Pearl Harbor Balance Of Power

Prior to WWII, Japan expanded into other countries like China and Manchuria to gain resources because Japan didn’t want to rely on the United States for resources and nearly eighty percent of their oil (Doc D). The invasion of Manchuria made the United States suspicious of Japan’s intent, but when China was invaded, the United States confirmed their skepticism and stopped trading military equipment with Japan. Two years later, in 1941, Japanese-American oil trades embargoed and banking assets froze. The trade cut off prevented the Japanese’s goal of becoming a world power because they couldn’t fuel their military or their industries. Therefore, the action infuriated the leaders of Japan and such anger was expressed during an Imperial Conference when Hideki Tojo stated to his fellow board members that the United States can’t do as she wants and let other countries suffer (Doc E). This conference helped organize the bombing and influenced the spread of Japanese hate toward America. Just as Europe and the United States did when fabricating the Treaty of Versailles, Japan took action in the interest of their country first and bombed Pearl Harbor in the same year as trade flow stopped. The bombing represented revenge against the trade cutoff and for preventing the completion of their

A year before the US placed the embargo of aircraft and aircraft parts against Japan, the US Pacific Fleet was in California but a year after we placed the embargo against Japan President Roosevelt ordered the fleet to be moved to Pearl Harbor as a show of American power (Doc C). When Japan seized southern French Indo-China in July of 1941, Roosevelt responded by freezing Japanese assets in the United States and ending sales of oil to Japan. Japan chose to continue its diplomatic talks with the United States while at the same time secretly preparing for a coordinated assault throughout the Pacific. Japan’s leaders hoped that a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor would destroy American resolve and cripple the American navy for at least six months, giving Japan time to consolidate its new empire

Based off of this evidence, one can deduce that Japan felt compelled to attack America due to its rapidly deteriorating supplies. With the movement crippled, American forces would only enhance, giving them the strength to defeat

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.

One of the reasons why Japan launched an attack on the United states was because of their worldly view. In (Document A) it states, “ The way of the subject is to be loyal to the Emperor in disregard of self, thereby supporting the Imperial Throne coexistence with the Heaven and the Earth.” The Japanese had the mentality that they were the master race and everyone else must subject. They had motives that they could claim the whole world; everything was in the grasp of their hand. According to them Europe and America was now crumbling, as stated in (Document A), “An old order…(European and American)... is now crumbling.” Japan felt it was their turn to

The first couple decades of the twentieth century Japan and the United States had increasing tension and conducted negotiations to reduce threats of conflict. Asia was the center point for both countries, and each wanted a piece of it. Competition for economic and commercial opportunities were ongoing growing with tension. Starting

In essays done by Ernest Hemingway and Raymond Carver, the dialogue is utilized to help create the story. In two completely different short stories called ‘Hills like White Elephants” and “Cathedral” dialogue helps bring these stories a little bit closer, and explain them a little bit better. The authors could have used various ways to write the dialogue. They could have used simple or complex language, interpret emotions, advance the plot, and used specific styles.

Japan acted on this new order when it had completed occupation of Manchuria in 1932 (Doc

The international frustration combined with the Great Depression, radically changed Japanese political life (Slackman 4). Moreover, Japanese officers grew increasingly skeptical of the government’s ability to deal with the crisis (Slackman 4). Between fear and doubt

The Japanese’s foundation of strength and character relied on an ever present honor system. This character not only went into their everyday lives but also their military. The Empire of Japan‘s militarization benefitted the people by embodying the best characteristics and highest morals of the Japanese people, thereby encouraging people to keep faith in their

The Japanese viewed the U.S.’s inactivity in the war and its The Great Depression as an opportunity to obtain more territory in the Pacific. The Japanese’s intelligence on the American navy was also very limited and led them to think that “…if Japanese naval forces took out the American Pacific carriers at Pearl Harbor, there was simply no way for America, at least in the immediate future, to contradict any of their Pacific agendas” (Davis, Source 1: "Real Reason Japanese Attacked Pearl Harbor"). The Japanese thought that if anything the United States would enter into a negotiation or respond weakly to the attack as its naval base was

With Japan and Hawaii being more than four thousand miles apart, no one believed that the Japanese would start the war with an attack on American territory. Flying that far to start a war seemed to be very inconvenient for both sides. Also, American intelligence officers were not expecting attack so close to home, so the naval base at Pearl Harbor was nearly unarmed or prepared. They thought if they were going to get bombed on, it would be somewhere relatively closer like the Dutch Indies, Singapore, or Indochina, which were all European colonies in the South Pacific. Japan new that the Pearl Harbor was an irresistible target because hundreds of ships and planes were squeezed onto this base. Also, most of the Pacific Fleet was secured around this harbor.

Although Japan changed in many ways from 1853 to 1941, there were also many factors that remained the same throughout the history of Japan. One such continuity was the maintained existence of a figurehead ruler controlled by other political authorities. The feudalistic emperor of Japan was the supposed “highest, most powerful authority” in the land, but was actually controlled by the military leaders- the shogun. Similarly, the militaristic emperor of Japan decades later continued to remain a figurehead ruler controlled by military and government officials. In addition, Japan continued to remain reliant on exports in order to maintain its economy. As a result of Japan’s small geographical size, the island nation had few natural resources and was forced to rely on exports to survive economically. The nation also grew increasingly reliant on other nations to provide materials and supplies that it could not provide for itself. This complete reliance on other nations was seen illustrated when the Japanese military was provoked to attacking another superpower- the United States, in response to the 1940 United States embargo

Leading up to the events at Pearl Harbor, let’s talk about the Japanese; they were a rising power in the East. They renounced the Five Power Treaty they has signed in 1922 along with the US, Great Britain, France, and Italy, and began building their pathway towards an “Empire of Asia”. They “began an aggressive military build-up in anticipation of expanding its control on Asia” (Tindall, 2013). Sadao Araki, a general in the Japanese military is quoted having said, “It is Japan’s mission to be supreme in Asia, the South Seas and eventually the four corners pf the world.” Japanese leaders called this unquenchable thirst for power the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere, or Co-Prosperity Sphere for short. The Co-Prosperity Sphere was a group of nations in Asia, led by Japan, who used propaganda to gain members. “The leaders spoke of “Asia for Asians,” the need to liberate Asian countries from

Japan was affected because America's trade was vital to Japan's survival. Trade with America became limited and Japans economic prosperity was at risk. Japan needed more imports. The army decided on a militaristic option and seized Manchuria, as it had rich supplies of raw materials such as coal, iron ore, timber and rice. They believed that by expanding, Japan could become more powerful.