The Attack of Pearl Harbor occurred on December 7, 1941 in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. This surprise attack, consisting of 361 planes being launched from six Japanese aircraft carriers, targeted the American naval base and airfields (Background Essay). It leaves the question of why did Japan attack Pearl Harbor. There were at least three reasons why the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. These reasons were Japan wanting more power and respect, The United States taking away Japan's resources, and Japan feeling threatened by the United States. All of these reasons created tension between the two countries and led to Japan attacking Pearl Harbor. Japan wanted more power. From an excerpt of The Way of the Subjects (required reading in Japanese schools), “An old order…(European and American)…is now crumbling. The ideals of Japan … are represented by the principle that the benevolent rule of the Emperor may be …show more content…
In 1940, President Roosevelt moved the US Pacific fleet from California to Pearl Harbor. The US congress also passed the Naval Expansion Act, promising to triple their fleet size by 1944 (Doc C). Japan did not want the US in the Pacific. They also did not like that the US was expanding their own naval fleet while taking away all of their useful resources. The movement and potential expansion of the US naval fleet angered Japan. This comment was made in a meeting of Japan’s top government and military leaders, “When I think about the strengthening of American defenses in the Southwest Pacific, the expansion of the American fleet, … I see no end to difficulties … I fear that we would become a third class nation after two or three years if we just sat tight” (Doc E). Japan felt that if America grew stronger, it would destroy their plan to establish a new order in the world. They were afraid that the strengthening and expansion of the American fleet would result in them having even less power and respect than they started
The attack was planned because japan did not have too much natural or chemical resources by themselves, so they searched fo9r other supplies with foreign and military for a certain time and that caused the attack on Pearl Harbor and the pacific. The attack on Pearl Harbor was meant to put an end to the war. But by Americas act which they destroyed its pacific place, japan wanted to
They came to a “stark, horrible” realisation: that the Japanese had in fact launched an attack against the United States of America. The Americans were patriotic, and they felt a keen sense of patriotism – they were prepared to make sacrifices in order to fulfil their duty to the American government. The entire nation had suffered a terrible loss, and this resulted in their determination to repair the damage and retaliate. The topic being discussed is of great importance and relevance, as this attack is directly responsible for the United States’ entry into WWII, which has had an enormous effect and impact on the world as we know
This paper focuses on the failure of diplomatic decisions made by Japan that is national in nature most particularly when they chose to fight in the midst of an embargo made by the American government. The attack of Japan against Pearl Harbor is a result of an erratic, egoistic and irrational behavior blinding the Japanese Military Personnel and Officials of the destructive outcome of the World War 2 and a lack of diplomatic strategies that misled the communication between USA and
Another potential reason that they chose to bomb the United States is that Japan had been the biggest naval power only to the exception of the United States. Japan would have wanted to beat their competition and get the honor of being the best. They chose Pearl Harbor because their goal was to take a hit at the American foundation by ruining their military base. Their original target was the aircraft carriers, but most of them were not there that day, so they had to go with Plan B and continue the attack on the battleships. They attacked on December 7, 1941 and they destroyed 18 ships as well as 300 aircrafts.
Boom, boom, boom, boom! Those were the sounds of bombs being dropped by Japan on Pearl Harbor. There are three main reasons Japan attacked Pearl Harbor which are the U.S. embargo, U.S. fleet expansion, and Japan’s new world order. The first reason Japan attacked is Japan's new world order.
In 1938, Japan announced its plan to constitute a new order in East Asia (Doc C). In this new order, the rule of the Japanese emperor would be drawn-out over Earth. This was a driving force for Japan’s invasion because of their ambitious desires. By damaging an American naval base, it gave Japan the ability to also occupy China and Manchuria leading to a rise in their military power (Doc C). Japan’s presence in more of East Asia brought them one step closer to expanding their authority.
Why Did Japan Attack Pearl Harbor “December 7, 1941—a date which will live in infamy” This quote from FDR is a great representation of the attacks on pearl harbor. Pearl Harbor was a United States naval base located in Hawaii, roughly 4,000 miles from Japan. During the reforms of WWI there was an uneasy relationship between The US and Japan. After many small acts Japan launched a surprise attack on the United States.
Which led to Japan to look for oil that was outside of United States control. After looking, Japan wanted to invade the Dutch East Indies, because of its rich oil. To respond to the invasion, the United States moved the Pacific Fleet from San Diego to Hawaii. Which left Japan week in front of United States military, but it was not a problem because the U.S and Japan were not in war. However, until Roosevelt warned Japan to stop their expansion or the U.S will make another moves.
The Japanese mindset was simple; it was time to get the “easy” countries in the Pacific before Germany ended the war altogether. Easy was meant to mean large countries that the Japanese thought they could take down. Japan was convinced on a naval war because they believed that they had more supplies, ships, planes, and more overall more advanced than the Americans. Overall, they believed that they were qualitatively better than the United States. This mindset led them into some trouble regarding the outcomes of the
Due to this location of the fleet, it would leave the US too exposed and vulnerable, being difficult to defend in behalf of placement closer to Japan, furthermore surrounded 360 degrees by ocean. Soon after, FDR reduces the supply of oil and materials to Japan and gains permission by Churchill to place US warships in Singapore near oil fields in the Dutch East Indies. As a result of the new adjustment to the fleet the Dutch also reduce their supply of oil to Japan under Roosevelt's pressure, and give permission to base US warships. As increasing amounts of American naval forces were being moved from local bases to the Pacific, twenty-four submarines were sent to the Orient along with cruisers and destroyers all the way to Japanese home waters. With FDR's “Lend-Lease Act” passed, money and other resources can now be given to the Chinese and British Governments to fight Japanese, doing away with America's war neutrality once and for
entered the war for personal gain and national power. On the other hand, Schweikart and Allen attribute it to the Pearl Harbor attack. Zinn reports, “Japan’s strike against the American naval base climaxed a long series of mutually antagonistic acts,” such as the threat against U.S. markets by Japan’s invasion of China, and the U.S.’s embargo on certain products (Zinn 410-411). He also says the U.S. declared war on Japan not because of the threat to American citizens, but because of “the Japanese attack on a link in the American Pacific Empire” (Zinn 410). Schweikart and Allen agree hostilities started long before the attack and led to it.
Rahul Bagga Mr.Campbell US History, Period 0 16 December 2015 Why did Japan attack Pearl Harbor? One day that will always be remembered by America is the date of December 7, 1941, which changed American history forever. December 7, 1941 was the day the Japanese warplanes attacked Pearl Harbor (Hawaii) which stationed many of American ships and airfields. Immediately after the bombings, United States President Franklin Roosevelt declared war on Japan, leading to a direct involvement into World War ll. Japan had many reason to do so but Japan attacked Pearl harbor for three reasons which were that they had a plan for a new world order, United States were expanding their number of naval ships rapidly, and an oil embargo was placed upon Japan
Why did Japan attack Pearl Harbor? If you were threatened by an individual, would you throw the first punch or wait for the attack. This is how Japan felt when they were trying to dominate Asia. On Sunday December 7, 1941 the Japanese attacked the United State’s biggest naval base, Pearl Harbor. This attack was a turning point for the United States because this was one factor that brought them into World War II to fight against the Axis Powers.
This prevented them from attacking other countries due to allies that were formed between them and America. With America’s strong military forces, Japan decided that to keep America out of
To make sure they could take over the world, Japan had to take the U.S down to prove that they are more powerful by taking countries and states