Dupuy Т. The Naval War in the Pacific: On to Tokyo

Franklin Watts, Inc., 1963. ― 102 p. ― (The Military History of World War II Volume 12).
The Japanese Offensives
Outbreak of War
WORLD W AR II began in the Far East in the summer of 1937, when Japanese troops invaded China to begin what they ealled “the China Incident.” This was the first move in the Japanese plan to establish political and economic control over all of East Asia, creating a “Cheater East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere.”
The outbreak of World War II in Europe seemed to give Japan the opportunity to proceed further. In 1940, Germany conquered Holland and France and decisively defeated British armies on the continent of Europe. None of these countries could offer serious opposition to Japan’s ambitions in Southeast Asia. Moving into defenseless French Indochina, by the end of 1941 the Japanese had completed preparations for seizing British Malaya and the Netherlands East Indies. Japan ignored warnings from the United States that continued aggression could lead to war.