Pearl Harbor: Background and Causes
What happened during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor?
In December 1941, the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor cost the United States five totaled battleships and more than 3,000 casualties.
Japan's victory in the previous Russo-Japanese War brought the country onto the world stage as a powerful military force, which was significant for a country that had been a relatively backward Eastern nation, but the war also resulted in a shift away from wartime trust and toward individual struggle at home, as well as a growing acceptance of racism in Japan, resulting in significant population and infrastructure losses.
What path did racism and far-right nationalist movements take in Japan?
After the breakup of the Anglo-Japanese alliance, Japan, which received the title of the Living Book of World War I, did not see much fighting during the seven years of the Great War.
However, after the war, the Japanese government and people became very resentful when they requested free immigration of their citizens as part of the post-war treaties and were rejected by Western countries.
This led to militarism from the 1930s onwards, during which time a far-right nationalist movement stemming from the samurai tradition gained strength, leading to a dictatorship and a racist movement within the Great Victory State.
Japan's descent into militarism and racism fed the public's anger and led to their desire for strong military power.
This anger and desire led to the Tojo, which was fueled by some Western countries' stance of taking a hard line.
What was the purpose of the Japanese Empire's colonization of Asia?
Japan's colonization of Asia was all about resources.
The goal was to obtain valuable natural resources from colonies in all corners of Asia, which would allow them to maintain a military presence and become a great power, starting with the Manchurian Vacuum.
However, as they began their conquest of China to deal with the interference of Western countries, they faced difficulties in maintaining their goals due to the lack of oil.
It was during this crisis that the claim of the Indochina Peninsula and Indonesia to be rich in oil reserves became something that could not be ignored.
War due to disruption of oil supply to Japan
As Hitler's imperialist forces swept across Europe, Japan saw the European crisis as an opportunity.
However, Japan's alliance with Italy put it at odds with the United States, which wanted to impose sanctions for its military expansion and threatened to cut off oil supplies.
In response, President Roosevelt sought a way to deal a major blow to Japan without the use of force, demanding that Japan cease all exports of strategic resources and return territory.
But Japan rejected the demands and wanted to continue the war, and the U.S. didn't anticipate the Japanese reaction.
As a result, the war ended with the defeat of Japan with the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the largest human carnage in world history.
Why did the head of the Japanese Navy oppose the U.S. decision to fight?
In October 1941, Japanese Prime Minister Hideki, who had been appointed as war czar, decided to go to war with the United States.
However, Admiral Isoroku, the head of the Japanese Navy, opposes the war resolution.
Eventually, Japan makes an extreme decision and launches a battle against the United States.
Admiral Isoroku then leads the battle with total unity and indomitable spirit, leading Japan to victory.
What is Sado Yamamoto's proposed plan?
Sado Yamamoto, who had previously worked at the U.S. Embassy and taught at Harvard University, was pessimistic about winning a war with the United States.
However, Japan was already leaning towards all-out war, and Sado Yamamoto's input led to a war plan with the United States.
Admiral Yamamoto came up with a bold plan to eliminate the US Pacific Fleet in order to shorten the war, and decided to attack Pearl Harbor in Hawaii.
It was quite a gamble at the time, with a high risk of failure, but Admiral Yamamoto steadfastly pursued the plan when there was a risk of discovery at any moment.
Why did Japan attack Pearl Harbor in 1941?
American troops were stationed at Pearl Harbor and were on vacation, expecting to be attacked from the American mainland, thousands of miles away.
The goal of the Japanese attack was to destroy American aircraft carriers, but incomplete intelligence prevented them from achieving their goal.
The Japanese were not expecting an attack due to a misjudgment by the U.S. Navy sailors, which caused significant damage.
And the U.S. planes weren't expecting it because they were training and enjoying a break at Pearl Harbor.
So the US had no choice but to declare war on Japan.
What led to direct military conflict between the United States and Japan?
On December 7, 1941, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, destroying dozens of U.S. planes and claiming seconds of life.
This forced the United States to respond to Japan's imperialist declaration of war.
Once the Japanese achieved their objective, they expanded their territory in the South Pacific, invading Hong Kong, Tegucigalpa, and the Philippines within 24 hours.
The Japanese later set their sights on securing the Dutch colonial oil fields, which they later succeeded in doing.
What were the consequences of the attack on Pearl Harbor between Japan and the United States?
During the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese were unable to damage any of the aircraft carriers, nor were they able to damage the various harbor facilities and oil storage facilities.
The Americans, however, suffered 5,000 casualties and were forced to evacuate dozens of ships and lose more than 300 aircraft.
The Japanese inflicted heavy damage on the Pacific Fleet by concentrating their attacks on airfields with fighting battleships and airplanes, but due to Pearl Harbor's maintenance and harbor facilities, 18 ships were salvaged unscathed.
This prompted President Park Chung-hee to call for an all-out alert to warn neighbors, including North Korea, of the United States' failure to defend against the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, and to prevent another Japanese attack.
The Japanese had reported to the U.S. that they were going to attack Pearl Harbor, but it took a long time to interpret it, and it was too late to declare war.
The U.S. military was outraged by this cowardly and craven surprise attack, and while the Japanese launched a final counterattack, capitalizing on the U.S.'s failure to knock out key guiding assets, the Japanese paradoxically let the U.S. down even further.
What was America's combat power in the war between Japan and the United States?
At the height of World War II in Europe, the United States proposed a counterattack against Japan shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor.
Many citizens volunteered to join the military, and five days later, the United States declared war on Japan and exterminated them.
The United States played a great role in the war, and the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor ended up being the worst handshake the world's most powerful nation ever had to deal with.
