Why Do You Think Hiro Hito Attacked The States?

[ghvalj]

Guys I need help on this...
Why did Japan attack USA by surprise? Any help I can get will be appreciated.

[Zzarchov]

Well, couple reasons, mostly desperation.

Japan wanted to become a major colonial power like britain or france, so it began expanding into the pacific (German territories from WW1), Korea, China..even Ethiopia. Italy invaded Ethiopia..and cut off Japanese economic interests there(mainly oil)..in exchange for this the faschist forces agreed to stop supplying the Chinese KMT forces (As the Nazi forces had been). China however was claimed economically by many european and american companies. So when the war Heated up (and Japan began destroying western interests, as well as slaughtering chinese civilians) America and Europe started placing blockades on Japan, as well as Embargo's on neccessities like oil and steel. Japan realised its military machine would collapse. And worse, that with it losing its edge in mechanization..China would be more militarily powerful..and seeking revenge. Japan decided it needed to conquer the Dutch east indies and their oil fields. But if it did that American and British fleets would see the pattern and declare war. Japan decided its best bet was a series of daring surprise attacks to try and crush the wests ability to fight back. It worked, but it only delayed the inevitable, Western (and Chinese) forces overwhelmed the Japanese, and formed them from a brutal genocidal slave trading nation, into a modern democracy.

[ghvalj]

Thanks a lot. (for some reason, that sounds sarcastic, but it's not)

[ghvalj]

Can anyone add to that plz?

[harribobs]

japan had already started the expansion of her new empire under the 'asia for the asians' lie.

the attack on pearl harbour was designed to put the american war effort back on it's heels and give the japanese military time to consolidate their gains in the face of the inevitable war with the US

Isoroku Yamamoto's comment about waking a sleeping giant was the most astute comment, after having informed the japanese government that Japan would lose a war against America back in 1940

[Kiwiwriter]

The Japanese desire to build an empire came from their ancient view of "hakkoo isshiu," or "all corners of the world under one roof," with the center of the roof being over Tokyo and the Japanese. The Japanese were a divine race, led by a living God in their Emperor, and destined to rule. They had not lost a war since 1598, and their armed forces had never known defeat. Midway was the first time the Imperial Japanese Navy had lost a battle, and only the third through seventh capital ships it had lost in action (the other two to Russian mines off Port Arthur in 1905, not a battle). Many of the folks in the Imperial Army, trained in bushido spirit and combat tactics, lacked the larger world-view of the Navy and some civilians, and dismissed American and British industrial power as being unequal to Japanese "spirit" and the ferocious loyalty of the "100 million." It's fascinating stuff.

[zander]

The only real threat for Hirohito was the US.The japanese empire was always dreamed of a pacific empire,with full sea control on their hands.also it was once said that the japanese ''heads'' knew that they wouldn't win the war with the u.s. but they surelly knew they could delay them and made more diffucult the help from u.s to the european battlefield.oufcourse untill their allied hitler finished the dirty job of conquering europe.Hitler was always full aware that the US had the power to crush his army.so if his japanese friend could keep teh US busy,after finishing the war of europe he could attack US with some kind of missiles called ''V-52''that were still in ''test''phase .but he didnt calculated that not only america crushed the japanese in pacific,but also that they didnt stopped sending reinforcments,supplies e.t.c.
oufcourse in this dirty job ,the japanese had the right to capture whatever us land they wanted(..sweet dreams).

spoiller:i am not so sure for the name of the missiles <_<

[nolanbuc]

[size=1]To add the excellent answers already given, I'd like to go even farther back to the Soviet-Japanese Border war of 1939. Already occupying Korea and Manchukuo, many of the Japanese Imperial Staff favored a move to conquer Siberia. This strategy was thwarted when the Kwantaung Army was defeated by the USSR and their Mongolian allies.

In the aftermath of this defeat, the Japanese signed a non-aggression pact with the Soviets and the mood of the Imperial Staff shifted to the camp which favored a southern offensive to capture Southeast Asia, specifically the oil-rich East Indies. This "Sphere of Coprosperity" notion for southeast Asia bumped right up against the interests of the US and the European powers in Asia and the Pacific, inevitably leading to the chain of events mentioned here previously.

In attacking Pearl Harbor, the Japanese hoped to temporarily shatter US sea power in the Pacific and force the Americans to sue for peace. They assumed the decadent Americans would have no taste for all-out war once deprived of their Pacific Fleet. They underestimated the US (despite Yamamoto's prescient warnings), and they failed to destroy the Pac Fleet carriers; two early mistakes that helped seal their fate.

[angie999]

Originally posted by harribobs@Mar 28 2005, 03:28 PM

Isoroku Yamamoto's comment about waking a sleeping giant was the most astute comment, after having informed the japanese government that Japan would lose a war against America back in 1940

Quoted post

I have read that it is extremely unlikely that he made this comment, but I cannot remember the source.

[angie999]

Originally posted by zander@Mar 28 2005, 05:37 PM
The only real threat for Hirohito was the US.

Quoted post

Not quite, although by the time of Pearl Harbor the US was carrying out a shipbuilding programme to create a "two ocean" navy, unlike the Royal Navy, which was a one ocean navy by 1941 but with fleet facilities to deploy in Asia provided by the base at Singapore.

Of course, on the day of the attack at Pearl Harbor the Japanese also landed in Malaya and began the conquest which would lead to the fall of Singapore, thus eliminating any immediate British threat.

If you are checking details here, do not be put off by dates. It looks as though the Malaya landings were a day later than Pearl Harbor. This is ther international date line playing tricks - the landings in Malaya actually began about an hour before Pearl Harbor was bombed.