One of the main reasons japan did attack Pearl harbor was, to take out the US navy while they still was in port and take it with suprice.
One of the most important targets during this attack was to take out the 4(3-5) Aircraft Carriers that the US navy had in its posession, without these the US navy would not be able to attack Japan in the pacific ocean like they did in 43-45.
Luckily for the US these ships was out on a training mission to the north west( i think it was) of the havaiian islands. and was able to avoid being destroyed during the attack.
It was simple, to cripple the US navy while they still was in port.
If the navy had lost its Aircraft carriers, the victories in the pacific ocean would be much more difficult, if not even impossible, as the British navy learned in the early stages of the war when they tried to fight japan with only Ships.
Saevus said:
Codgo said:
gremily said:
I am trying to figure this out for a research project. Why did Japan bomb Pearl Harbor.
Go do some real study on the subject from a book.
This is the only answer that should've been given.
But yeah, this thread is generally correct. Japan developed a sort of manifest destiny and became determined to rule Asia. They began engaging in some serious aggression in Pacific regions which, in addition to creating serious moral offenses with actions like the Rape of Nanking, directly threatened British, Dutch, French, and American holdings in Asia. Furthermore, they entered into alliance with Germany and Italy. The American response was to cut off scrap metal and oil exports (over 80% of the latter) to Japan, which presented a massive problem: without these resources, Japan could not continue to build and maintain their military. There were attempts to reconcile with America and get the oil flowing again, but Japan's refusal to exit China was a deal-breaker. Left with 2 years of oil at the most, Japan decided to engage in a pre-emptive attack that they hoped would cripple America's ability to wage war in the Pacific.
I don't understand why you need to even ask about this stuff in forums. Information on this topic is very, very widely available, and in far more reliable forms than the interwebz.
You are quite right here, it was a question about survival for the Empire of the sun.
They where at the brink of being straved (japanice civians did suffer greatly from the trade blockades)
I really reconment heading into the net and look up the documentary called "World at war"
Produced in 1793. It is the only documentary series of WW2 thats in my eyes fully objective, and does not take any "sides" on the war, like most you see on tv and is written by western historians who wrights about the great victory of WW2.
Episode 23&24 "japan" and "pacific ocean" gives a good inview into why japan began occupying the east, and went to war against the british colonists.
" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSzioWiAj0U&feature=related "
i really reconmend having a look at these series.
The series is quite good, they have lots of interviews with major people who where involved in the war, and rather funny imo, actually interviewing one of the main spies in Perl Harbor.
And a fun fact thats mentioned is that the only reason why the US won against japan was because of the nuke. If not, they would have been bankrupt before they had taken the emperor.
