Continuing The Greater Co Prosperity Sphere Through Oil Independence

Prior to Pearl Harbor, Japan started to create an empire that especially did not want to be manipulated by the United States. Steven Hook, the author of “U.S. Foreign Policy: The Paradox of World Power,” mentions that “With French and Dutch colonies in East Asia up for grabs, Japanese leaders knew that only the United States stood in the way of their plan to create a Japanese-led ‘co-prosperity

To impose imperialistic goals and enhance nationalistic beliefs, the Japanese needed to significantly hinder the growth of the US economy, specifically, so that they could not enter into a Pacific war. Admiral Isoruko Yamamoto made it clear that they could not completely knock out America, because of their large economy. However, they believed that by attacking America’s main naval base, Pearl Harbour, they could prevent America’s entry into a Pacific war for 2 years. Therefore, this time would give the Japanese the opportunity to expand and occupy South East Asia without American intervention. The signing of the Tripartite Pact in September 1940, which allied Japan with Germany and Italy, provoked tension between the United States and Japan joined the Axis Powers. Negotiations in Washington were useless because of the almost diametrically opposite aims of the parties. Japan wanted America to abandon all support of the Chinese government and in return Japan would consider withdrawing from the Axis Pact. America distrusted the Japanese and wanted them to withdraw from Indochina and China. The Japanese were beginning to resent negotiations and believed that by the time America had recovered Japan would have acquired enough land and power that the US would accept a peace offer to avoid costly confrontation because by this time the navy would have established a defense perimeter of

Over the span of a few decades, the Japanese and Americans were as is, heading towards war due to a varying amount of disputing between the two. In the 1930’s, Japan invaded China. This caused an uproar between the two countries at the time. This was one of the first few sparks to the flame. In order to create the perfect Yamato race, the Japanese felt that there was more validity if there were no one to stop them, (Document A). Destroying the Pacific fleet was the goal so they could expand and imperialize the world around them. America, being one of their main oil producers, made them the perfect target. Leading up to the attack, America placed an embargo on Japan, (Document C). Japan wanted to destroy the Pacific Fleet to gain oil and continue imperialization to obtain the perfect Yamato

If this had taken place the war could have ended with much less violence. “Another option discussed was a moderation of the demand for unconditional surrender. Specifically, the United States might release a statement expressing respect for the emperor’s position without having to recognize his semidivine status in Japanese culture. Tentative Japanese peace feelers had indicated that the emperor’s position was the major sticking point preventing Japan’s surrender" (Astore, May). This would have kept both the Emperor and the U.S. satisfied with the results.

In The American Journey, David Goldfield et al. state that “Americans in the 1930s wanted no part of another overseas war by a wide margin.” Americans were still recovering for the ramifications of World War I and feared our intervention in any foreign conflict. In the fall of 1941, their reluctance was still abounding even though Germany achieved many victories abroad, the British were toiling to save their empire and Japan’s monumental aggression towards China escalated. In fact, Goldfield et al. noted that, “President Roosevelt’s challenge was to lead the United States toward rearmament and support for Great Britain and China without alarming the public.” Unfortunately, the aftermaths of World War I had set the tone for World War II since many small new nations in Europe felt the upper hand of Germany, Japan, Italy and the Soviet Union. Furthermore, the United States was not highly regarded by these nations, especially Japan, whose nationalists felt that they were unjustly treated after World War I. As much as the United States was trying to remain neutral and President Roosevelt wanted Americans to stay out of World War I, the inevitable came to fruition when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Goldfield et al. indicated that, “Speaking to Congress the following day, Roosevelt proclaimed December 7, 1941, “a date which will live in infamy.” He asked for and got a declaration of war against Japan. Hitler and Mussolini declared war on the United States

Japan felt humiliated when the U.S. cut-off all of its resources in the states. The U.S. was one of Japan’s biggest providers of oil. Almost 80% of their oil came from the U.S.(Doc D) Due to the Japanese advances in China and the U.S.’s want to stay out of the war, the United States thought it would be best to do an embargo of Japan.(Doc C). Japan does not produce

“August of 1941 the United States imposes an embargo on oil shipments to Japan” (Doc C). With the embargo the Japanese grew more than angry with the U.S. When previously the “Japanese imported 80% of their Petroleum from the U.S. In 1937 380/482 (in Ten Thousand Tons) was from the US, in 1938 316/392, in 1939 291/343, in 1940 291/436, in 1941 88/141.” (Doc D). To get to the Netherlands East Indies where the oil lay, the Japanese had to go through the Philippines which were US controlled at the time. Taking Burma, Thailand, French IndoChina, Philippines, and the Netherlands East Indies, once controlled by the Dutch, after the bombing Peral Harbor. (Doc

The first option, invasion of Japan, was debated the heaviest. Truman, and several of his advisors, sighted the huge estimates of US casualties as the main reason for his hesitancy to proceed with bombing, blockades and ground attacks. In the excerpt of Prompt and Utter Destruction: Truman and the Use of the Atomic Bomb against Japan, J. Samuel Walker argues that “even without the use of the atomic bombs, the war would probably have ended before the American invasion of Kyushu became necessary” (p. 277). He predicted that the destruction,

During the Imperial Conference of December 1, 1941, Prime Minister Tojo announced that “The United States not only refused to make even one concession” but that “At the same time, the United States, Great Britain, the Netherlands, and China increased their economic and military pressure against us” (87). This gave Japan no choice but to begin a war with the U.S., Japan, and the Netherlands. Additionally, Foreign Minister Togo emphasized that Japan could not accept the proposal made by the U.S. because the conditions would hinder and put at risk the success of the Japanese Empire. In order for Japan to not only continue working towards establishing a New Order for East Asia, but to also maintain their position on an international level, war was the necessary step to take because if they continued to try to negotiate then they would most definitely have regressed.

In Document B the map shows that Japan had little to no oil fields. So Japan must have been getting oil from somewhere else because they could not have possibly made the amount of oil that they needed on their own. In Document D the chart says that about 80% of Japan's Petroleum was from shipments coming in from the US. They needed the US to supply their oil or they would have virtually none. Lastly, in Document E Hideki Tojo said at the Imperial Conference that if the US does not ship them oil they will run out within 2 years and not have any for military uses and the military ships will not be able to run. Japan was angry at the US for not sending in the shipments of oil to help supply their

Before any of this occurred, in 1930 the United States should have taken action against Japan, but never did. They didn’t like Japan’s attitude towards China and other countries. Again, in 1940, the United States should have done something, but this time not military action. The United States tried to negotiate peace, with Japan, but nothing ever got going (Danforth, 1). Neither side could agree on one thing because they thought of them as “still a country with similar goals” and it ended in a stalemate, causing tensions to run high. This was a dangerous end to talks because Japan was already in the second World War. The United States should have and many people were expecting something to happen, but were completely oblivious to the attack on the morning of December 7, 1941. Several people were convinced that President Roosevelt had been putting pressure on Japan to make an attack on the United States, but evidence suggests otherwise (Vidyalankar, 847-856). When George Washington was president, he declared that the United States would stay out of foreign conflicts, but this was broken before World War II so that had no effect on the president’s decision making. President Roosevelt

What did all of this have to do with the U.S.? Well, because the U.S. had ties with East Asia, politically and economically, the decisions Japan were making were also affecting the U.S. So, America took it upon itself to increase military and financial aid to China. The reason this decision was made was to cut off oil shipments and raw materials to Japan. This is what really angered the Japanese.

On December 7, 1941 the infamous bombing of Pearl Harbour by the Japanese took place, but who was really responsible? Many historians lay the blame with President Franklin D Roosevelt (FDR), citing his approach to the war as antagonistic and inciting a Japanese attack. This report however will highlight that the Japanese were the real antagonises, deliberately and purposely attacking the United States (US), United Kingdom and Holland, and Pearl Harbour was but a pawn in their war plan, thus alleviating FDR of the historical responsibility bequeathed to him over the last 70 years. The key elements within this review focus on Japan's Pacific War plans, FDR's

There was also a Diplomatic Option. The United States was looking for an unconditional surrender from the Japanese. They wanted the Emperor to be gone and a rebirth of the Imperial system. The Emperor of Japan was considered a war criminal and the United States wanted to make sure that this war would not be repeated. However, Japan did not want to remove the Emperor system and still be the Japan they knew and loved. So an alternative was given. The Emperor would be allowed to stay on as a symbolic

country, and Japan had taken over parts of China. The United States of America was stuck in the