The fates of Germany and Japan after WW2 share lots of similarities – both were ruled by brutal regimes, both were were defeated and occupied by their enemies, both were utterly destroyed, only to rebuild afterward and turn into stable democracies and economic powerhouses.
But there are some significant differences as well – Germany was divided, Japan was not; Germany did lose lots of territory, while the Japanese homeland was left intact for the most part; Germany was occupied by four different powers, while Japan was effectively only occupied by the Americans. Germany also ended up with pretty good relations with all its neighbors and former enemies, while the same can‘t be said in regard to Japan and its often rocky relations with China and both Koreas. Germany also became socially fairly liberal, like all western countries, while Japan is in many ways much more conservative, be it in terms of immigration (which is basically non-existent), female representation (Japan has far less female members of parliament than any other democratic country, and even less than most non-democratic countries), or in the way Japan deals with its past (there isn‘t really the same kind of national consensus in Japan in regards to its actions during WW2 like in Germany). On the other hand, Japan‘s constitution contains the famous Article 9, prohibiting Japan from making war entirely (though there have been some efforts to ‚soften’ this a bit), while Germany actually has taken part in military interventions since WW2.
But is there a way to switch their post-war fates around? In other words, Germany is still defeated and occupied, but only by the western powers, and retains its territorial integrity and unity. Japan on the other hand gets divided into occupation zones, including a Soviet zone, which becomes a seperate, communist puppet state. Culturally, Germany also remains much more conservative than OTL, with no significant immigration, and a strong revisionist streak among its political and intellectual class in regard to WW2, that lasts to this day (including whitewashing and even honoring of some war criminals), while its relations to Poland and Russia are much more difficult because of this. Japan on the other hand openly breaks with its millitarist past, and denial of Japanese war crimes is outlawed, while its relations with China and the Koreas are much better. Japan also is more open to immigration than OTL. On the other hand, Germany’s constitution contains an equivalent to Japan’s Article 9, prohibiting German involvement in foreign interventions for the most part. Bonus points if Japan abolishes the monarchy after the war, while it is restored in Germany.
Is there a plausible way to achive this, without completely derailing WW2 from the beginning? Maybe if Hitler is successfully assassinated in 1944, and the military junta eventually surrenders to the western Allies before the Soviets are able to occupy any part of Germany? And Japan then decides to use biological weapons against the US coast (there was a TL about this some time ago, i believe), thus making Japan look even more ‚evil‘ in the eyes of the Allies?
Are there other ways to do this? How does the Cold War change with a bigger, united Germany in Europe, but a divided Japan in Asia?
But there are some significant differences as well – Germany was divided, Japan was not; Germany did lose lots of territory, while the Japanese homeland was left intact for the most part; Germany was occupied by four different powers, while Japan was effectively only occupied by the Americans. Germany also ended up with pretty good relations with all its neighbors and former enemies, while the same can‘t be said in regard to Japan and its often rocky relations with China and both Koreas. Germany also became socially fairly liberal, like all western countries, while Japan is in many ways much more conservative, be it in terms of immigration (which is basically non-existent), female representation (Japan has far less female members of parliament than any other democratic country, and even less than most non-democratic countries), or in the way Japan deals with its past (there isn‘t really the same kind of national consensus in Japan in regards to its actions during WW2 like in Germany). On the other hand, Japan‘s constitution contains the famous Article 9, prohibiting Japan from making war entirely (though there have been some efforts to ‚soften’ this a bit), while Germany actually has taken part in military interventions since WW2.
But is there a way to switch their post-war fates around? In other words, Germany is still defeated and occupied, but only by the western powers, and retains its territorial integrity and unity. Japan on the other hand gets divided into occupation zones, including a Soviet zone, which becomes a seperate, communist puppet state. Culturally, Germany also remains much more conservative than OTL, with no significant immigration, and a strong revisionist streak among its political and intellectual class in regard to WW2, that lasts to this day (including whitewashing and even honoring of some war criminals), while its relations to Poland and Russia are much more difficult because of this. Japan on the other hand openly breaks with its millitarist past, and denial of Japanese war crimes is outlawed, while its relations with China and the Koreas are much better. Japan also is more open to immigration than OTL. On the other hand, Germany’s constitution contains an equivalent to Japan’s Article 9, prohibiting German involvement in foreign interventions for the most part. Bonus points if Japan abolishes the monarchy after the war, while it is restored in Germany.
Is there a plausible way to achive this, without completely derailing WW2 from the beginning? Maybe if Hitler is successfully assassinated in 1944, and the military junta eventually surrenders to the western Allies before the Soviets are able to occupy any part of Germany? And Japan then decides to use biological weapons against the US coast (there was a TL about this some time ago, i believe), thus making Japan look even more ‚evil‘ in the eyes of the Allies?
Are there other ways to do this? How does the Cold War change with a bigger, united Germany in Europe, but a divided Japan in Asia?