[Marxism] Socialist Policy in World War Two

[G K Milner]

Dear Tom,
                I'm still not convinced that there was no prospect of a 
Japanese invasion of Australia during World War Two.   The extraordinary 
success initially of Japanese arms in the Asia-Pacific region, after the 
attack on Pearl Harbour, was only checked with the Battles of Midway and the 
Coral Sea, when Japan lost overall naval supremacy.   There is a story that 
Admiral Yamamoto, who was one of the more perspicacious members of the 
Japanese High Command, was essentially philosophical about the plan to 
attack the USA.   He believed that Japan would probably benefit initially 
from the planned surprise attack, but would be overwhelmed in the course of 
time by the USA's industrial might.   I understand that Yamamoto considered 
that Japan could hold out for a maximum of only three or four years before 
being defeated.   I have no expertise in this field by any means, but it 
does seem clear to me from the point of view of strategy that the Pacific 
could not be held for any length of time without securing its southern 
flank, which meant taking Australia.   As I understand it, a Japanese fleet 
was heading for Port Moresby in May 1942, and it was engaged by an Allied 
fleet, and it was at this battle (Coral Sea) where the Japanese forces were 
checked.   Japanese plans must have been flexible enough to at least 
consider an invasion of Australia.   Had the US aircraft carriers not been 
out of port on the day of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour, and 
therefore not spared destruction, it is easily conceivable that the Japanese 
navy, with its aircraft carriers, could have defeated the rest of the US 
Pacific Fleet at Midway, and the Allied fleet at the Coral Sea.

It is certainly true that the Australian population was in the belief that 
an invasion was a very real possibility, and indeed an imminent one, in 
1942.   I myself visited an exhibition at the Perth Town Hall here in 
Western Australia a year or so ago.   The exhibits clearly indicated the 
overwhelming feeling in the community here in Perth that an invasion was a 
very real possibility, and they also conveyed a sense of the resolve of the 
country to deal with the threat of invasion.   I was very surprised to learn 
that Perth, which is situated on the South-West tip of the Australian 
continent, had a blackout during the war to deal with the potential danger 
from air-raids, and that other precautions I would normally have only 
associated with locales more immediately in the 'firing line' in this war 
were in place.

What did people involved in this war themselves believe that they were 
fighting about?    Depending on their primary allegiances, they would have 
probably said it was a 'war to defeat fascism'.   Of course the general 
service medal from the First World War has on it the legend, if I remember 
rightly: 'The Great War for Civilisation', and we know that that's nonsense. 
So should we think any differently about similar claims for World War Two? 
Well I would say yes.   I believe that the defeat of the Axis was a victory 
for progressive forces, and indeed for humanity as a whole.   The war was 
appallingly destructive, and it did have several distinct facets, which I 
think Ernest Mandel outlined quite well.   I do firmly believe that there 
was a qualitative distinction between the Allies - the USSR, the USA and the 
British Commonwealth on the one hand, and the Axis on the other.   The 
concepts in the Atlantic Charter, which was adopted mid way through the war, 
formed the basis for Allied war aims and led to the foundation after victory 
of the United Nations.   Call me a Popular Frontist if you like, but I 
reckon that if one can't see a qualitative distinction between the ideals 
put forward in the Atlantic Charter on the one hand, and the ideology of an 
editorial in the 'Voelkische Beobachter' (Nazi party daily) on the other, 
then there must be something wrong with one's Marxism.

In solidarity,

Graham Milner


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Tom O'Lincoln" <suarsos at alphalink.com.au>
To: "Graham Milner" <gkmilner at eftel.net.au>
Sent: Thursday, July 02, 2009 12:01 PM
Subject: Re: [Marxism] Socialist Policy in World War Two


> Thanks Graham
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