Any history buffs on here, with knowledge about the mix of countries that aligned against the U. S during WW2?

[Bricealan]

Watched a film on Netflix, Called Sea Battles' (I believe correct?) based on WW1 and WW2. Never really understood why Japan ever entered into some sort of a pact with Germany since during WW1, they were bitter enemies, and Japan declared war on Germany ?

The two countries could not be more different in culture, life styles, etc, and yet we were fighting both of them, in the Pacific and the Atlantic along with Britain.

Anyone know any more about what kind of pact that Japan/Germany had that had almost the rest of the planet fighting them?

[Drewtate]

Well you've got to ask what drove both Germany & Japan to war. The biggest reason was a lack of resources such as oil and food.

Japan had like all the other European and powers before ww1 engaged in basically invading Japan and taking weathly pieces of territory from China. The US had gotten in on the act too. Ever since the US Navy forced Japan to open up at gun point in 1953 the Japanese had rapidly been developing industry and a modern military and had increased its territory to include okinawa, Taiwan, korea manchuria and by late 30s was attacking the rest of China. America had also been empire building in the Pacific region like Hawai and the Philippines and other islands. The rise of Japan as military and economic power in the region was seen as a threat to US interests in the Pacific and as a member of the Axis a future enemy. So in 1940 as to curb this the US imposed a trade imbargo on oil, copper, iron, steel and other stuff they needed to continue to grow and support their economy and military. This worked and Japan felt it had no choice to attack or die as its strategic resources would run out in a year or two. The US was also arming and training the Chinese to fight Japan. In 1941 Dec 7th the Japanese military launched simulatious attacks on British and American territory which began a serious of victories which Japan was able to cease the Philippines, Singapore, Hong Kong, Mayla, Dutch East indies etc all of which had the resources the US denied them.

[Drewtate]

For Germany it was again resources. The Nazis motivation was routed in their defeat in WW1. For starters most German vetreans felt that they had not lost the war as they were still occupying and fighting in France when the new Weimar Republic government (lead by a lot of jews) stabbed the army in the back by surrendering to unfavourable terms like the French occupation of the rhineland. Germany boomed in the 1920s thanks to American loans and investment but then came the 1929 Wallstreet crash and there was no more loans and the US called in German debts (a lot of wallstreet bankers were jewish) and the Nazis never wanted Germany to be so dependent on outside money again rather self dependent. During WW1 the British blockaded Germany from global trade so it struggled to get the strategic war resources and food it needed and Germany was starving by the end so Nazi Germany would need to get resources to be independent and as Germany became more independent during the 1930s of foreign loans and investments and importing goods its strategic reserves were depleted the Germany economy was soon to collapse along with the strain of rearmarment it would need to get them. The overall goal of where to get the strategic resources it needed such as oil and food was already outlined in Mein Kampf and the goal was the vast USSR. Now the nazis didn't think Britain and France would go to war over invading Poland, they thought they'd ignore it like they did with reoccurring the rhur Valley, invadin austria, checksolvakia invasion, the condor legion in Spain. Even after the fall of France the nazis expected Britain to surrender but they didn't not even after various British defeats in norway, france. Greece and crete and the pressure of the battle of the Atlantic and the blitz. Because the British continued to fight this put nazi Germany in a sticky situation.

[Drewtate]

Sure they now controlled Europe from France to half of poland Poland as well as yugoslavia &Greece and had allies such as Italy, Romania, Hungary and Bulgaria and all the resources and trade that entailed but they were still fighting a war against an economic &military powerhouse in Briish empire that had access to the kind of resources Germany could only dream off that had access as well to the production lines of the biggest economy in the world and all its vast strategic resources. The Nazis had captured the likes of France, belgium and Holland which had wealthy colonies in africa and asia but the nazis could not access this weslth of resources because the British controlled the seas and they added to the British's war effort. Mean while Germany was running out of resources all the time so they had three Strategic choices in 1941 either try to defeat the British in North Africa and invade the middle east for its oil which was probably a bridge too far as long as the British controlled the seas, try to defeat the British overall which wasn't likely to happen as they'd missed the opportunity in 1940 at Dunkirk and failed to eliminate the RAF & Royal Navy in the battle of Britain or invade & defeat the USSR quickly taking all the oil, strategic resources, even factories, workers and food it would need to ensure the survival of nazi Germany and provide everything it needed to defeat the British Empire. So they took a risk of invading the USSR but fell short because they ran out of resources before they could defeat the USSR decisively under the strain of fighting the British at the same time and after the British and Americans started supplying the USSR it was game over.

[Drewtate]

Basically because between them all the British empire, America, France, USSR, Holland and Belgium controlled the vast majority of of the world's oil and valuable minerals both Nazi Germany & Imperial Japan were beaten strategically b4 the war even began and needed the other countries to back down or be defeated quickly.

[Bricealan]

Besides Pearl Harbor in the West, where did Japan attack Britain?

[Drewtate]

The largest British empire defeat and surrender in history was at Singapore 85,000 men, in Malaya Feb 1942 after 2 months, Borneo and Hong Kong, papa new guinea, Dutch East indies, Burma and India.
The Royal Navy battleship HMS Prince of Wales and battlecruiser HMS Repulse were sunk by land-based bombers and torpedo bombers of the Imperial Japanese Navy two days after Pearl Harbour.

[Exterminatore]

The U. S. placed an oil embargo on Japan. That’s ultimately what led to that alliance and prompted the attack on Pearl Harbor.

[Exterminatore]

Also both viewed American culture as decadent. So they agreed ideologically there.

[chico800]

They were basically doing the same thing, on different sides of the world.