One of my pet debate subjects, yet most unwelcome amongst many, is the revelation that Japan was not an Axis ally, nor was the USSR an Allied ally. To this day, our own propaganda espouses this (in my opinion) lie.

Lets define some terms first.

ally (al-I) n. 1. a country in alliance with another. 2. a person who co-operates with another in some project.

Now this is the Oxford definition and no more confirms that the Japanese and Germans were ‘allies’ anymore than a bill confirms that the Platypus is a species of bird.

propaganda n. publicity intended to spread ideas or information that will persuade or convince people.

axis n. ...the alliance between Germany, Italy and later Japan in the second world war.

Actually, there never was any "Axis Treaty/Pact". It never existed. It was simply a term coined supposedly by Mussolini referring to the unwritten bond of friendship between Berlin and Rome which happened to be on the same longitudinal axis geographically speaking.

Those trying to continue the propaganda I will soon attack claim the "Axis" refers to the ‘Anti-commintern Pact’, ‘Pact of Steel’ and ‘Tripartite Pact’ in general. So, I will begin addressing the lies here with Japan first.

Once forced out of its self-imposed isolationism, a modernized Japan experienced the power of ‘military alliances’ quickly. Just like every other western power, Japan grabbed a piece of China. However a western alliance between Russia, Germany and France called the "Far Eastern Triplice" forced Japan to return the gains. Russia took Manchukuo and Chosen(Korea) from China and was allowed to keep it. The USA and others had interests in China and even fought the "Boxer Rebellion" to protect their right to continue the Opium drug trade despite China’s resistance. Every western major power maintained their dominance over this or that part of China because, unlike Japan, they could form their own alliances to counter those like the Triplice.

Japan became well experienced with a modern military alliance. From 1902-23, Japan and Britain were military allies. Eventhough the British actually didn’t want Japan involved in the First World War, the terms of their alliance actually obligated Japan to war with Britain’s enemies, provoked or not. The British didn’t want Japan to grab all the German territories in China and the Pacific which they hoped for themselves.

By 1923, however, the west invoked humiliating terms on the Japanese in the Washington and London Naval Treaties. The militarists in Japan thus gained more power.

It is important to remember that Japan was never a dictatorship through to their surrender in 1945, but this gave the militarists far more influence and power as the civilian gov’t was perceived as too weak to these latest insults. Japan was not being treated as an equal. It thus permitted it’s military alliance with Britain to lapse when renewal came about.

Japan defeated China once and then more importantly defeated Russia thus being granted Korea and Manchukuo from the Russians who had taken it from the Chinese who had taken it from the Manchurians and Koreans.

In 1936, the USSR made a mutual assistance pact with Outer-Mongolia thus threatening Japan’s interests on the continent more than the existing status quo in asia. In response, Japan signed the ‘Anti-comintern Pact’ with Germany and eventually others. It was NOT a military alliance in any sense of the word. All it did was promise member states to share information on Soviet-backed communist parties to try to contain the spread of communism. The only mention of military matters was that if one member state was attacked by the USSR, then the others promised to remain neutral. Which is like saying if someone hits you, I promise to watch and not help him.

Japan had actually signed similar notes with Britain, France and even America, all concerned about the spread of communism. It didn’t make them military allies.

In Sep 1939, Germany’s invasion of Poland revealed that Hitler had signed the secret "Nazi-Soviet Pact" with Stalin. This violated everything Hitler had promised the Japanese up to this point so the Japanese declared strict neutrality.

However, this wouldn’t last. Not only was Germany’s lightning fast victories over Poland and France impressive, the pact between Hitler and Stalin put Japan in great danger. Since the intent was to permit Germany and the USSR to watch eachothers backs, then in the same way Germany could concentrate on western expansion, the USSR could concentrate on eastern(asian) expansion. Indeed it was confirmed that Stalin was building a massive army in Siberia.

In May 1939, Germany and Italy signed the "Pact of Steel". This was a mutual defense treaty promising that if a member was "attacked without provocation" that the other members would come to its aid. Mussolini insisted that Hitler verbally promise not to even provoke war until 1943 when he felt Italy would finally be ready for one. It also ‘verbally’ promised that in case of such a war, that Italy would direct the Mediterranean strategy. Again, this was NOT a real military alliance. Historical action confirms this. Mussolini did not declare war on the Allies when Poland fell. From September through to the fall of France, Mussolini had all those months and did nothing. He even offered to mediate between Hitler and the Allies oddly enough. Only when he confirmed the French offer to surrender did he enter the war in fear of missing out on any spoils he didn’t deserve anyways.

Now when historians say the Axis refers to the Pact of Steel partly, they ignore the fact that Japan refused to join the ‘Pact of Steel’ despite all its fears of the USSR.

By Sep 1940 Germany had Britain on the ropes while Japan’s security was increasingly threatened by the USSR and USA. We already know why the USSR was a threat to Japan. As for America, the American President Franklin Delano Roosevelt(FDR) was desperately trying to find a way to reverse his nation’s position and trying to get in the war against Germany. It had to provoke something but Germany wasn’t biting. Japan however, was more vulnerable to American prodding. Japan felt that if it weren’t for the ever increasing American aid to Chiang’s Nationalists still fighting Japanese interests in the Chinese civil war, that Chiang would’ve accepted peace by now and Japan’s interests in China would finally be secured. Japan needed guaranteed access, by trade or occupation, of Chinese resources for its security and independence. It would’ve loved to have a military alliance or even just a mutual defense treaty with China as well. But America was preventing this.

So Japan signs the "Tripartite Pact" on Sep 1940 with Germany with other nations joining later. Again, it is not a military alliance but a mutual defense pact instead. Germany hopes that this is the first step in finally getting Japan to sign a true military alliance with it, but Japan would never trust Hitler again after the Nazi-Soviet Pact. Japan did hope that this new pact would prevent Stalin from asian expansion. It also hoped that it would intimidate the Americans. The terms included promise of mutual aid if any one of the signatories were attacked by a power not already involved in the ‘European War’ or ‘China Incident’. This satisfied Japan’s desire not to risk war with Britain and was obviously directed at the USSR and the USA instead. Japan was permitted to occupy French Indo-china with a ‘policing force’ by the Vichy and thus cut some of the American aid to Chiang.

But in the same way Hitler betrayed the Japanese with the ‘Nazi-Soviet Pact’, Japan offered to pull out of the Tripartite Pact if the Americans would stop interfering in asia. FDR, actually needing Japanese membership in such a pact, not only refused but actually stepped up provoking the Japanese instead. FDR knew that even the Tripartite Pact didn’t make Japan and Germany military allies, but he hoped that he could fool the American public with propaganda that it was. And he did. To this very day, we in the west accept the propagandic lie that Japan and Germany were military allies. But to the Japanese, who knew they weren’t allied to Germany, this was a surprise. They had hoped the pact would be a bargaining chip the Americans would accept.

Again, it is important to remember that none of these treaties were military alliances. At best, the latter 2 were mutual defense treaties. Lets put it in the vernacular.

It is like me promising to help you in a fight only if you didn’t start or even provoke the fight. If you started or even provoked the fight, I have not promised to get involved in any way.

A true military alliance would be my promising to help you even if you started the fight, regardless of the circumstances.

Obviously even the Pact of Steel between Germany and Italy was not a military alliance, it was a mutual defense treaty where, without obligation and strictly out of greed, Italy entered the war upon the fall of France like a scavanger wanting a share of the carcass he jumped on only during the victim’s last breath.

The Tripartie Pact was the same. The only way Japan was obligated by it to be a military ally of Germany was if the USSR or USA attacked Germany without provocation. Obviously, again, if Germany provoked them or attacked them first, Japan was under no such obligation with such a mutual defense treaty. When the Axis invaded the USSR, Japan did not. Even when it appeared that the Soviet gov’t was on the verge of collapse, unlike Mussolini in France, STILL Japan did not attack the USSR.

And so it proved historically.

When the USA finally provoked Japan enough to force her to attack it, Japan did NOT declare war on the USSR as well. To the Japanese, this was a completely isolated and separate war they called the ‘Greater East-asia Conflict’, not WW2. The Japanese, threatened not only with their military running out of supplies, but the ruin of their economy and outright starvation of their people, had no choice but to attack the Americans and Allies.

Stalin was obviously relieved and the Anglo-Americans, although disappointed that Pearl Harbour still didn’t drum up enough support to get Congress to declare war on Germany, had to be content that at least the USA was now in a war and on the road to full mobilisation. The Anglos felt they could defeat Japan quickly and at full mobilisation the day when Congress would be ready to war with Germany would be that much closer. In the meantime, America would be able to send even more aid to Britain and the Allies on the front line. Even the USSR.

At the news of Pearl Harbour etc, Hitler at first said that now he couldn’t lose. When he realised that Japan was sticking to the terms of the treaty and no more, he was as depressed as Stalin was elated. Germany attacked Russia, so Japan was not obligated to war with Russia. Japan was fighting its own war for its own reasons with no regard for Germany who was now suffering Soviet victories in the east and British victories in North Africa and the night skies over German cities. Granted, to the dismay of the Allies who had greatly under-estimated the Japanese, the British Empire was now doomed, it did little to improve Hitler’s chances of winning his own war.

Knowing this, Hitler stunned his own staff when, without obligation by any written treaty remember, he chose to declare war on the USA in hopes that the Japanese would feel obligated to return the favour. Mussolini, again not obligated to do so even for Germany, followed suit soon after anyways. If everyone else was floored by the announcement, the Japanese could care less. They STILL refused to declare war on the USSR. The ‘Axis’, Berlin-Rome, had just shot themselves in the foot.

Now most would agree that if Japan had declared war on the USSR even in December 1941, that the Siberian armies would be prevented from saving Stalingrad, Leningrad and Moscow and thus the Soviet Union would be defeated. So why didn’t Japan do so?

Because Japan was NOT a member of the ‘Axis’ and was NOT obligated by even the Tripartite Pact to do so. Granted, it was a strategic mistake in my opinion, but it goes to prove that Japan was not allied to Germany, not a member of the ‘Axis’ and that to this day we are no less pathetically gullible swallowing our own propaganda than our defeated enemies were.

Let’s vernacular again. I promised to help you in a fight only if you were attacked and it was unprovoked. You start a fight with 3 guys, 2 of those guys are pushing me so I start fighting back against them. It doesn’t mean I am on your side. I have no beef with the 3rd guy who has done me no offense. We may have some of the same enemies, but contrary to the quote ‘enemy of my enemy is my friend’, we are not friends and we are not allies.

Now granted, by the end of the war the embittered Germans were leasing engine designs etc to the Japanese, but it was not significant in any way.

Arguably Mussolini and Hitler weren’t very good at being allies even when they were. Hitler broke his promise about waiting until 1943 and Mussolini’s failed invasion of Yugoslavia and Greece forced Germany to come rescue it possibly costing Germany the war in Russia. As quick as the German victory in the Balkans was, those few weeks could’ve made the difference in the first year of "Operation Barbarossa" and permitted Germany to take Moscow.

Nevertheless, had Germany and Japan been in reality allied(Siberia aside for the moment), we most probably would’ve experienced other changes. When the British and Americans were allied, they were able to produce things like the P51d Mustang fighter and Sherman Firefly tank. Imagine what the Japanese and Germans could’ve produced.

Now obviously I’ve just about finished my arguement denying Soviet membership of the ‘Grand Alliance’ too. Simply put, if the USSR were truely a military ally of the ‘Allies’ then it would’ve declared war on Japan long before it did. In reality, all it did regarding Japan was the exact same thing Italy did regarding France. Without any ratified treaty in writing(only verbal), all Stalin did was give the Japanese a few hours warning that he was violating his own ‘non-aggression treaty’ with Japan by not only pulling out of it a year early, but engaging in an unprovoked surprise attack. What the USSR did to Japan was worse than what Mussolini did to France just before its fall.

The USSR refused to share its codes with us. Refused to cooperate in most ways. It spied on us and Stalin actively, and successfully, worked to divide Britain and American interests not to mention the French question. He went back on more promises to the west than Hitler did ironically. Examples such as Stalin’s deliberate orders to halt his advance so the Germans could mop-up the Warsaw uprising, to executing the Polish gov’t in exile flown from London to Warsaw after ‘liberation’ to firing on and impounding even our lend-lease aid vessels from time to time.

Stalin himself is now known to have never considered the Grand Alliance as anything but diversions. Stalin never showed any gratitude or sincere friendship to Churchill or even Roosevelt, that latter of whom in his arrogance was played by Stalin like a drum. Stalin is quoted as saying, even after the war, that Hitler was the only leader he had any respect for as a person or political leader. To Stalin, the Western Allies were tools he desperately needed at first to survive, then ignore and betray later on.

As with the "Axis" myth, there was never any "Allied" alliance placed in writing obligating the USSR to be obligated to the British or Americans in any way more than the Japanese were obligated to the Germans. It is not truely fair to say the USSR alone ‘betrayed’ the Allies as it was American President Roosevelt who actually facilitated Stalin’s backing out of verbal agreements against Churchill’s warnings. Nevertheless, Stalin did put on the face of being ‘allied’ although never in writing. Japan on the otherhand, never even put on a face of being ‘allied’ to Germany or Italy. However they played it, neither were in reality allied to the powers our propaganda to this day claims.

The word ‘alliance’ is like the word ‘home’. It can be a palace in Monacco or it can be a temporary igloo in the arctic. They can be fickle things. It all depends upon the wording. For example. We would all say that the British and Americans are allies right? Sort of. During the Falklands war the Americans didn’t declare war on Argentina. A piece of British sovereign territory recognized by the Americans as such was outright militarily invaded, so why not? Because that is not the way the Americans and British have their alliance ‘written up’.

I hope to write another article on how those nations supposedly ‘allied’ to eachother in writing actually behaved to eachother. You might be surprised.