Explain the early Japanese successes in Asia and the Pacific in World War II.

Imperial
Japan was very much a martial society, one in which the armed forces enjoyed a high level of
prestige and influence. Combined with an intense nationalism, the militarization of Japanese
life had turned the country into an aggressive power, willing and able to wage war. All of the
available evidence suggests that the Japanese had been preparing for war in South East Asia
since at least 1936. Yet it took the outbreak ofin Europe for the Japanese high command to put
its long-standing military strategy into effect.

Large parts of South East
Asia belonged to European imperial...

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