The Causes of Pearl Harbor Essay

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

Instead of giving into the United States demands, the Japanese had decided to finally put their surprise

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

December 7, 1941, was on of the worst attacks ever on the United States. Out of that day, 2,403 soldiers were killed in action, 1,178 were wounded in action. Through the misjudgments of numerous U.S. armed forces personnel, the Japanese were able to carry out this terrible attack, which crippled the United States’ Pacific Fleet in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

After the world war I allied countries had signed the treaty of Versailles. Japan had felt left out because it wanted to include a part about racial equality. They felt that they weren't being treated equally. So Japan had started to take control and conquer land in southeast Asian countries. They wanted to spread their rule and race. The U.S. didn’t agree with Japan’s action and over the years tension has developed between the two countries. Japan bombed Pearl Harbor because of their nationalist mindset, America’s embargo of oil, and the fear of being attacked by the United States because of its growth.

Have you ever felt threatened by the one you once called a friend? American’s know this feeling all too well. In 1919, the major world powers met to deal with the wreckage that had occurred in World War 1, among those present were Japan and the United States. Japan was unhappy about how Great Britain and The United States punished Germany, the Japanese saw it as they were trying to stick to the status quo and to not cause a commotion within the League of Nations.

December 7, 1941, was one of the worst attacks on the United States in U.S. history. Of that day 2,403 soldiers were killed in action, 1,178 were wounded in action. Numerous U.S. armed forces personnel were misjudged, which allowed the Japanese to carry out this terrible attack. Not only did the Japanese hit the U.S. where they knew it would hurt the most, but it crippled the United States’ entire Pacific Fleet.

Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, the Commander-in-Chief of the Japanese Combined Fleet, was the principal architect of the attack on Pearl Harbor. Yamamoto himself was personally opposed to war with the UNITED STATES, but knew that Japan’s only hope of success would be to achieve a quick and decisive victory. Japan needed to knock out the UNITED STATES Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor. (Pearl Harbor’s History, Filmstrip)

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.

America and Japan had many disagreements between each other over the years. America never joined the League of Nations after World War I to avoid any future problems between countries. The League of Nations is an international organization created to solve tension between countries before it started a war. But when America didn't join, it caused Japan to get suspicious of them. Japan attacked Pearl Harbor because they had different rules then America, America stopped all imports to Japan and America was making too many demands on Japan.

During this time, Japan believed that they were superior to all other races, and that this allowed them to extend their rule over all other countries (Doc A). This lead them to occupy other neighboring regions, like Manchuria and French Indochina (Doc B). America did not agree with Japan's imperialist behavior, so they began to put embargos in place and froze Japanese assets. Japan was angered by this, as the Americans were willing to do what needed to be done to keep the Japan from becoming an imperialist empire. The Japanese were determined to spread their power throughout the world, so they viewed the bombing of Pearl Harbor as a way to keep the Americans from being able to stop

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.

If you were getting bullied and pushed back, would you stand for yourself or just subject? Pearl Harbor was an American naval base in Hawaii, which the Japanese attacked on December 7, 1941. This attack deeply embroiled the United in the war. The United States felt their integrity was violated, and they would soon launch two atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japanese cities. The world would never be the same. What reasons motivated Japan to launch such a massive surprise attack on America. Japan attacked the United States because of the their world mentality, the embargo of oil, and the concerns of America stomping on them.

December 7th, 1941. This was the date of one of the most important attacks on the United States in the history of America. This was the date of the Japanese attack on the American naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The attack on the naval base at Pearl Harbor was the last straw that led to the United States joining World War II as part of the Allied Power. The bombing was in reaction to many economic sanctions that were placed on Japan, so the bombing was not just to make the United States mad. We can see many reasons as to why Japan would bomb Pearl Harbor.

The more Japan fought with China the more relations were lost (Source B). Japan was undergoing a large set of embargoes as countries such as the U.S, Britain and the Netherlands responded to its grant for Japanese air bases in French Indochina (Source C). Source B states that Japan was already lacking in natural resources and its practical response was to expand into neighboring countries (Source F). Tokyo negotiated with Washington as to the issue regarding Japans expansionism. Japan was in desperate search of oil (Source C), although it also knew that a full scale invasion of South-East Asia would prompt war with America (Source B).