China‐Burma‐India Theater
China‐Burma‐India Theater (1941–45).The China‐Burma‐India (CBI) theater has been dubbed “the forgotten theater” of World War II. Once the United States entered the war, American strategy called for building up China as a source of manpower, as a base for bombers and the eventual invasion of Japan, and as a pro‐American regional power in the postwar era.
After Japanese occupation of Burma and the April 1942 closure of the Burma Road, China's last overland link with its allies, two years passed before the Allies could make a major effort to reopen the route. Vast distances, rugged terrain, few roads, heavy rainfall, and diseases made Burma a horrendous place for a campaign. Given the “Germany First” strategy, the CBI theater lay far down the Allies' list of priorities. Although the British wanted to recover Burma and their other Far Eastern colonies, they shared little of the American sense of urgency for aiding...
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