I was browsing Quora, and came across an unusual question that wasn’t answered well, so I thought I would bring it to the Dope’s attention.
In the event that Japan and the EU went to war with each other, who would win?
This is a tough question for me. Japan has one of the largest and most advanced militaries–it ranks above most individual European nations. On the other hand, Japan has no real experience with force projection–its attitude is primarily defensive. Whereas the EU has most of the world’s non-American aircraft carriers.
I think that the EU has a better chance of getting a force that’s bigger than a few companies to its opponent’s shores–but it would take quite a while. But they certainly couldn’t transport a force that would have any chance of beating the Japanese military after traveling that far. So I’m not sure what to think.
Dunno, but the Japanese fight in WWII was only possible because European power, such as The Netherlands, France, Britain etc. and America, maintained colonial seizures in Asia ( OK, some were pretty bad, but generally inhabitants weren’t much worse off if peasants than previously, and the Japanese merely wished to substitute themselves as masters ). Had these not been comparatively near there would have been little chance of land battles. Maybe the Rus as near neighbours.
Which is why it is impossible to take seriously the military threat of China to Europe, let alone the USA, they’d have to go an enormously long way round.
Ehh, as in all military questions of this nature, it would depend on what the objectives were. Even though Japan still only really has a self-defense force, the EU would have a hard time occupying the islands. The opposite is also true. If the objective was for something else in-between, it would depend on where it fell in location and importance to the two parties.
Until you define all of those, this is Batman Vs. Superman territory. There’s no satisfying answer you can come up with without knowing a lot more real-world details about the problem.
Military technology has changed enormously since then, and the people who were involved are mostly all dead, and certainly in no condition to lead an army if they aren’t. Whatever experience the Japanese had is long gone; they’d have to start from scratch.
Also, in a real life or death situation the Japanese would almost certainly overcome their reluctance and start building some nuclear weapons, which would pretty much end any invasion plans. The Japanese are one of the “six months to the bomb” nations.
You know, I have just gotten a headache thinking about how exactly Japanese and EU member states forces will engage each other, which part of the globe, what objectives.
Military power and prowess are not like a sport, that you show up at a designated time and place for a contest with prearranged rules and regulations. They are designed with threat perceptions in mind.
Its a bit like asking who would win in a match against an American football player and a figure skater.
The EU itself doesn’t - though there are rumours that some of the top people may want to create some sort of European force that MAY coexist with NATO - but the individual nations certainly do. UK and France have an “independent” nuclear deterrent for example. Something the Japanese don’t.
Yes but if Jean-Claude Juncker called up a British aircraft carrier or nuclear submarine and told them to attack Tokyo he’s not going to get very far without Theresa May’s go ahead.
Also having a couple dozen different militaries is not the same as having a unified military like the United States and Japan have.
Absent nuclear bombardment, the two groups have no practical ability to even engage each other’s forces, much less each other’s homelands. Yes, a ship here or there might be sunk. But that’s about it. As such, although both sides can create or suffer a provocation, neither side can even have a war, much less prevail in one.
Equally clearly, either the UK or France could sail a boomer around to a suitable spot in the western Pacific and then incinerate *all *of Japan’s major cities in a few minutes. Which equivalent capability the Japanese utterly lack today. So for that scenario it’s no contest: EU (or at least “certain European nations”) hands down.
It depends all on location. Which side has the home-field advantage? If Japan sent an expeditionary JMSDF fleet to Europe to battle the EU’s navies, it would lose every ship. Same for the EU if it tried to send an EU fleet to Japan to fight Japan, it would be another Battle of Tsushima.
If they met midway, like in the Middle East, the EU would probably win.
From the official English translation of the Japanese Constitution:
Although Japan does maintain something of a de facto military, and I’ve heard there’s been so expansion to this de facto military recently … she’s still a long ways from any kind of expeditionary adventure in Europe … my sense is that the EU wouldn’t fight the Japanese, they’d be fighting the Americans … and the EU would lose quickly … and fall so far that only they would not rise up again for many many generations …