Eighty Years Ago: Asia Pacific, June 19 – 25, 1941

June 19, 1941: Wang Jingwei, head of Japanese-backed puppet regime in eastern China, visits the Meiji shrine in Tokyo, in honor of the Meiji emperor who oversaw the modernization of Japan

June 20, 1941: United States Army Air Forces is formed as successor to United States Army Air Corps

June 21, 1941: Japanese Army spokesman says he looks forward to participation of US volunteer aviators in war on China’s side as it will give Japan a chance to see ‘how American pilots really perform’

June 22, 1941: Germany attacks Soviet Union, triggering debate among leaders of Axis Partner Japan if it should attack communist colossus from the east

June 23, 1941: US Secretary of the Interior Harold Ickes urges President Roosevelt to use the opportunity of Germany’s attack on Soviet Union to cut off oil sales to Japan, saying Tokyo will be to preoccupied by events in Russia to react by invading oil-rich Dutch East Indies

June 24, 1941: As German attack on Soviet Union moves into third day, Tokyo decides to evacuate all Japanese women and children from Moscow

June 25, 1941: Japan reportedly moves troops from south to north in China, strengthening suspicions that it is planning an attack on the Soviet Union to assist the German invasion

Categories: War

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