Development of a Japanese-German Partnership

Running head: DEVELOPMENT OF A JAPANESE–GERMAN PARTNERSHIP
DEVELOPMENT OF A JAPANESE–GERMAN PARTNERSHIP
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DEVELOPMENT OF A JAPANESE–GERMAN PARTNERSHIP
Alliances between sovereign states had been among the least constant of political
associations. The association between Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan which had been
known as two totalitarian governments was a challenging one in the Second World War. The
colonial plans of Germany, Italy as well as Japan against the world order of established
oriented authorities indicated a kind of threat under the situations of the worldwide system of
the 1930s and early phase of the 1940s1. These nations had the chance to encounter the rest of
the nations of the world by strategizing their colonialist plans. In due course the strategy of
these nations for conflict turned out as a fascist shared idea. The British officials perceived
this plan as a form of threat since the early 1930s. Moreover, in a subcommittee of the
Committee of Imperial Defense, Japan was considered as a direct threat to the British Empire.
On the other hand, Germany was perceived as the ultimate prospective enemy by Sir Maurice
Hankey. The main reason for Germany developing association with Japan was because, Japan
in 1939 was not considered as an ultimate warning for the European Western authorities
when Germany planned to attack and put an end to Poland2. However, the But the association
with the Soviet Union failed to pose threats to the Great Britain and France in intervening by
waging the conflict that later developed as the Second World War. The thesis statement is
“The development of Japanese-German relationship never achieved the quality of a shared
strategy during World War II.”
Initiation of the Tripartite Pact
Japanese-German partnership basically developed in 1940 with the conquest of
France by Germans. Such defeat destroyed major regions of Northern as well as Western
Europe. By drawing relevance to these military successes, Italy during the concluding days of
1 Wippich, Rolf-Harald. "Restoring German-Japanese Relations after World War II." In Transnational
Encounters between Germany and Japan, pp. 207-225. Palgrave Macmillan, New York, 2016.
2 Kaiser, David E. Economic Diplomacy and the Origins of the Second World War: Germany, Britain, France,
and Eastern Europe, 1930-1939. Princeton University Press, 2015.

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DEVELOPMENT OF A JAPANESE–GERMAN PARTNERSHIP
the triumphant German battle in France participated in the war. On the other hand, Japan
subsequent to the seize-fire between France and the Axis powers strengthened its bases in
Northern Indochina. It further developed its chance to stop supporting China from the south.
The developments were witnessed by Germany owing to its own successes. However,
Japanese actions on the other hand were not shared previously.
There was found a Japanese suggestion of a treaty on separate zones of control. This
suggestion helped German to attain develop interest and eventually was expanded by the
Germans. Meanwhile, the most vital effect for the Japanese in proposing this treaty was to
develop affairs with the Soviet Union and pave their way for further discussions with the
United States3. On the other hand, the Germans were overall focused on preventing the
United States to combat the British. This led to the introduction of the Tripartite Pact on 27
September 1940 which was based on the assurance of supporting all political, financial as
well as military means. The partnership was restricted to an attack by a control not at engaged
into the European War or the Sino-Japanese conflict. This implied the United States or the
Soviet Union. However, since the Soviet Union was clearly excluded, the United States
remained as a potential opponent. Rather than preventing the US, a major proportion of the
North Americans considered the pact as a trouble which intended to control the whole world.
The pact ended as Germany made certain official allowances under the support of
Ambassador Eugen Ott and Japanese Foreign Minister Yosuke Matsuoka. These allowances
went against the commands given by Ribbentrop. Tripartite directives for political, armed and
economic queries were officially recognized in Berlin, but failed to attain much importance4.
The Tripartite Pact further failed to be recognized in any mutual plans for military
3 Nicholas, Tom. "The Organization of Enterprise in Japan." The Journal of Economic History 75, no. 2 (2015):
333-363.
4 Earhart, David C. Certain Victory: Images of World War II in the Japanese Media: Images of World War II in
the Japanese Media. Routledge, 2015.

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DEVELOPMENT OF A JAPANESE–GERMAN PARTNERSHIP
collaboration. However, it directed the Italian approach of warfare5. Campaigns of Italy such
as the North African campaign in 1940 and the campaign held in Yugoslavia in 1941 did not
result in direct defeat, due to German’s militarily intervention to support its confederate.
Likewise, the Japanese and German ways to war also separated. However, Germany
organized its conflict of annihilation against the Soviet Union. At this juncture, Japan felt
stimulated to protect its non-involvement in thee these types of war against the Soviet Union.
Areas of Interest for Japan and German
The Japanese primary area of interest was far-reaching as compared to the European
territories under German regime. Between the two influential, there remained an unsolved
question of the ways of dealing British India. As per studies, in 1942, Germany and Japan
decided to end the agreement of labelling the 70th degree of Eastern length as a point of
separation between the two ranges of power. Furthermore, the German Marines strictly
supervised if the Japanese maintained the labelled line. In addition, the financial dealings of
German-Japanese affiliation remained fundamental. The Germans criticized that immediate
need of raw materials for example rubber, quinine as well as tungsten which were not
delivered in the quantities which were demanded. On the other side, the Japanese showed
great disappointed due to the inadequate supply of equipment, steel as well as chemicals
which were supposed to be imported from Germany.
Japanese-German partnership in the trade domain
Studies claim that the Japanese-German partnership in the financial and technological
domain needs further attention6. The usually dominant financial associations of German with
China during the late 1930s were changed with Japan. On the other hand, common trade
structures between Germany and Japan failed to show any hope. Japan had determinations to
5 Lyons, Michael J. World War II: A short history. Routledge, 2016.
6 King, Amy. China-Japan Relations after World War Two: Empire, Industry and War, 1949–1971. Cambridge
University Press, 2016.