Hi everyone, this is Scott. If you want to learn about the world's oldest civilizations, find out how they were rediscovered.

Follow the story of Mark Antony and Cleopatra's descendants over 10 generations, or take a deep dive into the Iron Age or the Hellenistic era,

then check out the Ancient World Podcast.

Available on all podcasting platforms or go to ancient world podcast.com.

That's the Ancient World Podcast.

Hello, everyone. My name is Wesley Levisay from the History of the Second World War podcast.

Join me on a journey to the most destructive conflict in human history, a journey that will take

us not just through the famous campaigns and cataclysmic battles, but also to the lesser

well-known corners of the war that touched millions all over the world, as we try and answer

not just the questions of what and where,

but how and why. You can find History of the Second World War on all major podcast platforms

or at History of the Second World War.com.

Hello, and thank you for listening to the history of World War II podcast, episode 609, prelude to the Battle of the Coral Sea.

Now that the Allies have reestablished dominance in the Mediterranean, having taken Sicily and forced Mussolini from office for now, it's worth investigating how the United States, Australia, Britain, China, and others dealt with the growing power of the Japanese in early 1942.

Of course, FDR had already made it clear that Europe was the top priority,

as had the British. Thus, the Americans would not have a Britain-like ally in the Pacific with its vast resources, and due to its location, could strike directly at the enemy, i.e. being based

in Britain and being able to strike directly at Germany enemy, i.e. being based in Britain and being able to strike directly

at Germany and German-controlled Europe. No, though there was Australia, another potential

unsinkable carrier and base, and with that, so the Japanese desired early on to cut its trade

routes, hoping it would wither on the vine,

something the Americans were most eager to counter.

The Pacific, though, priority number two to the Allies, had thousands of miles of wide-open

...