Cultural Rewards
During WWII the upper echelon German leaders’ culture was fight to the death embracing even suicide…as Hitler did. The troops, however, were not fatalistic inasmuch as when faced with obvious over-powering odds they surrendered. The Japanese had a different culture: Military officers and their soldiers believed honorable death, including Hara‑kiri, was preferrable to capitulation. Their Emperor was slightly more realistic, calling it quits after experiencing the devastation of nuclear bombs.
