Nazi Conspiracy & Aggression The remainder of Ribbentrop's argument shows something of
the real nature of the German-Japanese alliance:
"The Reich Foreign Minister continued by saying that it
was Japan's friendship which had enabled Germany to arm
after the Anti-Comintern Pact was concluded. On the
other hand, Japan had been able to penetrate deeply
into the English sphere of interest in China. Germany's
victory on the continent has brought now, after the
conclusion of the Three Power Pact, great advantages
for Japan. France, as a power, was eliminated in the
Far East (Indo-China). England too was considerably
weakened; Japan had been able to close in steadily on
Singapore. Thus, Germany had already contributed
enormously to the shaping of the future fate of the two
nations. Due to our geographical situation we should
have to carry the main burden of the final battle in
the future, too. If an unwanted conflict with Russia
should arise we should have to carry the main burden
also in this case. If Germany should ever weaken Japan
would find itself confronted by a world-coalition
within a short time. We were all in the same boat. The
fate of both
[Page 846]
nations was being determined now for centuries to come.
The same was true for Italy. The interests of the three
countries would never intersect. A defeat of Germany
would also mean the end of the Japanese imperialistic
idea. "Ambassador Oshima definitely agreed with these
statements and emphasized the fact that Japan was
determined to keep its imperial position. The Reich
Foreign Minister then discussed the great problems
which would arise after the war for. the parties of the
Three Power Pact from the shaping of a new order in
Europe and East Asia. The problems arising then would
require a bold solution. Thereby no overcentralization
should take place, but a solution should be found on a
basis of parity particularly in the economic realm. In
regard to this the Reich Foreign Minister advanced the
principle that a free exchange of trade should take
place between the two spheres of interest on a liberal
basis. The European-African hemisphere under the
leadership of Germany and Italy, and the East-Asian
sphere of interest under the leadership of Japan. As he
conceived it, for example, Japan would conduct trade
and make trade agreements directly with the independent
states in the European hemisphere, as heretofore, while
Germany and Italy would trade directly and make trade
agreements with the independent countries within the
Japanese orbit of power, such as China, Thailand,
Indochina, etc. Furthermore, as between the two
economic spheres, each should fundamentally grant- the
other preferences with regard to third parties. The
Ambassador expressed agreement with this thought."
(1834-PS)
The instigation to war by Ribbentrop, the German Foreign
Minister, is clear. The participation of the German military
representatives in the encouragement and provocation of wars
of aggression is shown in a Top Secret order signed by
Keitel as Chief of the OKW and entitled "Basic Order No. 24
Regarding Collaboration with Japan" C-75). It is dated 5
March 1941, about a week and a half after Ribbentrop's
conference with Oshima, just discussed. It was distributed
in 14 copies to the highest commands of the Army, Navy, and
Air Force as well as to the Foreign Office. Two copies of
this order, identical except for handwritten notations
presumably made by the recipients, were turned up by the
prosecution. Document G75 is Copy No. 2 of the order,
distributed to the Naval War Staff of the Commander-in-Chief
of the Navy (the OKM). Copy No. 4,. designed for the
Wehrmacht Fuehrungsstab -- the Operations Staff
[Page 847]
of the High Command of the Armed Forces -- was found in the
OKW files at Flensburg. The head of this Operations Staff
was Jodl.
The
original plaintext version
of this file is available via
ftp.
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Volume
I Chapter IX
Collaboration with Italy & Japan
Aggressive War Against the United States
November 1936 to December 1941
(Part 3 of 12)