Pearl Harbor, Essay Example

Why did Japan deliberately bomb Pearl Harbor in December 1941, thus starting a virtually un-winnable war with the United States?

The deliberate bombing of Pearl Harbor in December 1941 was intended primarily as a preventive action by Japan, who viewed the moving of the Pacific Fleet to Pearl Harbor as a preparation for engagement by the United States. This naval manoeuvre was intentionally done to counterbalance the US Pacific Fleet so that Japan could advance, virtually unopposed, into Southeast Asia, where resources of oil and rubber, were particularly valuable and readily available to Japan.

Strain involving the United States and Japan had continued to grow during the 1930’s, with the expansion into mainland China and Manchuria by the Japanese. Japan had spent a considerable amount of time and effort in their endeavour to segregate China and secure adequate independence of their resources. In 1940, the US stopped the progress of deliveries to Japan under the authority of the Export Control Act, involving machine tools and airplanes, along with the fuel and parts for them. The Japanese viewed this as an unfriendly act. The Japanese had invaded French Indochina as a way in which to have power over provisions reaching China, and to advance entrance in to Southeast Asia’s resources. This action impelled the American’s to place a moratorium on the export of oil products to Japan. The Japanese then initiated a plan in which they forcefully acquired their oil from the Dutch East Indies. Beyond this, the U.S. Pacific Fleet was transferred from its former headquarters to Pearl Harbor that the Japanese interpreted as a possible objective of war by the US. This, along with new restrictions on American domestic oil consumption, caused the US to suspend oil exports to Japan in July of 1941. The Japanese high command was certain that any attack on the British Southeast Asian colonies would bring the US into the war in this area. As such, a devastating preventive strike appeared to be the only way in which to avoid US naval intervention in Southeast Asia.

The Empire of Japan intended the attack as a preventive measure, to prevent the US Pacific Fleet from influencing the war it was planning in Southeast Asia, the US in the Philippines, and against the Netherlands and Britain. The Japanese had some key aims in the attack. The elimination of prominent American fleet components was their first goal. This was intended to prevent interference with the Japanese invasion of Malaya and the Dutch Indies, by the Pacific Fleet. Secondly, providing extra time for Japan to strengthen its position before the Americans were able to rebuild their ships and counteract the Japanese invasion plans. Lastly, it was hoped that it would provide a serious blow to the American morale. Japan believed that by damaging the American’s morale, it would discourage them from joining the war in the Dutch East Indies. As they were the most prestigious ships in any navy at the time, the Japanese chose battleships as the chief targets of this plan, in order to maximize the impact to the American morale. The unobstructed conquering of Southeast Asia was Japan’s main objective.

Works Cited:

“Robert’s English School ” Blog Archive “ Attack on Pearl Harbor.”  N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Oct. 2010 <http://robertsenglish.com/?p=271>.

“Attack on Pearl Harbor – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia”. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Oct. 2010 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attack_on_Pearl_Harbor>.