Sophia University Institute of Comparative Culture lecture Series 2023

The German-Japanese Military Alliance in World War II 

Bernd Martin 

Date: October 5, 2023 / Time: 18.30-20:00
Venue: Room 301, 3F, Building 10, Sophia University
Format: In person only / Registration: Not necessary 

When the Japanese Navy attacked Pearl Harbor in December 1941 and thereby opened war against the United States, Britain and the Netherlands, Germany confirmed the military alliance with its East Asian partner. However, plans for a joint warfare did not exist. From the very beginning there was no united front. German warfare concentrated on the Eastern Front in Europe, against the Soviet Union, the Japanese focused on the Pacific front against the United States. The Imperial Conference on 2nd July 1941 had decided to move southward instead of joining Germany in its fight against Russia. Germany and Japan--and their attempt to establish a new world order--collapsed in 1945. Within the five years the two countries were military allies, they had not once acted together, leading to defeat and unconditional surrender in 1945.  

Bernd Martin is a professor emeritus of Freiburg University, where he taught from 1976 to 2007.he was visiting research fellow or guest professor at Harvard University, Academia Sinica, St. Antony's College, Oxford, the Foreign Languages University Beijing, the University of Berne, the University of Chiang Mai, and the Hebrew University Jerusalem. Apart from Japanese-German relations, among his fields of interest and research are the contemporary history of Germany, history of international relations in the twentieth century, and the modern history of Poland.  

This talk is organized by Sven Saaler (Professor of Japanese History, Sophia University). 

Sophia University Institute of Comparative Culture: https://www.icc-sophia.com/