One of the most dangerous things about human nature is its tendency towards complacency. We tend to take what happened yesterday as a guide to what is going to happen tomorrow. As we are one of the most powerful nations in the world, we tend to take that as being the natural order of things. Even those who gleefully predict the ending of American power fail to really understand what that would mean.
But every time I read up on the Battle of Midway, I am always struck by the fact that less than 70 years ago America was fighting for its life. If Japan had hit America carriers at the American carriers at Pearl Harbor, there would have been no battle of Midway. If the American’s had failed to break Japan’s naval code, the Japanese might have succeeded in luring American carriers into a trap at the the battle of Midway. And with both of those facts being true, the Americans still could have easily lost the Battle of Midway.
In some circles is it is common to argue that this would not matter because American industrial power was so great that its victory was bound to happen regardless. But this is an iffy proposition. The war in Europe and the war in the Pacific were closely connected in terms of supplies and materials. If America had faced a series of defeats in the Pacific, they would have been unwilling to send troops and resources over to Europe to the degree that they did. And without American help through opening up a second front and with lead lease who knows if Russia could have held out. And if Russia had fallen who knows what could have happened?
So watch this documentary on Midway and be amazed at the miracles that brought about the peace and security that we know today. And do not be so confident that the western way of life is predestined to always be sustained by those miracles.
I have provided links to the first three parts of the documentary below. But they not really necessary to understanding what a close run thing Midway was. Watching the last three embedded clips is sufficient.