. Initial victory seemed assured as there were no real forces to oppose their plan.

The very notion of assaulting the Indies and British possessions throughout the South Pacific horrified Konoe who saw such an act as likely to draw America into a war which could only end in Japan's utter devastation. The idea of launching yet another campaign while two others (China, Siberia) were ongoing, especially one that could draw the United States as an adversary, was to be avoided at all costs.

Konoe had been against the Russian invasion from the beginning, hoping instead to mend Japanese-American relations rather than gamble the destiny of his people on yet another military adventure. With detereorating conditions in China, Konoe had hoped to achieve recognition for the Wang Jingwei Government, stripping Chiang of support and possibly pushing the stubborn Generalissimo to the bargaining table so that the war could end. Garner had been deaf to such pleas, instead waiting for both sides to destroy each other and caring little for the bloodshed. With Dewey, Konoe hoped he'd found a ready ear. When the Army invaded Siberia, Konoe found his plans in tatters.

With the Imperial Staff drawing up plans for a strike likely to start war between America and Japan, Konoe made a desperate attempt to avert conflict. He proposed a personal summit with Dewey–in the United States if necessary–to come to some understanding. Konoe secured backing from the Navy and the Emperor for this move. The Army reluctantly agreed, provided that Konoe adhere to the consensus foreign policy, and be prepared to go to war if his initiative failed. Konoe secretly confided to a friend that he intended to grant concessions to the US, including withdrawal from Russia and China, using direct authority from the Emperor. His friend cautioned that he would be assassinated upon his return. Konoe agreed that this was likely, but felt that it was worth the personal risk.

Dewey played along, even though he felt that negotiations were probably a waste of time after his initial dealings with the Japanese. He also doubted that Konoe could make an agreement that was both acceptable to the US and to the militarists at home. Dewey told Ambassador Nomura that he would like to see more details of Konoe's proposal, and he suggested that Juneau, Alaska, might be a good spot for a meeting.
Meanwhile in Siberia, the strain of battle began to take its toll on Siberian troops. Repeated air attacks served to pound their nerves raw. Japanese armor would shatter them. Desperate for progress at any cost, the Japanese focused their assault at Khabarovsk in what was the first use of Japanese blitzkrieg tactics. They hoped to split the Russian line, roll up the east all the way to Vladivostok while using the Ussuri River to protect their flank, and then regroup for the push west. 29 April, Japanese forces commenced their assault. Softened up by artillery and air bombardment, the depleted Siberian ranks finally broke when Japanese armor crashed through. A sliver of Siberia was lost, the first hairline crack in Vlassov's defenses. This victory served to cool the Imperial Staff's initial interest in a diplomatic solution to the crisis. The Imperial Staff became even more averse to dealing with the United States when they found American weapons among some of the Russian soldiers' corpses.

On 5 May, Konoe met the Emperor with chiefs of staff Hajime Sugiyama and Osami Nagano. Alarmed at military officers accompanying the Prime Minister, Emperor Showa asked what happened to the negotiations with Dewey. Konoe replied that, of course, negotiations were primary, and the military option was only a fall-back position if negotiations failed. The Emperor then questioned Sugiyama about the current state of affairs in Siberia. After Sugiyama answered positively, smiling broadly as he releated the victory at Khabarovsk, Hirohito scolded him, remembering that the Army had predicted that the invasion of Russia would be completed in only one month.

The next day the policy about the preparation for war against "United States, United Kingdom, and Holland" was formally proposed at the Imperial Conference. Hara Yoshimichi, the Privy Council President, observed that the plan seemed to put military action ahead of diplomacy. Standing in for the Emperor, he asked if that was the case. There was silence. No other figure, including Konoe, attempted to answer the question.

The Emperor then stunned the gathering by speaking out. He stated that Hara's question was an important one, and that it was "regrettable" that none of the senior leaders had addressed it. He then read a verse that had been composed by the Emperor Meiji:

Throughout the world
Everywhere we are all brothers
Why then do the winds and waves rage so turbulently?

He stated that he had often reflected on this verse, which represented the Emperor Meiji's desire for peace, a desire that he shared. Stung by this unexpected rebuke, Navy Chief of Staff Nagano rose to defend the policy, assuring the Emperor that this consensus document was not a decision to go to war and that priority will be given to negotiations.

The Imperial Conference adopted the policy that would result in the attack on Pearl Harbor. The policy established a set of minimum demands that must be met through negotiations. If Konoe's negotiations did not bear fruit by mid-August, Japan would commence hostilities against the United States and the Netherlands' Pacific holdings. The minimum demands included a halt to the economic and oil embargoes, withdrawal of political support for the Chinese Nationalist government, an end to military aid for Russia, agreement to keep Western military forces in the Pacific at their current level, and non-interference in Japan's attempts to bring" peace" to China. In other words, to accept Japanese hegemony over China, Manchuria, Mongolia, Russia, Burma, and French Indo-China, and Japanese military primacy in an even broader swath of the East.

SOURCE: Dawn of the Pacific War

Dewey Wins!

6 November 1940 - Republican candidate Thomas Dewey defeated Democrat James Farley to become the 33rd President of the United States, leading a conservative wave that saw Republicans make major gains in both the House and Senate. Analysts point to President Garner's inability to cure the economic downturn that has gripped the economy since 1937 as the source of voter dissatisfaction with the Democrats coupled with his administration's strong isolationist stance.

Thomas Dewey made his acceptance speech this morning stating that he would "prepare for tomorrow today". He has already begun contacting the leading minds of the country to serve in his administration fulfilling his campaign vow to put the best heads in the country together to turn things around.

The president-elect will be taking office at an unsure time. With the German and Japanese threat abroad, the poor economy at home, and a divided Congress, Dewey will have his work cut out for him.

SOURCE: Washington Post

32nd President: John N. Garner

John Nance Garner
32nd President of the United States
(March 4, 1933 - January 20, 1941)

With over thirty years of prior political experience, including serving as Speaker of the House of Representatives, John N. Garner was well prepared for the office of President of the United States. He would later say he was forced by the Democrats to run in 1932 when all he wanted was to remain in his beloved House as Speaker. His ascension to the presidency came unexpectedly, his being elected vice-president in the 1932 election. He had prepared himself for his role in "a no man's land somewhere between the legislative and the executive branch." After the assassination of President-elect Franklin Roosevelt on February 15, 1933, he found himself removed from that "purgatory" and the executive office thrust upon him as if by fate. Many found this fitting as Garner was so stubborn only an act of God could change his mind.

Despite the gloom which surrounded the beginning of Garner's presidency, he quickly went to work passing a series of banking reform laws, emergency relief programs, work relief programs, and agricultural programs whose goal were to stabilize the national economy and stimulate growth. Though hailed for his professional actions, Garner's private life would shy away from the spotlight.

Many would dub Garner the most reclusive and quiet president since Coolidge, refusing offers to give weekly fifteen-minute radio addresses because he thought they would be exploitative of his office. He was notorious for avoiding obligations to represent America at a variety of ceremonial and gala affairs, adamantly protecting his privacy and personal time with his wife. He was also known to refuse accompaniment by the Secret Service, stating, "I don't want those constables with me. If there's anybody crazy enough to shoot me, I'd be easy to replace."

Garner's administration began to drift towards the center following the beginning of economic recovery in 1934. Early signs of this drift were seen as early as 1933 when Garner vetoed the National Recovery Act, instead authorizing only parts of the legislation which would have established a massive bureaucracy to oversee the national economy. In later years, he steadfastly opposed recognition of the Soviet Union, broke up the Flint Sit-Down Strikes, and passed the Neutrality Act which assured American isolationism and tied the hands of future administrations in dealing with conflicts in Europe and Asia.

With the economy recovering, Garner easily won re-election in 1936. His second term would be far more conservative than his first. Stating, "I believe in executive leadership, not executive rulership," Garner vetoed any and all bills that reached him calling for increased federal spending or government intervention in the economy despite the Recession of 1937. He strongly advocated a balanced federal budget and continued to do so despite the events which would transpire across Europe and Asia at the end of his term. Even after Nazi successes in Europe, Garner stood against any attempts to increase the size of the military pointing out, "the incredible fortifications of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans against invasion by the Huns or the Japs." This opinion would include opposition to Lend-Lease proposals by internationalist members of Congress. Garner would also oppose economic sanctions against Japan for the ongoing conflict in China. "The idea of starting a war over the deaths of a few Chinamen isn't worth a pitcher of warm piss," he declared. The only military spending of a sizable nature were the Yorktown Class Aircraft Carriers in 1933. When naval limitations were lifted in 1937 with the cessation of the Washington Naval Treaty, the navy pressed Garner to accede to the building of 32 Essex Class Aircraft Carriers as well as other programs. Garner vehemently refused. He didn't want to get involved in an arms race, especially with the downturn of the economy. The navy would have to make due with what they had.

Outspoken, rustic, and strong minded, Garner was an overpowering force who did his best to guide America out of the Great Depression. Guided into the presidency against his will, he served to the best of his ability in one of the most trying times in American history.

SOURCE: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress