What was the start of World War II?

Question

For a school project I must make a timeline of a certain period of US History. I chose to focus on World War II but focus mainly on the US's War in Asia.

I'm having some difficulty researching, I can't seem to find an straight answer to this: What was the start of US's War with Japan?

I'm going a bit beyond than Pearl Harbor, but I don't understand the background of the Sino-Japanese War and Japan invading China.


Please help, and cite your resources if you can

I Also would like to know some important events in WW2, but dealing with the war with Japan

Answer 1

go to this website http://www.worldwar-2.net/index.htm

Answer 2

The reason the US was attacked by Japan was our mutual desire for control of the Pacific. Having a way to refuel and supply our military and trade routes with stopping points among the Pacific Islands was important, strategically.

Now, the Sino-Japanese War was all about Japan's imperial hunger. At the time, China was, frankly, a mess and ripe for the picking. The people who lived in China during the first half of the 20th century saw China go from imperial state under an emperor to a fight between the Nationalists and the Japanese until finally the Communists defeated the Nationalists and took over, setting up a oligarchy of Communist party leaders.

Answer 3

Japan had designs on being a world power. They had begun taking over East Asia, and were heading down to the Phillipines were there were American bases . . . America had recently returned the Phillipines back over to self govern after possessing the islands after the American-Phillipine War that ended in 1905. The Japanese expansion also causes trade problems. America put an oil embargo against Japan in the hopes of slowing down the war machine. Japan then declared war on the United States. Japan had preivously signed the tripartite pact with Germany stipulating that should Japan be attacked, Germany would aid. Striclty speaking this didn't apply since America did not attack Japan first, but it had already been accepted by Roosevelt that war in Europe was unavoidable, so America declared war on Japan, then Germany honoured the TP and declared war on America.

Answer 4

The start of WWII for the U.S. was due to Pearl Harbor. Now you ask why did the Japanese attack? Japan at the time was building an empire. Part of that empire was to take China (Sino-Japanese war). However, for any self respectable war mongering nation, one need an almost inexhaustible source of, well resources. Oil and steel were pretty big at the time. Japan needed these resources and due to thier war with China and Indonesia (then a Dutch colony), the U.S. and other western nations didn't really feel like being their buddy.

SO...

Japan decided to take the yanks out in one go. They figured that if they take out the U.S. Pacific fleet, it would take years before anyone could challenge them.

BUT...

The clever yanks built "liberty ships". Traditionally ships were rivoted together. Rivoted metal can take the stress of battering waves at sea. Welded metal wasn't good at the time. But the yanks pulled off the welded ships and built thier navy in no time. Once the navy was ship-shape, they decided pay back was in order.

Answer 5

There were several events that are considered critical to the build of of the events that occured during Pearl Harbor which go back to the late 19th century and early 20th century. Like one of the previous posts said a lot of the dispute and bad blood between the United States and Japan prior to Pearl Harbor have to deal with securing trade routes and trade markets in particular with China.
The first and perhaps most monumental changes in U.S.-Japanese relations has to do with the Russo-Japanese war which some historians refer to as WW0, and the subsequent peace treaty, The Treaty of Portsmouth, for which Theodore Roosevelt mediated and later won the Nobel peace prize of 1906. Anyhow, the results of the treaty of Portsmouth was less than favorable in terms of what the Japanese were expecting and a lot of blame was projected at the Americans who mediated the deal. In fact the public discontent was so great nearly 30,000 japanese rioted throughout Tokyo destroying police offices and other government establishments. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Portsmouth
http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/1230/p04s01-woap.html
Perhaps the next big event in the lead up to Pearl Harbor has to do with the Japanese Conquest of Manchuria of 1931-32 in which the United States and Brittain codemned mainly because manchuria was a economic source for many European nations and was not about to share this resource as Japan needed the natural resources for its empire. http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/WorldWar2/manchuria.htm
So basically after Manchuria Japan continued its Imperialism throughout Asia thus kicking out Europeans and blocking trade routes to China. As such the United States issued an embargo on steel and metal being that Japan really didn't have their own natural resources (consequently the bombs dropped on Pearl Harbor were most likely made from scrap metal from the United States). Following the steel embargo the United states issued aan oil embargo upon Japan with which Japan, already upset by American intervention of Japanese Imperialism decided to go ahead and attack the American Pacific fleet. http://www.theamericancause.org/patwhydidjapan.htm
This is basically the lead up in a nutshell, I did oversimplify things, and left some things out, but perhaps this can get you on the right road to researching this info by yourself.

Answer 6

More and more scholars are identifying Japan's attack on China as the beginning of WW2 - and other conflicts got merged into it. Because of Japan's China policy her relations with the US (which had always championed an "open door" policy to China ) became so bad that the Japanese decided to attack America at Pearl Harbor - to settle the differences by force. Germany, a diplomatic ally of Japan, then declared war on America as well because the US navy had been hindering German naval operations against Great Britain, with whom Germany was at war. (NB America did not declare war on Germany, it was the other way round).

Answer 7

You're going way back to the 19th century. Are you sure your up to it, I mean you could even include the end of feudalism in Japan based on how far back you're going. What most people think of as the start of World War Two was the invasion of Poland by Germany in 1939.

Answer 8

worldwide conflict II began often simply by fact the yank human beings have been unwilling to connect the League of countries on the tip of international conflict I, thereby removing what could have been that organisation's significant militia potential. This led to, or allowed a minimum of, Hitler's upward thrust to potential in Germany. there have been numerous factors at which he grew to become into thoroughly overextended and any variety of a instruct of tension by the League or perhaps in basic terms a number of its member countries could have positioned an end to his plans, however the different ecu powers constantly caved in to him, appeasing him at practically each turn and permitting the territory, manpower and uncooked aspects under his rule to constantly advance. Then while the Friendship p.c.. between Germany and Russia grew to become into signed, his lower back grew to become into lined and he might desire to attack, first Poland and then the international places to the west. American isolationism grew to become into the main reason.

Answer 9

the conflict between japan and usa was started at pearl harbor, but american volunteers did fly fighter planes in china before that, I believe they were called the flying tigers.

Answer 10

As with any war. It is greed, or redemption.