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Essay Pearl Harbor and the Coming of the Pacific War

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Ashley Queener
10-13-11
HIST 399
INEVITABLE
In Pearl Harbor and the Coming of the Pacific War by Akira Iriye, the author explores the events and circumstances that ended in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, an American naval base. Iriye assembles a myriad of primary documents, such as proposals and imperial conferences, as well as essays that offer different perspectives of the Pacific War. Not only is the material in Pearl Harbor and the Coming of the Pacific War informative of the situation between Japan and the United States, but it also provides a global context that allows for the readers to interpret Pearl Harbor and the events leading up to it how they may. Ultimately, both Pearl Harbor and the subsequent Pacific War between …show more content…

But on the other hand, Japan was clearly not completely convinced that they would be able to achieve a peaceful arrangement with the U.S. because they continued with preparing for war. Perhaps Japanese officials decided that it was worth trying for peace regardless.
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 Iriye’s introduction to the December 1 Imperial Conference, he asked his readers about the change that occurred between the time of November 5, when the previous Imperial Conference was held, and December 1, the last Imperial Conference before the Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor that occurred six days later. One key

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