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Originally Posted by MontyB There were several clashes between Russian and Japanese forces throughout the late 1930s and early 1940s and in every case the Japanese came off the loser I seriously doubt that much in the way of a coordinated ground war could have been achieved and given the geographical separation of the Pacific and Atlantic I am not sure how the Japanese navy could have maintained a presence in the Atlantic, at best German Uboats could have supported the Japanese navy in the Pacific a bit more but I am not sure how this would have helped the German European campaign. |
I agree it is difficult to see how this could benefit Japan in any immediate way. However, I expect a presence would have been possible, either due to the German supply ships that made their own surface raiders operational in the Indian ocean, and the 'friendly' Russian icebreaker over the top to Norway!
Perhaps a direct presence in the Atlantic would not have been necessary, an focused assault on British possessions such as India and a threat to the Suez route (as opposed to attacking America) could have made Churchill send some of the British carriers and battleships into a direct confrontation. This would have been the easiest way for Japan to intervene, perhaps with the agreement of Japanese control of an axis leading from the Urals and the Iran/Iraq border East.
Another cooperate venture would be to simply sell technologies German Tanks for Japanese Aircraft Carriers and naval aircraft. Perhaps Hitler could have convinced Stalin to supply Japan with raw materials. A bizarre situation admittedly. However a focus on eliminating Britain before attacking Russia and the US was surely the best choice.