Countdown to War JAPAN - How Imperial Japan Prepared for WWII 

Yes please! I would love it if Warographics covered both Sino Japanese wars.

A two part series for each one of the sino japanese wars would be awesome

One important industrial-technological shift was from coal to oil, in this context, especially for naval propulsion. Japan had coal available in Manchuria, but oil was almost entirely imported.

We definitely need a video on the First Sino-Japanese War .

I've watched several long format videos on this conflict period in Asia. This is the best for overall diplomatic and conquest mindsets I've seen so far! Great job all of you on the Warographic's team!

I once asked a history professor if the Pacific War could have been avoided; the response was "no" , given who the Japanese and the Americans were in the 1930s-1940s there was no way they would not go to war. I then asked if the Japanese could have won the war; the answer was again "no" for the same reason.

Yes please more Japanese content! I'd love covered of both Sino Japanese wars

Please do this “Countdown to War” format for the rest of the major nations in WWII!

The 2 Sino-Japanese wars is a must-see, and absolutely must be at least a 2 part series.

1:01: 💥 Japan's rapid modernization and desire for equality with Western nations led to its transformation and pursuit of regional hegemony. 4:15: 💡 The aftermath of Japan's conquest and arrangements with China and Russia, as well as the impact of the Russo-Japanese War, led to Japan's increased territorial holdings and expansionism. 7:40: 🌍 Japan's geopolitical standing shifted after World War I, leading to a need for a shift in military thinking and a focus on the Asian continent. 11:30: 🌍 Japan's expansion and mobilization efforts in the interwar period. 15:30: 🌏 Japan's plan for economic self-sufficiency and military expansion in the face of external threats. 19:44: ✍ The second Sino-Japanese war began in 1937, causing catastrophic consequences for China and leading to a mixed bag of outcomes for Japan's military leaders. 22:56: 🌍 Japan forms alliances with Nazi Germany and Italy, plans to seize territories in Southeast Asia, and faces resource shortages. 26:21: 🌍 Japan's preparations for World War II were driven by the desire for self-sufficiency and recognition as a legitimate power on the world stage. 29:55: 💥 Japan's pursuit of self-sufficiency led to escalation and ultimately war with the West. Recap by Tammy AI

video on the sino-japanese war would be cool, keep up the amazing work!

2:05 - Chapter 1 - Land of the rising sun 5:45 - Chapter 2 - Lessons from the great war 9:25 - Chapter 3 - Japan's core problem 13:55 - Chapter 4 - The growing empire 19:30 - Chapter 5 - National mobilization 25:00 - Chapter 6 - The moment 28:55 - Chapter 7 - Aftermath

Also, would like to add, as a long time viewer, these thumbnails are preferred to the ones with the faces. Having the title and an interesting photo is much more eye catching!

Excellently written script. And I too would welcome a set of videos on the Sino Japanese wars!

Japan’s insanity was believing that the path to prosperity and importance was through imperial conquest. It didn’t work for Belgium, and Britain and France became important despite the amount of money and lives wasted in colonial conquests, not because of it.

Can we get one on the korean war? Also Iran-Iraq war, great video as always

Maji restoration in Japan would be interesting and good by you

I love all these different channels and covering everything from water to war it's amazing what you're doing here

Yes, to answer the author's question - we would love to see an episode on the first sino japanese war! Any content is more than welcome!

Listening to Simon its one of the best things here on YT . Good job.

Japan was prepared for WW2 but was never ready for its consequences.........

I absolutely love all Simon’s videos. It would be great to see one on the “Pax Americana” and how the US enabled safe world trade allowing worldwide access to all resources following WWII.

Having a video following the history over several decades is difficult to keep track of the years, especially for such a fast speaker for none native English viewers. Augmenting the video with blend in years/dates might help to keep track of the progression of events over time.

Great video as always. And a general “yes please” from me regarding all the other topics that were suggested in the course of it.

Brilliant channel! IMHO. Allegedly. Cheers

Great content! I’m glad I just discovered it! :) bummed I didn’t sooner! Keep it up

Another great video.

A wonderful historical coverage channel that sharing excellent quality historical coverage videos allot thanks

Yes please cover those conflicts as well please

There's an excellent movie in theatres now called Hidden Blade (English title) about spies and resistance fighters within the puppet government set up in Shanghai during WW2. It stars Tony Leung and Wang Yibo, and is playing in Chinese and North American theatres. It should be getting released in Australia, Europe, Thailand, and other parts of Asia soon too

EXCELLENT Simon!… just EXCELLENT!…BRAVO!

Love the video. As much as the chess piece battlefield gets the attention, it's important what led to wars in the first place.

Excellent !!

Damn this was a great one, amazing work. unreal this is free on yt.

This was a fantastic watch. Well done i learnt a power. 10/10.

Great video! And yes, wargraphics of sino Japanese war. Also, is it possible to do a wargraphics of american 1812 war?

I know I'm late to this party but thanks for a great video! I can always depend on your channels for information and entertainment.

Interesting video

Great video! Just a small correction: the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7th, not on December 8th.

I would love a video of the Sino Japanese wars, it is an era of history that is not well understood here in the west. Also thank you as always

Love these videos ❤❤

Hi There ! Excellent vid as always, I’d really like to see a vid about the sino-japanese war ..

The vid omitts the full scale war between Japan and the URSS in mid 1939 that shocked Japan's military so heavily that swang the arrow in the southern direction.

Simon, can you please cover some Canadian content? Suggestions include the battle of the Plaines of Abraham, the war of 1812, the Louis Riel Rebellion, the capture of Vimy Ridge, and the battle at Kapyong. You'd be a legend if covered even one of these.

Absolutely give us that video

The music was amazing for this video.

This video was very good

I would also like to see a video(s) covering the Sino-Japanese wars. I myself don’t know much about them

03:30 - Yes Simon, Simons broadcast team - cover that particular battle if you plz! 👌 Also at some point can you cover the Battle of Britain ? 😁 The legendary battle of the skies over Britain in the face of overwhelming odds! 🇩🇪 Luftwaffe ⚔ RAF 🇬🇧 I remember watching it on a series in the 2000s By hosts Daniel Snow and his dad called - Battlefiled Britain on a channel called - UKTVHistory That channel had long since been changed to - Yesterday

Pearl harbor wasn't December 8th, it was December 7th

A video on the Sino-Japanese War would be interesting.

You know what could make for a good video? Blockades like those enforced on the Confederacy, Imperial Germany, and Imperial Japan. Like what it took to enforce it and their consequences.

More please. I could happily sit for hours listening to Simon reading the phone book.

a video on the Sino-Japanese War is a must

Is there a chance you cover the battle of the bulge soon? Or have I just overseen it when browsing through your content?

Great video outside of the 8th of Dec reference. luckily it only threw me off in the final couple minutes 😝

As a life long wargamer and reader of military history, at 75 yo, IMHO, Japan's only hope was to find a Western Ally. This may not have been possible, and was only possible if it sucked it up and accepted racists insults. This was not possible because of the Japanese pride and honor would never allow it. Thus, it was in an impossible position. We can see that what happened was not that bad. [It would have been better to have avoided all the war crimes and it should have surrendered as soon as the Mariana Islands fell, because this put the B-29s in range to burn their cities to the ground.] Japan is now accepted by the West and is an economic powerhouse. But, it is doing what I said it had to do. It is doing whatever is necessary to stay allied with the US.

Not nearly enough is spoken about the Sino-Japanese War. Yes, please make a video on it.

Could you do a short video on the Japanese and soviet border skirmishes before the war

Japan actually started think about war with the US when Roosevelt set his great white fleet out. Japan noticed that they had enough coal to sail across the Pacific then had to refuel. This was still part of the Japanese war plan for WW2

The sino Japanese wars would be amazing to have good videos on. There is so much of a blind spot on that area of the world around both world wars unless it has british or American direct involvement

Suggestion: August 1945 there was a Japanese faction that wanted to continue fighting. Coup and tried to steal recording of what would be Hirohito's first ever speech to the people. Didn't really mention surrender but directed government to accept Allies joint declaration and ended the war. Little coverage but interesting.

I love to see the Irish 1798 rebellion. Thank you. Love the vid

My favorite nerd. Keep up the great work Simon.

Simon, please make a Sino Japanese wars video! These have been awesome

hey simon and team, 1. love the content across several channels, at this point should be its own streaming platform. 2. I have a video idea, if possibly done. What if Japan conquered China and never gave it up after the various treaties that affected many nations borders. thank you regardless, been a fan of your content since 2015

Damn, you really have good writers bro. That conclusion was sobering.

Would love to hear more wars that involve Korea (Imjin War, First Sino Japanese War, Korean War).

Japan also had a problem with their navy being restricted by the Washington navel treaty. It limited their ships to a degree that they thought it was unfair that other nations could get more then they could. So during the " Washington Era" before japan let their signature expire, Japan designed many ships to accept future modernization and refits that could re-arm the ships. The mogami class "light" cruiser is a good example as the 5* weapons were replaced with 8* weapons after the japanese signature on the treaty expired, although they could not really upgrade the armor so the mogami class was under armored when compared to other heavy cruisers.

Yes videos on both Sino Japanese wars please would like to learn more about them.

More about Japan please Simon

Yes, I would definitely want to see multi-part videos covering both Sino-Japanese Wars. With a few exceptions, oth wars are often overlooked by Western-dominated media.

This video was well done but it did gloss over some key inter-war elements - Japan was not happy with the Versailles arrangement. It got German possessions in the Pacific but the much more lucrative Chinese possessions were given to European powers who had been absent in Asia during the war. The continued treatment of Japan as an unequal partner by colonial western powers as well as the rejection of Japan's Racial Equality proposal for the League of Nations Charter fostered resentment against western nations Japan thought were its equal ally - The idea that during the interwar years Japan was under a mix of military and civilian control preparing for "total war" is a bit of a misnomer. As you point out yourself, the Japanese military was completely rogue (and itself fragmented with younger officers ignoring aristocratic military leadership) and more in opposition to the democratic civilian government than hand in hand with it. Political leaders opposed adventurism in Manchuria and China, and fought to maintain the alliance with the UK and USA. The government even cut funds to the military when it started invading China. The Taisho Democracy however was fragile - there were numerous military assassinations of civilian leaders, the military was built to work independent of civilian control (as the Prussians advised), and ultimately like in Germany, popular support went with the young Turks in the military than the impotent government trying to restrain it, and so in the 1930s the government started to follow the military. But all of that is not to say that Japan didn't have a proper constitutional democracy. It's just that it had weak institutions that couldn't control its military. As with all things, it's hard to sum up what "Japan" was planning during these years because it was slipping gradually into a state of chaos where political and even military leadership was not able to control what military factions started doing in Asia. And yes! Sino Japanese war vid please!

It's only just recently occurred to me that it's the voice and delivery that makes hearing about horrid atrocities easier to handle. Somehow. Look forward to hearing about Nanking.

Simon could you do the the battle of long tan or the kakoda trail as they mean so much to australia

That attempt at dramatic poetry at the very end.

Definitely cover the Sino-Japanese wars!

I second the motion for a Sino-Japanese war warographics video.

Oh Please Simon and the Team, please oblige us with the video on the Sino-Japanese War.

Would love to hear about the sino Japanese wars

Do one about the ship Warspite!

8th of December? Great video though. 🙂

Yes a coverage on the first Sino Japanese war would be great

that i would say is your best video reading yet. Good Job bro

a video about the sino-japanese wars would be interesting, i know a tonne about WW1 / ww2 but very little / nothing about that subject.

Really great video. Very interesting how easily you can see war with the west coming. Although Japan certainly faced significant racial discrimination on the international stage in the lead up to WW2, I think it is worth remembering just how racially fueled Japanese expansion was also, both towards other Asian nations and Western nations.

2:56 ' BEER HORE ' That sign ( upper left) presents a lot of questions...

15:57 Not Beijing, but Nanking

Something I’ve said before, and it should be said here: the Japanese nation never experienced the ideas and changed that came with the Enlightenment. They went from near-medieval philosophies and technology to near-medieval philosophies and modern technology. It explains so much about their behavior and view of the outside world, prior to 1945.

Yall should do a video on how Yamamoto came to power

8th of December? You mean the 7th. Still a great video.

Love the video, from a Japanese in US.

Yes please! Those were very important conflicts in world history!

That's something I'd enjoy watching.

By attacking the USA was in a war it hadn’t the ability to win. So yes, Japan acted crazy in thinking they could force a peace of their own choosing

I would absolutely love a video on the First Sino-Japanese War and the resulting peace agreement

God damn how many channels does Simon have???

It’s probably best covered on “Into the Shadows” but the Rape of Nanjing (aka Nanjing Massacre) should be covered. Truly one of the most horrific atrocities committed by Imperial Japan.

We need videos on each

Simon's beard needs its own channel.