Pacific war What-ifs

[Torplexed]

Originally Posted by joegrundman

There's been some interesting responses, but generally back up my main feeling that Japan had no chance. I can't quite understand why they went for it anyway.

They went for because they had a recent history of being giant killers. They defeated Imperial China in the 1890s. They humbled Russia in 1905. They overran German Asian and Pacific possessions in World War One. They were gobbling up China again in the 1930s. The first six months of the Pacific War only bolstered their belief in their martial superiority. A lot of men in the Imperial Navy knew better. They had seen the outside world. But the Imperial Army drove policy.