Japan was bogged down in an endless war with China and, in the view of its political and military leaders, surrounded by hostile nations in an increasingly unsafe and unstable world.
The Japanese signed a non-aggression agreement with the USSR, but increasingly believed the survival of the Empire required that it seize the resources of the Southwest Pacific, which would mean war with the UK, the Netherlands, and especially, the United States.
- Listen now:
Playlist:
Fanfare
Opening War Theme
“Matsurika“
Traditional. Public domain.
Closing War Theme
Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.
Mark, did you speed up this episode to get back under that one hour Mark?
Sjerp from Amsterdam
I didn’t do anything different, and to my ear it sounds the same as always. I uploaded the file again, in case something went wrong the first time.