History Learner
Well-known member
Speaking of US colonies, what if the Philippines were made into a US state prior to World War II? This would completely change the dynamic of the Japanese invasion of the Islands. With the Philippines being a full part of the US rather than a colony, there would be a much greater need to defend it and take it back if lost.
It was always a big priority, the issue was just that the Philippines is a lot closer to Japan than the United States, with Japanese control of the islands (sans Guam and Wake) in between it and Hawaii. That made it logistically hard to project power that far, and that's before Guam fell.