Mercantilism, industrial capacity, and Japan's convoy weakness

Japan's mercantilist assumption that territorial control of resources would create power differed from British and American influence exercised through the movement and control of capital. The shift toward capitalism, informal empire, and decolonisation reduced the value of formal possession by itself. The path toward radical Japanese militarism was not treated as inevitable: without the Great Depression and Wall Street crash it might have developed differently, although constitutional roots predated both shocks. Japan still needed the infrastructure and shipping required to use resources, together with a much stronger escort system to protect maritime trade from American submarines. A dedicated stream of sloops or submarine chasers equipped with ASDIC could have made the early American campaign more difficult. British treaty-era opportunities for small escorts make convoy warfare a central strategic weakness rather than a minor afterthought.