Midway and the Impact to Japan

World War II -- Battle of Midway

The Battle of Midway was fully intended by the Japanese to be a key to Japanese military domination in the Pacific and a further crippling blow to American naval forces merely six months after the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. However, Midway ultimately exposed and deepened the weaknesses of the Japanese war effort. More than a mere defeat, the Midway had far broader effects on the Japanese war effort.

The Implications of the Battle of Midway to the Japanese War Effort

The Battle of Midway's destruction of Japan's offensive capability in the Pacific had far-reaching implications for the Japanese war effort. A somewhat surprising result of research is the lack of emphasis on the Japanese Navy's specific losses at Midway. Legend has it that the losses of ships and trained personnel at Midway crippled the Japanese for the duration of the War. However, John Keegan's The Battle for History: Re-Fighting World War II[footnoteRef:1], Richard Overy's Why the Allies Won[footnoteRef:2] and Gerhard L. Weinberg's A World at Arms: A Global History of World War II[footnoteRef:3] do not particularly dwell on these losses. Weinberg does mention that the Akagi, Kaga, Sotyo fleet carriers were out of commission as a result of Midway.[footnoteRef:4] However, Weinberg also maintains that according to military construction figures, the Japanese could not have defeated America anyway.[footnoteRef:5] [1: John Keegan, The Battle for History: Re-Fighting World War II (New York, NY: First Vintage Books Edition, 1996).] [2: Richard Overy, Why the Allies Won (New York, NY W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 1997).] [3: Gerhard L. Weinberg, A World at Arms: A Global History of World War II (New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 1995).] [4: Ibid., p. 338.] [5: Ibid., p. 339.]

All three sources agree that the Japanese deemed the Battle of Midway a key to domination of the Pacific. According to Weinberg, the Japanese Navy's intended landing on Hawaii required victory at Midway; consequently, the loss of Midway rendered an invasion of Hawaii impossible.[footnoteRef:6] Keegan agrees that Midway was Japan's strategic objective in mid-1942[footnoteRef:7] and Overy calls the Battle of Midway "The most significant fleet engagement of the War."[footnoteRef:8] Weinberg concludes that if Japan had won at Midway, "the course of the War could have proceeded very differently."[footnoteRef:9] [6: Ibid., p. 330.] [7: Keegan, p.88.] [8: Overy, p. 43.] [9: Weinberg, p. 339.]