Issues Surrounding the Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor - Research Paper Example

? Issues Surrounding the Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor of Issues surrounding the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor Introduction The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor is a very important event in the history of wars in America in general and wars between America and Japan in particular. The Pearl Harbor attack is one of the few examples of wars in America in which the initiative to open the war has been taken by the enemy. This paper explores the issues surrounding the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor was to deprive America of its naval strength so that Japan could easily expand into China and the Dutch East Indies. The nature of attack When the interests of a country are threatened, its government and military forces can go to any lengths to take measures to neutralize those threats. Same happened with Japan whose expansion in China was threatened by the placement of the oil embargo upon her by America. The US Military essentially served as a threat for Japan’s interests, and so Japan acted to neutralize them. History provides evidence that America herself has acted in similar ways to expand. For example, the Mexican people and the indigenous people of America were eradicated from the land so that the Americans could achieve their manifest destiny. Although the assassination of the American servicemen in the Pearl Harbor attack is tragic, yet the Pearl Harbor attack by Japan seems justified from an impartial standpoint. Lack of war declaration One argument that is consistently raised against Japan on the Pearl Harbor attack is that the attack was undeclared. Japan made a sneak attack rather than declaring a war formally simply because she wanted to win. It was not a kind of war in which Japan wanted to show its power or uplift its ego that she would feel the need to challenge America upfront. Instead, all Japan wanted was to oust a country that was intruding into her plans of expansion, and Japan would choose any way to achieve that because accomplishment of her plans mattered the most. Saying that the attack was illegal does not make sense because law and war are two terms that do not go with each other. Anticipation of war Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor was meant directed at the neutralization of the US Pacific Fleet, so that Japan’s advancement into the Dutch East Indies and Malaya that would provide Japan with access to a range of natural resources including rubber and oil could be ensured. Both America and Japan were aware of the possibility of war because of the growing tensions between the two countries since 1920s, though the invasion of Manchuria by Japan in 1931 marked the beginning of the most complicated terms between America and Japan. “The U.S. did not want to take military action in China, but it attempted to influence the foreign powers to take a strong stand against Japan” (Perkins, 1997, p. 111). During the 1930s, Japan’s continued expansion into China led to the commencement of war between Japan and China in 1937. The attack Nanking Massacre caused by Japan and her attack on the USS Panay increased the fear of Japanese expansion in the West and sharply turned the people of the West against Japan. As a result of the growing pressure from the people, the UK, France, and America resolved to provide China with loan assistance for the supply contracts related to war. In 1940, Japan tried to control the supplies that reached China by invading French Indochina (Gin, 2004, p. 651), but the shipment of machine tools, airplanes, aviation gasoline, and parts were halted by America. Japan understandably thought of it as an unfriendly act by America. However, to dilute the perceived unfriendliness by Japan, America continued to export oil to Japan. This was done, in part, because stopping oil export was perceived as an extreme step in Washington and was enough to provoke Japan. The ideological affinity between Britain and America was unquestionable in 1939, but large swathes of the American media and public were isolationist. Most of the people did not want America to enter the World War II because of the traumatic experiences they have had in the World War I. Among the American public, the desire of avoiding entanglements with the external agencies and place emphasis on the domestic issues was tremendous. In 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt shifted the Pacific Fleet from its previous base to Hawaii. In order to discourage the aggression of Japan in the Far East, Roosevelt ordered the buildup of military in the Philippines. Since the high command of Japan was meant to be an attack on the colonies of Britain in the Southeast Asia, America would be drawn into the war. Therefore, the only way to avoid the naval intrusion by America seemed to be the devastating preventive strike. America’s entry into the World War II For the most part, America had already entered into war with Japan before its formal declaration of entry into the World War II following the Pearl Harbor attack. The placement of restrictions on Japan’s expansion into China and other regions and cease of export of oil to Japan in July 1941 were subtle acts of war. Taking these facts into consideration, America’s entry into the World War II was both a cause and effect of the Pearl Harbor attack. Because of the restrictions placed by new America on the consumption of domestic oil, America ceased the export of oil to Japan after the expansion of Japan into French Indochina. As a result of this, Japan, whose economy was already on a downfall and was subject to considerable threats felt obliged to carry on with her plans to invade the oil-rich territory of the Dutch East Indies. Japan clearly had two options to choose from; either she could withdraw from China and accept the defeat or she could proceed with her plans of securing new raw materials’ resources in the colonies of Southeast Asia controlled by Europe. Although the government of America was proceeding toward entering into the World War II, yet it was largely the public sentiment that made America wait for an objective reason before formally declaring its entry into World War II. Americans were in favor of America’s support for Britain and France, but the vast majority of Americans wanted to stay at peace. “Troubled by this conflicting advice – oppose Hitler, aid the Allies, but stay out of the war – the president gradually moved the nation from neutrality to undeclared war against Germany and then, after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, to full-scale war” (Sheriff et al., p. 698, 2010). America probably could not have a more solid reason to enter the war than what Japan had provided it with. Conclusion Japan’s attack at the Pearl Harbor was an attempt to remove all obstacles from her way of expansion into China and other regions to gain access to more natural resources. America served as an obstacle in the achievement of this goal for Japan. Japan made the Pearl Harbor attack in order to deprive America of her naval strength. While the American government had been making subtle war acts over Japan, America deterred from formally entering the World War II because of the reluctance of the American people. The war between Japan and America was anticipated because of the events ranging over few decades preceding the war. The Pearl Harbor attack provided America with a strong reason to enter the World War II and take revenge from Japan. Bibliography Gin, Ooi Keat. Southeast Asia: A Historical Encyclopedia, from Angkor Wat to Timor. R-Z. volume three. ABC-CLIO, 2004. Perkins, Dorothy. Japan Goes to War: A Chronology of Japanese Military Expansion from the Meiji Era to the Attack on Pearl Harbor, 1868-1941. DIANE Publishing, 1997. Sheriff, Carol et al. A People and a Nation: A History of the United States, Volume 2: Since 1865, Brief. US: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2010. Read More