Pearl Harbor Dbq Analysis

The attack by the Japanese Imperial Navy on the US Pacific Fleet in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii prompted the United States to join World War II and completely destroyed the already tenuous relationship between Japan and the United States. The attack on Pearl Harbor was caused by the failing relationship that came to fruition during the Second Sino-Japanese War. The only possible defense for the Japanese attack comes from a fervent Japanese imperialist. The Pearl Harbor attack on December 7th, 1941 was uncalled for and was not beneficial to Japan, so there is no reason the attack was justified. From 1931 until the end of World War II Japanese behavior and foreign policy was unacceptable. This behavior prompted the US embargo on steel (with trade going from 995,000 to 646,000 tons), scrap iron (242,000 to 20,000 tons), and oil, which dramatically decreased from 4,820,000 tons in 1937 to 1,410,000 in 1941 (Document B). Many would say that this embargo was a act of war, but it was not. The embargo was created as a defensive measure because of the Japanese violation of the Open Door Policy in China, and other imperialist movements throughout Southeast Asia. The Japanese seizure of Manchuria in July 1931, as well as the formation of a …show more content…
This attack awoke a sleeping giant (the United States). One reason for the attack was to keep the US from entering WWII and prevent them from interfering in Japanese imperialist movements. However, it did none of these things. It provoked the US, a nation that was originally anti-war to enter the WWII with a unanimous vote in Senate and only one vote against entry in the House of Representatives. The attack fed Americas will to fight throughout the rest of the war. It removed any possibility of obtaining “peace in the Pacific through cooperation with the American Government” (Document F). This shows that the US was provoked and did not want to go to war with