The Third Reich was war-oriented from the very beginning. A functioning alliance with Turkey and Japan could have radically changed the course of World War II. To a significant extent, the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact excluded such an opportunity. For Hitler and his inner circle, capable allies were essential to establish a new, racially defined world order. Conversely, for the decisive majority of Germans it was, in fact, an alien war, neither legitimate nor necessary. Despite massive brainwashing, the National Socialist elite failed to make ordinary Germans complicit in the war resp. subject of the war (Subjekt der Kriegführung). For the public at large, the allies represented the fastest possible end to the war and a return to normality. The attitude towards Turkey and Japan was primarily instrumental in nature and could only be adequately interpreted within the framework of a general anti-war stance.
Judging from the SD (Sicherheitsdienst, the Third Reich’s security service) public opinion reports, the image of Turkey and Turks fluctuated and varied due to the shifting nature of Turkish politics, which in turn depended on the changing situation in the war and distrust of Berlin. Yet the disposition of the German public was rather positive. A benevolent Stimmung (mood) dominated, as was stated in the reports. Noteworthy ethnic, religious, or cultural prejudices (Haltung) cannot be identified based on available sources.
Relations with Japan became truly dramatic. It was the only significant military power bound by a formal alliance treaty with Berlin. Unlike Turkey, racial issues overshadowed the relations between those two countries from the start. Initial Japanese successes instilled optimism in the Germans. A clearly positive Stimmung characterised public opinion. A kind of inferiority complex (Minderwertigkeitskomplex) even began taking hold against a backdrop of Japanese ancestral and ‘warrior spirit’ (senshi damashii) cults – greatly amplified by German media. At the same time, Tokyo’s great victories led to a situation where old, deeply rooted prejudices emerged and rumours of the ‘yellow peril’ (die gelbe Gefahr) from the Far East started spreading again. A positive and kindly Stimmung was contradicted by an internally divided attitude (Haltung), simultaneously defined by the fiction of racial superiority and feelings of inferiority. Finally, forceful intervention by the Ministry of Propaganda could manage politically sensitive complications.