Why did the Japanese attack Pear Harbor??

Question

PPL keep it simple...i just want to really understand why they attcked the US..what was their main reason??

THANK YOU!!

Answer 1

It was the only card they had left to play after the US oil embargo. They gambled that the US Pacific Fleet would be knocked out and US public opinion would keep the US out of a confrontation with Japan. On both counts, they were wrong. All it did was wake a "sleeping giant."

Answer 2

The intent of the strike was to protect Imperial Japan's advance into Malaya and the Dutch East Indies – for their natural resources such as oil and rubber – by neutralizing the U.S. Pacific Fleet. Both the US and Japan had long-standing contingency plans for war in the Pacific, developed during the 1930s as tension between the two countries steadily increased, focusing on the other's battleships. Japan's expansion into Manchuria and later French Indochina were greeted with increasing levels of embargoes and sanctions from the United States. In 1940, the US halted further shipments of airplanes, parts, machine tools and aviation gas to Japan, which Japan interpreted as an unfriendly act.[5] America continued to export oil to Japan, as it was understood in Washington that cutting off exports could mean Japanese retaliation.[6] In the summer of 1941, the US ceased the export of oil to Japan due to Japan's continued aggressive expansionist policy and because an anticipated eventual American entrance to the war in Europe prompted increased stockpiling and less commercial use of gasoline.[7] President Franklin D. Roosevelt had moved the fleet to Hawaii, and ordered a buildup in the Philippines, to reduce Japanese aggression in China and deter operations against others, including European colonies in Asia. The Japanese high command was (mistakenly) certain any attack on the United Kingdom's colonies would inevitably bring the U.S. into the war.[8] A pre-emptive strike appeared the only way Japan could avoid U.S. interference in the Pacific.

Answer 3

I'll try to keep it as simple as possible, and not give you a huge response as I tend to do

I remember asking my self that same question before I learned, but after I did it was pretty clear. You see the U.S didn't want to get into the war, I mean why would they? They were in a severe depressiona nd to tell you the truth, it had nothing to do with them. So at first they pretty much didn't do anything involved with the war, however as time went by, they started to get more and more involved (yet still not "in" the war mind you). I'm pretty pissed now cause I can't for the life of me remember what the agreement was, however they made an agreement (I"m sure your book would have it), stating that any country that supported democracy, would get supply's from them.

Well of course the Axis powers didn't support it, Nazism, Facism and what not, so they didn't get any supplies, yet G.B, France, and others would get it, cause they liked democracy. (ya see, the U.S felt it would be "fair" this way, I mean of course they were supporting the Allies, but they technically said anyone could have the supplies as long as they spread democracy).

Well Japan was pretty mad, because at firs tthe Axis were owning the Allies, but after this, they started to do worste and worste, so Japan had a clever idea see, they just thought "hey, we wipe out their naval base and BAM, their out of the picture and we won". They bombed pearl harbor... and you knwo the rest

sorry about not remembering the agreement, I'm positive your book will have it, if you want post it up here and if I see it, i'll know what it is.

DAMN, its long again, sorry you had to read that


Just remember what it was called, the "Lend-Lease Act"

Answer 4

Japan wanted to create an empire in East and Southeast Asia, and that was the reason for its aggression before and during World War II. President Roosevelt moved most of the U.S. naval fleet to Hawaii in order to put pressure on Japan to cease its attacks on China and Southeast Asia. Japan saw this concentration of American forces as an opportunity to cripple the U.S. navy, and ensure its own dominance of the Pacific, so an attack was launched on Pearl Harbor.

Answer 5

Japan was a small country with little resources but a big population. They wanted to expand their small empire and control the Pacific with the large navy they had been building over several years. Hawaii was the key to the Pacific and the US's largest naval base and the Japs knew they had to destroy our carriers there to keep us out of the war. Our carriers were not in Hawaii at the time and later were the undoing of the Japanese

Answer 6

They wanted to disable the Pacific fleet so they could attack others without rear of retribution.