Eli5: Why did Japan side with Germany in WW2?
In: Other
Part of it has to do with the emperor digging himself a hole to dig himself out of another hole.
He was under the impression that siding with the United States and Britain (which he respected) would force them to go to war in Europe if and when it happened, and Hirohito did not want to be dragged into a war. He allowed his ministers to sign a deal with the Berlin-Rome Axis under the pretense that they wouldn’t drag Japan into a war, which, to be fair, they did not – Japan dragged *them* into a war. Biographies of Hirohito seem to agree he regretted the decision almost as he took it and it was basically eat shit or eat shit.
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