For Americans like me, who’ve known their country at war only in the Middle East, one of the most interesting things about World War II is the lack of a postwar insurgency. After the Nazis and imperial Japanese surrendered, groups of disaffected soldiers did not lead violent campaigns to restore the defeated regimes (an end-of-war coup attempt in Japan failed rather quickly). The occupations of Germany and Japan were peaceful. Both countries became reliable American allies in short order. Hundreds of thousands of the defeated regimes’ erstwhile supporters––including senior officials, including war criminals––escaped serious punishment, rejoined society, and sometimes gained political influence. And still the peace was kept.
