Japanese Attack Case Study

According to Source B, the attacks had been slowly brewing for years. It started when Japan invaded Manchuria in 1931, in northern China. (source B) As the Japanese aggression increased, its relations with the US deteriorated. Japan had a need for the establishment of heavy and light industries (in occupied Manchuria). (source B) She was lacking in natural resources itself, the search for alternative supplies underpinned foreign and military policy throughout the decade and led to the attack on the Pearl Harbour and the Pacific War. Military success and inherent sense of racial superiority led Japan to believe that it deserved to dominate Asian politics.

The United State’s direct involvement in World War II officially began as soon as the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. Prior to that event, America had been providing arms and equipment to England but stopped short of any direct military confrontation with the Axis. The War in the Pacific was considered Asia’s War and the European War was considered a local conflict. US-Japanese relations had become strained in 1941, though America felt secure that her naval fleet at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii was powerful enough to discourage any aggression from Japan. On July 24, 1941, Japan occupied French Indo-China (Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos). Two days after that, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt froze all Japanese assets in the United States. American trade

The trade embargo by US had caused an uproar in Japan, and this led into the question, “To what extent was the trade embargo by the USA responsible for Japanese military actions in 1941?” Some historians claimed that the trade embargo had forced Japan to use their military to attack Pearl Harbor, but why? The embargo appointed Japan to felt threatened to performed their ideology, situated Japan in an untenable position since they’re intensely relied on US imports, and produced a panicking atmosphere for their country’s survival. Japan viewed the embargo as a threat to achieved their ideology. Japan in the 19th century had strived for nationalism and embarked on modernization, which caused them to acquired an aggressive expansion plan, starting

Japan first took over Manchuria in 1932 (document 1). This was the first of many German- Influenced attacks prior to the bombing of pearl harbor. In the year 1939, two years preceding to the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the United States stopped all trade of aircraft and aircraft parts against Japan and two years later additionally froze all japanese assets and bank accounts, and imposed oil embargo against Japan. (document 1) From the year 1937 to 1941, the U.S exports of Petroleum to Japan in total decreased by 2,920,000 tons, the exports of steel to Japan decreased 403,000 tons, and the exports of scrap iron decreased by 167,000 tons. (document 5) From this data, it is hard to say that we remained neutral prior to the bombing of Pearl Harbor. The U.S. supported its allies with this embargo, but didn’t fully commence in the war until after the bombing of Pearl

On April 6 of 1917 America officially entered WWI as an ally power after much vouching of their neutrality. Up to that point many government officials preached to America the great strategy of neutrality especially the president of the time Wilson. At the beginning of WWI in 1914 America did stick to practiced isolationists point of view but as the war progressed and German aggression increased the American extent of neutrality decreased leading to their eventual entrance into the war. Germany blamed much of Britain’s

As indicated by Document E, its ambitious endeavor costed “several billions of yen” and “well over 100,000 dead and wounded”. In addition to the heaping problems, America began an embargo on products Japan depended on for success, starting with aircraft and aircraft parts in 1939 and oil in 1941, and freezing all Japanese assets and bank accounts (Document C). The termination of imported oil was undeniably the most damaging. Document D indicates that prior to 1941, America supplied Japan with eighty percent of its oil; Document E claims that by 1943, the military would have no petroleum to utilize. Two months after the embargo, Pearl Harbor was bombed.

Another major benefit of staying neutral is maintaining the trade with Great Britain. If the United States joined

This was the first war fought under the fledgling nation’s government, and no precedent had yet been set on how the country should support its military or how one should be raised and set into action. This war would be one that they could not afford to lose. Many feared that if this happened Britain would require the U.S. to reunite with the former mother country. This was, or course, an unacceptable outcome. Under the presidency of Jefferson, the United States army and navy had been reduced to a handful of battalions and few ships outfitted for

The most important thing in any war are the soldiers. We needed to make life easier for ours and get them out of the war as soon as possible. The Japanese were already eliminating themselves by sending Kamikaze planes to destroy our ships, and America would not thrive the way it currently does if we would have changed anything that we

The loans are what were financing the war for Britain and France. Furthermore, the British and the French were also purchasing arms on United States credit. The Americans wanted to make sure they got paid back so they entered war to ensure that they go their money repaid to them.

The United States government announced a policy of neutrality at the outbreak of the war in Europe because it did not want to risk what was at stake by entering the war. It was also believed that the fighting would be contained in Europe and would have no threat of violence for Americans. Since the imports and exports were so important for Americans they did not want to enter the war and complicate the trade. It was not until the threat to sink all ships did the United States government feel as though they needed to enter the war. It was very important for the United States to get involved to stop Germany from taking over Europe and creating a major threat for Americans.

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.

attacked the US. This shows that the proper chance to avoid war with Japan was given, and that

World War II, along with its numerous battles, brought great tension between two of the strongest countries during the 1940s: the United States and Japan. Conflict between these two countries started with Japan’s push past Chinese borders into Manchuria in search of the natural resources Japan lacks. At first, the United States avoided military action with Japan by waging economic warfare on them. This economic pressure included the passing of the Neutrality Act, which prohibited the sale of weapons to nations at war (Nash 513). Additionally, the United States placed oil embargoes on Japan hoping it would force Japan to shut down military operations in China. Japan, at a critical decision point, decided to bomb the American naval base

While evidence clearly shows that the entry of the United States in World War II helped change many things that were related to the war, there are some individuals who believe that the US in no way brought helpful change to the war. Those individuals might argue that the United States actually negatively impacted the war and made the lives of many miserable. One thing that they might argue is that the US helped start and prolong the war. The US blocked oil trade with Japan, which caused it to suffer financially. Already being allies with Germany from the Tripartite Pact, a treaty which created the Axis Powers, Japan desperately needed help and joined the war in order to get more resources from their allies and enemies they destroy. Therefore, the United States forced Japan to attack and conquer many nations