On December 7th, 1941, Japan unleashed its infamous surprise attack on the US naval base at Pearl Harbor, destroying tens of US ships, blowing up hundreds of US aircrafts, and killing several thousand sailors, soldiers, and civilians. In response, the US declared war on Japan, finally joining WWII. In order to understand why this all happened, however, we need to look back just a bit earlier in history.
During the turn of the 20th century, Japan had begun an aggressive expansion westward, breaking away from the isolationist way in which it had conducted itself throughout much of its history. From 1894 to 1895, Japan fought over China for influence in Korea in what is known as the First Sino-Japanese War. Soon after, from 1904 to 1905, Japan fought another war, but this time against the Russian Empire and over China’s northeast region of Manchuria in addition to Korea in what is known as the Russo-Japanese War. Japan was successful in both accounts.
Then the Great Depression hit. Although it didn’t affect Japan directly, it definitely did indirectly. Between 1929 and 1931, Japanese exports dropped in value by half, as countries could no longer afford to purchase the luxury items that made up most of Japan’s exports, such as silk. In order to resolve this economic issue, Japan decided to invade China, so, following the Mukden Incident—a staged event by the Japanese that they used as justification to invade—the Japanese successfully invade Manchuria and establish the puppet state of Manchukuo. However, this invasion was condemned by the League of Nations, so Japan officially left the League.
But there’s more! In 1937, a fight broke out at the Marco Polo Bridge in Beijing, initiating yet another Sino-Japanese War (known as the Second Sino-Japanese War). Japan, continuing their streak of military success, takes the Chinese capital of Nanjing in what becomes known as the infamous Rape of Nanking/Nanjing Massacre, where over 200,000 Chinese residents were estimated to have been murdered.
In 1940, Japan occupied Indochina, so, in response, Franklin Roosevelt has the Export Control Act passed, which imposed an embargo on Japan that restricted US exports of raw materials such as iron to Japan, hurting Japan’s economy. After all the atrocities that Japan committed against China, US public opinion of Japan was already low, but with this Act, tensions really start rising between the two countries. Japan, wanting to maintain its superpower status, begins to believe that war with the US is inevitable. With the odds stacked against them, Japan decides to try and attempt a sneak attack against the US in order to handicap them as much as possible, that sneak attack being Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor. And THAT’S how the US got pulled into WWII.
However, this still begs the question: was war with the US indeed inevitable? Quite possibly, but, if Japan had acted differently, would the outcome of WWII have been the same? I guess all we can really know is what happened in history.
https://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/WorldWar2/manchuria.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_invasion_of_Manchuria
I really like your inclusion of Japanese history before World War 2 and Pearl Harbor as it helps explains why they might attack Pearl harbor given their prior aggression throughout the late 19th and early 20th century. An interesting fact I found when further looking into the US decision to go to war following Pearl Harbor was out of all the votes cast in the decision to declare war or not against Japan, only a single vote in Congress was cast against the declaration of war. Jeannette Rankin, the Congresswomen who voted against the war, was a lifelong pacifist as well as the first woman to hold federal office, way back in 1917. She was however, voted out after a single term due most likely to the general belief that women couldn't handle the responsibility of being a Congressperson. She did however get back into Congress once again in 1941. But, after she casted her vote against going to war, she was voted out in the next election.
ReplyDeleteSource:
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/jeannette-rankin-casts-sole-vote-against-wwii