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But this one, PBS has had a few WW2 documentaries over the last few months, I've watched all of them. Not one of them pointed out how Japan's handling of China and Russia affected the war. Good stuff...



Good grief - that's the stupidest comment I've seen in a while "Everything I know, I learned on TV!"

Sorge, China, Japan's army's bases, etc, are all well documented and have been for a long time. da Burg's comments are standard orthodoxy you'll get in any college-level history class or serious history book. Two things I'll add:

The US managed to avoid engaging half or more of the Japanese Army forces in-theater after the US had total sea-power by simply ignoring and bypassing them if there was no need for the island the Japanese held. One island - Truk? - had a garrison of 100,000 troops itching for a fight ... and the US just sailed right by. Okinawa was attacked only because the US needed that island.

There was never any chance of the Japanese threatening Stalin - Russia is too vast and Japan had not the manpower. But Moscow was a very close battle, and even up to Stalingrad the loss of even a few divisions to the Far East could easily have tipped the balance. Stalin trusted Sorge but the key German informant "Lucy" came along later.

(Sorge was eventually caught and executed by Japanese but the Germans never suspected "Lucy", who was a Swiss ring whose agents on the German General Staff were never identified)
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