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MINISTRY OF INFORMATION
HOME INTELLIGENCE SPECIAL REPORT
Public attitudes to the Far Eastern War and Japan

July 11, 1944

Contents

I. Introduction

II. Summary of conclusions

III. The prosecution and duration of the Far Eastern War

IV. Our motives for the war against the Japanese

V. The picture of the war itself

VI. The consequences of carrying on with the war against Japan

VII. Attitude to Japan and the Japanese

VIII. Knowledge of Japan

IX. The Questionnaires

I. Introduction

The investigation was made at the request of the Far Eastern War Committee of the Ministry of Information.

Interviewing was carried out by the British Institute of Public Opinion during the last week of May. As it was desired to ask 24 questions in all, two questionnaires were necessary. Each questionnaire was put to a representative sample of the whole civilian public, over 18 years of age. Three check questions were included in both questionnaires. Two of these gave identical results:

“ Have you any friends or relatives who are prisoners of war in the Far East ?”

“ Have you ever been anywhere East of the Suez Canal ?”

(Though 10% may appear a high figure, it must be remembered that large numbers of all classes have visited India in particular for commerce, and in the Indian Army and Merchant Navy.

A similar question “Have you ever visited the United States?” has now been asked on three occasions, with the following results:

With these facts in mind, the 10% figure is less surprising)

The third check question gave closely comparable results. It is not repeated here as it is given in the main body of the report. (Q. 1. below). It would appear, therefore, that the samples for the two questionnaires were comparable.

The order of the questions within each questionnaire is given in Section IX of the report.

Where results obtained in previous enquiries by the British Institute of Public Opinion are included in the report for comparative purposes, this is clearly stated.

Summary of conclusions

1. Continuous qualitative studies by Home Intelligence have shown that public interest in the Far Eastern war is at a low level; and until the war in Europe is over, this is likely to continue. It is against such a background that the results of the present enquiry must be judged.

2. The present enquiry confirms the facts that general knowledge of the Far Eastern Campaign is slight; and that knowledge of, and interest in, Japan are extremely limited.

3. Nearly 90% of people consider we should stay in the war until Japan is beaten.

4. Most people (74%) expect the war against Japan to last anything up to 2 years from now. 30% expect it to be over within 1 year; this is 10% more than 6 months ago.

5. The majority (upwards of 60%) consider we are fighting Japan for motives higher than gain or revenge - as part of the general war against aggression. Defence of the Dominions does not figure as a prominent motive in people's minds.

6. Most people (72%) think the Chinese have so far done most of the fighting; the Americans come next, and ourselves and the Dominions last.

7. A majority appear to expect the continuance of the war against Japan to affect them personally. Over 60% expect our food supplies to be curtailed while we are fighting the Japanese. Nearly 60% expect clothes rationing will have to go on during the Far Eastern war.

8. More than half the people questioned (57%) consider the Japanese as dangerous as, or more dangerous than, the Germans.

9. Most people favour some form of military control of beaten Japan.

10. Fewer people (42%) expect us ever to be friendly again with Japan than expect us ever to be friendly with Germany (65%) Hatred of the Japanese appears to be at least as strong as hatred of the Germans.

III. The prosecution and duration of the Far Eastern War

In December 1942, the following question was asked by the British Institute of Public Opinion:

Q. 1a: “Mr. Churchill says that if Germany is beaten first, we shall continue to fight until Japan is defeated. Do you approve or disapprove of this course?”

The results were as follows:

Other analysis showed no significant differences. In the present enquiry, the following question was asked in both questionnaires:

Q. 1: “Do you think we ought to stay in the war till Japan is beaten?”

Other analysis showed no significant differences.

NOTES :

1. The results show that the great majority of the public accepts the view that we must continue with the war until Japan is beaten.

2. There is no significant difference between this result, and the result obtained to a similar question put 1½ years ago. There may have been fluctations in the interval; but Home Intelligence qualitative studies over this period have not suggested that at any time has there been an increase in the desire to discontinue the Far Eastern War.

3. Analysis on the basis of those who had friends or relatives prisoners of war, and those who had not, showed no significant difference in the views of the two groups.

Questions about the duration of the war have frequently been asked in the past. The following table gives the results on the three occasions when the war against Japan has been separated from the war against Germany.

Q. 2: “How long do you think the war is likely to last from now?”

Of the 56% who in May expected the end of the war against Germany within 1 year, 22% expected it within 9 months.

Of the 7% who in May expected the war against Japan to last longer than 3 years, 4% expected it to last about 4 years.

NOTES :

1. Most people expect the war against Germany to be over within a year. People had roughly similar expectations in December 1943, but 3 months before that, over 30% expected to have to wait up to 2 years.

2. Most people expect the war against Japan to last up to 2 years. In the past 6 months, there has been a significant increase in the number who expect it to last about a year; with a corresponding decrease in those expecting it to last 2 years.

IV. Our Motives for the War against the Japanese

The following questions were designed to find out why people thought we are fighting the Japanese - in particular, whether there was any truth in the hypotheses that we were in the war either for imperialist exploitation and the recovery of capital assets, or to oblige the Americans; also to see how far our debt to the Dominions or other principled motives were present in people's minds; and finally, to discover whether revenge for specific defeats was an important motive.

Q. 3: “What do you think is our main reason for fighting till we beat the Japs?”

NOTES :

1. The grouping of the answers in this question is not entirely satisfactory.

2. However, it appears that only a small minority (some part of 13%) give reasons which can be interpreted as indicating national self-interest.

The great majority of reasons given suggest the feeling that we are fighting the Japanese for higher motives than gain or revenge.

The next two questions were intended to find out how far our duty towards the Dominions was thought an important motive.

Q. 4: “Australia and New Zealand came into the war before they themselves were in any immediate danger. Do you think this was mainly to look after themselves or to help us?”

NOTE :

A majority regard the Pacific Dominions' entry into the war as something done mainly to help the Mother Country.

Q. 4a: “Is there anything more we can do to help them?”

NOTE :

Inasmuch as most people appear to have no view on the matter, it appears that the majority do not see a close link between helping the Dominions, or even repaying our debt to them, and the Far Eastern war.

The next question was asked to find out how far revenge for specific military defeats appeared to be an important motive.

Q. 5: “The Japs captured Hong Kong and Singapore from us. Do you think we should try to get them out of the hands of the Japs?”

COMMENTS

NOTES :

1. It is clear that the great majority think we should try and recapture Hong Kong and Singapore.

2. Revenge as such is not stated as a motive. Over half the comments indicate the simple view that they were once ours, that we need them, and that that is enough.

3. Only 6% show any doubts about our rights to these territories.

V. The picture of the war itself

Q. 6: “Who do you think has done most of the fighting against the Japs - American, Chinese, Dominion and British Forces?”

Q. 6a: “Who next?”

Adding Q. 6 and Q. 6a together (since no one will name the same country both first and second), out of a possible 100%, we find:

NOTE :

Clearly the great majority feel that China has done most of the fighting so far, with the U.S.A. a good second.

The next two questions were intended to find out how far the news of the Far Eastern war had impressed itself on the public.

Q. 7: “Do you know the names of any places where the Allies are fighting the Japanese?”

NOTE :

So far, only the war in Burma appears to have made much impression - though only just under half the people questioned mention Burma.

It may be significant that only in Burma are British troops fighting in considerable numbers.

Q. 8: “Do you know the name of the Allied Chief who has his headquarters in Ceylon?”

NOTE :

It appears that at the most about 50% of people know even a few simple facts about the Far Eastern war.

The final question of this series was a numerical “Quiz” question; a type which seldom yields satisfactory results. It was put, however, to see if there was a realisation of the distances involved in the Far Eastern war.

Q. 9: “Leaving out China, about how far away from Japan is the nearest place where the Allied troops are now fighting the Japanese?”

(The actual distance at the time of the question was 2,500 miles)

NOTE :

The majority are unwilling to offer any specific suggestions. This may not mean that they do not appreciate the large distances involved - but rather that they do not wish to hazard a guess.

Indeed, the fact that only 8% gave distances under 1,000 miles suggests that there may be some general realisation of the scale of distances.

VI. The consequences of carrying on with the war against Japan

Willingness to continue with the war is of limited importance, unless coupled with a realisation of the consequences of so doing.

The following questions were intended to find out just what people thought carrying on with the war would involve.

Q. 10: “When Germany is defeated do you think we shall have to keep all our Forces at full strength in order to beat Japan?”

Analyses by age showed no significant differences.

NOTES :

1. A bare majority expect we shall have to keep our Forces at full strength to beat the Japanese.

2. A substantial proportion are unable to offer an opinion.

3. Among the higher economic groups, almost as many think we shall be able to reduce our Forces as think we shall have to keep them at full strength.

Q. 11: “What do you think would be the fairest way to pick the men to be sent to the Far East?”

COMMENTS

NOTES :

1. Very few consider that importance of civilian job should be a deciding factor.

2. Taking the population as a whole, age, length of service, and family responsibilities are each favoured by an equal number.

3. Among men, age and length of service are favoured by more than favour family responsibilities.

4. Among women, the question of family responsibilities is chosen by most.

5. It must be remembered that the sample for the enquiry included only the civilian population, and not members of the Forces.

Q. 12: “How much do you think our food supplies will be affected whilst we are fighting against Japan?”

Analysis by age groups showed no significant differences.

NOTES :

1. Most people expect our food supplies to be affected to some extent by the war against Japan.

2. About one quarter do not expect them to be affected.

3. Nearly one fifth of the women are unable to express a view.

The next question was asked in two forms, one in each questionnaire. In the first (Q. 13), continuance of clothes rationing was linked hypothetically with the Japanese war; in the second (Q. 14), with the relief of Europe. The phraseology of the two questions was also different, in as much as the relief of Europe involved a direct and voluntary sacrifice, while the first situation might follow automatically from the decision to continue the war against Japan.

Q. 13: “When Germany has been beaten, can we begin to think about stopping clothes rationing, or will it have to be continued till we have beaten Japan?”

Analysis by age groups showed no significant differences.

NOTES :

1. A majority expect clothes rationing will have to go on.

2. Analysis by economic groups shows that among poorer people there is much less expectation that it will have to go on than among the better-off.

Q. 14: “After Germany is beaten, should we stop clothes rationing or should it continue, to allow the people of Europe to get essentials?”

Analysis by sex and age groups showed no significant differences.

NOTES :

1. It should be remembered that this question was asked before the invasion of France - that is, before stories of well-supplied French people were in circulation.

2. A greater majority are prepared for clothes rationing to go on in order to relieve the people of Europe, than expect it to go on as a result of the Japanese war.

3. Even among poorer people a substantial majority are prepared for it to go on, if needed to relieve Europe.

VII. Attitude to Japan and the Japanese

The first two questions were asked (in separate questionnaires) to see how Japan compared in people's minds with Germany as a danger to the world; and whether a country so far away was looked on as a serious menace to our way of life.

Q. 15: “Which do you think is the greater menace to the future peace of the world - the Germans or the Japanese?”

NOTES :

1. Slightly more people regard the Germans as the greater menace to future world peace, than regard the Japanese.

2. At the same time, more than half of people questioned (27 [Text Missing] 30%) regard the Japanese as equally dangerous with, or more dangerous than, the Germans to future world peace.

Q. 16: “Which are the greater menace to our idea of a decent life, the Germans or the Japanese?”

Analysis by age groups showed no significant differences.

NOTE :

Whereas the Germans are regarded as a greater menace than the Japanese both to future world peace and to “our idea of a decent life”, the difference between the two is more striking in the matter of being a menace to world peace.

Q. 17: “What do you think should be done to Japan when she is beaten?”

The question for the U.S.A. was asked by the National Opinion Research Centre.

Its wording was slightly different, since it referred to the Japanese people, rather than Japan; further, the Americans have known many more Japanese personally; these factors may account for the 26% having a “friendly attitude”.

The figures add up to more than 100% because multiple answers were accepted in the American enquiry.

NOTE :

It appears that a majority of the British public favour some form of direct control of beaten Japan.

Analysis by age groups showed no significant differences.

NOTES :

1. More people expect us to be friendly at some future time with Germany, than expect us to be friendly with Japan.

2. In both cases, more men than women expect us to be friendly.

3. In both cases, also, more better-off people than poorer people expect us to be friendly.

4. In both cases, the answer “Yes” may involve approval of a friendly attitude, or fear that we may in fact adopt a friendly attitude (see comment marked thus ≠ below).

Comments on Questions 18 and 18a .

NOTE :

It would appear that hatred of the Japanese is at least as strong as hatred of the Germans.

VIII. Knowledge of Japan

The following two questions were intended to give some indication of what people knew about Japan and the Japanese, also what was their degree of interest in them.

Q. 19: “What do you think is the biggest difference between the everyday life of the Japanese and everyday life in this country?”

NOTE :

The high proportion saying “low wages” or “low standard of living” may be due to pre-war experience of cheap Japanese goods.

Q. 20: “Is there anything you have ever wondered about in connection with Japan or the Japanese?”

NOTE :

It appears that people are not very curious about the Japanese.

IX. The Questionnaires

The questions given above were arranged in the following order in the two questionnaires.

Home Intelligence Division

July 11, 1944.