Considering how globalization is progressing I'm not sure this qualifies as a bad thing.
Also 'independent' is a fuzzy term. Is Canada independent of Britain even though they share a monarch? Does independence matter?
I feel a large issue with OTL decolonization in Africa occured because it was so fast. A slower, measured withdrawal over a generation or two so as to educate and train up locals to create a unified national and cultural identity would be the best result for both locals and the colonial powers.
So OTL WWI starts because Franz Ferdinand is killed by Serbian terrorists that are backed by Russia. When Serbia doesn't back down from Austrian demands, Austria declares on Serbia, Russia defends Serbia, Germany defends Austria, France defends Russia.
With Austria and Russia on the same side...
My understanding is that while resource extraction was a primary goal for many European colonies, the British were unique in that a large number of colonists made the trip to flee persecution back in Britain. Where will these people go? Will Britain cement it's control on other extant territory...
I think it would be important to establish how Britain keeps control of the 13 Colonies. If the Colonists were able to convince Parliament of 'no taxation without representation' then a peaceful transition would see either the beginning of the Dominion system, or Americans sitting in British...
There were 39,000 French civilians in Indochina in 1940, or 0.2% of the population. I don't think that counts as a 'European colony'. Regardless, frame it as decolonization and do so with Japanese advisors and administration. You might even get the Americans happy since decolonization was a big...
So ATL, under pressure from the Allies, Stalin peaces out Japan and Japan also gets concessions out of the Allies (Stalin won't let the USSR shoulder the cost of removing Japan from the board alone). WWII plays out and Japan ascends to a victorious WWII nation a la Italy in WWI haha.
What does...
The rational answer would be no. However, the Japanese government at the time was heavily controlled/influenced by the military, and the rivalry between the Navy and Army was immense. You can read a little bit here: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interservice_rivalry . While it is definitely...
So if my memory serves me correctly, Japan was torn between a Northern vs Southern focus for WWII, with the Army championing a fight with the Soviets while the Navy wanted to go to Indonesia. OTL Navy won that fight partially out of the desire to secure the oil and rubber in Indonesia.
If...
So from my limited understanding, the Nazi's had three issues with their war machine.
1) Hitler messing with active war plans. This isn't a big deal here since there are no active European fronts.
2) lack of resources like oil. Technically solved with Romania and the Caucuses under Nazi control...
While the Dutch lost a lot, I feel it might be a good thing since this will allow them to focus on the territories they have remaining instead of spreading their attention thin.
If anything they will be able to do it better. Britain has a massive network of dominions and former colonies they can use to create their own block if they don't want to join Europe.