Pearl Harbor Study Notes

Pearl Harbor Notes Why Did Japan Attack Pearl Harbor? Pearl Harbor is a United States naval base located in Hawaii. It served as a US outpost in the Pacific region. December 7th, 1941, is a day that will forever live in infamy for Americans. On this day, Japan led a surprise attack that launched 361 airplanes from six aircraft carriers. The Japanese destroyed five battleships, while damaging three other battleships. Two hundred airplanes were damaged in the attack and many American lives were lost that day. In response to this attack, President Franklin Roosevelt asks Congress for a declaration of war against Japan, as well as Germany. This declaration was the official entrance of the United States into World War II. The critical question that many Americans still wonder and search for answers about is, why did Japan attack the naval base? Japan bombed Pearl Harbor for three main reasons: to enact their plan to create a new order, a US oil embargo, and the fear of United States expansion of the naval fleet. One reason that Japan wanted to attack Pearl Harbor was to initiate a new world order. In order to begin this plan, the Japanese attempted to eliminate the US, a country that they believed stood in the way of their new world order plan. The document from The Way of the Subjects states, “[a]n old order…(European and American)...are now crumbling” (Document A). Japan wants be recognized as a world power that could have the ability to threaten the old world order. The leader would be the Emperor of Japan, whose ultimate goal is to spread the beliefs and ideals of the Yamato race across the rest of the world (Document A). In 1932 Japan completes its occupation of Manchuria. To further their plan, Japan attacks China and gains control of the country’s eastern coast (Document B, C). In addition to the occupation of Manchuria and the eastern coastline of China, the Japanese also gain control of French Indochina by 1940 (Document B). Japan’s expansion of territory did not go unnoticed by the rest of the world and many began to pay closer attention to the nation. In response, the United States noticed the aggressive actions of Japan and began to create counteraction plans. As a result the United States begins and oil embargo in August of the year 1941 (Document C). According to Suzuki Akira’s chart found in Asia Kenyu, 80 percent of Japan’s oil was imported from the United States. Due to Asia’s geography, there were few oil fields located in Japan’s territory. Most of the oil fields were located on islands that were unoccupied by the Japanese. In order for Japan to build a new world order, it was imperative that they receive an importation of oil from other places in the world since the country was lacking its own resources. In his comments at the Imperial Conference, Hideki Tojo, who was the Prime Minister and the Minister of War for Japan, stated that, “...I fear that we would become a third class nation after two or three years if we just sat tight” (Document E). Tojo, along with the rest of Japan, accused the United States of demanding only Japan to sacrifice Therefore, Japan would see a diminishing effect in their military strength due to the oil embargo and the United States increasing their counteracts on Japan. Japan grew concerned about the United States expanding its naval fleet. In May of 1940, President Roosevelt commanded the US Pacific fleet from California to Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. Following this event of May, the US Congress passes the Naval Expansion Act. This act promised to triple the naval fleet size by 1944 (Document C). Tojo voiced his concern about the naval fleet expanding through the comment, “When I think about American defenses in the Southwest Pacific, the expansion of the American fleet,...I see no end to difficulties…” (Document E). The expansion of the US naval fleet was the final straw for Tojo and Japan. The expansion of the fleet is the final movement that launched Japan’s plan into action. The result was Japan’s attack on the Pearl Harbor naval base on Sunday December 7, 1941. While no one may ever know all of the reasons that Japan bombed the United States at Pearl Harbor, the three reasons previously discussed are likely reasons, but there are also many others that have been discussed. One of these could possibly be the US attempts to stop the Japanese expansion into China. In addition to the oil embargo, the United States also restricted trade of aircraft parts with the nation (Document C). Another high possibility is that Japanese assets and bank accounts were frozen (Document C). Lastly, the United States excluded the Japanese citizens from immigrating to America (Hook Exercise). All of these factors led to the attack at Pearl Harbor and forced the United States to enter into World War II.