Why did Japan attack Pearl Harbor ?
This was the scenario back then. Japan was at war with China. Despite being a military superpower, their war with China was using up their resources. During that time, most of their resources especially oil were coming from the US. The US did not approve of Japanese aggression in China and they declared an embargo on Japan. This means they would stop supplying Japan with raw materials. So where would Japan get their resources to continue the war now? The Japanese High Command carefully discussed this and came up with the conclusion that the Dutch East Indies would be the best place to gain resources. But they knew that an attack on the Dutch East Indies would probably bring the US into the war. So they had to find a way to prevent the US from fighting with them until they conquered the Dutch East Indies. That's when they planned Pearl Harbor. The goal of Pearl Harbor was to disable the American fleet for a few months to give them enough time to conquer the Dutch East Indies and to absorb its resources to finance their war in China and the US once the US' navy was rebuilt.
Why did Japan attack Pearl Harbor?
To neutralize and incapacitate the U.S. Pacific Fleet that was stationed at Pearl Harbor. The reason why they did that was because the U.S. Pacific Fleet was the only force that could match the Imperial Japanese Navy in the Pacific. Since Japan was at war with the Allies, they were occupying British, French and Dutch colonies in Southeast Asia. The U.S. objected to Japan's expansion into Southeast Asia and so put trade embargo's on Japan which soured U.S.-Japan relations. The Japanese therefore expanded further into Southeast Asia to acquire resources such as oil. The U.S. then moved the U.S. Pacific Fleet from San Diego to Pearl Harbor. Japanese leaders viewed this move with suspicion and knew that the U.S. would eventually enter the war on the side of the Allies and so they believed it was best to launch a pre-emptive strike on the U.S. rather than wait for the U.S. to launch a pre-emptive strike on them. Contrary to popular belief, Japanese military leaders knew that attacking Pearl Harbor would bring defeat in World War II. The military leader who gave the order for the attack on Pearl Harbor was Isoroku Yamamoto - he was educated at the U.S. Naval War College and Harvard University and so he was very accustomed to America himself. At the Tokyo War Crimes Trials many Japanese leaders said they knew Pearl Harbor was the beginning of the end, but they did it out of loyalty to their country.
Why did Japan attack the US in WWII? Wasn't attacking China enough?
Resources my friend, Japan relied heavily on trade with America, when the trade stopped well let's just say they weren't too happy.With propaganda like this it's not hard to imagine how things swayedUS - Japan relations were largely focused on trading.Japan didn't quite have as much oil as they would have liked to and their conquest in china was largely fueled by American exports meaning the two had very close trade ties during the early WWII days.Eventually though the US possibly from international pressure or internal guilt decided to halt trade with the Japanese, requesting that they withdraw from China in order for it to resume.Obviously this was not going to fly with the Japanese high command, as an embargo is pretty much the closest thing you can do to outright declaring war the Japanese saw it as necessary to attack.A diagram of the attack on japanThe blow at pearl harbour was supposed to be crippling.While the Japanese succeeded largely in inflicting HEAVY damage to the American naval fleet with the attack on pearl harbour they miscalculated the production ability of the states.While the attack itself was largely successful, they sort of shot themselves in the foot by dragging America into the war, while they could have attempted to negotiate to keep some of the land they seized in china.Instead they chose to attack the "sleeping giant" and since then the world has been forever changed by the upper hand America gained as a result of WWII, funny enough they're quite chummy with Japan now though!For additional reading:Japan–United States relationsWhat Happened Between the U.S. and Japan Before WWII?What Sparked Japan's Aggression During World War II?If you liked my answer please throw me an upvote it helps quite a bit,Cassius Fragomeni^ Follow me on Quora for daily updates and more great answers!Also Visit my website Page on dreamthinkdesign.com to read my blog and purchase my e-books!
Why did the Japanese attack Pearl Harbor when they knew they couldn't take on the United States?
Decades before Pearl Harbor, Japan knew they couldn't take on the full military and industrial might of Russia. Nevertheless, they went into the Russo-Japanese War, and in the aftermath of a decisive victory at the Battle of Tsushima, they were able to negotiate Treaty of Portsmouth with the aide of US president Theodore Roosevelt. This served as a template for much of the subsequent strategic thinking in both the military and in Tokyo.- What victory looks like: Japan and Russia negotiating the Treaty of Portsmouth in 1905When they took on America, what they hoped for was a decisive naval victory similar to that of Battle of Tsushima, followed by peace negotiations (probably facilitated through Stalin in Moscow) that would allow them to remove trade embargoes, and consolidate their gains in both China and South East Asia.- Probably the most optimistic estimate for Japanese war planners.Their plan B was probably some kind of war of attrition, where they compensate their lack of industry and technology with bushido and determination, and inflict a kind of casualty to the US military that would be unacceptable to the US population back home. The Battle of Iwo Jima was supposed to show an example of what's to come if the US wanted to prolong the war.- Plan B for Japanese war plannersWhat happened was that they never got the decisive victory that they hoped for, and the US successfully turned its industry for war. They have also not anticipated the effects of strategic bombing, in particular night-time firebombing, which completely ruined Japan with minimal US casualties. Lastly, they did not anticipate the USSR breaking the Soviet–Japanese Neutrality Pact, and quickly overran the Kwantung Army in a matter of weeks in the Soviet–Japanese War.- Not part of the plan.All the events evolved to the point that the unconditional surrender to the US became the best possible option by mid 1945.
Why did Japan declare war on the USA in WW2?
The original plan was for the Japanese embassy to announce its declaration of war to the US about 30 minutes before the Pearl Harbor attack began. But there was a big screw up, and the declaration was never delivered. Hence, the US calling it a “sneak attack”.If your real question though is why Japan decided to go to war with the US, the simple answer is that Japan wanted to colonize SE Asia and the south Pacific, and the US stood in the way. The uninformed will tell you it was because the US put out an oil embargo on Japan, but in reality Japan began making plans to attack Pearl Harbor at the very beginning of 1941, and even inserted a spy, Takeo Yoshikawa, into Hawaii from March 1941 who regularly reported on US Navy activities, to facilitate a Japanese attack. This was many months before the embargo.The Japanese military saw war with the US as inevitable, and the goal was to grab as much territory as possible, then make the Allies bleed for every inch they’d try to take back until they’d call for a truce in which Japan could negotiate from a position of strength. They thought the US was soft and unwilling to take on a protracted fight - a horrendous miscalculation.
How did the US respond to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor during WW2?
On the morning of December 7, 1941, Japan assaulted the US maritime base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.The unexpected assault by somewhere in the range of 350 Japanese flying machine sunk or severely harmed eighteen US maritime vessels, including eight war vessels, pulverized or harmed 300 US airplane, and killed 2,403 men.The country over, Americans were dazed, stunned, and incensed. The assault handed US general assessment over support of entering the Second World War Obviously, not every person in the United States responded similarly to this assault. In any case, the fundamental response to the assault was incredible outrage and awesome devoted intensity.The clearest case of this was the surge by men to volunteer for the equipped administrations in the days after the Pearl Harbor assault. Enlisting stations were overpowered in those days by individuals needing to get exact retribution for Pearl Harbor.Another illustration was the relatively total support that war picked up among the American individuals. Americans had been extremely hesitant to join WWII before the assault. After the assault, surveys demonstrated that exclusive 2% of Americans restricted American contribution in the war.US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt set to institute hurtful financial laws against Japan by 1940. Starting with the Export Control Act which restricted US shipment of plane parts and fuel to Japan.More details you may visit the link.
Would U.S. enter WWII if Japan didn't attack Pearl Harbor?
With facts to prove your answer, do you think U.S. would have entered World War II if the Japanese didn't attack Pearl Harbor? NOT just opinion, but facts to back up your opinion!