Japan's Attack on Pearl Harbour

Japan's Attack on Pearl Harbour

In December 1941, Pearl Harbour was attacked by the Japanese. It was

the consequence of a series of events which brought tension between

Japan and America to boiling point. Japan was a country growing in

power and stature and America soon came to realise that this growth

could prove a threat to them. America aimed to stop Japan's growth in

its tracks as they realised that if the situation was left to evolve

much longer then the situation may be out of their control. However,

it can be argued that by not seriously dealing with this threat until

the 1940's, America had left things too late and faced an opponent who

would not back down.

Japan was a country of contradictions in the early 1900's. Her growth

in industry was a major factor for influencing her growth of power;

whilst at the same time their structure was a very traditional

political one. The Japanese Emperor Hirohito was right in the centre

of the Japanese government. The emperor made Japan very militaristic

and the military had a very strong influence in Japan. Japan's growth

in industry had risen greatly since in the preceding 50 years and

still it continued to grow. For this growth to take place though, they

relied greatly on imports from other countries to feed their growing

population. One of those countries they relied on was America. They

also relied greatly on America for immigration, due to the fast growth

of the Japanese population. She still wanted to expand further, and at

the time, the best option was to increase her trade links overseas.

Still supplying raw materials, America became gradually more aware of

Japan's increase ...

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their own problems and failed to stop Japan from invading Manchuria.

The main short-term cause of the attack on Pearl Harbour was America's

decision to reject negotiations and peace talks from Japan about

bringing down the Oil Embargo. This angered the Japanese government,

causing dangerous tension between the two countries as Japan were in a

difficult situation and were now willing to attack the Americans. The

rejections of proposals in September 1941 led to Japan confirming the

decision for war on the 26th of November. In the end Japan was driven

to war by the fact that the military had control of the country. The

army thought that an attack on Pearl Harbour would prove vital if they

were to become equally as powerful as America and have a fighting

chance in the war which had seemed inevitable for a long time.