Japan's War did NOT Go to Plan

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The Pacific Theater of World War Two was a conflict rife with island hopping, naval clashes, and unprecedented mosquito swatting. Key hits included the Battle of Midway, where the ocean became a boxing ring, and island scuffles like Guadalcanal and Iwo Jima, which proved that beach vacations aren't for the faint of heart. Hiroshima and Nagasaki got a bit too close to Uncle Sam's barbecue, and the Japanese military took an early exit stage left.
Music (in order of appearance):
Tim Beek - Drunken Sailor
Village People - In the Navy
Tim Beek - Roll the Old Chariot

[@JackRackam]

Play World of Warships here: wo.ws/45DxB82 Thank you World of Warships for sponsoring this video. During registration, use the code AZUR555 to receive a huge starter pack including 500 Doubloons, 2,500,000 Credits, 5 days Premium Account time, 1 Premium Container, and both Azur Lane commanders Cheshire and Azuma! The promo code is only for new players who register for the first time on the Wargaming portal.

[@JNSP-kk7py]

Hi

[@danielsantiagourtado3430]

Love your content man!🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉❤❤❤❤

[@louiscarullo6034]

Hey Jack, just a heads…you left the funni mustache symbol in. Not sure if ToS or not with YouTub

[@JackRackam]

@@louiscarullo6034 We've got the green monetization symbol for now... crossing our fingers

[@louiscarullo6034]

@@JackRackam fair enough my friend. Love your content. Binged you when I found you. 0 re-gerts.

[@notusneo]

Remember that Japan only occupied Indonesia for 3.5 year and yet most people considered that they are worse than 350 years of Dutch occupation

[@HolyknightVader999]

Same thing in the Philippines. Japan made them miss Spain and America.

[@woaddragon]

​@@HolyknightVader999and America and Spain were pretty bad

[@joelellis7035]

@@woaddragon As compared to Japan, apparently not.

[@asianlifter]

Asians have always been brutal esp the sinosphere

[@rhetoric5173]

Sure, Dutch boy

[@draconious4005]

Fun fact: after Pearl Harbor, Yamamoto is said to have said “I can run wild for six months, after that, I have no expectation of success”. Midway, btw, was exactly six months after Pearl Harbor.

[@freakymoejoe2]

Makes you question why he did it

[@crocidile90]

​@@freakymoejoe2 he was given two options, full tilt into the soviets (which if they had done, would have ended the Eastern war) was rejected because the army..... got hard clapped by the Siberian Red Army. So the Navy kinda of agreed to do plan south (which was attack SEA). Plan south worked until Midway came around and quite literally turned the tide of the pacific front.

[@reluctantcrusader8455]

@@crocidile90 Also, the Soviet option's backers, the Imperial Way faction, got purged due to the backlash of the February 26 incident

[@davidkelley5382]

Actually he said that before Pearl. He went university here & understood the potential industrial output & that run wild for six months was “best case” as in if the strike at Pearl went perfectly as in they lose no ships, wipe out the Pacific navy and trash the repair facilities & the fuel depots. Something the Jr officers begged the admiral to do with a third strike. Taking note the the carriers were not in port so not damaged in any way he got cold feet and ordered the fleet to retire. Had he launched another strike I don’t think the end result would have been different just another year or so of war, a few more cities nuked & the loss of a good bit of territory to the Soviet Union. Perhaps they were lucky the admiral got cold feet.

[@imapopo2924]

@@freakymoejoe2 He did it because whether or not to attack wasn't his call. He worked with what he had to give them the best chance of success he could, told them it was a bad idea, and then did it despite his reservations because the guys making the "do we or don't we" call decided that they DID want that life time supply of ass kickings after all. I feel bad for him, honestly. Brilliant commander and strategist. Very wise and realistic with his expectations. Just never had a chance against the US war machine.

[@HowlandGreywolfe]

Japan: "You'll have to pry peace from our cold, dead, hands." USA: "Okay."

[@cloudkitt]

Reminds me, ironically, of the anime Gundam Wing movie. "See for yourself just how powerless you are!" "Roger that."

[@legogenius1667]

USA: Okay, although your hands won't be cold when you die

[@dustinbragg1921]

USA: "How about crispy, charred bones?" *Nukes and Napalm*

[@CArcherOwl]

Ight bet then.

[@consumerofbepsi5254]

"is that a threat or permission to?"

[@Significantpower]

Yamamoto and Tojo both visited America in the interwar years. Tojo saw the US as a bunch of decadent weaklings that would roll over in any serious conflict with a peer nation. Yamamoto....more or less predicted how the Pacific Front went years before it started.

[@wdcain1]

Tojo was a firm believer in the whole samurai warrior mentality. He really didn't understand that winning wars required more.

[@kongming66]

​@@wdcain1Tojo also pretty much tried to recreate a shogunate in all but name post-Meiji Restoration, so he obviously wasn't the brightest guy. I may be biased from reading the English translation of Japanese history and my personal views, but for a nation that supposedly idolized the royal dynasty and having an orderly society, the shoguns were very detrimental to both

[@wdcain1]

@@kongming66 Tojo really romantized the past. It's a common trait for fascist government. I admit all I know about Japanese history is from KZbin videos but the shogunate wasn't some honorary nobility but just a bunch of greedy feudal lords who'd backstab one another for the slightest advantage.

[@HolyknightVader999]

@@wdcain1 Tojo thought that slapping the Yanks a bit would be enough to scare them into compliance. He obviously didn't study the Civil War, where despite entire YEARS' worth of defeats at the hands of Dixie, the Yanks refused to give up and kept on fighting until Dixie was reduced to a bombed-out wasteland filled with burning farms and escaped slaves.

[@wdcain1]

@@HolyknightVader999 I wouldn't even go that far. The Confederacy actually had a chance of winning despite the lack of factories, having good generals and D.C. right on their border. Say somehow Japan really lucked out and not only wiped out the US Pacific fleet but took the island of Midway. They didn't have the resources to keep a garrison on the island, much less rebuild any lost ships. It's a simple war of attrition.

[@geosultan4]

Japan actually had baseball before WWII! In fact, Babe Ruth did a huge tour of Japan in the 30’s, partially in a futile attempt to prevent the war. He was greeted as a hero! …but he obviously didn’t prevent the war.

[@danielsantiagourtado3430]

Not to mention we Got anime and it's r-rated version😊😊😊😊😊😊😊

[@foobar6345]

In fact, they had Baseball before the turn of the century, even. The History of Japan podcast has a few great episodes on the topic.

[@devastator5042]

Japan has always had a huge love for Baseball, they found a lot of parallels in baseball's traditions in their own culture especially at the high school level

[@bluexephosfan970]

Honestly, baseball is as much a truly Japanese sport as it is American, if not more so

[@SEAZNDragon]

@@danielsantiagourtado3430I think you meant the X-X-X version.

[@arellajardin8188]

To be fair, "killing a bunch of civilians" was Japan's final strategy, too. And by "civilians," I mean their own. Their plan to protect the home island was the same as Okinawa. Line up as many civilians as they could into a meat wall, and pass out grenades with orders to either blow up American soldiers, or blow up themselves. I'm in no way going to paint America as valiant or ethical, but Japan's military was way big on the whole "warrior's honor" thing, so many of the top brass were willing to sacrifice every man woman and child to avoid surrender. Heck, the Emperor had to avoid a coup and potential assassination by his military leaders when he did surrender.

[@TheJoshman01]

The nukes were ultimately probably the least casualty intensive way to end the war. The other options were, 1. Mass Land Invasion, 2. Blockade & Bombardment, 3 Soviet Land Invasion

[@Alusnovalotus]

Don’t forget the untold numbers for the massacres on the mainland. From Manchuria to Burma and the Philippines. 😢

[@cameronnewton7053]

"Here's your pointy bamboo stick. Go stab an American!"

[@danz1182]

​@@TheJoshman01the Soviets had zero sea lift cspacity in Asia. It would have been 1948 before they could have invaded Japan proper.

[@mr.s2005]

The U.S. was certainly as never been or ever will be a knight in shinning armor, but they did have a better habit of being more humane then others and didn't have policies actively supporting killing civilians, atrocities were usually committed because of individual soldiers going wild, men who most likely should have been in jail instead of wearing the stars and stripes.

[@alexandersturnn4530]

"Oh no, the Nazis have joined forces with Megatron!!" I mean, if there was any WW2 Faction that would have allied with the Decepticons, it would have been the Axis...

[@user-hh8vi2rc6l]

They would probably break up very quickly. Depending on the continuity, it would be because both sides are too racist to collaborate properly, or even because Megatron is more of a class-and-race guy.

[@dashiellgillingham4579]

@user-hh8vi2rc6l I mean, that’s pretty much how every member of the Axis acted with each other.

[@baz5042]

@@user-hh8vi2rc6lthat literally sounds like historical Axis.

[@nevets2371]

Well churchill did say that “if hitler invaded hell, I would make at least a favorable reference to the devil in the House of Commons”

[@orboakin8074]

Didn't Michael Bay do a Transformers movie about this?

[@andreidobre1239]

“China doesn’t want to join the Asian nation happy bubble, so Japan starts a special military operation in China” the reference killed me there 💀💀💀

[@theotherohlourdespadua1131]

The fact that Japan used similar language to describe what they're doing in China...

[@andreidobre1239]

@@theotherohlourdespadua1131 I wouldn’t be surprised 💀💀💀

[@HaloFTW55]

The Japanese estimate their special military operation would take 3 months. It took them over 6 years and China lasted until the US dropped the Sun on two cities. There were actually Japanese officers who were outraged that they would have to surrender to the Chinese of all people on the same day as their surrender to the rest of the Allied powers.

[@andreidobre1239]

@@HaloFTW55 Putin said Kiev will fall in 3 days, it has been a year since 💀

[@jomamma1750]

@andreidobre1239 The U.S. said Regime change in Russia would happen after the Sanctions, 18 months ago. Well, Putin has an 80% approval rating now, and 5 Ukrainian provinces just voted in the Russian local elections, b/c they're part of Russia, again. Like they were for the last 1,000(ish) years..... P.S. Bidens approval rating is in the 30's. I smell regime change, but not in Moscow.

[@cinefreak2307]

Paraphrasing the last part of the video: "being occupied by the soviets is worse than being nuked" 😅

[@drewski3464]

I mean in retrospect, kinda. Japan is a member of the big boy club, and Eastern Europe is still recovering from the Soviet era. That said, there's a lot of history between then and now.

[@boarfaceswinejaw4516]

moreso the fact that its easier to rebuild cities and repopulate than to un-occupy yourself from the largest entity on the planet.

[@EternalModerate]

​@@boarfaceswinejaw4516 Especially if that occupier is communist.

[@yonathanrakau1783]

​@@EternalModerateyeah, the Soviet literally wanted the Emperor's head to be paraded all across the country. In manchuria they also kill everyone so much that after the manchuria invasion, 1/3 of all japanese army was destroyed, all of them are killed and sent to guelag

[@yonathanrakau1783]

Keep in mind japanese tried 2x attacking russia and all of them failed so bad, all captured japanese were sent to guelag. They also wanted to parade Emperor's head across the world

[@Bub383]

The best part is the navy in general and Yamamoto especially were like 'yeah if we go to war with America we're gonna lose' but the army were for it and Japan had this fun thing where if you didn't seem super patriotic enough/suggested Japan might not be the best shooty bois, junior officers would assassinate you

[@danz1182]

That is a little inaccurate. The idea was to land a strong opening blow, seize as many islands as possible while the US recovered its footing and then make retaking things so bloody the US and UK negotiated a peace that allowed the Japanese to keep the gains they cared about. So they never thought they could beat the US in a straight fight, but they did honestly think they could win a favorable negotiated settlement.

[@cericat]

@@danz1182 it was a fool's hope, they didn't truly understand the mentality of their opponents, and were somewhat ill equipped to since they'd never seen the way British and American minds work when faced with a threat. You still see it now going the opposite way with how people carp on about Asian nations with no understanding of their individual mindsets.

[@crocidile90]

​@@cericatwell Japan's wild ride (before pearl harbor) in just constant wins kind of reinforced that view point even though that is what would bring them down in the end.

[@theotherohlourdespadua1131]

The IJN was spoiling for a fight against the USN since 1924 when it became clear to them that their enemy for control of the Pacific is the United States. Everyone in the general rank officer corps of the IJN wanted this fight and saw an opportunity to do so when the IJA is bleeding in China for no appreciable gain. The IJN aim to hit a lot of birds with one stone, namely 1) Score big for Japan, 2) score big for itself and amass enough power to oust Tojo or whoever from the IJA would succeed him, and 3) send a middle finger to the IJA for screwing them over since 1932...

[@justinhammer3196]

So Japan's nationalism was like the new American nationalism on the Trump side. I wonder if there is a lesson there.

[@devastator5042]

Fun Fact: Japan LOVED baseball even before WW2, with major names like Babe Ruth playing exhibition games in the early 30's. It even has baseball stadiums that are as old as some of the classic American ballparks, with the venerated Koshien Stadium being built in 1924

[@deleteman900]

shoutout to that one level from the medal of honor game, fr fr

[@rei3951]

From then on the Hanshine Tigers have been struggling every summer

[@DefinitelyFroggyDioBrando]

I remember this one film theory on Japanese baseball, it was on the curse of sanders where a team posed with a statue and started winning a bunch of games then that statue was thrown into a river and they started to have a nasty loosing streak. This is just vague recollection though

[@rei3951]

@@DefinitelyFroggyDioBrando that’s not a theory it actually happened to the hanshin tigers. They haven’t won the japan series since. Although they are in it right now so watch out for them the next couple of weeks

[@DefinitelyFroggyDioBrando]

@@rei3951 oh I know it isn't a theory but I was just saying I watched a theory episode on it, the theory was if it was real or not or something like that

[@iannordin5250]

I had a history professor who did his thesis on Japanese Militarism describe the opening stages of the pacific campaign as a proxy-war between the IJA and IJN. The more I learn about it the more I can see his point.

[@philiphockenbury6563]

That’s actually really good as a way to describe it.

[@orboakin8074]

I remember Dan Carlin making similar observations and points during his Supernova in the East podcast episodes.

[@mappingshaman5280]

Reminds me of when japanese nationalists wanted to assassinate Charlie Chaplin who was British to cause a war with America.

[@curranfrank2854]

@@orboakin8074 That was such a good series, even tho it was also really disturbing

[@orboakin8074]

@@curranfrank2854 I hear you, friend. I mean, I am no stranger to dark history (born and raised in Nigeria 🤣) but even I was genuinely shocked by the stuff the imperial japanese did and how Dan narrated it.

[@dank_smirk2ndchannel200]

Japan: "Our military is completely equipped to handle the United States. We attacked three boats, they dropped the *sun* on us *twice".*

[@whathell6t]

Actually! It’s three suns. The third being Godzilla.

[@Zachomara]

@@whathell6t "The city of Tokyo has joined the chat."

[@kingace6186]

Six ships

[@Troy_Built]

I can't believe no one else pointed this out. @@Zachomara

[@tacticalmarsupial6201]

@@whathell6tI mean Japan did use what we consider WMDs first

[@funky7692]

Babe wake up Jack just posted

[@Tsuruchi_420]

Wake up samurai, we have a video to watch

[@bobertfw]

I’m up I’m up honey

[@anngarth]

i'm awake dear

[@JesusisLorddeusvult]

I'm up I'm up gawh.... why aren't u wearing pants.... why am I not wearing pants

[@bobertfw]

@@JesusisLorddeusvult I’m not wearing British pants…is that a prob?

[@RomLoneWolf23]

Well, in the end, Japan didn't become part of the Big Boy Empire club, but it ended up with a highly successful economy and an even greater cultural sphere of influence. So in the end, it got one helluva consolation prize.

[@warlordofbritannia]

Anime was revenge for not getting to take over East Asia

[@scrumpy8192]

It ended up a USA puppet and still is bruh what you smoking

[@tisFrancesfault]

​@@scrumpy8192far more nuanced than that, that's like a 14yo's edgy take.

[@scrumpy8192]

@@tisFrancesfault WRONG. Politics, history, and life have no nuance.

[@candiman4243]

@@scrumpy8192 That's gotta be sarcasm, right? right?

[@Operation_C4]

Japan: "Are you gonna die over some islands?" USA: "Someone is..."

[@midgetydeath]

In the worst-case scenario and the carriers were destroyed, we’d have just built more anyway. I remember a Japanese woman had wrote a diary about the end of the war. She was a child at the time and remembered standing on a hill looking out at the American fleet arriving. Ships covered the ocean as far as the eye could see and planes blotted out the sky. She was shocked that Japan could ever have been stupid enough to attack someone like that.

[@Mr-Trox]

We built a *shit ton* of carriers throughout the war. The US made 24 Essex-class aircraft carriers, and a shit ton of smaller escort carriers, to go with the absolutely ridiculous amount of Fletcher-class Destroyers that were churned out. Which considering the USA entered the war with only Lexington, Saratoga, Ranger, Yorktown, Enterprise, Hornet and Wasp, shows just how much we liked the idea of the carrier once Japan showed us how effective they were.

[@klade5031]

@@Mr-Trox The funny thing is that the Essex class wasn't even built as a reaction to Pearl Harbor. They were already well on their way when Japan attacked and the US just went apeshit on shipbuilding vessels of all shapes and sizes. At this point, the High Seas fleet back in WW1 probably had a far more realistic prewar plan of bombarding + blockading the east coast shipyards even though it would have required the Germans to somehow acquire a fleet larger than they actually had by an order of magnitude.

[@paniccheck]

The US arranged a truly titanic fleet and flyby for the official Japanese surrender, specifically to make that impression.

[@isaiahkayode6526]

@@paniccheck The pure definition of flexing.

[@timothybuckley6960]

119 different types of carriers by the end of the war, we had 17 of the Essex operating off the coast of Japan towards the end​@@Mr-Trox

[@darkroninmarvel]

It must have been a pretty awkward meeting for the Axis after Japan bombarded Pearl Harbour. Germany: Okay, things are looking a little bad right now, but as long as America does not get involved, we are good Japan:... Germany: Japan, what did you do? Japan: promise you won't get angry? Germany: craaaaaaaaaaaap. Welp, we lost the war. Thanks Japan

[@roidrannoc1691]

I read somewhere that apparently Hitler was happy about it. I mean this guy is the same moron that invaded the USSR while we was their ally and hadn't finish fighting against the UK yet.

[@jansatamme6521]

Germany chose to declare war on the USA, doing it the other way around might have proven harder cuz yk, germany didnt sink any boats (excepts the ones they did)

[@emptank]

Hitler didn't think war with the US would matter since he didn't think much of the US army and the UK and USSR were already getting plenty of US weapons through either trade or lend-lease so what would it matter if the US just started giving stuff away. But he was also the guy who thought it would be fine to fight the largest nation in the world by land mass while also fighting the most widespread empire the earth had ever known. So maybe he wasn't the best judge of these kinds of things.

[@tisFrancesfault]

Hitler was pretty happy with the news actually. He hoped the massive war in the Pacific would not only weaken the current war parties, but occupy the US resources on its own interests in the Pacific.

[@alexv3357]

@@tisFrancesfault And he was right, the Pacific War was a substantial draw on resources away from the European Theatre. But the US' resources were so vast that they could do both at the same time anyway.

[@zurielsss]

Fun Fact Emperor Hiroto seem to really dislike the war and blamed the generals for the deaths of the Japanese public. After Japan moved class A war criminals into the Shinzo Shrine that Japan use to honour the war dead, he ceased visiting the shrine. His son and grandson, the next 3 emperors honoured the tradition and didn’t visit the Shinzo shrine

[@morganrees3603]

You mean Hirotoh correct.

[@zoomunzoom5893]

Shame will do that to you. He played his part in the war too. Anything said after the war was to protect his legacy and keep him in power. It served both the US and Japan well in doing so

[@twinzzlers]

​@@zoomunzoom5893He was against the war

[@thunderbird1921]

Too bad Hirohito pulled a Victor Emmanuel III and waited until the last minute to take action against the tyrants destroying his country. Even if he didn't order the war or any attrocities, he was a pathetic coward who just let maniacs tarnish his nation forever and butcher Asia and the Pacific (in his name no less). Much like ol' VE 3 did little against Mussolini until Sicily fell, Tojo and his pals had free reign until the last days of the conflict in 1945. I understand why MacArthur kept him in power, but Hirohito should go down as a spineless and cowardly "emperor".

[@twinzzlers]

@@thunderbird1921 If he tried to stop them, he'd just be killed. Grow a brain

[@Danny.._]

japan got baseball in 1872. they loved the game so much that even as japan cracked down on anything western during ww2, they kept playing it, and just changed the name from a japanese pronunciation of the english word baseball to a new japanese term made of the kanji for field and ball so they could pretend it wasn't so western.

[@dnd161991]

As a former sailor, I can and can't imagine what it was like to be in the fleet or a fleet during WW2- in any theater, but especially the Pacific theater or in the naval actions leading up to D-Day. I'm used to fleet drills, and seeing the overwhelming strength of the Navy- but the scale of naval formations during WW2 is terrifying and awing. But to think that other nations were capable of not only potentially causing casualties to such fleet but outright defeat it... if I was about to be in the middle of one of those great sea battles, I imagine it'd be both an exhilarating and frightening experience. I can't imagine what it would really have felt like to be a sailor in one of those battles. I don't know if such things can really be put into words.

[@tessat338]

As a college student in the 1980s, we had World War 2 veterans join us in our "World War 2 in the Pacific" class. They could audit the course. They were a huge asset to the our understanding. Our professor had been a student and protege of Gordon Prang's (the author of "At Dawn We Slept") and had a terrific grasp of the subject matter. I remember one veteran giving us an eye-witness account of what it was like to experience a Kamikaze attack on his ship! It was an amazing class! I took her "Post-War Japan and Film" class the following semester.

[@StarNBars94]

My grandpa served in the navy and was part of Guadalcanal. He never talked about it. We knew he served in WWII, but he never went into much detail about his service besides he served in the Pacific as a Navy gunner. He was in his 90s when he finally told my dad about Guadalcanal. My dad said it was one of the most gruesome things he ever heard. The guys in the Pacific had it rough for sure

[@tekie1725]

Just to be clear, the targets for the nuclear bombs weren't picked for the amount of civilian casualties. There would have been far more populous targets if that was the goal. They were mainly picked for two reasons, one being they were military industrial centers, and the other being they were relatively untouched by prior bombing raids, and thus could be used as a gauge for how destructive the weapons were. Not sure which was the higher priority in picking the targets, I'd like to believe the former, but I'm sure for some it was the latter. Also, the estimated number of deaths from both atomic bombs combined is around 100k, which is roughly equivalent to the estimated 80k-130k dead from the Tokyo firebombing campaign. It's not a small amount, but it's really not that much higher than contemporary strategic bombing. Lastly, as the bombs were set to airburst they actually kicked up minimal amounts of radioactive fallout, which is why the areas arent radioactive hellscapes today.

[@chaost4544]

Underrated post. I don't know where the myth started that Hiroshima and Nagasaki weren't important military hubs but it's annoying. Japan's Second Army was headquarted in Hiroshima and was responsible for the defense where the US was going to invade in Operation Downfall. About 20-30 thousand of the people who died at Hiroshima were soldiers who would have been used against the US invasion.

[@neobobby4694]

@@chaost4544 I think a lot of it had to do with the push by Japan in later years to present themselves as a victim. This is along with downplaying Japan's war in Asia prior to WW2, and the narrative that Japan was backed into a corner by the US and was forced by the US to declare war. I mean, granted the oil embargo on Japan and the ultimatum for Japan to leave China did back Japan into a corner, but that was only after Japan invaded French Indochina, a territory that had arguably very little value to the Japanese Empire to begin with. And while I'm not saying the atomic bombing wasn't devastating, just because the US pulled the trigger doesn't absolve Japan of the responsibility for starting the war, one in which they were far, far more brutal when they had the upper hand. I'm not sure how accurate the 100K death toll combined was, but for reference that is only half of the most conservative estimate for the civilian death toll in Nanking.

[@Jimbo55151]

Speaking of air power I’d love to see a video on Billy Mitchell. The man who fully predicted carrier superiority in the 20’s and tried to get the US on board with little luck.

[@cericat]

There's a few individuals like that, the same largely held true of any men that promoted tanks as the future of land warfare in the inter-war period.

[@theotherohlourdespadua1131]

Billy Mitchell left a bitter taste in my mouth given the spawn he created, namely Curtis LeMay. His entire spiel that the airforce is the only thing the militaries of the world need because it can bomb the enemy into the Stone Age was proven unfounded even with the advent of nukes. He and Curtis LeMay were so desperate to prove that air power can stand alone and independent of the mudfoots and leathernecks and win the war through sheer firepower that they were willing to resort to firebombings to do so. Even now there are still questions as to the point of an independent air force...

[@Jimbo55151]

@@theotherohlourdespadua1131 Oh yeah as a man Billy isn’t great. There’s a reason he was court martialed. But as a subject of one of these videos he is such a cooky person that it would be a great choice

[@thunderbird1921]

@@theotherohlourdespadua1131 To be fair, Curtis LeMay as morally flawed as he was, was FAR from the only commander who approved of those tactics. The British RAF at times was even nastier with bombing than the U.S. forces in World War II, Harris and other commanders believed it was "win by any means possible" and firebombed the h*ll of German cities like Hamburg. The U.S. generals at one point refused to take part in mass air raids on Rome with them, as they believed the excessive civilian casualties would be completely immoral and unnecessary (the USAAF did targeted raids on Italian industrial facilities in the area instead). Until Vietnam, many countries saw mass bombing as simply an ugly but unavoidable part of modern warfare (in Korea, the Royal Navy aircraft among others in the UN coalition used napalm on Communist troops just like their American allies).

[@ianb.2575]

When I hear Billy Mitchell I think of the guy who cheated in old video games to get world records

[@aregularperson7573]

My grandpa was on a boat to Japan when we gave Hiroshima a bad case of sun burn so instead of having to deal with banzai charges he ended up in Italy for two years instead

[@loganblanton843]

Want to see a alternate timeline of operation downfall out of morbid curiosity

[@holy3979]

​​​@@loganblanton843Considering that all the purple hearts given to soldiers by the US military till today where made in preparation for the invasion of Japan, I'd say it would have been a messy affair to say the least...

[@Mr-Trox]

​@@holy3979Not to mention that it likely would have turned Japan into a failed state, and we likely would have had to annex it in order for its people to survive.

[@EnderKingDubs]

I choked on my dinner at seeing Oppenheimer's Name-Plaque is "Death, Destroyer of Worlds". Excellent gag!

[@cericat]

It's from a quote he used himself in a broadcast after the tests and IIRC on date after Hiroshima, from the Bhagavad Gita.

[@EnderKingDubs]

@@cericat Yes, I know that. That's why it made me laugh. Because seeing it ascribed as his Job Title when he had given the original quote as a reflection on the horror of the Nuclear Bomb is such a funny juxtaposition.

[@Jordan-ud4qv]

@@EnderKingDubseven funnier is he was quoting the (I think) Brahamastra meaning the job title wouldn’t initially belong to him. Note: if it wasn’t the Brahamastra it was something Hindu (or at least written in Sanskrit)

[@elg6197]

-From "WW2 abridged: part 1" -To "'Merica can't fight without their boat so they'll imm-..." -And now "Japan war did NOT go to plan" -Let see what new titles jack comes up with

[@Warmaker01]

Before the war, Yamamoto and a lot of the Imperial Japanese Navy were the most sober about prospects with war against the US and its strong navy and huge shipbuilding capability. Hell, in 1940, the Two Ocean Navy Act was passed that increased the size of the already strong US Navy by 70%, and more would follow. The ships that would bury Japan and the Axis were already being built long before Pearl Harbor was attacked. Feel free to look that act up and see just how significant that was. The IJN knew they were on a limited timetable. Yamamoto was quite against war with the US, yet he was the one appointed to come up with a preliminary sneak attack on Pearl Harbor. Even if that succeeded to his wildest dreams, he knew it was still a matter of time before the US amassed the forces needed to beat Japan. It has to be noted that United States industrial, economic, and military power was still mostly slated to help in the war effort against Germany, the Axis member considered the most dangerous. Despite the Pacific getting the leftovers, it was more than enough to bury the Imperial Japanese Navy. And if the IJN was beaten, so was Japan's dreams of a Pacific and Asian empire. The US Navy was so strong that it capably supported Allied war efforts in both the Pacific, Atlantic, and eventually even Mediterranean theaters, too. The Axis were stupid enough to attack the USA and so that powerful navy was suddenly working alongside the world's leading navy before the war, Britain's Royal Navy. And when WWII ended, the US Navy had a navy stronger than all other navies combined.

[@kumasenlac5504]

The chances of the US starting a Pacific War to protect European colonies were minuscule. Once Japan had over-run these they would have the strategic materials to defeat and dominate China.

[@ricgunn1439]

I heard your valiant soviet👿💩 ally won that war.😱

[@thunderbird1921]

This is also why North Korea was screwed a few years later. Once the US was able to halt the advance on Pusan, the UN coalition was able to build up and turn the tide of the Korean War. We still had vast numbers of those World War II ships, and within 2-3 months we were hitting them with everything from the aircraft carriers (some of whom now had early jet aircraft) to the Iowa-class battleships and smaller destroyers. Kim Il-Sung (as well as Stalin) had completely underestimated America's will to fight for an ally and North Korea would have been literally wiped off the map (with the whole peninsula unified under the South's government) if China hadn't intervened. And even after their huge surprise attack, Mao and General Peng thought they could simply break morale of the UN Coalition and drive them clear into the sea. The Chinese got the shock of their lives when their invasion of South Korea in 1951 was destroyed even worse than the North Koreans' had been (through an insane triple punch of air, sea and land power). The casualties were utterly horrific on their side. General Matthew Ridgway finally said to them "Look, you can't drive us into the sea, you just can't do it. Why not be sane and agree to an armistice at the 38th parallel?" Out of a combination of pride and massive hunger for power, the Communists dragged it out for nearly two whole YEARS before finally agreeing in 1953 (Eisenhower also threatened to use nukes on North Korea or even China itself, which terrified them into cooperating).

[@Mr-Trox]

Not to mention the sheer cultural response Americans have to attacks on their own soil. If there is any better way to unify America than an attack within our borders, then no one has been stupid or lucky enough to figure it out yet.

[@sonic5577]

I love how jack has become a legit skilled voice actor now

[@OneTrueVikingbard]

7:10

[@zachmarks9683]

Jack is the only person who can cut from Death, Destroyer of Worlds to “Japan has baseball now and everyone is happy” and nobody bats an eye

[@hetzer5926]

Getting wrecked after touching Americas boats has just become a meme at this point. People who have touched American boats and didn’t survive: The Barbary pirates The Spanish Empire The German Empire The Nazis Japan Iran

[@zombieoverlord5173]

I mean Spain never touched our boats we just said they did

[@michaelnettles3059]

​@@zombieoverlord5173It blew up in thier port. It probably wasn't them because it would stupid for them to do, but who else were we gonna blame?

[@Mr-Trox]

Iran seems to be itching for another Praying Mantis the way they're acting now.

[@eugenekrabs2403]

"We attacked three boats, they dropped the sun on us twice" -Japan after 1945

[@Mr-Trox]

They attacked way more than 3.

[@JinKee]

Fun fact: Japan's prime ministers initially didn't want to fight, so japan had "government by assassination" until they got Tojo who wanted a war.

[@ballinlikestalin878]

Silly jack. I'm sure he just forgot to mention Japan getting nuked was the end of several butterfly effects that started with Franz Ferdinand's driver taking a wrong turn and ended with the creation of anime.

[@user-tl5gj9dw4x]

Holy crap that hydrogen cyanide and oppenheimer jest hit like a truck.

[@Theantininja]

1:01 Okay let's clear that bit up: While Yamamoto DID plan the invasion of the US and the bombing of Pearl Harbor, he did so ONLY after giving considerable warnings against the idea of initiating open war against the US. He had been to the states, saw its capacity for military infrastructure, and knew full well that war with the US would end one of two ways for Japan: They either would win in 6 months after taking the initiative and breaking through to the mainland, or else they would be fighting a war of attrition against a power that had far more resources than they could hope to match, and their chance of victory would be virtually 0.

[@forrestsory1893]

He planned and took Attu island Alaska. Partly to Alarm the Americans and lure the American fleet north. This force struck first. It was also to Please General ToJo the Japanese Navys boss. Midway was the second more Threatening to Hawaii blow. That would surely draw out the American fleet from Pearl harbor. ToJo wanted another ring of island defense posts to cover approaches to Japan in case America doesn't take the bait. That is how Yamato was able to sell the plan to ToJo. He would force the Americans on the horns of a delema. Neither commander had any clue Their code was cracked.

[@jayden7945]

"Japan's war did not go to plan" might be the understatement of the century

[@johnmartin4119]

Truman: okay I’m gonna level with you. We’ve been planning on using our new weapon on Germany but they surrendered so now the boys in DC want to use it on you to make a demonstration or something. The thing is I think we created something totally batshit insane and immorally destructive so how about you just give up so we don’t have to go through with this and your people don’t die Hirohito: don’t you think you’re being dramatic? How bad can this thing be Truman: no believe me that’s what I thought but now I think the boys might have gone too far just surrender Hirohito: do it! Truman: um… okay then?

[@Generik97]

Did you know that all the purple hearts that have been issued post World War 2 we're actually made specifically for the invasion of Japan? America expected there to be so many casualties they produced millions of the medal only to not end up invading Japan and so all the hearts we're stored away post war. The stock pile of purple hearts has been depleted of course over the years but I am not quite sure how many if any purple hearts in inventory are still world war two vintage.

[@AYVYN]

I don’t envy whosever job it was to budget troops like a paycheck

[@forrestsory1893]

All they need to update is the cloth. The rest can be shined up before issue. The storage capacity of the US military is enormous.

[@inurokuwarz]

"If we destroy America's boats, they can't fight the war!" The Panama Canal: "DID YOU FORGET ABOUT ME!?"

[@quinnjackson9252]

"Everyone lived happily ever after." Except for the Koreans, Chinese, Taiwanese, Vietnamese... seriously, nowhere in Asia was left happy, and most still isn't.

[@afterlife697]

Fun fact: the US dropped thousands of leaflets in Japanese warning, the civilians of both Hiroshima and Nagasaki about what was going to take place.

[@nebbygetinthebag7263]

This is mostly accurate but a huge and glaring issue was missed. Yamamoto didn't want a war with the United States but as the Army controlled the Japanese Government, he was essentially forced to do just that. The Pearl Harbor strike was meant to cripple the US fleet, a sort of last ditch effort to avoid a longstanding conflict with the US that'd see the US be able to strike back. Even still, Yamamoto did not want that war (especially as he was well familiar with the US Navy).

[@Mr-Trox]

Also the bits about how they decided the targets for the atom bombs was pretty inaccurate. It didn't have much, if anything, to do with the civilian casualties. Hiroshima and Nagasaki were important military targets.

[@chaosXP3RT]

Fun Fact: Japan actually got Baseball in the 1880's from American missionaries. Now they're one of the best countries in the world at baseball

[@willevensen7130]

I mean they won baseball’s equivalent of the World Cup. So o think they are the best honestly

[@ngockhoanguyen2886]

they even made a baseball version of doraemon called "Dorabase" lol, sad that its only available in a VERY selected few of countries

[@randovids]

Its amazing to think Japan started the war near the end of 1941 and was pretty obviously going to lose just half a year later. But, instead of coming to peace terms, they fought for 3 more years, got nuked, fought just a little more, then someone figured out it was time to consider peace

[@Ploxtifs_OldAndDeadAccountXD]

Japan’s greatest ally during the early stages of the war in the pacific was the Bureaucratic quagmire hellscape known as the US Department of Ordinances.

[@Ploxtifs_OldAndDeadAccountXD]

Seriously, with what happened in regard to the Mk. 19 torpedo incident, they really took “gaslight gatekeep girlboss” to heart.

[@Brandon-a-writer]

Japan literally has a moment in history known as the "Second Happy Time", which is when the Japanese Empire ran shit in the Pacific after Pearl Harbor, when their ships were unopposed in the pacific and china was getting it good

[@lewisirwin5363]

I thought the "Happy Times" were strictly to do with the Kriegsmarine U-Boat ops?

[@markvicferrer]

Yamamoto knew it was a bad idea to attack the US but was ordered to. He was dealt a very bad hand & loss was inevitable.

[@aiseh7040]

It wasn't necessarily a bad idea, if they were able to destroy all the ships at Pearl Harbour (some of them were out in the ocean, including the aircraft carriiers) then they would have won the war.

[@prezmil4282]

@@aiseh7040 And we see how that went. Not the best idea to rely on “maybes” or “if’s”.

[@aiseh7040]

@prezmil4282 It's war, nothing is going to be 100% certainty. You can make the same argument that thr US thought it was going for an easy victory in Vietnam. Besides, Japan didn't really have much choice when the US was placing an oil embargo against the country.

[@prezmil4282]

@@aiseh7040 Yes you absolutely can, but the video is about the mistake of Japan. Which you are allowed to see however you choose.

[@SelfProclaimedEmperor]

​@@aiseh7040not really. Japan could not invade mainland USA. And the USA would have replaced all lost ships in 2-3 years

[@discountplaguedoctor88]

What, no mention of how the Emperor of Japan at the time literally stomped into the government building and browbeat the government into surrendering to the US?

[@jasonbelstone3427]

"Your Highness, it was simply another firebombing. If you would simple let us-!" "No!" "I'm gonna fight for You-!" (Rearing to go again) "NO! NO! NOOOO!" "I'm so excited~! I'm so exited- (sobbing) I'm- I'm so scared."

[@atomicviking2497]

"And everyone lived happily ever after." Except for the people who didn't live, or weren't happy.

[@willevensen7130]

Mainland China during WW2 be like: 💀

[@ReviveHF]

You need to do a sequel to this video : "How Russia's 1 hour 22 minutes special military operation didn't go well as plan?"

[@DCimmerian]

Until pretty recently I also believed that Japan picked up baseball after the US occupation, but apparently baseball had been around for quite some time in Japan before WW2, and became extremely popular (and stayed that way) about 35 years before WW2.

[@bkjeong4302]

The US actually didn’t have that many carriers in the Pacific in the aftermath of PH, because they didn’t have that many BEFORE PH. And of the ones they did have, every single one save Enterprise had been sunk or taken out of action in the first year of the war, which is actually a WORSE loss of carrier numbers than what the Japanese went though over that same period (the four carriers Japan lost at Midway were their older, worse frontline carriers-their two best and strongest carriers would remain afloat until 1944, along with many much smaller carriers that were rushed or even pre-planned conversions) The real reasons for the USN winning the carrier war was that a) the US’s carrier replacement program went better than Japan’s (both of them had plans to expand their carrier forces prior to the war and had put them into action, but the US ended up building much larger individual new carriers and the industrial capacity to build more of them faster), and b) the Japanese ran out of skilled carrier pilots during the Guadalcanal campaign.

[@randybentley2633]

To be fair to Yamamoto, he did tell the upper echelons that giving the US a reason to export our national passtime...no, the other one...was going to end badly for them if things didn't go right.

[@susanhernandez]

My granduncle was near Pearl Harbor when it was bombed. He was killed in action later in the war when his ship explored in the Pacific Ocean.

[@therandomlaniusedward2140]

May he rest in peace...

[@jkent9915]

Why does no one ever mention that the P38 that shot down down his plane managed to kill Yamamoto with a headshot from a .50.

[@lorcanokane5128]

The Japanese actually introduced baseball during the Meiji restoration

[@georgeprchal3924]

And the Chinese, Koreans, Plilipinos, and Singaporeans ans and Malaysians didn't think they went far enough with only two bombs.

[@AzelRavenWood]

Yamamoto's Gambit of Waking the US up really hinged on those carriers being destroyed and unfortunately for him and fortunately for the US and the Allies they were not destroyed. It also doesn't help that the Japanese Army after this viewed the Japanese navy as just a transport and not the thing that was standing between Japan and the US/Allies wrecking their shit! Which again, unfortunately for Yamamoto and Japan and Fortunately for the US/Allies, Yamamoto knew all of this and he just had to set about doing what he must and could to the best that he could. Which, as we have seen, did not go well.

[@Mr-Trox]

Very, very unfortunately for them, the not yet legendary USS Enterprise wasn't in Pearl Harbor on December 7th. When she steamed in the next day, her equally legendary Admiral Halsey aboard her, he spoke his most famous quote that emphasized just how fucked Japan was. "Before we're through with them, the Japanese language will be spoken only in Hell."

[@Supernova2464]

7:33 I get it, don’t get me wrong, I get it. But thousands of civilians we’re already dying from fire bombing. In fact, more died from fired bombing then the nukes

[@trevorphillips8415]

This is actually very correct. Most people usually only pay attention towards the fast devastation of the 2 super weapons rather than the long and grueling damage the Doolittle raids caused.

[@Supernova2464]

@@trevorphillips8415 don’t even get me started on Operating Downfall

[@trevorphillips8415]

@@Supernova2464 Oof. A, supposed, amphibious assault that would outshine D-day, millions of potential civilian lives would be thrown away to prolong the end, and a death count that would've ended with millions did a least. Probably would've gave the US a Nam before Vietnam. It's like bad vs awful.

[@moredac2881]

I will now only refer to Japan’s allies as the “Asian Nation Happy Bubble”

[@JackRackam]

Japan unironically named its empire/allies the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere

[@bobertfw]

Best name for the co prosperity sphere ever… though the post soviet commonwealth of independent states is equally Orwellian

[@midgetydeath]

I’d bet Yamamoto also realizes that after the war in Europe settled down, Europe would show up to re-take its colonies. Probably ironically as an alliance even with their enemies because, as European history shows, they’re weird like that.

[@Xman-0124]

Im sure that this conflict won’t cause anyone… to DIE

[@vibechecker3168]

“Let’s declare war on the USA!” “Why is ‘Over There’ getting louder and louder?”

[@tcpratt1660]

"I'm hearing a military march..." "The Marine Hymn?" "AIEEEEE!" "Oh, Tojo, not the Marine Hymn...THAT Marine, HIM!!!"

[@lordhylia5745]

5:18 that second decisive battle? the Leyte Gulf one? a large part of that battle was the IJN Yamato and a huge fleet of accompanying assorted warships... vs. Taffy 3, a *destroyer formation with a handful of small carriers* which was meant for anti-submarine warfare. Not only were there more destroyers with the Japanese fleet, the Yamato herself *weighed more that all of the ships of Taffy 3 COMBINED* care to guess who won that battle?

[@tcpratt1660]

Rear Admirals Sprague did (yes, there were two of them - one was the overall commander of all the Taffy groups, the other one was the commander of Taffy 3)...and Admiral Halsey almost caused the defeat of the Leyte invasion force by not covering the San Bernadino Strait like he was supposed to (why did he chase a Japanese carrier group that had fewer planes than just two of Taffy 3's escort carriers? As Admiral Nimitz signalled to Halsey, "...the world wonders...")

[@kumasenlac5504]

@@tcpratt1660 Halsey chased the carrier group because the Japanese knew how to press his buttons.

[@Mr-Trox]

Taffy 3, the bravest goddamn sailors ever. Hoel, Johnston and Samuel B Roberts. The destroyers that fought like battleships.

[@whm_w8833]

I swear, when the typhoon is against Japan, Japan should have known they lost

[@noahaeder4292]

You’re really gunna say that the a-bombs were just to kill civilians? They dropped flyers and tried to warn them, and also the firebombs did way more damage than the nukes.

[@aiseh7040]

Yes, because the atomic bombs were useless in pressuring Japan to surrender. It was actually the threat of a Soviet Union's invasion that forced the Japanese surrender.

[@trevorphillips8415]

​@@aiseh7040Actually the decision to surrender was decided before the russians came barging in. The only group that actually surrendered towards the russians were the Japanese military still in that region.

[@christopherjustice6411]

Loving “Role The Old Chariot” in the background.

[@SeoulMan]

To think, years later, the Yamato battleship will find new purpose as a spacefaring ship with BFG for a mission to save Earth. That same weapon, the Hadouho (lit. Wave Motion Cannon) will inspire a signature fighting game technique, the HADOUKEN!

[@obits3]

Regarding the nukes and civilians, that’s the thing about *total* *war:* There are no civilians. Do you think every soldier who was on the battle field wanted to be there? These weren’t professional soldiers who volunteered. While there were many volunteers, the draft was also a thing. If you are drafting people, you are effectively fighting using your civilians at that point, so the equation isn’t “soldiers versus civilians,” it is “my civilians versus your civilians.” Any leader worthy of his power has a duty to choose the well-being of his civilians over another country’s civilians when at war. It is just the harsh reality of the situation.

[@Zivin]

“Japan got baseball and everyone lived happily ever after” is such a wild and true statement

[@johnharris6655]

Pearl Harbor was a tactical failure for the Japanese. Admiral Nimitz commented that the Japanese attack on Sunday Morning when 90% of the ship's complement, including most senior officers were on shore leave or liberty. They did not attack the dry dock so ships that were bombed could be repaired in Hawaii and not towed to the west coast. They did not attack the fuel reserves on Diamond head. Once the ships were repaired at the Hawaii Dry Docks, they could be crewed and fueled from Hawaii and not wait for fuel and crews from the Mainland.

[@realhawaii5o]

I don't think it necessarily developed in their favour.

[@warlordofbritannia]

Not only did it go to plan, it didn’t develop to their favor either!

[@madmanmortonyt4890]

Fun fact: Yamamoto's "Sleeping Giant" quote is made up! Neither his colleagues nor his journals mention it. Like Gavrilo Princip's sandwich, it was made up after the war.

[@Mr-Trox]

Specifically, it was made up for the 1970 film, Tora! Tora! Tora!. Another quote attributed to him, that an invasion of America "would have a rifle behind every blade of grass" is equally made up!

[@HoopTY303]

Gosh, I really hate to be THAT “history buff” with nothing to do but comment nit-picky corrections but, here it comes: (ahem) JAPAN ALREADY HAD BASEBALL! Seriously they made a national hero of a dude who struck out Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and someone else I think. His name was Eiji Sawamura. In WW2 Eiji would find himself in the Japanese army. His life would end late in the war when the troop transport he was aboard called the Hawaii Maru was sunk by a torpedo. Rest in Peace Eiji Sawamura.

[@g00dbyemisterA]

worth pointing out i think that the reason for japan’s surrender was definitely multi faceted but according to the diaries of many higher ups in japan, the soviet invasion was viewed as a much graver threat. kawabe torashiro, the deputy chief of staff wrote that he had been told of a large explosion at hiroshima and responded to it as he had similarly devastating bombing runs (more people died in Tokyo in one night than in hiroshima or nagasaki) however upon hearing about the soviet invasion of manchuria, he used the word “shogeki” (meaning great shock) to describe his reaction. the soviets were never going to negotiate with them in terms they could swallow, the soviets turned down several attempts to mediate talks between japan and the usa in fact. the longer the soviets stayed in the war, the stronger the communist hand would be in peace talks and the japanese high command really really hated and feared communism. nobody fully understood the long term fallout of nukes as uniquely bad as opposed to more ‘ordinary’ bombs so japan’s situation didn’t change greatly when the difference between one bomb and 100,000 bombs being dropped was essentially meaningless given japan could barely manage to shoot down the planes carrying 100,000 bombs. the soviets joining the war changed the calculus and (i believe) is the primary reason for peace.

[@candiman4243]

I mean my opinion on the atomic bombs is that they acted as a convenient excuse for the emperor to surrender. He could point to them and be like "this super weapon totally changes things" and thus give japan the honor-saving excuse of stopping the war that they were totally going to win before these totally unfair bombs.

[@MrEcoho]

nah the soviets invasion of manchuria had no real effect on the surrender of Japan as the atomic bombs had rattled the Emperor enough that he took a personal stance with it on august 10 allowing Shigenori Tōgō to tell the allies of the acceptance of their conditions for surrender so long as it does not comprise any demand which prejudices the prerogatives of His Majesty as a Sovereign ruler. by the time the soviets had fully taken manchuria Japan had announced its capitulation to the allies after an attempted coup, so to say the soviets played a part in their surrender is quite literally false.

[@theotherohlourdespadua1131]

Whatever the actual reason, the only reason Japan even surrendered was due to Hirohito. Without him, the ones who has the power would just continue...

[@ricgunn1439]

The Soviets💩 attacked Aug. 15 the day Japan surrendered. Even the Japs considered it back stabbing😡

[@Longlius]

There were really two separate surrenders - the surrender of the Japanese government and the surrender of the IJA. The Japanese government was unconcerned with the Soviets since they were unlikely to make it into Japan proper (the Soviet navy was a joke in this period) and the IJA was unconcerned with the nukes since they weren't in range to have the sun dropped on them. The Japanese government surrendered in response to the nuclear bombs and the IJA surrendered in response to the Soviet Invasion and the prospect of ending up cornered by the Red Army. Both the IJA and the government had to surrender for peace to be achieved because the IJA at this point was already a nearly full-autonomous force all on its own.

[@foobar6345]

I understand the limits of a 7 minute video, but compared to some of your other videos, I feel like this one leans into questionable narratives a bit too much. Like, to mention the idea of the US assumption (esp. of the 'Japanhands') that the Japanese were slavishly devoted to their emperor, and just counter it by saying that this was similar to their preexisting strategy might do more harm than not mentioning it at all, given how complex and controversial the question is why Japan conducted the war the way they did is. Given the diffuse nature of Japanese command and control and the unclear question of ultimate authority, I wonder if this portrayal of a clear narrative also really serves anyone. The fact that the war against China was begun more or less against the will of the civilian government seems worth mentioning, at least. In general, it feels like this video would have done a lot better just to focus on one of the aspects of the pacific war, rather than a high-level summary which has been done so often already. I have great respect for your work, so don't take this comment the wrong way.

[@JackRackam]

I think I see what you're getting at - my intention with mentioning the US perception of Okinawa/Iwo Jima was to get ahead of a common idea people might have (since I assume most people are at least passingly familiar with the events of WW2) highlight the strategic merit of the Japanese navy digging their heels in so dramatically and hopefully counter that narrative

[@foobar6345]

@@JackRackam I see that, and that does make sense. Having partially (it's a real slog) read John Dower's "Embracing Defeat" (though the more relevant book here probably would be "War without Mercy", which I haven't read, only heard people talk about/quote), and read/listened to a fair bit about interwar and wartime japan, the idea of the kokutai, prewar democracy & scandal, etc., I just find myself always eternally puzzled in how far the japanese *were* actually devoted to the emperor/kokutai, and in how far it was merely effective propaganda or compliance for the sake of not rocking the boat. At the very least, Dower's work does do a good job of questioning not just the racialized idea of some sort of japanese spirit, but also the idea that such a spirit, even if non-racialized and merely instilled by propaganda, was as pervasive as we thought. Obviously, you can't put anywhere near even this very cursory detail in a 7 minute video on the pacific war, which is why I find myself wishing for a more focused video, or at least one that takes a certain angle, like you often do when you choose a specific character to focus your narrative on. But in the end, I presume this video was in part made to capitalize on Oppenheimer's buzz, and I can't deny that a more focused video might have not done that well given the algorithm. So I don't want to be too hard on the vid. Maybe a few people see this comment thread and gain a little context, and if that happens, that'd be something, too.

[@f15stroke]

I love how Jack's videos can be so reductive and so true at the same time.

[@MacavitySmiles]

I need jack to completely eviscerate MacArthur

[@uncivilsum417]

That damned glorified PR General

[@BajanEnglishman51]

Japan had the most unfortunate events that caused it to lose

[@witchboy44]

“Mein Furher! A strange giant metal man has appeared, he wants to form an alliance to destroy some person called Optimus”

[@I-Stole-Your-Toast700]

Japan VS America during WW2 in a nutshell "Haha we sunk ur boats!" "I will drop a star on you." "whuh?" "TWO stars on you" "wha-OOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH"

[@matchesburn]

"You don't touch America's boats." [The Fat Electrician nods approvingly]

[@floyvlogs1754]

I think another final spit in the face for Japan is that out of the battleships they sunk at pearl harbor, they only permanently destroyed 3. The others went through overhaul just because they could. And went on to engage in the war later on anyway, on top of the massive navy the US had amassed at that point.

[@danielsantiagourtado3430]

7:49 japan got baseball Cool consolation price!🎉🎉🎉⚾⚾⚾⚾⚾⚾⚾⚾

[@AurickLeru]

And we got anime and hentai in return. Fair trade in my opinion.

[@davidcollier1680]

I usually skip sponsored ads, but I watched this one all the way through. Props to you sir for your creativity.

[@SSFighter1701]

I have such respect for the sheer size of the balls it took to post this video. I tip my hat to thee Mr. Rackam

[@SeruraRenge11]

"and everyone lived happily every after" Well...Japan did at least.

[@Pyromaniac77777]

“They touched our boats!” I love what you do with these videos but come on man the death toll was over 2400 including women children and teenagers, all of whom were going about their day with no idea it was their last. The death toll, and the sudden awareness of pacific vulnerability are the reason the US responded with overwhelming force.

[@hanneswiggenhorn2023]

I think one thing too often overlooked in the japanese surrender is the advance of the soviets. I often hear people say that without nukes, the US would have needed to invade Japan and that would have costed million of US soldiers lives, but I kind of disagree with that, because of the soviets: the soviets would have come for the home islands and would have invaded Japan, and if the soviets got the royal family, they don't just lose a bit of political power, they lose their heads, and they knew this, so surrender to the US was preferable to a Soviet invasion any day of the week, but surrender to the US only works as long as the Soviets aren't already in the home islands

[@perpetualdimwit]

This is the most enjoyable and concise history video regarding the history of Japan in WW2 politically.

[@maxis2k]

"These guys could hit a factory from 650 miles away. Try doing that with a battleship." Oh, Germany tried...

[@danielsantiagourtado3430]

Your videos are superb man! Please do one on edward III!🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

[@commandercritic9036]

6:30-6:35 Britain: sniff 🥲, I’m so proud, my little boy is all grown up and ruling the waves 🥲 America: UGGGGGH, Dad your EMBARRASSING me in front of the Big Boys Club! 😩

[@nathaniel386]

Calling the East Asian co prosperity sphere the mandatory asian happy bubble is the best way to put it

[@timothytumusiime2903]

Kudos to you for pointing out the option of a naval blockade with bombing them with....bombers Now that the bombers' runways were close enough to the home islands

[@Mr-Trox]

There's a very large chance that a bombing campaign would have caused higher casualties than the atomic bombs. Both of the atomic bombs together still caused less casualties than the firebomb campaign.

[@johnmcnutt8089]

Would have been worth mentioning we dropped pamphlets giving civilians a heads up that we were going to do it. But japan made it punishable by death to read them.

[@gamergumilyov8579]

I think that Yamamoto's defeatist attitude towards victory in a long term war against the west (mainly U.S. and Britain) is why Japan's southern thrust didn't have the intended effect, as he knew he was overstretching. but i feel if you're going for a hail mary to knock out the west quick, then go the full mile. (even if in reality it wouldn't have changed the west choosing not to fight them)

[@NarffetWerlz]

"We sank three boats, they dropped the sun on us _twice."_