Why did the Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor?

Question

im doing a research project and need this info ASAP! If uk nethin bout the pearl harbor attack plz answer this question.

Answer 1

The rationing that I have heard, is that it was a pre-empitive strike against us. They thought that they would try and weaken us before we could attack them. By knocking out as much of our forces as they could they felt that we would set back too far back to poise any threat to them in the near future. However, lucky our aircraft carriers were not in the harbor at the time so that suffered little damage.

Answer 2

The USA had the largest military presence in the Pacific Ocean other than the Japanese. The Japanese wanted to create a Pacific and Far-east empire. They had already subjugated China for the most part, and the Soviet Union was involve in a life and death struggle with Germany. The USA, with our democratic ideology, far flung trade interests was the nation that was most likely to be able to resist their ambition. By attacking the US navy at Pearl Harbor they were attempting to knock out our military capacity in the Pacific.

This failed for three reasons. First, by chance the US aircraft carrier were not a Pearl Harbor at the time of the attack. Second, the attack drew the US into the war sooner than we might have otherwise entered it. This had the effect of putting more pressure on all the Axis powers before they had a chance to consolidate their gains. This was particularly important in supporting the Soviets against Germany. Third, and perhaps most important is the Japanese underestimated the US industrial capacity to replace the lost ships.

Answer 3

Japanese Strategy
While the United States attempted to maintain a level of strategic equality with Japan in the Pacific by offsetting losses of capital ships sent to the Atlantic with a buildup of long-range air power, the Japanese government formulated plans for war in the Pacific. The Japanese war plan for the Western Pacific campaigns began to unfold well before 10 November 1941 when General Count Hisaichi Terauchi, commanding the Southern Army, and Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, commanding the Combined Fleet, formally concluded a "Central Agreement" which outlined an ambitious scheme of Japanese conquests.107 According to the agreement, the first operational stage was divided into three phases: (1) attacks on the Philippines, Malaya, Borneo, Celebes, Timor, Sumatra, and Rabaul (also Guam, Wake, and Makin); (2) capture of Java and the invasion of southern Burma; and (3) conquest of all Burma. The Japanese then envisioned pacification of the area, the creation of a Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere, and probably a defensive struggle against the United States to maintain their hold on the region. A second operational stage also covered by the agreement was to "occupy or destroy as speedily as operational conditions permit," eastern New Guinea, New Britain, Fiji, Samoa, the Aleutians, Midway, and strategic points in the Australian area. According to historian John B. Lundstrom, this is as far as Japanese planning went

Answer 4

The Japanese military understood that they needed to destroy as much of the US Navy as possible so that they could consolidate gains in other areas without intervention by the US. It worked. The US fleet was immobilized while the Japanese took over the Philipinnes, the oil-rich Dutch East Indies (Indonesia), Vietnam, Wake Island, Guam, parts of the Aleutians and lots of smaller island chains.

The strategy was to consolidate and fortify this empire and then defend it against the US. They hoped to draw the US fleet closer to Japanese waters and then destroy it. It almost worked.

The Pearl Harbor attack was designed to buy time for the Japanese.

Answer 5

The easy answer to your question:
The Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor to neutralize the Pacific fleet from interfering with the Imperial Japanese takeover of Southeast Asia and creating an Asian Economic Zone.

People have written books about this subject. I suggest you try doing your own homework.

Answer 6

The Japanese Ambassador was supposed to deliver a letter declaring war on the U.S., to be dellivered an hour before the attack on Pearl Harbor...but it was delayed...the attack happened while the Japanese Ambassador was waiting to see the U.S. official

The Japanese military commander felt shame, because the attack happened before war was declared...

Of course one hour notice isn't that great either...the U.S. should have been prepared

Answer 7

Japan's "Koda men" had been checked by Zhukov in their northern plan to extract resources from Manchuria and were bogged down in China. With the U.S. embargo of steel and oil, among others, Japan had to pursue a southern strategy to get their oil primarily from the Dutch colonies, and other materials from other areas of the Pacific rim. The Soviets were busy in the west, Germany had overrun much of Europe, and Great Britain had all it could handle at home and in Africa. All there was to stop their southern expansion was the U.S. Navy. If a decisive blow could be struck, they might be able from a position of strength to negotiate a favorable agreement with the U.S. that would leave them with colonies that could supply their needs for raw materials.

Answer 8

The Japanese wanted a war with the US because they were trying to increase their power in the Pacific. Like North Korea today, they thought if they could "get our attention" it would further their cause as being dominant. The US wasn't the biggest superpower in the world in 1941.

Answer 9

Over the course of several years leading up to the attack, relations had been getting worse between Japan and the U.S. From the late 1930's on, Japan had been at war with some of its neighbors, China, Indochina, Siam (Thailand), and had been threatening the British presence in Southeast Asia.

Once the war in Europe started, Japan was joined with Germany and Italy in the Axis Alliance, opposed by the British, French, and some other European states. The Soviet Union was loosely aligned with the Axis throuth the Molotov-von Ribbentrop Pact which provided for the USSR and Germany to refrain from aggression against each other.

The US was neutral after Sept. 1, 1939 when the war began in Europe, and a strong Isolationist movement existed, relying on our two Oceans to protect us.

Even so, sentiment in this country favored the Allies because of bonds of culture, history, and language. Also, with our country beginning to emerge from the Depression of the 1930's we wanted to trade with Europe. All the belligerent powers were trading partners of ours. We did try to maintain neutrality until after the fall of France in June, 1940. Then thinking became that England was all that remained between us and the Nazis, who were in fact patrolling with U-Boats right off our Atlantic Coast. If England fell, we'd have to fight alone. By this time, the isolationist mood had begun to sour. and Congress approved the Lend-Lease Act, which essentially let us give Britain war material to be paid for later. (There were no delusions that Hitler would leave us alone) Russia was still relying on her pact with Germany, and was busy utilizing the people and resources of Eastern Poland, which was her prize for assisting the Nazis in Poland's conquest.

So we were aware that a war in Europe was going to involve us in some way. As far as Japan went, the US had little respect for it. The Japanese were "funny little people with buck teeth and bandy legs.". They were also much, much farther away than Europe so the "threat" was less.

Japan was still following her expansionist program in Asia, and fighting a modern war means needing modern supplies-----in this case mostly steel and oil-----------Japan's troops couldn't move without them, and we were her source of supply.

(As a sidelight, you should note that for all of the 1930's every graduate of Japan's Air Academy had to prepare a War Game plan for an air attack on Pearl Harbor.)

With England holding out against the pounding of the Nazi bombing attacks, and with Hitler still at peace with Russia (he hadn't attacked that ally yet) and with our own needs growing as well as the need to keep Britain able to defend itself, there was a virtual embargo placed on shipments of vital commodities to Japan, especially considering she was a member of the Axis.

The Japanese simply decided to wage war against the US.
It was one of the classic textbook cases of a Tactical success and a dismal, horrendous Strategic blunder. Four years of war demonstrated that.

Answer 10

it was a failed attempt to warn America off in Asia so the Japanese could build their Empire without interference from us. kind of backfired tho, didn't it?