Originally Posted by
jolihokistix
As early as the 1920s in the USA the idea of war with Japan was being bandied about. The various scenarios began to take on a life of their own, and to bring on the very thing that people feared.
Not really - Japan realised it wasn't going to be seen as an equal partner with 'Western Empires' after the Versailles Treaty in 1919...it was granted the German territories in China - it also realised having few natural resources it would need an expansionist policy (certainly the hawks in the military thought so if the government of Japan didn't). The situation in China meant conflict was inevitable and the expansionist theory would certainly bring Japan into conflict with the British, Dutch, French and Americans. And so it transpired - the US sided with the Chinese over the conflict there and the Japanese orchestrated a reason to step up military matters throughout China and S E Asia. If the Americans wouldn't give Japan the fuels it needed - it'd have to go out and grab them & to a certain extent the idea of 'Asia for the Asians' looked attractive to some countries that were under colonial government
WW1 never ended - it just rolled on and on.