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. In conclusion, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor because of their nationalist mentality, America’s embargo of oil to Japan and fearing that the United States will attack them first.
The first reason why Japan had attacked Pearl Harbor was because the Japanese had nationalistic and narcissistic political mentality. The Japanese believed the Yamato race was a superior race to the other Asian race(Document A). They also believed they will become the “new order” once Europe and America crumble and become the “old orders”(Document A). Their expansion in Asia encouraged them to
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One reason was the fact that the United States began an embargo on Japan, ending the trade of Japanese weapons. This limited Japan from obtaining more resources in their expansion. Another reason was that Japan needed oil to help keep expanding and raise their economy. The U.S. Navy was in their way, by controlling the Philippines, which is why they thought they needed to get rid of them. Lastly, both Japan and the U.S. did not agree on each other’s ways of running government. Japan wanted to expand more and keep on attacking more people, while the U.S. had a different view on expansionism. The U.S. did not support Japan in their expanding, leading to Japan fearing of losing strength and power. These are the reasons that Japan attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7th,