Eli5: Why did Japan side with Germany in WW2?
In: Other
Short answer: war is really expensive, so having friends (well, “friends”) to split the costs is always a good thing.
Long answer: aside from having similar goals and national philosophies, Japan and Germany had the benefit of having no big conflicts of interest: Germany wanted hegemony over Europe, Japan wanted hegemony of Asia. Germany and Japan both being at war with the Allies forces the Allies to essentially fight 2 wars at the same time, so they have to split resources and manpower: every bomb dropped on Dresden is a bomb not being dropped on Osaka; every boot on the ground in Tokyo is a boot that’s not in Berlin.
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