The shadow had first been cast on another September day nearly ten
years before, when a railway explosion at Mukden had served as an
excuse for the Japanese military to take over Manchuria. As we look
back now with the advantage of hindsight, that day--September 18,
1931--looms up as an important milestone. For Japan’s seizure of
Manchuria ended one historic era, and began another. It abruptly broke
up the period of comparative peace that had succeeded the first World
War. And it ushered in our present period of strife and unsettlement.
Its indirect effects on European developments were also very great. We
know that Japan’s defiance lowered the prestige and authority of the
League of Nations. It showed how hard it was to secure international
cooperation strong enough to check determined aggression. Japan’s
example undoubtedly influenced Mussolini and Hitler in the bold moves
they made later on in Europe.
After 1935 German and Italian expansion in Europe paralleled Japan’s
drive in the Far East. All of these movements steadily widened their
scope. Increasingly these three powers played into one another’s hands,
and helped one another’s advance. The anti-Comintern pact of November
1936 drew them closer together. But they were not formally allied
until September 27, 1940, when Japan signed the military pact with the
Axis powers.
This pact had startling implications. True, Germany and Italy were
separated from Japan by vast distances. As long as Britain controlled
the seas, the new allies could not actually join military forces. But
Germany had only to put pressure on the French authorities at Vichy in
order to help Japan win control over Indo-China. An Axis break-through
in the Mediterranean, moreover, could swiftly bring her much greater
aid.