To What Extent Was the U.S.'s Involvement in the War between Japan and China which Caused Japan to Attack Pearl Harbor

On Sunday morning, December 7, 1941, at 7:55 AM the Japanese Empire led a surprise attack on the US Naval base Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, that would leave millions of Americans in shock, and heartbroken. Before the attack, the United States kept a low profile on International affairs, and concentrated on the domestic affairs at hand. This tragic moment in American history forever remembered. It is a mournful day for the American people, although, for the Japanese Empire it was an honorable day, one they would call a

In 1939 the U.S. began an embargo of aircraft and aircraft part against Japan (document c). In July 1941 the United States freezes all Japan assets and bank accounts (document c). Then came August 1941 when U.S imposed an embargo on oil shipment to Japan (document c). The United States had stopped all its trading with the necessities Japan needed. Japan had developed anger with each embargo U.S. had made which lead them to attack Pearl Harbor. In 1937 more than 70% if the oil Japan received was from U.S. (document d). In 1941 oil Japan had received from U.S. by degrees decreased to less than 40% (document d). 341 tons of oil dropped after America throughout time stopped trade with Japan (document d). This shows that the U.S. was trying to weaken Japan economy, so Japan responded by attacking Pearl

“The Japanese plan was simple: Destroy the Pacific Fleet. That way, the Americans would not be able to fight back as Japan’s armed forces spread across the South Pacific. On December 7, after months of planning and practice, the Japanese launched their attack. In all, the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor crippled or destroyed nearly 20 American ships and more than 300 airplanes. Dry docks and airfields were likewise destroyed. Most important, almost 2,500 men were killed and another 1,000 were wounded. On December 8, Congress approved Roosevelt’s declaration of war. Three days later, Japanese allies Germany and Italy declared war against the United States. For the second time, Congress reciprocated. More than two years after the start of the conflict, the United States had entered World War II” (History.com).

Pearl Harbor is the name given to the attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, by the Japanese against the Americans on December 7th, 1941. Although there was growing tension between the United States and Japan dew to sanctions and frozen assets put on Japan, the attack was still a surprise for the world. 2400 Americans were killed in the attack, along with many ships and nearly two-hundred airplanes.1 The attack united the American people and under Franklin Roosevelt 's leadership, America declared war on Japan, with a unanimous vote in the senate and 388 to 1 vote in the house, with the lone dissenter being an avid pacifist. Soon after, Germany and Italy declared war on the United States and the United States declared war on the Axis powers in turn. America had finally joined the Second World War. When Roosevelt gave his speech that war was being declared, most of the country was behind him. There were fears that

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 the 1930s the United Stated and Japan had a turbulent relationship as the result of Japan trying to expand into China and take their territory as well as take over their economy by force resulting in a variety of horrible events done to the Chinese. To reprimand Japan for their aggression towards China and to try to force them to end their aggression the United States put in place a system of economic sanctions and trade embargoes to cut off essential goods. Instead, this only made the Japanese more determined and after months of discussion no peaceful conclusion could be reached. This in turn led to the events on an island 2,000 miles from the U.S. mainland and 4,000 miles from Japan. The name of this island is Pearl Harbor, which was

Jones, Sam J. "Japan, China, the United States and the Road to Pearl Harbor, 1937–41 -

in the region. America’s presence in Guam and the Philippines and its support of China posed

The bombing of Pearl Harbor was a very startling attack that altered American history. It is a significant moment in American history that will not be forgotten. This confrontation happened between America and Japan for different reasons that are presented in this paper. America and Japan had weak negotiations and communications, which led to the attack on Pearl Harbor; however, America reacted on the attack effectively. Because of these circumstances, the rival led to the bombing and destruction of Pearl Harbor, America showed the world how tall and proud it can stand after a silent, sneak attack; however, America may have been knocked down, but ultimately not defeated.

On December 7, 1941 an “unexpected” attack altered the lives of many U.S. citizens located in Pearl Harbor. At first the attack was just a preventative measure from Japan to prevent the U.S. from interfering with the war Japan was planning to start with Southeast Asia. The aerial attack bombs resulted in the United States entry into World War II which had previously been going on for more than two years in Europe. The causes of the attack on Pearl Harbor can be justified by a number of reasons but the most evidential would be because of Japans imperialism. As Japan began to expand and invade China along with troops in French Indochina the United States gave japan the option to stop with their imperial ways or Japan would be cut off from all

Japan's Attack on Pearl Harbour In December 1941, Pearl Harbour was attacked by the Japanese. It was the consequence of a series of events which brought tension between Japan and America to boiling point. Japan was a country growing in power and stature and America soon came to realise that this growth could prove a threat to them. America aimed to stop Japan's growth in its tracks as they realised that if the situation was left to evolve much longer then the situation may be out of their control.

During the early stages of WW2 Japan withdrew from the League of Nations and invaded China killing over 100,000 civilians. Do to Japans actions, the American government slowly began to cut them off from their assets and sent them a warning letter saying America wasn’t going to turn the other cheek if these actions were kept up. Japan decided to make no efforts in changing their military strategy so we fully cut Japan off from American supplies in 1941. Now its hard to say whether or not America made the correct decision when cutting off Japan during WW2, it created a lot of tension and anger towards America from the Japanese. Japan began to plan a surprise attack on one the U.S. Naval bases in Hawaii called Pearl Harbor. The attack occurred on a Sunday morning December 7, 1941. America lost 2,000 citizens and soldiers that day. The next day Franklin D. Roosevelt (America’s president at the time) announced Americas entry into WW2. I believe that if America had never cut Japan off from their assets then the anger and hostility would not have been there creating a reason for Japan to attack America and without the attack on Pearl Harbor, America would have no reason to enter the war during the year 1941.

In the 1940’s, tension between Japan and America was dramatically increasing.Japan had recently declared that there was to be a new order, and that they were the new world power. The United States did not like Japan’s motives and cut Japan off from their main source of trade and supplies. Japan bombed Pearl Harbor because America put restrictions on trade, America was becoming too strong, and Japan wanted to be the at the top of the world power.

On December 7th, 1941, Japan bombed the United States Army, Air Force, and Naval Bases, in Hawaii at Pearl Harbor. The next day on December 8th, 1941, the U.S. entered World War II declaring war on Japan as they provoked us to do so with their sneaky aerial attack. Behind the scenes of the extensive fighting, American

“Suddenly, in the early morning of December 7… the carriers released their planes, each stamped with a red sun representing the Japanese flag, swept down on the unsuspecting American naval base… dropping torpedoes and bombs.” President Roosevelt described Pearl Harbor as “a date which will live in infamy,” and launched the neutral United States into World War II. As every AP United States history textbook states, Japan suddenly attacked Pearl Harbor. Yet each book fails to mention a comprehensive explanation behind Japanese motives, such as Japanese politics, nationalism, and the divided nation. Although Pearl Harbor had one of the most significant impacts on the war, not much was mentioned from the Japanese perspective. If the United States adhered to their policy of neutrality, given the exceptions of the Lend Lease Act, shooting German u-boats at sight etc., why would the Japanese illogically decide to provoke the US? Every coin has two sides, and I wanted to learn about Japan’s perspective, instead of accepting the simplistic one sentence explanation I learned previously. This book certainly did not fail my expectations, for it provided a timeline of the complex year for Japan, detailed the failures of the government, the warring government officials, and thoroughly explained the decision behind why Japan decided to wage an unwinnable war, further slimming their chances of victory by inciting the United States to join.