Did the US push Japan to war?

Answer 1

According to Japanese history, by all means.

Japan entered the war to beat back the raging tide of westernisation occurring all over Asia. Not just for Japan but for the good of all Asia. It saw America as an interfering force trying to rule Asia. Much the same way America thought about communism.

However as they say in Japan 'history is written by the victors.' So according to America Japan's bombing of Pearl Harbour was a totally unprovoked attack.

So it all depends on how you look at it and which country your textbooks were written in.

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The above is true but Japan has also written their own history and left out some facts about the previous decade prior to 1941, such as their imperial ambitions, their naked aggression against their Asian neighbors, etc. I don't believe the Japanese have yet recognized such events like the Rape of Nanking or the Bataan Death March nor will you find them in Japanese textbooks.

Plain and simple, the U.S. oil embargo was the catalyst that caused the Japanese government to launch the attack. Now what was the oil embargo in response to? Events like the Rape of Nanking, where it was literally an orgy of death and violence perpetrated by Japanese soldiers in Nanking. Other lesser events like the attack on the USS Panay also led to the embargo.

It was seen by many in the U.S. that by supplying oil to Japan, we were only fueling the machine that was causing such carnage in China. It was believed that if we could shut off the spigot, then Japan would be reigned in.

Japan saw things differently. Japan emerged from isolation in a time when European powers and to a lesser extent, the U.S., were building empires all over the globe. Japan's victory over Russia in 1904 gave the Japanese a sense of superiority over the decadent western empires. Gains acheived during WWI furthered this mentality.

By 1940, Japan had set up it's vision of the future where they would rule over the Pacific. But they had to deal with China first and that required resources that Japan did not have. At that time, they had to import resources such as rubber, iron, and oil from the U.S. or places like French Indochina. No great power can be a great power by having to import vital resources.

Japan knew they were going to war against the western powers (France and Britain) for control of the resource-rich southeast Asia but they knew such a war would bring in the U.S. Japan's war planners believed a quick strike on the American navy would neutralize America's ability to interfere with Japan's imperial ambitions. Some like Admiral Yamamoto had been to the U.S. and knew that any losses incurred by the U.S. could quickly be replaced and he opposed striking against the U.S.

The Japanese did try to use anti-westernism and racism as the reasons for their war but their cruel treatment of groups like the Filipinos and Chinese did little to convince the peoples of Asia that they were a liberating force.

The independence movements (peaceful or not) that sprung up in Asia after WWII were often headed by individuals who had fought against the Japanese, Ho Chi Minh being one.

So to sum up, The Empire of Japan needed little pushing to go to war but such actions like the Oil Embargo only gave the hawks in Japan a thin reason to go to war.