Japan strikes USSR in 1941, what does Britain do?

Would Britain start fighting Japan in this case?


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raharris1973

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These are the initial postulates:

A) Barbarossa starts in Europe on June 22, 1941

B) Japan is launching an attack on the USSR at any point from late July 1941 to early October 1941,

in the meantime, up until B) happens,

C) The US has not imposed an oil embargo or asset freeze on Japan

D) Japan has not advanced in Southeast Asia since occupying Tonkin in 1940

the primary question is how does Britain react to the attack on the USSR by Japan?

Britain and the USSR are in a partnership in Europe against the Nazis. Their military cooperation extends at least as far east as Iran. Soviet survival and continuation in the war is a compelling British interest.

With this in mind, does Britain start hostilities against Japan, initiating economic war and attacks on Japanese shipping.

This exposes British interests in China and Hong Kong to instant retaliation and other British possessions in Southeast Asia and the Pacific to certain retaliation. In the meantime, Britain would incur this retaliation while not able to cause significant military damage to Japan, especially in the first few months of opening hostilities.

All that considered, what are the British likely to do once the Japanese attack the Soviets?

Secondarily, how will the Americans react?
 
The British will definetly bolster Burma, Singapore and Hong Kong. They will most likely send a strike force to attack Japanese shipping.

The Americans make popcorn.

:p
 
I'd say economic sanctions not war. In the unlikely event they did go to war, the Japanese war with the UK not the US would be interesting.
 

raharris1973

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thanks guys for responding to the OP's question

...and not debating the postulates. Which have been debated a million times before.

As far as I know I'd never heard anybody discuss the second-order question of British action in the even of Strike north before.
 
no way.
there would probally be a fair bit of support for it from both sides of the political spectrum but in the end the logical course of action is not to get involved. defences in te east may well be beefed up however.
there could also be more of a push to do something big to divert german resources away from the east. the brits are more than fine with the soviets being hurt badly, they have to hol on enough to keep being a distraction however.


but the whole issue is fairly moot. japan was scared of a war with the soviets and had little to gain. you'd need to change a lot to make it happen.
 
The US would act much as it did in the west. A extensive Nuetrality Zone would be established around the Phillipines and other US possesions, something like the US created in the western Atlantic. German war ships found there were attacked. The Phillipines would be reinforced as in OTL & the US Pacific fleet would move back to Oahu.

The most important action would be establishing a trade embargo. That would make a British naval campaign less necessary as Japan would find it impossible to purchase or import anything abroad.
 
Britain would stay out of the war. They can't fight in both theaters at once. The Brits would likely promise Stalin that they would declare war on Japan a couple of months after Germany surrenders. (similar to the USSR's promise OTL)

However, the Asian war would probably end before that happened. Japan is not a land animal. It would get crushed and beg for peace after China and Korea are completely lost to communism.
 
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