Pacific Theater Vs American Theater

Although many individuals focus merely on the European Theater, the Pacific Theater was a deciding factor when it came to the outcome of World War II. Japan’s main strategy throughout the Pacific Theater was exhaustion (Lopez). By wearing down the United States militarily and economically, Japan thought it could force the United States into negotiation (Lopez). As history would unveil itself, this plan backfired. The United States of America stood victorious after the war came to an end. With this said, historians would be incorrect to provide America with all the credit. Rather than the United States winning the war, Japan lost the war. Due to Japan’s inability to cripple the United States during its attack against Pearl Harbor, lack of resources,

During the time of World War II, Japan imported a majority of its resources (Lopez). For instance, “Japan imported 88% of its oil” (Lopez). This made it simple for the allied forces to deprive Japan of resources necessary for conducting a successful war. In July of 1941, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and the United States began an embargo on Japan (Lopez). This caused Japan to have access to an exceedingly small amount of iron, steel scrap, aviation fuel, and oil (Lopez). Without these resources, Japan had no chance of surviving a long, drawn-out war of exhaustion. Any war is expensive and resource-heavy, but wars of exhaustion are noticeably longer than normal wars. By choosing a strategy of exhaustion rather than a different strategy, Japan destroyed

As a result, Japan was unable to exhaust the United States into negotiation. Because of this, Japan’s strategy of exhaustion was doomed. Japan’s mistakes would eventually lead to its defeat in World War II. Japan’s mistakes still have valuable uses in today’s society. When it comes to the military, studying history allows today’s militaries to make intelligent decisions. In this case, studying Japan’s failures allows military members to refrain from making the same detrimental mistakes a second time. Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor illustrated the importance of choosing valuable targets and executing the mission. In addition, Japan’s decision to fight a war of exhaustion with limited resources demonstrated the effects of a poor strategy. Lastly, Japan’s failures during the Battle of Midway illustrated how poor logistics can destroy a country’s ability to win a war. Taking this all into consideration, today’s militaries are less likely to commit these detrimental