Hideki Tojo himself once said in his prison diary, “It goes without saying that when survival is threatened, struggles erupt between peoples, and unfortunate wars between nations result.”
Japan had always felt endangered by western countries when they began to sail and explore Asia in the sixteenth century and did not want strong western powers affecting their culture and social structures. They only opened their coast to the western world when they felt that they would only be able to keep their culture if they allowed for western technology to come into Japan and help it modernize. They began to work more closely with the west even fighting with them in World War I, but after that war they did not give Japan a spot among the world’s most powerful military countries; this angered Japan. Japan developed a further distaste toward western powers like America and Britain when they wanted more powerful, more resources and to be considered a strong nation abroad and those countries were in the way. Japan also was threated by economic struggles before Hideki Tojo became the Prime Minster of Japan 1941. During the inter-war period Japan was no longer self-sufficient in food to feed nearly 60 million people. Japan was also not able to be self-sufficient in raw materials and the materials needed during an …show more content…
He also believe that the Americans would be mad at first with Japan’s conquest of Asia, but would see that they will understand that these areas will be governed with justice and it is not a racial war for dominance like Germany. This caused Tojo and others to convince the emperor and rest of the cabinet that if an agreement was not reached by the 30th of November then war would begin with the army forces moving south towards Thailand and a necessary attack on the United States bases in the
Japan had always felt endangered by western countries when they began to sail and explore Asia in the sixteenth century and did not want strong western powers affecting their culture and social structures. They only opened their coast to the western world when they felt that they would only be able to keep their culture if they allowed for western technology to come into Japan and help it modernize. They began to work more closely with the west even fighting with them in World War I, but after that war they did not give Japan a spot among the world’s most powerful military countries; this angered Japan. Japan developed a further distaste toward western powers like America and Britain when they wanted more powerful, more resources and to be considered a strong nation abroad and those countries were in the way. Japan also was threated by economic struggles before Hideki Tojo became the Prime Minster of Japan 1941. During the inter-war period Japan was no longer self-sufficient in food to feed nearly 60 million people. Japan was also not able to be self-sufficient in raw materials and the materials needed during an …show more content…
He also believe that the Americans would be mad at first with Japan’s conquest of Asia, but would see that they will understand that these areas will be governed with justice and it is not a racial war for dominance like Germany. This caused Tojo and others to convince the emperor and rest of the cabinet that if an agreement was not reached by the 30th of November then war would begin with the army forces moving south towards Thailand and a necessary attack on the United States bases in the