Japanese occupation of Malaya in the name of "Asia for Asiatics", with the European powers unable to effectively retaliate. Many of the other nations within the boundaries of the sphere were under colonial rule and elements of their population were sympathetic to Japan (as in the case of Indonesia), occupied by Japan in the early phases of the war and reformed under puppet governments, or already under Japan's control at the outset (as in the case of Manchukuo). These factors helped make the formation of the sphere, while lacking any real authority or joint power, come together without much difficulty. The "sphere" would, according
Military equipment of Sweden during World War II full payload. Number of bombers pre-war: 88 Number of bombers in 1939: 116 Number of bombers in 1940: 276 Number of bombers in 1941: 346 Number of bombers in 1942: 534 Number of bombers in 1943: 743 Number of bombers in 1944: 775 Number of bombers in 1945: 879 Military equipment of Sweden during World War II Sweden was formally a non-belligerent nation throughout World War II, but saw considerable military build-up as the level of threat from the Soviet Union or Nazi Germany increased. Between 10,000 and 20,000 Swedes fought as volunteers abroad, a majority of them in service