What if the US joined the Axis in World War II? 1939-1941

1939

The world is restless. Japan and China have been at war since 1937. The civil war in Spain ended with the victory of Franco and the Spanish nationalists. The British Empire is still the first great world power. Chamberlain is the British Prime Minister. Hitler rose to power in 1933. Mussolini rules Italy. Roosevelt is the American president. The US is recovering from the Great Depression. Stalin is reorganizing the Red Army after the 1937 purges. Poland and Germany are at odds.

March 21, 1939
The Danzig crisis. Germany lays claim to the Free City of Danzig, much to the dismay of the neighboring countries around them. We are on the brink of the Second World War.

March 27, 1939
Czechoslovakia is dissolved and annexed by Germany.

Nazi Germany and the Communist Soviet Union are political opposites. Hitler says that the Lebensraum, the German's vital living space, is in the East. Stalin never hides his expansionist policies towards the West.

May 22, 1939
Germany and Italy sign the so-called Pact of Steel, a military alliance and effectively forming the Axis Powers.

August 23, 1939
Germany and the Soviet Union sign the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact - a non-aggression treaty.

The treaty is received with disappointment in Japan. Some months before, Japan and Germany signed the Anti-Comitern Pact, a pact against the Communist Soviet Union, and now, while Japan is fighting the Soviets in Manchuria, Germany signs a pact with them. This is an affront to Japanese prestige. Relations between Germany and Japan begin to grow tense.

September 1, 1939
Germany invades Poland. The Second World War has begun. The British Empire and France declare war on Germany.

September 4, 1939
Japan announces its neutrality. They already have their own war with China. Due to this war, the US adopted trade restrictions with Japan, the American embargo creates a large amount of problems for the nation. Japan is a rival for America's plan of economic expansion into the Pacific region.

1940

April 9, 1940
Germany invades Denmark and Norway.

May 10, 1940
Germany then invades Belgium and the Netherlands. Winston Churchill becomes Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

June 10, 1940
Italy enters the war on the German's side, invading France. The war in Africa begins as well.

Soon after, France is defeated.

September 7, 1940
The Blitz begins with the Luftwaffe massively bombing Britain. The RAF bombs several German cities. In the Atlantic, British convoys suffer heavy losses from German U-boats.

September 27, 1940
Japan does not sign the Tripartite Pact. Indeed, the Japan/Axis relations were never that close. Apart from the establishment of technical commissions and some diplomatic relations, there was never any significant type of coordination or military aid.

1941

March 11, 1941
US President Roosevelt signs the Lend-Lease Act, allowing Britain, China and the Soviet Union to purchase military equipment and to defer payments.

April 6, 1941
The war in Europe continues with the Axis invading Yugoslavia and Greece.

June 22, 1941
Germany attacks the Soviet Union with Operation Barbarossa. Again, the Germans fail to inform Japan before. Prime Minister Fumimaro Konoe feels betrayed. The Germans clearly trust Japan very little.

August 1, 1941
The turning point. The Japanese start the occupation of French Indochina, claiming they need to stop all imports into China, including war supplies from the US. Indochina is controlled by Vichy France. Despite not officially part of the Axis, they have strong ties with Germany.

August 6, 1941
The German government heavily protests Japan's occupation of French Indochina and sends an ultimatum: withdraw or there will be serious diplomatic consequences. Japan wastes no time. On the same day, Japan declares war on Germany, France and Italy, becoming a de facto British and Soviet ally. The Imperial Navy has the order to sink all the German cruisers in the area. The Italian base of Tjanjin in China is occupied.

Hitler and Mussolini are surprised, but they have not considered Japan an ally since the previous year. The declaration of war on the Axis was a good strategic move. Japan has little to gain from an alliance with the Axis. Europe is far away. Germany and Italy can't help Japan, apart from maybe a naval squadron, and the Axis can't in any way damage Japan. This war could be a way to circumvent the embargo and obtain from the British Empire at least some of the resources vital for their industries. Last but not least, the Soviets are now allies. The Japanese experienced the Soviet firepower at Nomonhan and now they do not want to get on their bad side.Churchill doesn't enthusiastically pursue this alliance with Japan as he does the alliance with the Soviets, but they are not in a position to refuse them. They will fight with Japan as they did during World War I.

USA are isolationists and who knows when and if they will enter the war?

September 22, 1941
The British 18th Infantry Division and the Australian 8th Division invade South Vietnam. The British have already invaded various French colonies.

The Japanese involvement in the European conflict is limited. They patrol the Pacific and Indian Ocean, but it does not change too much in the European battlefield.

September 25, 1941
The British and Soviet troops invade the neutral Iran. The USA protests.

In response, part of the American industry, Henry Ford first, press the government to sell weapons to the Axis as well.

September 30, 1941
The Siege of Leningrad begins. German forces start the offensive against Moscow, Operation Typhoon.

November 19, 1941
The auxiliary cruiser Kormoran is the first German navy ship sunk by the Japanese off the coast of Western Australia. A small naval squad, the Namikaze, Shawakaze and some minelayers are sent to the Mediterranean. A more important force with the old Ise and Atago class cruisers are sent to the Atlantic. The following year, Japan will send a couple of brigades to Egypt, but most importantly, the British can move their Pacific fleet HMS Hermes aircraft carrier, 4 battleships, 20 cruisers, into the Atlantic. The British convoys are now far more protected. All Australian, New Zealand and Indian forces available are sent to Egypt.

November 21, 1941
With the arrival in the Mediterranean Sea of the heavy cruisers HMS Dorsetshire and HMS Cornwall, the Italians have increasing difficulties to resupply their forces in Libya. Rommel and the Italians are now on the defensive at Tobruk. To make things worse, the British has broken the Italian code and the times of departure of every convoy as well as all troop movements, so with fewer divisions they can keep up with the Axis. However, the Japanese resupply problems are still present. 1 million barrels of oil arrive from the Dutch East Indies - something else from the British refinery of Abadan, but it's not enough. For the USA, Japan is still an enemy. Their embargo becomes even more strict. All Japanese assets in the US are frozen. The US establish an embargo on oil exports to Japan. More than 80% of Japan's oil came from the United States. The Japanese Navy has now less than two years of oil remaining. The Imperial General Headquarters begin planning for a war with the US.

November 26, 1941
The Japanese make the decision. A Japanese naval force of six aircraft careers under the command of Nagumo depart from the Kuril Islands and arrives "undetected" near Hawaii.

December 7, 1941
The Japanese launches the Attack on Pearl Harbor. The attack leaves eight American battleships out of action, killing 2,400 men.

December 8, 1941
The United States declares war on Japan. Only on Japan. There is consternation at London for the move of their ally. They did not know of this attack. British diplomats rush to ensure the US they are not going to make any type of hostile action against them, but they can't renounce their alliance with Japan. At this point, the US will never enter the war at their side and the UK redeployed almost all their forces to Europe, so now Japan could really wipe out all the British presence in the Far East in some weeks, from Hong Kong to Burma to Singapore and seriously threatening India and Australia.

That same day, after a brief invasion, Thailand enters the war on the Japanese side.

December 12, 1941
Japanese land in the southern Philippine Islands.

December 23, 1941
The Japanese invade Wake Island.

That same day, Manila is captured. Since there's no war with the British, the Japanese can use all their forces against the US. Japan appears to be unstoppable.

British Royal Navy has the strict order to avoid any type of action against the US Navy. However, they are fighting alongside the Japanese in the seas. An incident between the British and the Americans is only a matter of time...