History

of Germ any when i t i nvaded M an chu r i a and Wester n co l on i es i n the Far East f r om 1933 to 1942. Japan?s l ack of natu r al r esou r ces was especi al l y v i tal ; the Japanese r egar ded expan si on i sm as a way of acqu i r i ng m ater i al s such as o i l , r ubber and l um ber . Tokyo saw the vast o i l r eser ves of the D u t ch East I nd i es as a way to gai n r esou r ces, al ongsi de the l ands of the Ph i l i pp i nes, Br i t i sh Bu rm a and Fr en ch I ndoch i na. Japan?s weak econom i cs thus caused m ass death and dest r uct i on th r oughou t the East i n i t s st r uggl e to sustai n i t sel f . T he Rape of Nan k i ng i s one stor y am ongst m any of i n st i tu t i onal i zed Japanese br u tal i t y i n thei r quest i on to sei ze l and f or econom i c r eason s, to accoun t f or thei r l ack of r esou r ces. M or eover , econom i cs d r ew Japan i n to con f l i ct w i th the Un i ted States. Upon the r ecogn i t i on of Japanese i n ten t i on s i n Ch i na i n l ate 1941, Fr an k l i n Roosevel t or der ed a b l ockade of Japan to st r angl e i t f u r ther of natu r al

r esou r ces. two op t i on s? d r own i n a l ack of r esou r ces or t r y and f i gh t i t s way ou t of the Am er i can b l ockade. I t r egar ded the Am er i can s as a r ace of im poten t p i gs, and so l aun ched i t s at tack on Pear l H ar bor , wh i ch t r u l y i n i t i ated the Paci f i c con f l i ct . T he m ater i al b l ockade of Japan f or ced Tokyo?s hand econom i cal l y, escal at i ng the con f l i ct . I n the Far East as i n Eu r ope, then , the stor y of the Second Wor l d War i s ver y m uch one of econom i cs. I n l ate 1941, sen i or Germ an of f i ci al s r ecogn i sed that thei r posi t i on was not econom i cal l y tenab l e. I n Ber l i n on 28 Novem ber 1941, i ndust r i al i st s l ed by sen i or Nazi Fr i t z Tod t r eached the con cl usi on that the war was econom i cal l y and m i l i tar i l y unw i nnab l e. T hey r eached th i s con cl usi on on the gr ounds that Russi a r em ai ned undef eated at the end of 1941. T he Weh rm ach t had l ost m om en tum , and the Russi an i ndust r i al beast had awoken . Wal ter Roh l and , sen i or i n tan k p r oduct i on , to l d H i t l er Japan had

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