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Pearl Harbor: Could It Have Been Avoided?

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Pearl Harbor was the first serious foreign attack on American soil. Being an attack from a foreign military, carrying out an order from the government. Resulting in large a amount of American casualties and forcing America to enter the war against the Axis Powers. But, could this attack been avoided all together? The Japanese invaded China in 1937, which forced America to take action. To protest, “Japan 's activities in China, Roosevelt had put an embargo on the export of aviation fuel and iron ore to Japan, and had frozen all Japanese assets in the United States” (“Could Pearl Harbor Have Been Averted?”). The Japanese were vulnerable without American materials of oil and metal (80% of Japanese oil and metal were from America). Prince Konoye, Prime Minister of Japan, wished for a meeting in Hawaii with President Roosevelt to resolve their conflicts with one another. …show more content…

Throughout all of this conflict, Joseph Grew, the American ambassador to Japan, had been collecting knowledge from the Peruvian ambassador to Japan that plans to attack Pearl Harbor were being made. The intelligence were gathered on January 27, 1941, close to full year before the bombardment. Once Grew received the knowledge, “Grew passed this information along, but his information was cursory at best and he seemingly believed it to be unlikely” (“Attack on Pearl Harbor: Could it Have Been Avoided?). If the government took the knowledge seriously and did not underestimate Japanese capabilities, they would have been

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As soon as Japan sees that they had stopped trades with them and were limiting rights to the Japanese it gave them a shock and from then they knew they must get revenge. The Japanese have had a plan to take over the world but they had countries in the way that were stronger but soon the US started to back away from the Japanese. So why did Japan attack Pearl Harbor? Japan cannot get to take over the world with the US embargo on materials and the naval expansion act.

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While the Imperial Navy’s Adm. Isoroku Yamamoto, who was also known as the “chief architect of the attack on Pearl Harbor, stated that he believed it was impossible for Japan to win such a war but Japan had to gain the upper hand at the very beginning so that the United States just might be enticed to the negotiating table” (Timms). Hotta revealed her own interpretation by reviewing relevant published primary sources and the reasons why Japan decided to attack the Pearl Harbor. In addition, everyone talked about going to war such as the “Japan’s top brass referring to the prime minister, the foreign minister, the army and navy ministers, and the chiefs of the army and navy general staff”

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Rahul Bagga Mr.Campbell US History, Period 0 16 December 2015 Why did Japan attack Pearl Harbor? One day that will always be remembered by America is the date of December 7, 1941, which changed American history forever. December 7, 1941 was the day the Japanese warplanes attacked Pearl Harbor (Hawaii) which stationed many of American ships and airfields. Immediately after the bombings, United States President Franklin Roosevelt declared war on Japan, leading to a direct involvement into World War ll. Japan had many reason to do so but Japan attacked Pearl harbor for three reasons which were that they had a plan for a new world order, United States were expanding their number of naval ships rapidly, and an oil embargo was placed upon Japan

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Why did Japan attack Pearl Harbor? If you were threatened by an individual, would you throw the first punch or wait for the attack. This is how Japan felt when they were trying to dominate Asia. On Sunday December 7, 1941 the Japanese attacked the United State’s biggest naval base, Pearl Harbor. This attack was a turning point for the United States because this was one factor that brought them into World War II to fight against the Axis Powers.

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December 7, 1941 is considered one of the most impactful days in United States’ history: the day Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Despite their size, Japan left an incredible amount of damage with their 5 submarines and 408 planes. President Roosevelt had been avoiding scuffling with Japan since their pact with Germany and Italy; war with Germany was sure to erupt soon enough. However, soon after the ambuscade, the United States’ declared war on Japan and launched their involvement in World War II. Japan’s leaders recognized the risks of invading one of America’s naval bases; yet they persisted.

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On December 7, 1941, Japanese planes and submarines made an unexpected attack on Pearl Harbor. This bombing of the naval base located in Oahu, Hawaii climaxed a decade of worsening relations between the United States and Japan, and it marked the beginning of our direct involvement in World War II. So why would a nation smaller than California bomb one of the United States’ most valuable naval bases? While many factors could have influenced it, three in particular stand out. The U.S. oil embargo, Japan’s new world order, and U.S. fleet expansion all contributed to Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor.

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When the voting took place on the decision to declare war on Japan, only one member of Congress voted against. So with all this considered, the main question would be: Would the Americans have eventually joined the war even if Pearl Harbour had not been attacked? My take would still be that the US would have eventually joined the war regardless of whether the bombings took place, but at an even later date, possibly having dire consequences and affecting certain outcomes of the war. December 7 1941 The attack on Pearl Harbour came as a surprise to all of America for multiple reasons: no one expected the Japanese to attack them due to the great distance between Japan and America, also there was no declaration of war made on America by the Japanese.

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began an embargo of airplanes and airplane parts; and after that in1941 places an embargo on oil shipments to Japan (Doc C). In the years 1937-1940 the U.S. exported about 3,000,000 tons of petroleum, and about 80% of all of Japans oil imports were from America, but in1941 when the U.S. placed its embargos it only sent Japan 880,000 which is significantly less than three million, which resulted in Japan having about2,590,000 less than their averages from the years leading up to the attack (Doc D). Also, in a meeting with the Emperor, Hideki Tojo, Prime Minister of Japan as well as Minister of War of Japan, said regarding the oil embargo, “Two years from now we will have no petroleum for military use. Ships will stop moving… I fear that we would become a third-class nation after two or three

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Pearl Harbor When considering knowledge on Pearl Harbor previous to the occurrence, there is substantial indication to justify that the US government clearly knew Japan intended to attack at some point. Despite the awareness of their potential threat, it would've been nearly impossible to have known the time and date it would take place, being one reason a multitude of people conceived this as a surprise attack. Contrary to this belief, FDR was well warned and cognizant of what was expected in response to his counteractions against the Japanese, being influenced by McCollum's eight point plan. One of the US Government's top experts on Japan was Lieutenant Commander Arthur McCollum.

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1941.12.7, the peace in Pearl Harbor was broken by a cannon blast. This attack was the Pearl Harbor attack, which became one of the most well-known attacks in history. Many people believe that this attack is just a military action. The premise hiding in the back is Japan's constant aggression and their desire for resources, and the economic sanctions from America. These factors interacted and contributed to the escalating tensions between Japan and the United States, ultimately leading to the US declaration of war against Japan while the former was involved in the world war.

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At the time, Japan did not have the necessary natural resources an industrial nation required; therefore, the United States and the western parts of Europe were supplying Japan with these resources: coal, iron, steel, copper, rubber, and petroleum (Higgs). Without these resources, Japan would collapse in a matter of months. In order to sustain their military, they would need coal, iron, steel, and petroleum to supply their military. Japan had to act fast, or else their whole economy would crumble. On the islands that American took away from Japan during the imperialist stages in the late 19th century, such as Hawaii and the Philippians, had these resources.

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Prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor, there were a wide variety of opinions regarding the country’s involvement in the war. Furthermore, there was a large difference between the opinions of the American citizens that stayed home and were merely ‘witnesses’ to the war, verses the soldiers that fought in the war. Aside from this, there was generally a very similar attitude towards the war from most Americans. Within the southern states, there seemed to be an immense support and trust in the President’s actions.

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Not only did Japanese bomber planes take the loss of cherished human lives, they destroyed the naval base and left the state of Hawaii in destruction which caused the government to take a large step – destroying the economy further while paying for reparations and war costs. While discussing this idea, it is crucial to keep in mind that the government was already struggling in this period because of the Great Depression, which lasted from 1929 to 1939.

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Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor is by far one of America’s most remembered events in history. On December 7, 1941, the Japanese dropped bombs on the American base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. This attack is what persuaded President Franklin Roosevelt to join World War 2 and fight on two fronts. Japan attacked Pearl Harbor for many reasons. They attacked because they believed they would create a New World Order, they felt threatened by America and because of the oil embargo.

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Tensions rose in September in 1940 when Japan, Germany, and Italy signed the Tripartite pact. This was a defensive military alliance so when one was attacked the others would help and if they attacked they would join in. They attacked Pearl Harbor because the Japanese admiral Isoroku Yamamoto thought that they did not have enough resources for a long term war so they did a surprise attack. There was supposed info known about the attack but it did not travel to the central intelligence officer. The person who evaluates if things need to be passed up the chain of command Richmond Turner thought that that 2 coded messages they found suggesting an attack did was not that serious.

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