What was the biggest mistake made during WWII?

[Zeno]

Excellent thread and discussion. The focus, rightly, has been to the west but still I find it interesting that the word China has not even entered the discussion. Although as far as mistakes are concerned, perhaps the biggest were made in the aftermath of WW11 and none more so than issues with China. But that would be a completely different thread perhaps. For a tease on this idea see here: Anti-Japanese War

The full text is below:

59th Anniversary of Anti-Japanese War's End Marked

Fifty-nine years ago Sunday, the Japanese emperor announced his nation's surrender. For China, eight years of war against the invading forces ended.

In Beijing, more than 50 historians commemorated the 59th anniversary of the end of the Anti-Japanese War by holding a special meeting in the Anti-Japanese War Memorial Hall.

They called for a just attitude towards the war by the Japanese government and the establishment of friendly ties between China and Japan.

In Nanjing, visiting Japanese groups, historians, survivors of the Nanjing Massacre, and young people gathered to mark the day. All the groups vowed they would remember the historical lesson and oppose war in the future.

In Hong Kong, some groups held a commemorative gathering and called for an end to militarism in Japan.

During the eight years of war with Japan, more than 35 million Chinese lost their lives and the country suffered countless atrocities

(CRI.com August 16, 2004)


The west, aside from some economic plundering and marginal pretensions, has never engaged fully with nor understood China and its very unique and ancient civilization. This error alone is so immense and the consequences so long term that the blunder is incalculable. This started long before WW II (or WW I) but the wars focused it, the aftermaths verified it, and the present illustrates it more and more everyday.

-The House of Soong.