Motive for the Pearl Harbor Attack
Finally the Japanese government concluded to procure action on Pearl Harbor due to the September summer 1941 initiative when the United States decided to cease US oil exporting to Japan.
- There was no oil from Japanese fields and the country relied on America for about 80 percent of its oil needs: without the supplies of US oil its navy would not exist so to speak.
- The Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in the hope that the United States Pacific fleet would be demolished or critically damaged and that the Japanese navy would be able to freely roam across the Pacific.
- Japan was also pushed strategically by the arguments to form an Asian co-prosperity sphere—‘Asia for Asians’ —whereby Japan would replace the Asian colonial holdings of European and the United States.
- With the British, French, and Dutch now tied up in the war in Europe, the Japanese felt that the European powers would be unable to defend their Asian colonies.
- Yet in the next 8 hours following the Pearl Harbor attack, Japan also attacked Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaya which were held by the British as well as the Philippines, Guam, and Wake Island as the US territorial possessions.
Pearl Harbor Attack | History, Motive, Cause & Impact
Pearl Harbor: On the morning of 7 December 1941, Japan bombed the US Pearl Harbor in Hawaii naval base. The attack however was a big surprise and after launching a strategic attack by some 350 Japanese aircraft, the surprise attack sunk or badly damaged eighteen US naval vessels which included eight battleships, destroyed or damaged 300 us aircraft, and killed 2,403 men. America was surprised, shocked and vexed from one end to the other. The Second World War – turning US public opinion towards warfare. Japan before December 8, 1941, was not at war. Two of Japan’s allies, Germany and Italy, started a war with the US on December 11. The U. S. reacted likewise and consequently went to World War II.
Table of Content
- Pearl Harbor Attack
- Motive for the Pearl Harbor Attack
- Forewarnings about the Pearl Harbor Attack
- Japan and the Path to War
- Pearl Harbor: Location
- Impact of the Pearl Harbor Attack
- Conclusion