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. In August of 1941, the United States initiated an embargo on oil shipments to Japan, driving the Japanese to attack. According to the timeline in Document …show more content…
embargo was a huge motivating factor for Japan to attack, as it happened so soon after. In addition, Document D’s chart illustrates how dependent Japan was on U.S. imports of petroleum. The country has few oil reserves and could produce very little of its own oil. Therefore, without the oil imports from America, Japan would be deprived of vital resources necessary for its imperialistic conquests. In short, in order for Japan to continue growing as a world power and establish its dominance over other territories, the country felt it had to weaken the United States so that we would become unable to interfere. To execute this, Japan launched an attack on the Pearl Harbor naval base. Japan desired to become a huge world power, so it established a plan to accomplish this in its new world order. The Japanese saw America as a threat to their plans, as the U.S. had huge power and influence within the world and sought to stop them. Japan’s aspirations of a new world order led to the country targeting and attacking Pearl Harbor. Document A outlines Japan’s desire to imperialize and become a world power. In the reading, the Japanese describe a new world order that they are determined to achieve. They want to rule the entire world, however America prevented them from doing