Pacific theater question.

Discussions on WW2 in the Pacific and the Sino-Japanese War.
Enkpitt
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Pacific theater question.

#1

Post by Enkpitt » 13 Jun 2004, 14:48

Did the japs give the allies any hard time to the point where the allies thought they were going to loose? Were the japs hard to beat according to the allies? Were the allies confident in winning the pacific?.

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Klaus Yurk
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#2

Post by Klaus Yurk » 14 Jun 2004, 18:55

The Allies had a "Germany First" policy so they must have thought Germany was far more dangerous than Japan. Even Yamamoto guaranteed only six months of victory.

In hindsight, I don't think the Allies ever seriously thought that Japan had the economic and industrial power to "win" against them. Yet, if for any reason, either the UK or the USSR dropped out of the war against Germany, Germany had a chance of manking it very difficult, if not impossible, for the Allies to defeat her. Ergo...Germany first.

Just my opinion.


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WalterS
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#3

Post by WalterS » 14 Jun 2004, 20:43

The Japanese scored many significant victories against the Allies early in the war. The successful attack at Pearl Harbor, the conquest of the Philippinnes and Malaysia, including Singapore, the defeat of British forces in Burma, and the conquest of much of Indonesia culminating in the destruction of the ABDA fleet put Japan in a strong, if extended position. The Japanese did not believe they could defeat the US in traditional terms, i.e. conquer the US and capture Washington. What they hoped to do was to run up a series if impressive victories and then establish a solid defensive position of layered rings of islands and archipelagoes upon which the Allied forces would be impaled, thus compelling the Americans to seek terms.

As posted previously, the US/UK position was "Germany First." The Pacific theater was, initially, to go on the defensive but the victories at Midway and, then, Guadalcanal gave impetus to offensive efforts. I don't think the Allies ever felt that the Japanese could totally defeat them. Rather, it was a question of how long would it take to defeat Japan, and at what cost.

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#4

Post by tigersqn » 14 Jun 2004, 23:39

Guadalcanal was a very near run thing after the transports left soon after the landings. After that there was never really any question of a final victory.

Enkpitt
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#5

Post by Enkpitt » 15 Jun 2004, 01:35

Thank you guys very helpful.

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Marcus
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#6

Post by Marcus » 15 Jun 2004, 16:29

Enkpitt,

Please don't use the term "Japs", thanks.

/Marcus

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Leo Niehorster
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#7

Post by Leo Niehorster » 15 Jun 2004, 16:46

Brits, Japs, Dutch, Yanks, etc. are surely acceptable contractions ?

Or for that matter such designations as Diggers, Kiwis, Nazis, ...?

Leo

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Marcus
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#8

Post by Marcus » 15 Jun 2004, 16:50

Leo,

In my opinion "Japs" is a derogatory term as opposed to for example "Brits", "Kiwis" or "Dutch".

/Marcus

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Leo Niehorster
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#9

Post by Leo Niehorster » 15 Jun 2004, 17:02

Is this some sort of 'politically correct' stuff? Or why do you think 'Japs' is derogatory? Does that apply to 'Jap' as well? Is there a list of other words you consider derogatory, i.e. incorrect to use on this forum?

Cheers
Leo

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Marcus
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#10

Post by Marcus » 15 Jun 2004, 17:09

Leo,

No, nothing "politically correct", just the way I was raised.

I've been taught that "Japs" are a derogatory term and judging from the below I'm not alone in being tought that.
CNSNews.com wrote:The Japanese government has criticized North Korea after its envoy at the United Nations repeatedly used the term "Japs" to describe the Japanese during a General Assembly session.
Government spokesman Yasuo Fukuda said it was "outrageous" for North Korea's deputy ambassador to the U.N. Kim Chang Guk to have used the derogatory term three times during the meeting in New York.
[...]
General Assembly president Julian Hunte also took Kim to task for "using this kind of language."
/Marcus

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#11

Post by antoniop » 15 Jun 2004, 17:15

I agree with Leo. I do not think we should be so strict with generic names. Jap, really, is a short word for japanese and nothing else.

What about the names used between allies: limey for British or Frogs for French and so on.

Best regards

Antonio

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#12

Post by antoniop » 15 Jun 2004, 17:18

Another example

In Spain we have a chocolate cookies called Filipinos (phillipines), and some time ago Philippine authorities went against this name because they said that were racism (because the black chocolate).

Traditional names are just that

Antonio

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Leo Niehorster
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#13

Post by Leo Niehorster » 15 Jun 2004, 17:42

OK, then how about Finn, Gaijin, Latino(a), Newfie, Nip, Pole, Czech, Goy, Pom, Swede, Chink, Aussie, Canuck, etc.?

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Marcus
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#14

Post by Marcus » 15 Jun 2004, 17:51

Leo,

My knowledge of most of those terms are too limited for me to make any statements about them, sorry.

/Marcus

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Leo Niehorster
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#15

Post by Leo Niehorster » 15 Jun 2004, 18:07

Hmmm, well, would you agree that Jap is 'derogatory' only when used outside of WWII context?

You don't call a modern German a Nazi, but people continually do so on this site when referring to WWII Germans.

Leo

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