I’m trying to wrap my head around how the USA and Japan shifted from being fierce enemies during World War II to becoming close allies in just a few decades. It seems like a huge turnaround in international relations from an American perspective. What happened and why this dramatic change?
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Two things happened quickly. First and foremost the USSR detonated their atomic weapons. Suddenly, the US wasn’t the only one in the world with atomic capabilities. Second, the Chinese civil war ended with the communist faction claiming control over mainland China. Japan, became an important way the US could keep communism “contained” and away from the US’ Territories in the Pacific.
It’s important to note that the US was already helping Japan to rebuild. They knew the value of Japan as an ally in the Pacific. But the events of 1948 and 1949 saw their efforts doubled. The US stopped the war crimes trials and started helping Japan with sweetheart trade deals that would see Japan’s economy rapidly recovering and becoming one of the largest in the region…at least while communist China was still struggling to pick up the pieces from their civil war.
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