Pearl Harbor Causes

Leading Causes of the Attack on Pearl Harbor
The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor destroyed thousands of American lives. Many believe that the Japanese air attack on the American Naval Base at Pearl Harbor near Honolulu was a complete shock to America. However through much research one finds that the attack was nearly inevitable. America and Japan faced extreme differences and beliefs. These differences caused Japan and America to embark on much contrasting courses. The most significant cause of the attack on Pearl Harbor stemmed from Japanese-American rivalry in the pacific. Key components that led to this rivalry include, an inflexible American President, Japan’s belligerent attitude towards China, embargos that the U.S. imposed on Japan, …show more content…
Throughout the 1930’s there was a steadily increasing campaign of Japanese aggression in the Pacific, each instance of aggression resulted in denunciations from the United States. Finally in 1940 American President, Franklin Roosevelt, responded to the Japanese aggressions with a battery of economic sanctions and trade embargoes. America believed that without access to bountiful money, goods, and other highly important resources Japan would have no choice but to limit their expansion. Japan had few natural resources, “they were very reliant on imported raw materials… Without access to such imports, many of which came from the United States, Japan’s industrial economy would have to ground to a halt”(Higgs, 1). Embargoes forced Japan into a time of more economic downfalls and put them into a position that America knew could create war. Japan was no longer able to purchase any materials from the United States. This proved to be a detrimental blow to Japan for many reasons, ¨but particularly because Japan was almost completely dependent upon U.S. imports for its supply of oil. Without oil, of course, Tokyo would have to abandon its war against China—a humiliation that no Japanese leader would accept¨(Humanities, 2). The result of these embargoes was a burst of diplomatic navigations between Japan and the United States throughout the second half of …show more content…
It was preeminent to America throughout the 1930’s and the beginning of the 1940’s that Japan was vigorously seeking power. As early as 1931 Japan’s imperial ambitions had been evident, when they invaded Manchuria. After conquering Manchuria “they used the region’s bountiful resources to supply Japan’s war machine” (History Channel Staff, 2). These actions demonstrated that Japan was willing to stop at no cost for power. In 1933 Japan left the League of Nations and pursued an aggressive foreign policy in an attempt to create the “Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere”, “a euphemism for a Japanese empire modelled on European ones of the 19th century” (History Channel Staff, 2). This behavior depicted the power that Japan was hoping to obtain. After Japan had began war with China, deliberately disobeying America’s Open Door policy towards China, America took action. America broke off contact with Japan in order to eliminate any allegiance to this rising nation. Eventually America even went as far as placing their embargoes on Japan. These embargoes made Japan dependent on their moderately advanced industrial economy and their military industrial complex, which supported their increasingly powerful army and navy. These armed forced projected their power all over the pacific and East Asia, with their now largely expanded power

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