05-06-2020, 10:43 PM
(05-06-2020, 06:57 PM)Bob Butler 54 Wrote: I found on Quora a summation as to why Japan initiated the war, which pretty much agrees with mine without the S&H reference. Japan viewed America as weak and likely to seek a negotiated peace.
Quote:The Japanese military saw war with the US as inevitable, and the goal was to grab as much territory as possible, then make the Allies bleed for every inch they’d try to take back until they’d call for a truce in which Japan could negotiate from a position of strength. They thought the US was soft and unwilling to take on a protracted fight - a horrendous miscalculation.
Sounds like that quote is mistaking the Japanese army for the Japanese military, or perhaps you are omitting relevant context. The army didn't understand naval warfare, and Yamamoto went along with it against his better judgement - the same way, say, the Russian foreign office under a less careful leader might misunderstand nuclear warfare, and the Strategic Rocket Forces might launch against their better judgement. The bottom line is that nuclear war could still happen, even if you think it's irrational.
Quote:I would agree that the Serbian use of assassination and terror was ‘rational’, but was that a crisis war? How is that relevant to the question?
WWI was not a crisis war for many of the participants. How is it relevant? I don't know, you brought it up.
