The Axis were not natural allies

Some believe that the Axis Powers naturally and inevitably came together to fight against the West and Soviet Union. But the evidence supports the opposite view, that Germany, Italy and Japan didn't see eye to eye, and the alliance between them could easily not have happened.
This video is discussing events or concepts that are academic, educational and historical in nature. This video is for informational purposes and was created so we may better understand the past and learn from the mistakes others have made.
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ABOUT TIK 📝
History isn’t as boring as some people think, and my goal is to get people talking about it. I also want to dispel the myths and distortions that ruin our perception of the past by asking a simple question - “But is this really the case?”. I have a 2:1 Degree in History and a passion for early 20th Century conflicts (mainly WW2). I’m therefore approaching this like I would an academic essay. Lots of sources, quotes, references and so on. Only the truth will do.

[@TheImperatorKnight]

I know it may not seem like it, but I had to do an all-nighter to get this done. There’s several reasons why… But this is why I won’t be replying to your comments this evening. I’d appreciate it, though, if you could Like the video. It’ll help me sleep easier tonight! Also, the world map was a new addition, and so it’s not 100% accurate yet, especially at the beginning of the video. The island of Sakhalin is split between Japan and the Soviets, but I only showed this part way through. There’s other errors as well; the borders could be more accurate; and the map itself is squished. But if you ignore all the errors it looks okay! ;)

[@xtopia9758]

26 seconds ago

[@xtopia9758]

Good luck

[@ArgentWolf95]

get some rest mate! It's much appreciated!

[@dynamo3590]

😎😎 👍👍

[@peoplesoft2784]

Hey I get it, pulling an all nighter myself. Good luck!

[@82dorrin]

Germany and Japan were allies by circumstance. They really didn't have any common strategic goals, aside from both hating the USSR. Neither was going to stick their neck out for the other.

[@ReSSwend]

>both hating the USSR Farting in the air. Japan signed a non-aggression pact with the Soviet Union on April 13, 1941 when most of Europe was conquered by Nazi Germany.

[@henriklarssen1331]

I mean were they realy allies? Japan drew the USA early into the War and they made a secret non aggression pact with the Soviets, which allowed the Soviets to free the Sibirian elite troops and reserves to bolster the lines in the battle of Moscow. I think they were only allies on paper.

[@kimobrien.]

The both wanted the other Europeans colonies. Japan took what was French, Dutch and British. Had Germany defeated Britain they n doubt would have tried to take British and French colonies. In the end the colonial powers were weaken such that they would face revolutions though out the colonial world. The US cried about losing China. .

[@pohorex6834]

@@kimobrien. what?

[@TingTong2568]

@@kimobrien. the main reason why the Japanese invaded South East Asia is because the US embargo of oil and other commodities to Japan, which it needs desperately.

[@Paris-xv9sj]

As like the Allies, the Axis is an alliance BY CIRCUMSTANCES. Thank you for explaining the real complexity of History of WW2.

[@Alte.Kameraden]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/q3KukKeZjZiKgNE reminds me of this Dank History meme opening 😅

[@Konkov]

circumstances

[@Paris-xv9sj]

@@Konkov thank you. (d*mn french autocorrector)

[@pauliusiv6169]

the only reason brittain and france stopped murdering eachother after centuries of war was because of the rise of prussia

[@BHuang92]

Difference is the Axis were hampered by economic limitations and political differences (not as organized as the Allies)

[@chaptermasterpedrokantor1623]

Wow, it is almost as if Germany, Italy and Japan each had strategic aims completely different and independent of the rest of them. Who could have foreseen such a completely logical and rational thing?

[@8bitorgy]

Not from the Jedi

[@chaptermasterpedrokantor1623]

@@8bitorgy The Jedi were of course complete idiots. To the point that I feel that Lucas gave them the idiot ball to hold.

[@tyvamakes5226]

I mean, the Jedis deserved the temple massacre after what the high council had done in a single month.

[@KimJongUnGamingAndVlogging]

​@@chaptermasterpedrokantor1623 Honestly Yoda was pretty useless

[@DaliborPerkovic-sw8mh]

The main problem for Germany, Italy and Japan was that they didnt got one own strategy for all war. One strategy for all 3 Axis powers. For Germany and Italy that was possible. The name of that strategy was Mediterranian strategy. But Hitler rejected Mussolini about that. He was prefered suicidal Barbarossa in 1941. And that was huge blunder.

[@samsonsoturian6013]

I've seen much more bizarre coalitions. There are wars characterized by allies sabotaging each other's ceasefires in order to ensure their "friends" keep fighting while they sit on the sidelines.

[@Cptnbond]

It would be an interesting to hear TIK to discuss the minor axis (Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Slovakia, etc.) that 'joined' the war and their relationships with Germany and each other.

[@pauliusiv6169]

one simple reason: their totalitarian neighbour to the east, russia

[@Cptnbond]

@@pauliusiv6169 Yes, but TIK always does such an in-depth, and interesting historical analysis.

[@mappingshaman5280]

​@@pauliusiv6169but is this really the case? Bulgaria as an example, did not even join the war against the Soviets as they viewed it as a betrayal of Russia for supporting their independence. Both Hungary and Romania were more allies of convenience, claiming more land from one another as well as Slovakia and Bulgaria respectively than from the Soviets.

[@mojewjewjew4420]

@@Cptnbond commie russia attacked Romania in 1940 when it annexed 2 regions that it never had then deported the natives to Siberia and brough colonists, so and because like Bulgaria didnt join the war but was still invaded by Russia, Romania accepted Germany's deal to join the alliance.

[@samlosco8441]

@@mappingshaman5280 Bulgarian entry into the Axis alliance was a combination of pragmatism and opportunism IMO. Pragmatism in that the country was surrounded by the Axis and was always going to be "nudged" into joining them, and opportunistic in the fact that they used the war to occupy parts of Greece and Macedonia, satisfying irredentists and gaining their own small area of "living space". But of course there was a lot of hesitancy about the war with the USSR in particular since Bulgarians generally viewed Russia with great reverence

[@ryangriffin5990]

I see Tik I click

[@loyaltyisroyalty5616]

I concur

[@theoldcavalier7451]

Very quick

[@diggydumbo9294]

Only men of culture here 🗿

[@abcogien]

The only natural result

[@PiousPriest]

Calling out commies when they try to be slick.

[@valdezraptor970]

I did a report on Italian and German relations. One of the other big factors that brought Italy and Germany closer together was the Spanish Civil war. I had to read through Ciano's diaries and some other reports to get insight on this. Ciano's dories (translated) are interesting. He makes some odd comments about Hitler's visit to Italy that I have never forgotten but that's a bit off topic.

[@alexrennison8070]

What odd comments?

[@danieleyre8913]

I think the biggest Catalyst for Italian alliance with Germany was the Italian invasion & conquest of Abyssinia.

[@Notdjsbjj]

Just out of curiosity, is that report published anywhere for public reading? I'd be super interested in having a look if so. Cheers

[@danieleyre8913]

@bastiat What bollocks are you talking?

[@abdurrahmanqureshi3030]

@@alexrennison8070 allow me to reference something vaguely and never elaborate

[@johnathonyoung4799]

Italy's history in WW2 is actually really interesting

[@johnkolassa1645]

I like the "but is this really so?" One can't learn from history unless we are willing to ask this.

[@Anacronian]

but is this really so?

[@rasheed7934]

I don't get the question.😅

[@australiananarchist480]

​@@rasheed7934 Its poking fun at those that just take everything at face value when being taught propaganda at school. Whenever youre told something, you should be asking "but is this really the case", so you can find out the real, root reasons for things. Its a crucial part of critical thinking, something TIK is a big proponent of, and essential for any good historical debate.

[@DaliborPerkovic-sw8mh]

On the beginning of ww2, Germany can win the war, but they were doing a lots of millitary blunders. Strategic and tactic. And they lost the war. Is simple. Do not do something what is benefitial for your enemies. Germany and Hitler doing that. Long time and even when is too much. Why is like that? The answers are many and very complicated, but this is a true. If you want know more about that, you must ask or exploire ww2 history. Like me. And even me do not know all, after 33 years exploring that materia. If you want, we can talk about ww2 and all what you like?! Dalibor!

[@Blox117]

USA: everyone should give up their guns germany: you first USA: LOL NAH i meant everyone else

[@tomm9963]

Thank you for this video. Like you say, people have The Axis Powers down as natural bedfellows, when in fact they was constant infighting between them before and when during the war. Germany's aiding of China during the Second Sino-Japanese War, Italian ambitions in Austria and The Balkans at the expense of Germany and Romanian border disputes with both Hungary and Bulgaria

[@eze8970]

You also have the oddity of Stalin's Soviet Union sending aid to the Chinese Nationalist Army - who were fighting the Chinese Communists. Nationalist China also played the Allies off against each other.

[@SirBoggins]

​@@eze8970 Well, considering how their direct enemy in Asia, the Japanese empire was on the Pacific doorstep of the Soviet Union, then of course pragmatism would prevail over ideology! China under Chiang Kai-Shek was able to hold off the Japanese invasion for 8 years, so it's obvious why Stalin only then invaded Manchuria in the summer of '45.

[@eze8970]

@@SirBoggins The situation was a mess for Chiang Kai Shek. He had a small industrial base for weapons & trade, & was fighting the Chinese Communists, Independent warlords, then also the Japanese, whilst worrying about the Soviets, & warlords on his side defecting to another side. Stalin was supplying the Nationalists to stop Japan, but also to stop the Chinese Communists, as Mao was for the Soviets, worryingly independent. During WW2, Chiang threatened to hold peace talks with the Japanese, if the Allies didn't supply him. Most of what they did supply him with, he used against the Chinese Communists. Stalin invaded Manchuria in '45 as his main enemy Germany had been defeated, his army was strong & trained, Japan was getting weaker all the time, & a lot of the best Japanese units & equipment had been withdrawn. It was an opportunistic land grab, whilst settling some old historic scores with the Japanese.

[@SirBoggins]

@@eze89701) It should be noted that the Americans and Chinese Communists under Mao Zedong were actually quite friendly towards one another during the early 40's and had actually planned a joint invasion of the occupied lands with American marine attacks on the coast and the Maoist partisans striking through the mainland. 2) Mao was quite independent but not entirely. It wasn't until Kruschev took power in '53 that the Maoists split off in the 60's. His Maoist view of Marxism was alot more similar to that of Stalin in a way with mass industrialisation and agricultural yielding. 3) Many warlords either stayed with Chiang, defected to the Japanese or joined the Communists. It should be noted that he kinda started it by purging many of the "Left KMT" which had many communist leaders in them, one being Wang Jin-Wei who turned Fash and defected to the Japanese. 4) The "opportunistic land grab" was kinda (emphasising the "kinda" part) justified as the Japanese had whooped the Russian imperial army at Mukden and took alot of influence away. Their hatred of Communists only made it easier for Stalin to declare war upon them.

[@edu7979]

​@@eze8970 friendlt fire lmaoo

[@dragosstanciu9866]

Romania had no love for the Axis, but the territorial losses in 1940 forced Romania to join the Axis. The Romanians were Anglophiles but also feared the Soviet Union.

[@DaliborPerkovic-sw8mh]

Romania after 1940 needed protection of agresive USSR. Russia ( before 1917 ) and USSR ( after 1924 ) thinked that Your country is russian backyard. Especially after 1945 and 1948. Like Putin Russia today with Ukrajina. But, these guys are wrong! Dalibor!

[@AFGuidesHD]

"Romanians were Anglophiles" is that why the Anglos were constantly threatening Romania and generally seething hard when Romania said they wouldn't join Britain's war against Germany throughout 1939 ?

[@SirBoggins]

​@@AFGuidesHD Dude your description says you're from the UK 💀💀💀💀

[@3dcomrade]

​@@AFGuidesHD it is in line. The Brits are desperate, and so they try to pull an Anglophile in Why bother trying to get Bulgaria and Hungary? They hate Britain, Yugoslavia? They had unprotected borders

[@DaliborPerkovic-sw8mh]

@@AFGuidesHD Yes, thats true! In fact, Romania must choose between two evils: does it want german dominance or soviet tyranny. And I agree. Germany was less evil for Romania in that time. And worst evil will come soon. Just 5 years later ( 1945 ). The same situation is even today for Romania and Croatia. Thats past and the future.

[@khangnguyenthaiduy9129]

The Axis were allies because they had a common enemy. If they managed to defeat said enemy, no doubt, they would turn against each others.

[@holdinmcgroin8639]

The allies were the same, though. Just look at the US and USSR

[@khangnguyenthaiduy9129]

@@holdinmcgroin8639 But UK and the US were genuine allies.

[@spartanalex9006]

@@khangnguyenthaiduy9129Anglos together strong.

[@ImperialSenpai]

Japan became completely unified in 1603 with the Tokugawa Shogunate, which was feudal and isolationist. The Meiji Restoration in 1868 got rid of the feudal system and military dictator (shogun) establishing a constitutional monarchy and Westernized Japan. Oda Nobunaga started unification in the mid to late 1500s with unification being complete when Tokugawa Ieyasu.

[@gabrielesalera7088]

yep, saying that Japan was unified in the 1800s is... oof. Quite inaccurate to say the least. Like a lot of other stuff said in the video, but I digress

[@ImperialSenpai]

@@gabrielesalera7088 Been a while, but from what I remember I enjoyed it. Just felt like I needed to point out that it wasn’t unification like Germany and Italy but putting the emperor back in charge and centralizing the government.

[@akken2112]

People forget or don't know that Japan and Italy were on the allied side in WWI.

[@samsonsoturian6013]

Japan only seized some small ports and sat the rest out.

[@robertdickson9319]

@@samsonsoturian6013 Certainly Japanese involvement did not reach the level of the European countries after their conquests in 1914 but to say they "sat the rest out" is not accurate - Japanese ships were used in the Mediterranean in 1917/18 while Japanese troops went into Siberia after the Russian revolution. Not an impressive amount of action but action nonetheless.

[@samsonsoturian6013]

@@robertdickson9319 The Arabs did more than that, and those guys were just a mob of pirates.

[@francescomagnosi3299]

Hi Tik, nice video. I think you made a small mistake at the start of the video: Italy officialy unified not in 1871(the year in which Rome was annexed) but in 1861(when both North and South Italy were unified). Still, this video is really informative and shows how the Axis was an alliance of convenience.

[@SirBoggins]

A lot more than the "liberal" & "democratic" west.

[@JVDAWG1]

1871 can also be viewed as the true unification.

[@magnumopus1628]

Ah, un altro italiano che segue questo canale... mi fa davvero piacere.

[@magnumopus1628]

@@JVDAWG1 Not really, the ''true'' unification was the 17th of march, 1861. We even have the festivity of the unification here in italy.

[@giodandosu]

@@magnumopus1628 and with me.... siamo tre!

[@hmk5123]

It's not uncommon to see friends becoming enemies and enemies become friends.

[@groovymckraut7179]

Also I wonder if one could argue that germanys alliance with the minor axis (Finland, Romania, Hungary) was an example of successful alliance building. He brought several countries that were opposed to each other ( Romania and Hungary), opposed to him in the past (Romania and Finland) into his orbit. Yes the alliance was ultimately defeated so perhaps it doesn’t count

[@captainamerica6525]

With Finland in those days I think in regards to the Nazis it was, "the enemy of my enemy is my friend".

[@MoneyIsSilver]

Germany and Japan still have a lot in common -they still make the best cars, for instance.

[@die1mayer]

Japan copied German cars.

[@ohsoedgy6888]

This isn’t a request for anything but I always wanted to see a video on Hitler’s vegetarianism and how attacked the meat industry and wanted a Post War Germany to be a Vegetarian society.

[@MarmiteMangoMachine]

Soyboy Hitler would have forged a race of low-T girly men in skinny jeans. So basically Hitler... won the war?

[@tomhalla426]

The NSDAP was also very into biodynamic agriculture, which was renamed organic after the war. Heinrich Himmler was a particular advocate.

[@user-co7fo]

But biodynamic agriculture à la Demeter requires animals in the farm. Would these then not be used for eating?

[@tomhalla426]

@@user-co7fo actually thinking things through was not a feature of the NSDAP.

[@SirBoggins]

Kinda like India 🇮🇳 which is not only (ACTUALLY) Aryan, but has a very large vegetarian population. Eating your greens is totalitarian I suppose 😅

[@GALAXY-39]

This is one of the best videos about the Axis I ever seen, thanks a lot for it. Also it’s important to mention that both Italy and Japan wanted Poland to join the Axis (something that Hitler was against it for territorial and racial reasons), in fact Poland and Japan were allies during all the war, Poland send information about the USSR and the Third Reich to Japan and both of them refused to be at war even if they were from opposite sides during the conflict. Poland send a former declaration of war by pressure of the British, but the Japanese just simply deny it and both of them still cooperating.

[@verinenpukki]

Other strange thing is Romania and Hungary on the same side.

[@samsonsoturian6013]

They aren't giant peak industrial states, so no one cares about them. It's like how according to the embassies from every country, the interior of the US doesn't exist. Seriously, I had to drive 10 hours to Chicago just to talk to a diplomat!

[@johnnyfives5416]

The same case also applies with the romanian iron guard and the Hungarian arrow cross party as well as the portugal national syndicalist vs the Spanish falangist. This also applies with fasicism in latin america, especially in South America such as Argentina, Brazil, and chile.

[@SirBoggins]

Don't forget the BUF with Moseley.

[@johnnyfives5416]

@HowitzerAlbatross their were multiple fasicist groups in Britain that mosley buf tried to unite such as the scottish fasicist party and the imperial league. They rejected him because the scottish fasicist hike of him and his party of being tolerate of catholics since their were a lot of catholic members in the BUF since it was a secularist policy while for the imperial league who were pro nazis and antisemitic refused and accused mosley of being a jew lover because he originally oppose antisemitism especially since a Jewish boxers train his blackshirts to fight. And he was pro mussolini.

[@SirBoggins]

@@johnnyfives5416 Yup

[@johnnyfives5416]

@HowitzerAlbatross not mentioned their were parties split between Italian fasicism and National socialist/nazis that were either pro mussolini or pro hitler before the war.

[@SirBoggins]

@@johnnyfives5416 Interesting. If both Pro Mussolini and Pro Hitler had joined up then we'd have an actual working alliance.

[@tariz32]

Putting Hirohito pic there is a little misleading. He barely held any power in getting Japan into all of this mess. All he did was sitting still and listening to his ministers. It was the Kwantung army and the Toseiha faction (control faction) that was active during the war. Japan was pretty much a semi-constitutional monarchy. This can be confirmed when the 226 incident was attempted in order to “restore Emperor’s power” and when some elements of the Imperial Guards wanted to stop the surrender broadcast. Tojo’s face would be more relevant.

[@tariz32]

Love your take in this video anyway 👍 the Axis had barely anything common. Italy was a generic Fascist type, trying to present itself as an “ordinary” alternative while Germany was far more extreme. Japan was obviously an imperialist archetype (fascist parties in Japan were either eliminated or subsumed by the imperial association).

[@googleandsusansucks]

@@tariz32 "Generic Fascist type", well, Duh. Italy was the only fascist country in history as far as I know.

[@tariz32]

@@googleandsusansucks read Paul Gottfried. He explains how Italian Fascism is considered to be “generic”.

[@SirBoggins]

​@@googleandsusansucks There was Austria tho

[@janehrahan5116]

Except the Nazis and Japanese weren't facist. Spain you can argue. Kinda. But really that's it. "Generic facism" is communists painting it as far away from them as possible, and useful idiots carrying that lie along.

[@borislavkoslov7985]

I think another interesting point is the Japanese friendship and tacit alliance with Poland. Dating as far back to the Russo Japanese war Japan had a historic friendship signed with Poland. In fact during the war japan heavily opposed the German invasion and occupation of Poland. Even going so far as to support the Polish government in exile against the Nazis and using its network of spies across Europe to support the Polish government in exile.

[@jakublulek3261]

My favourite part is that the Japanese were "honorary Aryans" for Nazis. Hilarious to what lengths racists must go to hold their beliefs together.

[@kl-io9tk]

To be fair Nazis also declared Chinese as honorary aryans. People who were at that time very poor and looked down upon on. Hitlers admiration of east asians probably came from them being light skinned and being an unmixed race a trait hitler also admired a lot. Hitler also declared Iranians as aryans. Out of all things In hitlers racial ideology that I find is slavs being subhuman rest of all things are consistent from his pov [admiring light skinned and tall races who were not unmixed]. His hatred for slavs was a weird they are jews bro trust me bro they are mongoloids.

[@weareeverywhere8851]

@@kl-io9tk Ye the war could've turned out very different if he didn't have this weird hatred for slavs and actually allied with them against the jewish ussr government.

[@alimiti7265]

@@weareeverywhere8851 Well there wouldn't be an alliance. They just could maintain what they had (molotov-ribbentrop pact) until allies and axis came up with a peace treaty. If it took long enough soviet union might have joined allies.

[@ImperialSenpai]

Hitler did like the Japanese, Chinese, and Finns so they were given honorary Aryan status because he just liked them.

[@EndOfSmallSanctuary97]

Same applies to commies, like when Stalin had to justify to all the leftists around the world why the Soviet Union was now allying with Nazi Germany

[@shelbyspeaks3287]

-mussolini did less than america -hitler's darwinian race politics are still popular among many different races today -hirohito gave us anime

[@googleandsusansucks]

2x Atomic bombs gave us anime.

[@SirBoggins]

I'm a manga person, but yea

[@samsonsoturian6013]

Vhut?

[@MBP1918]

True, it is often forgotten that Italy threatened to declare war on Germany in 1934 over Austria and Nazi intervention which influenced Germany to back down for a time.

[@Dario-uj6qo]

They talk a lot about the period of the WW2, but little is said about the international reasons that led to it and how everything went, so the video is apreciated

[@Paciat]

Here is a lecture on the exact topic. The 3 reasons why the world allowed German military to rebuild were British appeasement, Soviet cooperation and US isolation: kzbin.info/www/bejne/paGnpqpqhL9mh6s

[@thewonderer4808]

Thank You TIK. Very informative on how over time the three are pushed together, and how strange the alliance really was.

[@williambranch4283]

Originally Hitler was allied to Republic of China, not Japan. His betrayal of China and joining Japan was a horrible idea. Hitler and Stalin were allies, his betrayal of Stalin was another horrible idea. Hitler originally admired Mussolini. His choice of allying to Mussolini and then having to clean up his mistakes was terrible. It was all Hitler, and his bad decisions!

[@SK-lt1so]

The total lack of coordination-Italy in Greece, North Africa, Germany excluding Italy in France 1940, Japan not coordinating with Germany against Russia-shows the reality that they had little in common but common enemies.

[@xanthippus9079]

The Russo-Japanese War was still in the Soviet's revenge list. With Germany f'ing around Eastern Europe, Japan was a neat ally to annoy the Russians.

[@bulbainquisition9590]

I found this video really interesting; I have been reading Churchill, Hitler, and the unnecessary war, and I am totally complex by the British interwar diplomatic strategy; it seems that England was trying to make enemies and weakening itself for its allies. I hope you cover more about this kind of stuff. It's important to understand why WW2 happened and not what happened.

[@rfichokeofdestiny]

I read somewhere that Chamberlain was more convinced of the need to oppose Hitler than he let on publicly both because British sentiment after WWI was thoroughly pacifist and because the British army was not yet prepared to fight another war. How true that is, I’m not sure.

[@eze8970]

Britain's issue was it was still almost bankrupt from WW1, they had politicians trying to win elections after short periods of time, coupled with trying to manage an unruly empire all over the world, & countries that were rapidly rearming &/or wanting their own empires, which could threaten the British Empire. You had a weakened British Empire (militarily & economically & along with France), having to meet new threats (countries & ideologies), now all over the world (not just Europe), with politicians struggling to cope. As actually happened, if you pleased some countries, you would upset others. With hindsight, I think the only way to avoid this, would have been for the Allies to keep attacking into Germany in WW1 into 1919, to crush any notion of the later Nazi 'stab in the back' claim, support the anti communist parties, have a far better thought out Treaty of Versailles & to back Poland & other Eastern European countries against the Soviets, until all the new borders were properly recognised (almost an earlier Nato), but there wasn't the political will for it after the horrors of WW1. Post WW1 was just a big mess in so many ways, almost guaranteeing WW2 in some form.

[@bulbainquisition9590]

@@eze8970 That seems to be one of the book's main points; he argues that war was created at Versailles when the German public felt betrayed by the peace terms dictated to them, the German people being under the sway of Wilson's promises of self-determination. This made the new German Government look completely illegitimate. And then fast forward to Hitler. The British and French showed no will to defend post-Versailles Europe until the very last moment. But the book does point out multiple times that Britain could have forged alliances and maintained alliances like with Italy and Japan but let itself be blinded by its own political ideology or trying to maintain good relations with the distant United States. The book shows that the entirety of interwar British diplomacy was a complete and utter failure and, most of the time, alienated multiple countries they did not have to alienate and making WW2 worst for them.

[@danieleyre8913]

@@rfichokeofdestiny An awful many of the Conservative Party (who voted for Chamberlain) weren’t merely pacifist (and more worried about their stock market portfolio): Many were openly at least sympathetic towards both the Nazis & Fascists. Some openly supported them! It wasn’t until early 1939 that people woke up.

[@eze8970]

@@bulbainquisition9590 Thank you for your interesting reply, I haven't read the book. Britain & France were in a hard place, their economies were bankrupt, & needed to be brought back to peace time levels, but they had to appear as 'winners' of WW1. Even if they had threatened to go to war over the Rhineland, it may have deterred Hitler enough (or he could have been deposed). Hitler was always going to try & carry out his policies. Britain & France wanted the old status quo, which they couldn't have if Japan & Italy (or anyone else) got more powerful, which they were doing. The world had changed massively since August 1914, with a larger global economy, & technologies, making different areas become more important. I would agree the interwar British diplomacy was a failure except for one major thing - they always kept good relations with the US, who they recognised as being a new superpower. This ended up being crucial in winning WW2. With US support (& access to the sea lanes for materials & trade), meant alliances with others weren't so important.

[@destroytheboxes]

Human history is easier to swallow when you compartmentalize those uncomfortable feeling events and people Into one ‘baddies’ category. Edit: Ppl have to make ‘the baddies’ look bad, else their minds will see they themselves are capable of great atrocities.

[@Baamthe25th]

When people characterize Imperial Japan as "fascist", it always weirds me out If anything, they were a militaristic theocracy

[@samsonsoturian6013]

Because Fascist is an insult and the speaker doesn't know the most basic facts about Japan. It's mostly Chinese Communists spreading that bull.

[@user-pn3im5sm7k]

It weirds you out because you actually know what fascism is. You also don't like lies.

[@samsonsoturian6013]

@@user-pn3im5sm7k Who is you?

[@TheGhostofCarlSchmitt]

would be interesting to know about the japanese perspective into the spanish civil war

[@samsonsoturian6013]

They probably aren't even aware of that war

[@vercot7000]

@@samsonsoturian6013 In ww2? yes they were lol

[@samsonsoturian6013]

@@vercot7000 I mean Japanese histiography

[@pietrayday9915]

To my amateur, untrained, uninformed eye, the Axis always looked like a classic case of politics yielding strange bedfellows. After this explanation, it looks more like that than ever! I'm pretty sure I can see where Orwell was coming from now with '1984' and its weird collection of three massive totalitarian nations whose wars and alliances with each other could change at any moment, while the official word of Big Brother was that the new ad-hoc alliances and wars had always existed: that seems to have been the real-life situation for pretty much all the major players in WWII, to shuffle their alignments around to suit the prevailing winds of changing political, economic, and social changes in their alliances and enmities....

[@ricardocandidodearaujo7698]

Seu canal é excelente! E por ser legendado, ajuda muito o acompanhar, pois traduzo as legendas para o português, pois meu inglês é mais que sofrível.

[@Madokaexe]

Investir em aprender inglês é essencial para qualquer estudante de historia, o conteúdo em portugues é pifio quando comparado ao que existe em ingles

[@charliehill7076]

People either forget or leave out Soviet union. Soviet union was part of the axis powers until 1941 . That is kinda major.

[@KomradZX1989]

I would LOVE to hear more of your thoughts on alternate WW2 history. Terrific video as always! ❤

[@thomashaeyen6942]

it's insanely interesting how all these complex webs of alliances, hostilities, and whatnot were pretty much completely destroyed after ww2 in favor of just the usa and the soviet union as superpowers

[@kercsovlaszlo5840]

Why didn't the Allies declare war on the USSR when they invaded Poland? Do you plan to follow the "Winter Storm" series? Do you plan to do a new mini-series on "Little Saturn", "Harkov Battle" or "Kursk" Battle?

[@user-pn3im5sm7k]

Answering your first question would be considered antisemitic

[@user-pn3im5sm7k]

@@MehdiEpsilon Not that simple. That's assuming Britain and France would treat the USSR and Germany as the same. They never were going to. And by the way, up until that point only the Soviet Union had invaded foreign territories through military means. Xinjiang and Afghanistan namely, and several european nations after they wrongfully invaded Poland. Austrians and Czechoslovakians voted to unite with Germany, which made sense since they're historically German and the people are Germans by blood. The point of all this is that the West only had a problem with German expansion while turning a blind eye to a much bloodier Red expansion. Its all about pointing out hypocrisy but of course allied bootlickers don't like when you do this

[@diegoyanesholtz212]

I always thought it was stupid for Germany to Ally itself with Japan. Italy I can understand.

[@scipioafricanus2]

neither were the british/americans and the soviets.

[@Gauntlet_Videos]

Great analysis of the geopolitical history of this time period TIK. The Interwar Period has been simplified out of political convenience so I am glad you are bringing nuance back into the equation.

[@Lonovavir]

IMO understanding the interwar years is critical to understanding the war.

[@Hetstaine]

It's always been nuanced. It's only very basic history that does not do a good telling of the subject. Tik gets many things wrong in this vid such as dates that have been pointed out several times by other commentors. This is why one should do as much research from several sources themselves.

[@groovymckraut7179]

Hey Tik, have you read Richard Overy’s book blood and ruins? It sort of follows the general thrust of Germany, Italy, and japan feeling left out of the empire game and fearing being overtaking by the great imperial powers

[@JoeyJoJoJrShabbado]

Pretty sure he cites that book many videos ago

[@M0rshu64]

Hey TIK, have you considered covering the Pacific theater of WW2? Japan was just brutal as Germany yet very few talk about their atrocities.

[@dragosstanciu9866]

Very few (in Europe and America) talk about Japanese atrocities because they don't care, but those atrocities are well known in Asia.

[@stc3145]

@@dragosstanciu9866 «Very few» is incorrect. Among other things Japanese attrocities towards Allied POWs is well known.

[@dragosstanciu9866]

@@stc3145 But I doubt they know about the Nanjing massacre and Unit 731.

[@stc3145]

@@dragosstanciu9866 They are well known incidents among history enthusiasts. I doubt Asians care much for German attrocities

[@dragosstanciu9866]

@@stc3145 History enthusiasts is not enough, the general population must know too.

[@penguinlust6749]

How much of a factor was the situation in Spain in the coming together of Germany and Italy, especially since they both backed Franco?

[@USSFFRU]

The Axis also really _did not_ like eachother. Germany and Italy were on convenience, Mussolini wasn't fond of Hitler's Aryan Bullshit and Italy had plans for Austria to be a puppet state. Germany and Japan's Ultranationalism were direct opposites, Japan saw themselves highly and didn't think much of Germans [or Aryans in this case] and likewise for Germany. They never had one united goal, their only unifying force was their united hatred of the West and Bolshevism. Afterall, it's like the ComIntern and Allied Powers temporary truce and working together against Fascism.

[@WillyEckaslike]

from what i have read most British people didnt want war and hated Church ill

[@carlrichieukmusic]

Most British people did not want war. #EuropaTheLastBattleDocumentary

[@samsonsoturian6013]

They sure as hell didn't hate the church

[@peterg76yt]

The Allies were even more ideologically divergent, and they made their collaboration work more effectively than the Axis.

[@jussim.konttinen4981]

Germany is located in Western Europe, so culturally close to Italy. The First Reich was The Holy Roman Empire. They borrowed heavily from Latin. Latin was the language of the universities in Germany and the rest of Europe.

[@DandyDNA]

I don't believe Britain was necessarily antagonistic towards Germany. Britain did agree to a limited rearmament of Germany after all, and had little to no protest over the Rhineland militarisation nor the annexation of Austria. I imagine Britain liked the idea of Germany being a buffer against the USSR

[@xmaniac99]

Excellent. Basically the Axis is as logical an alliance such as the Federation, Klingons and Romulans joining forces against the Dominion.

[@TheGrinbery]

In other word, they all went by the principal of "the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Kinda. Not really"

[@mrniceguy7168]

Italy being the only thing in between Austria and Germany is a great story that I only ever heard of when I started listening to Stephen Kotkin lectures

[@Nekoyama69]

A little bit of correction, in August 1871, the new Meiji government abolished the traditional domains of Japan, replacing them with prefectures under centralized authority. Japan has been unified since 17. century already.

[@catalinmarius3985]

Hey TIKhistory, could you please talk more about the history of Romania during World War 2? I'd be really curious to hear you in-depth take on it. You managed to teach me more about World War 2 history than university teachers.

[@Hetstaine]

You obviously had bad teachers, were not following or never followed up subjects up by doing your own research. Doing your own research across a large range of books does wonders. Do you think Tik pulls his videos from thin air? Or does he pull it off the back of others works...

[@Malinb0ratt]

Also Japans feel betrayed by Germans in september 1939 with "alliance" with ... Soviet Union. Same Italy were confused by this nonaggresion pact.

[@codyshi4743]

This means all three axis power had knife behind their back, ready to stab one another when the time is right.

[@El_Omar2203]

Amazing video, I was not aware of how circumstantial the alliance of the axis was.

[@christopherjones67]

These powers came late to the party. The Furhrer wanted a Grand Alliance with the British Empire. He ended up with Italian's and the Japanese. Life sucks sometimes.

[@Geojr815]

I hate how it’s always Hirohito as the face of Imperial Japan. He didn’t do anything but stand idly by while the PM Hidecki Tojo ran the country and precipitated the war

[@dragosstanciu9866]

Before Tojo there was Konoe, he was prime-minister when Japan invaded China and Japan became a member of the Axis. Tojo and Konoe share responsibility for leading Japan to war.

[@iGamezRo]

Could you do a video on Edward VIII once? I really loved the Mosley series and since Edward is another controversial figure in British at the time a video or two on his political beliefs and him as a person would be nice to have.

[@SirBoggins]

Gave up his throne for a floosy

[@zephyrus339]

I just realized something: If you remove the war part of the whole situation and added a laughing track, you'd have the beginnings for a pretty cliche romcom.

[@ewok40k]

Complete with love dodecahedron trope of likes and dislikes over China

[@charlesiragui2473]

Biggest indicator that this was not an alliance: Japan did not attack the Soviet Union in 1941. In retrospect, this is the fatal error of the Axis and it is an error that could only occur because these three nations were not really allies. If the JIA had attacked the Soviet Far East, Soviet forces there would have been pinned down and would not have been available to protect Moscow just in time. Moscow was the transportation nerve center of Russia and had Germany controlled it, many of their logistics problems would have disappeared. In addition, controlling Moscow would have made defense of the Caucasus near impossible and Baku oil assets would have been in German hands.

[@dragosstanciu9866]

The Japanese army was already fighting in China. An attack on the USSR would have overstretched the Japanese army. The Navy however was very powerful and believed that it can win the war against the US Pacific Fleet.

[@Kuudere-Kun]

China was itself in a Civil War during all this which is why it's so complicated. The Germans only stopped supporting Chang-Kai Shek when he decided to ally with Mao agaisnt Japan.

[@Inuzumi]

WWII was a battle of empires and interests, nothing more.

[@seegurke93]

jeeez how much information :D I have a total overload and thanks TIK! Lots of stuff i have never heard off like the first attempt to snatch Österreich. Great stuff.

[@douglasturner6153]

Germany benefited very little from Japan in WWII. Just some UK forces being diverted. But harmed much by entering war with the US.

[@friedrichbaeker]

But you are assuming America would never have joined the war if Japan didn't attack

[@douglasturner6153]

@@friedrichbaeker It's a strange case. Hitler said he didn't want a war with the USA. Roosevelt tried and had Destroyers attacking Uboats. Hitler didn't take the bait. When Japan hit Pearl Harbor the German's weren't involved. Most Americans wanted to focus on Japan. Roosevelt didn't have support for a two front war with German And Japan actually helped Germany at that point by siphoning off US Navy assets to the Pacific. Then Hitler idiotically declared war on the US. Of course Roosevelt would have kept trying if Hitler hadn't. But he didn't have enough public support.

[@mojewjewjew4420]

The biggest lie is that the smaller countries like Romania had a choice, they would either join Germany or be invaded by soviets, Romania was even attacked in 1940 and 2 regions were illegally occupied and many were deported.

[@TheBrunohusker]

I did always think it was strange why the Japanese were part of the alliance. Also, I do agree with what you’ve said in past videos that different forms of fascism were different and Mussolini almost went to war with Hitler over Austria. Just imagine a world where Mussolini is part of the Allies. It almost happened.

[@ericscottstevens]

China was favored trade status lasted until 1938. Germany needed the raw materials imports. So much so the Germans decided to fulfill a Chinese order for 220,000 new M35 helmets, helmets intended to equip the HEER. It seems Germany decided they needed the influx of fast cash instead of their public support of rearmament at all costs. German forces had a stalhelm shortage until early 1940, still using reconstituted M16, M17, and M18 helmets from WWI.

[@keylimepython641]

Of course the axis weren't natural allies. The Axis and the Allies were two entirely different factions. I'll see myself out.

[@newperve]

If Italy had somehow persuaded England and/or France to back it in militarily opposing the Anschluss what would have happened?

[@dragosstanciu9866]

Very difficult.The French and British people were opposed to war in 1938, even in 1939. Even so, when the Rheinland was re-militarized the German army was ready to make a fighting retreat if the French mobilized, perhaps the same would have happened when Germany annexed Austria.

[@Believeorreason]

So many people fail to realize, that Japan was very close to not joining the Axis at all, and even took multiple attempts for them even join, and win over the populace and politicians to within their country to make it look like the best option. the IJN and Yamamoto was in fact one of the causes that prevented japan's first attempt to join the pact, as he made it known to naval high command and others about Concerns about hitler and his writings in main kampf from a true German copy he had. that plus Japan's extreme hestency up till tojo started to gain favor and ended up as PM, made japan take as long as they did, and even after signing the pact, Japan knew full well, that they would gain very little military aid from, as commanders like Yamamoto fully expected that any aid provided by the other members would face incredibly harshships just getting to japan, as even at that time before the plans for PH were made, Britian was a known prime target, so the indian ocean was expected to be a pain in the ass regardless. Japan joining the Axis was more down to the politicians mainly the army at the time being filled with warhawks, trying not to miss the boat in their minds. hince when the pact did go thru the powers at be did their best before it was all but confirmed to discredit the navy and Yamamoto and those who said simular things.

[@robertdickson9319]

The Japanese navy had plenty of warhawks as well - they just wanted to go south as opposed to the Army that wanted to continue in China and be mindful of Russia.

[@hahayouredead1039]

Video idea: Reacting to Anton Joly's Operation Uranus and discuss the points you guys differ in. Think that will provide you a semi-break

[@TheImperatorKnight]

We've already debated the breakout operation (at least partly). More needs to be done on it though.

[@tedlogan4867]

Nihon (Yamato) people are still rather racist to this day. Try getting permanent citizenship there. They still see non-Yamato people as inferior, if not out loud. Look into the Ainu genocide.

[@williamclark7872]

I always found that this is a topic that doesn't really get covered enough in popular versions of history, especially in regards to Italy and Germany. Italy was pretty much entirely aligned against Germany prior to Ethiopia, even going so far as to sign a pact with the USSR in 1933, and it spent much of its time up until the Ethiopian War courting the Allies.

[@Dionaea_floridensis]

Part of the reason I started studying Japanese was to be able to understand Japanese war documents. Well, the few the imperialists and Americans didn't destroy

[@narvaliuscore9094]

There's nothing strange on that. If cheap cartoons have teach me something (now days they rarely do) is not the hate, similar ideas, greed or the interwar period factors that ultimatly put them togheter, but something abobe that and is called *the power of friendship.* The care bears knew about that and they radiated radioactivity, think about that.

[@GeFlixes]

It's almost as if we're talking about real historic people in a complicated political situation instead of a bunch of comic book villains, right?

[@psychodoctor5370]

I would also like to add one thing to the points why the west disavowed Italy, and that was that Ethiopia, was far more respected in the Western international community than other African nations, most likely due to the fact they were already Christian and proved themselves capable of fighting off a European power, and considered civilized by western standards.

[@linnharamis1496]

Stick to Tanks…NOT! I have been studying World War II history for more than 60 years as a hobby. Frankly, I have never seen or read a review of this issue as thorough as yours. This was a fascinating and entertaining review of the shifting interests and ideological motivations of the countries before the great conflict. Thanks for your time and effort publishing this video.👍

[@cronoros]

General history lesson. Great Powers don't remain Allies for long. Either one or both declines or their aims cease to align

[@neilgriffiths6427]

Brilliant - very clear, a timeline easy to follow, and really does show that the events of these times were far more complex than most "civilians" (i.e. non-historians) have as their understanding. Once again, I watch a video from you and consider myself a little better educated - cheers Tik!

[@SpacedudeProductions]

The funny thing about the whole “civilize the barbarians, convert them to Christianity, and abolish slavery” thing is that the Ethiopians had long since been a civilized, Christian kingdom, even before the Romans themselves were Christian, and they owned and sold no slaves…

[@brunobacelli5389]

Italy unified in 1861 in fact, not 1871....

[@SwfanredLotr]

The fact that Romania and Antonescu were told about the plans for Operation Barbarosa beforehand than Mussolini himself, his supposedly main ally in Europe, shows that Hitler handled his alliance very poorly when thinking on the long term.

[@dragosstanciu9866]

It was logical for Antonescu to know before Mussolini. Hitler didn't believe that Italy is needed for Barbarossa. Hitler hoped for a fast victory against the USSR. Romania was much more important, since the Romanian army would participate from the beginning and Italy was stuck in Egypt and needed German help there.

[@ZoomerHistorian]

You're overthinking it, Romania is on the Soviet border and the war came about in large part over influence in Romania

[@davewolfy2906]

The Allies were not natural allies.

[@davewolfy2906]

Well, one of them.

[@viridiscri9713]

Did you know that Italy and Japan have never been in war agaist each other? Never in 150 years of the nations born

[@pancytryna9378]

That's completly normal and expected

[@viridiscri9713]

@@pancytryna9378 are you ironic?

[@pancytryna9378]

​@@viridiscri9713 No, it is completly normal and expected

[@bandav_lohengrin]

So the axis was like the loners group in high school

[@adavis5926]

This is gratifying, thank you! I'm in the middle of editing my novel, a political thriller that takes place in 1938 and uses friction between Germany and Italy as a backdrop.

[@Taipei_103]

Out of the 3 main Axis powers, Japan is the only one that I might consider to be reactionary.

[@54032Zepol]

Fr fr, japan had to what it had to in order to survive while its neighbors where being colonized or propped up by western powers for western interests, just look at china being carved up as well as Indochina and the south eastern pacific and in doing so they copied and learned from the best like UK and US

[@Dario-uj6qo]

That depends on what you consider as reactionary, per example it could be said that comunist were reactionary towards fascist

[@leonardwei3914]

@@54032Zepol "...learned from the best like UK and US". Arguable the U.S. was one of the most recalcitrant imperial regarding colonies in Asia. It was mainly the UK, France, Russia, Germany and Japan that carved up China into competing spheres of influence. It was the U.S. that pushed for the open door policy in 1901, in an attempt to limit further colonial expansion at the expense of China. And while the U.S. did have the Philippines as a colony after defeating in the Spanish-American War (as well as subsequent Philippine-American War), by 1934 the Tydings-McDuffie Act set Philippine independence by 1944. Which was ironically delayed by the Japanese invasion. At point a Japanese "Reactionary" government invaded Korea and Manchuria, it became an Empire.

[@SirBoggins]

​@@Dario-uj6qo Not necessarily. The Fascist movements of Italy and Austria were not a just a reaction to Communism and the later "Judeo-Bolshevism" propped up by Hitler but also towards perceived threats to their respective nations (or "race" in the case of 3rd Reich) like "degeneracy" (sexual activeness, promiscuousness, being LGBTQ+ etc), "weakness" (a bad military, economic weaknesses, lowered prestige) and the feeling that they were surrounded by enemies (like Britain, France, America etc). It wasn't just hate, but fear and embarrassment.

[@SirBoggins]

​@@leonardwei3914 Then the US forgot about that and then started their own form of imperialism in Hispanic America and all over the "free world". Hilariously hypocritical 😂

[@raymondreaney6988]

I think the Axis alliance was all fairly stupid and all just did whatever they liked. Germany attacked Poland, France and the UK. Italy attacked Africa and Greece. Japan attacked China and the USA. They all just attacked whoever they wanted rather than working together. The prime example been if Germany, Italy and Japan had all attacked Russia at the same time then maybe they would have won in 1941 / 42. I think Japan attacking Pearl Harbour was just a huge mistake. They had no land invasion to back it up and should have realized it would take the USA all of 2 minutes to rebuild. If Germany had attacked Russia in the East and Japan attacked Russia in the West then things could have been a lot different.

[@johnrogers1528]

You're my favorite history source stick I used to love watching documentaries on the History channel but now it's basically the pawn Star channel LOL

[@Hetstaine]

Welcome to 20 odd years ago. The History channel died about 2000~2001. The channel used to be a decent primer to become interested in a subject and then do further research oneself. Which is what one should always do anyway. Never use one or even two sources for a subject. Research many and draw your own conclusions on a subject.

[@rudolphguarnacci197]

Fascinating. So much intrigue and yet so obvious.

[@gintautassickus6390]

Hitler sending arms to Ethiopia was a massive surprise.

[@roberthopwood3758]

Hey Tik. You said you don't want do merch., but hear me out. You could do a range of Cases with "But is this really the case?" on them. I'm thinking Pencil cases, Suitcases Bookcases etc. Give it some thought. Cheers.