Does anybody know any events leading up to the attack on Pearl Harbor?

Question

I'm doing a research paper.

Answer 1

From Publishers Weekly
Historians have long debated whether President Roosevelt had advance knowledge of Japan's December 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor. Using documents pried loose through the Freedom of Information Act during 17 years of research, Stinnett provides overwhelming evidence that FDR and his top advisers knew that Japanese warships were heading toward Hawaii. The heart of his argument is even more inflammatory: Stinnett argues that FDR, who desired to sway public opinion in support of U.S. entry into WWII, instigated a policy intended to provoke a Japanese attack. The plan was outlined in a U.S. Naval Intelligence secret strategy memo of October 1940; Roosevelt immediately began implementing its eight steps (which included deploying U.S. warships in Japanese territorial waters and imposing a total embargo intended to strangle Japan's economy), all of which, according to Stinnett, climaxed in the Japanese attack. Stinnett, a decorated naval veteran of WWII who served under then Lt. George Bush, substantiates his charges with a wealth of persuasive documents, including many government and military memos and transcripts. Demolishing the myth that the Japanese fleet maintained strict radio silence, he shows that several Japanese naval broadcasts, intercepted by American cryptographers in the 10 days before December 7, confirmed that Japan intended to start the war at Pearl Harbor. Stinnett convincingly demonstrates that the U.S. top brass in Hawaii--Pacific Fleet commander Adm. Husband Kimmel and Lt. Gen. Walter Short--were kept out of the intelligence loop on orders from Washington and were then scapegoated for allegedly failing to anticipate the Japanese attack (in May 1999, the U.S. Senate cleared their names). Kimmel moved his fleet into the North Pacific, actively searching for the suspected Japanese staging area, but naval headquarters ordered him to turn back. Stinnett's meticulously researched book raises deeply troubling ethical issues. While he believes the deceit built into FDR's strategy was heinous, he nevertheless writes: "I sympathize with the agonizing dilemma faced by President Roosevelt. He was forced to find circuitous means to persuade an isolationist America to join in a fight for freedom." This, however, is an expression of understanding, not of absolution. If Stinnett is right, FDR has a lot to answer for--namely, the lives of those Americans who perished at Pearl Harbor. Stinnett establishes almost beyond question that the U.S. Navy could have at least anticipated the attack. The evidence that FDR himself deliberately provoked the attack is circumstantial, but convincing enough to make Stinnett's bombshell of a book the subject of impassioned debate in the months to come. (Dec.)

Answer 2

The events leading up to the attack on Pearl Harbor can go back to the invasion of China by Japan. The US tried diplomacy to get Japan to leave China. However Japanese leaders of the time thought that if they bowed to pressure from outsiders a civil war would erupt by those families who had loved ones killed in China.

As a result the leaders told Yamamoto to begin preparations for war with the US (Yamamoto argued against this course of action). With Fuchida, and Genda's help a plan to attack Pearl Harbor was planned.

I've studied Pearl Harbor for 25 years and I'm not convinced that the US 'knew' Japan would attack Pearl Harbor. If there is any conspiracy that I would believe in its that they delayed seeing the Japanese ambassadors to make it seem that Japan attacked the US without a declaration of war (the Japanese Ambassadors were to deliver the message before 1 PM Washington time, or about the time the attack would begin.

Answer 3

There were a lot.... I recommend Wikipedia.com and Search for Pearl Harbor.

Answer 4

Do your research on oil reserves of the time, and our control of them vis a vis the Japanese. That should give you a good start on your home work.