BBfanboy
Posts: 18046
Joined: 8/4/2010 From: Winnipeg, MB Status: offline
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quote:
ORIGINAL: tolsdorff quote:
ORIGINAL: GetAssista Russia had its hands more than full on the German front to try open up the game in China. Japan had its hands more than full with the Allies. I see no space for them to try irritate one another in 42/43 Agreed. the Soviet Union survived 1942 by the skin of their teeth at staggering cost. If it would have had to divert assets to the far east in that period, it would have collapsed, there should be no doubt about that. 1944 and 1945 is a different story though. Perhaps the western allies would have changed their Germany-First policy in the face of an imminent chinese collapse. They could have diverted production, units and resources against Japan instead of a buildup against Germany. Who knows. I certainly don't. A lot of would be's and if's. I think the US was firmly fixated on dealing with Japan directly, as soon as it could get a pathway to bombing and then invading Japan. They tried using the first B-29s from China and it just did not work - too far and to many losses, too hard to get supplies and parts, etc. When they were making good progress in the Central Pacific and SWPAC/Philippines, China became irrelevant to the plan to knock out Japan directly and thereby make the other Japanese conquests untenable. The pre-war US economic involvement in China was fairly minimal, compared to the British for example, so I don't think anyone in the US had big notions of setting up a market economy and establishing major trade after the war - China had no money to spend on US goods anyway. And while the US was opposed to Communism, no one really expected the Chinese Communists to take over the country as quickly as it did. In typical fashion, the US beat the enemy and withdrew, war weary after only 3 and half years. Occupying and developing Japan and West Germany were seen as necessary to prevent the Soviet Union from moving in, but I don't think China was large in anyone's thoughts. The British meanwhile had their hands full trying to keep India, Malaya and Burma from leaving the empire they still thought existed. They pretty much knew they could not also fight Chinese Nationalism. So China was just too big a problem for anyone to solve during the mid war period and by late 1944/45, all the players were short on manpower and money to finish the fights they were pursuing. China was pretty much on her own and no one would have had much anguish if Japan totally conquered it because Japan itself was soon going to be knocked out.
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No matter how bad a situation is, you can always make it worse. - Chris Hadfield : An Astronaut's Guide To Life On Earth
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