When I first read of the Tianjin Incident of 1939 in China (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tientsin_incident) the parallels with the Soviet Blockade of West Berlin nearly 10 years later were striking.
The Japanese Army blockaded the British concession
The Japanese were in part retaliating for British support for the Chinese Nationalist currency over the puppet government currency (much like the Soviets were retaliating for the introduction of the Deutschemark in the western zones). The Japanese were also trying to gain a legitimacy advantage for themselves and their puppets over the ChiNats and westerners, much like the later Berlin Crises were threatened in the name of forcing the west to make deals with and thereby recognize the GDR, which they refused to treat as other than a Soviet puppet at the time.
So what if the Tianjin policy of 39 spread and this got bigger. It ran from June to September. What if the Japanese did a blockade of all British concessions in China, at least from the landward side.
Which economy would be hit worse, the concessions or occupied China?
Does such a move automatically mean war?
Does it mean western withdrawal?
How do the British supply their concessions?
Does it change Britain's willingness to make anti-Hitler commitments in Europe?
How could it all end?
The Japanese Army blockaded the British concession
The Japanese were in part retaliating for British support for the Chinese Nationalist currency over the puppet government currency (much like the Soviets were retaliating for the introduction of the Deutschemark in the western zones). The Japanese were also trying to gain a legitimacy advantage for themselves and their puppets over the ChiNats and westerners, much like the later Berlin Crises were threatened in the name of forcing the west to make deals with and thereby recognize the GDR, which they refused to treat as other than a Soviet puppet at the time.
So what if the Tianjin policy of 39 spread and this got bigger. It ran from June to September. What if the Japanese did a blockade of all British concessions in China, at least from the landward side.
Which economy would be hit worse, the concessions or occupied China?
Does such a move automatically mean war?
Does it mean western withdrawal?
How do the British supply their concessions?
Does it change Britain's willingness to make anti-Hitler commitments in Europe?
How could it all end?