Reasons Behind Japan's Attack On Pearl Harbor

“Our military thought that they couldn't get to Pearl Harbor, that it was too long a journey from Japan to get there, and they proved us wrong”- Jerry Bruckheimer. This quote helps explains that the United States thought that Japan could not get to the United States.

( Source B). Americans were in disbelief when Japan attacked without declaring war. ( Source B). The attack on Pearl Harbour started the Pacific War, a war that Japan would lose badly. ( Source B: The Aftermath).

On December 11th 1941 Japan's allies Germany and Italy declared war on the the United States. Japan was not alone anymore. The united states wanted to stay neutral they did not want to fight but they felt obligated after the attacks of pearl harbor but even more after germany, and Italy also declared

December 7th, 1941 was a day that continues to resonate with every American. The attack on Pearl Harbor was a historic catastrophe that forced the United States to go to war. With the end of World War I, the United States allies included Japan among many other countries; however, Japan had always wanted more territory and more control. Japan and the United States did not have good relations anymore. Japan had already conquered and destroyed several other territories in Asia because of their need for oil and their military was getting stronger and stronger. The United States made the decision to stop the oil trade with Japan which enraged Japanese leaders. Japan still wanted a stronger and better military and they could not do this without “black gold.” After the attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States began contemplating using their strongest and most dangerous weapon ever, the Atomic bomb.

The attack on Pearl Harbor was supposedly a “sneak attack” because Japan did not declare war against the United States.Almost 120,000 Japanese and Japanese americans were rounded up and put into Internmant camps until the war ended.The United States and Japan had been on a collision course for months if not years.If Japan did not bomb Pearl Harbor no matter what, the United States and Japan were going to war.Roosevelt stated on December 8,1941”Japan had also bombed and attacked the british colonies of Hong Kong and malaya”.

It is no question that people living in the United States in this current generation blame the Japanese for the attack on Pearl Harbor and will seize any opportunity to bring it up as an insult. However, do they consider why the Japanese did it? What was their reason for committing such an act? Why would Japanese soldiers give up their lives for such an act? It is never brought up and dismissed as if they were simply soulless monsters who attacked the U.S. out of hate. Another thing people don’t consider is the time this attack occurred: World War II— a time of war. The Japanese had a reason for such a risky attack and it was not an easy decision for them to make. This is not to justify their actions, but rather to take in consideration of the time period and making it clear as to why it was a reasonable decision to the Japanese at the time.

World War II started on September 1939 when Britain and France declared war on Germany for violating the Treaty of Versailles (Causes of World War II, n.d.). At the time Japan was also aligned with Germany and Italy. It was currently expanding its influence into Asia and the Pacific. The United States was trying, once again to remain neutral and broker for peace through diplomacy, especially in Asia. With the U.S. Congress passing a series of Neutrality Acts from 1935 to 1939 because the thought was loans and trades with allies caused America to enter WWI, this would limit American involvement in the war too (Chambers, 2000). By 1941 things were starting to change. The Japanese seized French lands in Indo-China in July 1941, causing America to freeze all Japanese assets (Causes of World War II, n.d.). This angered the Japanese since they relied heavily on U.S. oil. In September of that year, German submarines fired on American ships, causing Roosevelt to allow U.S. ships to fire on the German Navy in self-defense (Causes of World War II, n.d.). In October the

For the two years since the beginning of the Second World War, Japan was focusing on conquering as many Asian territories as possible. According to its planned military operation in Southeast Asia, territories it was to attack included the Philippines, Wake Island and Guam. All these territories were under the United States’ possession which, despite having been a major supplier for the allies, had not yet officially entered the war. However, Japan feared that its operation may cause the U.S Pacific Fleet to interfere in their attacks, which would introduce the United States into the war. Therefore, it was decided that, prior to attacking these territories, Japan would attack Pearl Harbor. Pearl Harbor was where the headquarters of the U.S.

into committing large scale forces during World War II. Although the attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise attack, Japan and the U.S. had been edging towards war for decades. The United States was unhappy with Japan’s aggression towards China as they were trying to monopolize the import market, expanding their territory into China was their attempt to do so. As negotiations between Japan and the U.S. broke down it seemed war was inevitable. Japan’s plan was simple; destroy the pacific fleet so that the U.S. would not be able to fight back while Japan spread across the South

The attack on pearl harbor was a surprise, but japan and the united states have been waiting for the war to happen for years. The united states was unhappy with japanese because of their least unexpected attack, so the japanese government thought that the only way to solve their problems was to expand into its neighbors territory and

On December 7, 1941, Hundreds of Japanese fighter planes attacked the United States specifically the American Naval base at Pearl Harbor near Honolulu. This surprise attack was tragic and killed over 2,000 soldiers and sailors and injured another 1,000 soldiers. The day after this attack President Franklin D Roosevelt asked congress to declare war on Japan and they approved this declaration. Not only did the USA declared on Japan , they joined world war 2 which had been alive for two years already. Relations between Japan and the U.S. weren 't good at that time, the U.S enacted an embargo on oil supplies to Japan because of their invasions of China. However, Roosevelt was trying to avoid American intervention in World War 2. Two days after the war started Roosevelt deliver a speech saying he would do all he could to avoid joining the war but as the 40s approached americans knew that with the threat of Hitler and Mussolini , they would no longer be safe in isolationism. Before we entered the war and before Pearl Harbor U.S. foreign policy changed to give aid to Britain because if they fell then America would have to engaged

Just before 8 a.m. on December 7, 1941, Japan launched a surprise attack at the American naval base at Pearl Harbor near Honolulu, Hawaii. Japan sent hundreds of fighter planes and bombers toward the naval base with no warning toward the United States, but the two countries were near war for decades. Japan believed that the best way to solve its economic and demographic problems was to expand its empire. No one believed that the Japanese would start the war on American territory. For Japan, starting an attack on American territory would be very inconvenient. The two pieces of land are about 4,000 miles apart and the travel to get to the United States would take a lot of fuel, and a lot of time. The barrage of bullets, bombs, torpedoes, and Kamikaze or suicide planes last almost 2 hours. Just before the start of the attack, Americans at the

America entered the war after the surprise Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor December 7th, 1941. Before this the USA had supported the war effort via the Lend Lease act. USA before the bombing of pearl harbour had already begun to sever ties with the growing country Japan. The USA also sent reinforcements and supplies to allied countries. During the war managed they to gain military information and advantages that also contributed to the victory of World War 2.

In December 7, 1941, Japan bombs Pearl Harbor and FDR declares war. Japan had attacked the U.S base at Pearl Harbor. They attacked in two waves. The first wave was the main attack to take out ships and airfield. The second wave they would finish off whatever was left. This attack led to FDR asking congress to declare war on Japan on December

Why do you think the Japanese wanted to attack Pearl Harbor? They only wanted it to start something that they could not end. The japanese wanted nothing to do with the other countries they just wanted more land and they decided to attack Pearl Harbor. We only went into WW || because of the attack on Pearl Harbor.Most people were only worried about the European events and then they saw what could have been in the newspapers.“ Most American newspaper headlines had been focusing on European events, so the Japanese attack was a true blindside.” We were attacked on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese because the United States were a threat to Japan. Most people were only focusing on what was happening in the news and everything around them. Some of the