Japan, a country in East Asia, has always been regarded as a small country. But this is actually our stereotype of Japan. In fact, in terms of land area and population, it can't compare with many countries. However, we evaluate whether a country is strong or weak, big or small, not based on these standards, but on the comprehensive strength of the country. Next, let's learn about Japan's "small" and "big" from all aspects. As I said just now, Japan is a "small country" in terms of land area and population. Its land area is only over 370,000 square kilometers. Located in the southeast of China, it is long and narrow, with a north-south span of only 1900 km.
From the map, people often regard it as a bug crawling in front of China, a rooster. Because it is smaller than China, which has a vast territory. Look at its population. According to statistics, during World War II, the population of Japan reached 78 million, much higher than that of European countries such as Britain and France, but still far behind the United States and China. During World War II, the population of the United States was about 65.438+0.3 billion, nearly twice that of Japan. The population of China is as high as 400 million, almost five times that of Japan. From the above two angles, we can see that Japan is not dominant in geographical resources and population.
Then, the total population of Japan during World War II was only 78 million. Why does it dare to challenge China, the United States and the Soviet Union? In fact, this small country contains enormous energy. This can be seen from its comprehensive national strength and military strength. Japan is an island country, and its development and expansion are limited by extremely limited resources. Therefore, it has the power to continuously expand outward, and the people all over the country are working very hard for the development of the country. First, it occupied Korea, and in 193 1 year, it hit China with its abacus, taking away the northeast of China, and then its national strength soared, making it equal to the United States, the Soviet Union, Britain and Germany in one fell swoop. Moreover, during their occupation of the Northeast, the GDP of the Northeast has always far exceeded their domestic GDP.
That's why they spent so much money to run the puppet Manchukuo. Moreover, Japan's military strength is even more extraordinary. During the Second World War, Japan was the first country in Asia with the ability to independently develop aircraft. They invented the Zero Fighter to attack the United States, and the American army was once scarred by this kind of plane. In addition to technology, their production efficiency is also high. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries alone manufactured 4,600 tanks and18,000 aircraft for Japan. I was just talking about the air force. In fact, the Japanese navy is also very brave, with first-class combat technology and particularly rich equipment. There were more than 600 warships and more than 20 aircraft carriers during World War II, which was not much worse than that of the United States before the Pacific War.
We have always believed that Japan's view is one-sided. It is really small, but this "small" is only in terms of land resources and population. We should see its "greatness" and "strength" from its military strength and comprehensive national strength. As the saying goes, "Know yourself and know yourself, and fight every battle." We must find out the situation of Japan and its ambition to seek expansion, so as to strike a powerful blow when it wants to launch aggression.