Why did Japan attack America at Pearl Harbor?

Answer 1

The plan was to knock out the US Pacific Fleet as a significant fighting force, so their would be no opposition to Japan's conquest of Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands. They thought that once they had conquered all that territory that we would be unable to dislodge them from it even if we did rebuild the fleet.

The Economic Basis for the Attack

Japan already faced a US oil embargo, part of an international movement to isolate Japan economically, and thus force them to withdraw from China. Primarily the US plan was to cut off credit to the Japanese which would prevent them from being able to purchase petroleum. Japan received petroleum (an absolutely vital economic and military commodity, then as it is now) from three sources: The US, the Dutch East Indies (Indonesia) and Burma (controlled by the British in the 1940's).

Japan would not accept a withdrawal from the Chinese war and instead began planning a first strike against the US Navy. Eliminating or reducing the American naval forces in the Pacific would make the Japanese navy paramount, and thus Japan would be able to ignore the economic consequences of the US ultimatum. After eliminating the US Navy, Japan planned to occupy the Dutch East Indies and Burma, thus gaining control of enough oil to run their military and economy.

The strike on Pearl Harbor did exactly as was hoped by the Japanese. The US battleship fleet was crippled. The Dutch lacked forces to repel the Japanese. The British navy (as ordered by Churchill) sent forces to defend their areas but these were totally inadequate for the job, and were decimated quickly. Japan occupied all the oil-producing areas and settled down to a war of attrition against the US, which they hoped would wear down the US politically and enable them to keep their conquests. The flaw was that they did not find the US aircraft carriers, the counter to those of Japan, and that they left Pearl Harbor's repair and construction facilities only partly damaged. Soon the fleet was repaired, and the US aircraft carriers proved their worth, sinking three of the Japanese carriers at the Battle of Midway.

Expectations of the Japanese for the Attack

The Japanese were expecting their results of the attack cripple the U. S. Pacific Fleet for a period of up to eighteen months, preventing aggressive action against imperial forces, with the fleet to later be drawn out into a final battle and destroyed. The Japanese launched a surprise attack on the US Navy and Air force so they could proceed in conquering China. The Japanese believed that if they were successful in destroying US ships and aircraft, they would then have enough time to complete the conquest of China and the western Pacific islands.

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Japan attacked Pearl Harbor in a gamble to knock America out of a future war their military government knew was inevitable, given strong American disagreement to their actions of taking over East Asia (and the atrocities performed there such as the "Rape of Nanking"). Through the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Japan did not hope to defeat America, only to gain enough time to dominate the Pacific, a strategic advantage America could not easily overcome.

This failed, however, as the two aircraft carriers were on routine maneuvers, and so were not destroyed in the attack. This led to the eventual downfall of the Japanese Empire.

There are many reasons as to why Japan attacked Pearl Harbor but there is only one major reason, which has to do with American intervention in Japanese affairs. One of these was where the U.S. prohibited exports of steel, scrap iron and fuel to Japan because of the takeover of northern Indochina. Another reason was when Japan took over the rest of Indochina and the US once again took action. This time they made oil unavailable to the Japanese, making both their air force and navy completely useless. Because of all of this invention by America, the Japanese military decided that they had to get rid of the Pacific fleet because the Americans would surely intervene and cause them more trouble. Once this was done they could start their war plan to take over Burma, Malaya, the East Indies, and the Philippines.

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It is also worth mentioning that both America and Japan had joined the war effort on rival sides prior to Pearl Harbor, though America had not of course declared war. Japan signed a mutual defensive pact with Germany and Italy in September 1940 and the Lend-Lease Act tied America to the Allies from March 1941.

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America had been declaring neutrality since World War I as that war was so devastating that citizens wanted to just stay out of world affairs. Yet America was still a superpower and a threat to the Axis powers (Japan, Germany, etc.) At the time, Japan was one of the largest naval powers if not the most powerful. About the only country that Japan had anything to worry about was America, who was still not involved officially in the war. America at this time was tettering on the edge of entering the war so Japan had the plan to attack first and destroy our naval fleet quickly. Hence the attack on Pearl Harbor.

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Japan is dependent on trade. Japan is an island and needs raw materials. The US used to trade oil and many other things Japan's economy needed. When the war started, the US closed it's trade with Asia. Japan was desperate. They need raw materials. Because the US threatened to cut of their supply of raw materials, Japan wanted to prevent the US from further interference.

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With the US taking sides in Europe but not yet officially in the war, Japan decided to attack the US before it was prepared. The US Navy posed a severe threat to the Japanese conquest of the western Pacific.

The thinking at the time was that the Pacific War would culminate in a decisive battle between the Japanese and US Navies. Japanese leaders recognized the potential of the US war machine and decided to stage an attack on Pearl Harbor, with the goal of reducing the Pacific Fleet's capability to wage war and to delay or weaken any US offensive. Although the attack was a significant risk, the Japanese naval leaders such as Admiral Yamamoto believed the risks were necessary if Japan were to succeed in avoiding US intervention in Asia.
Why did the Japanese attack Pearl Harbor?

The primary reason for Japan's attack (on the US, the British Empire & the Dutch) was the Japanese Army's obsession with their on-going brutal conquest of China. The United States had been taking diplomatic and economic steps against Japan for several years to convince (or force) the Japanese to end their war of conquest in Asia. The Japanese Army actually controlled the Japanese Government since the early 1930's. The Japanese Army refused to end its war of conquest & extreme brutality in China.

Beyond China, the Japanese Army had plans to take advantage of the weakness of the British, French, Dutch & Soviet Union in Asia because of Hitler's conquests in Europe. The Japanese wanted to be free of American interference, and create a vast Asian empire that would have eventually included China, eastern Siberia, Mongolia, Korea, Formosa, Indo-China, Thailand, Burma, Malaysia, Indonesia, Borneo, Sumatra, Java, Philippines, Guam, Wake Island, & New Guinea; and possibly India.

The Japanese military thought that the best way to keep the United States from interfering in their plans in Asia, was to deliver a surprise attack on various US bases throughout the Pacific to do as much damage to the US Military capability in the Pacific. At Pearl Harbor, they intended to sink as many battleships, cruisers & aircraft carriers as possible. At Manila they intended to follow-up with an invasion and capture of the Philippines. At Wake Island they intended to seize the island. The Japanese also attacked the bases, ships & troops of the British Empire. All this was intended to persuade the United States & Britain to negotiate a settlement giving the Japanese most of the western Pacific territories, and most of Asia. They hoped that the US & Britain would not want to fight a prolonged & costly war in Asia to liberate what territory the Japanese could capture in the first six months of the war.
They did it to secure control of East Asia before US could respond.
to get to the other side

Answer 2

It is because we had our naval base there & it would be easier to attack us there to take out our whole navy because that way we wouldn't be able to fight back. They also killed a lot of civilians.

Answer 3

Due to the aggressive attacks of China by Japan, the U.S. cut off their oil supply to prevent their import of industrial products, therefore stopping the expansion of the Japanese empire. So, when that made Japan angry, they attacked the largest American Naval Base, Pearl Harbor on Oahu in the Hawaiian Islands on December 7, 1941.

Answer 4

Japan had been expanding its' empire for some time. It had taken over Korea and taken Manchuria from China. In 1937 Japan invaded China while the rest of the world made noises objecting to Japanese treatment of the people of China. Some countries placed trading embargoes on Japan, refusing to sell commodities useful to war. Included in this embargo was oil and steel which was needed to continue fighting.

When the USA refused to sell scrap metal, Japan realised they would either have to withdraw from China or obtain by force what was needed for her industries. She chose the second option.

Attacking the US Fleet in Pearl Harbour was a way of preventing the Americans from intervening when Japan invaded the countries of South-East Asia, which she needed to do to get the mineral wealth they contained.

Answer 5

The Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor because, most of the American Pacific Fleet was docked there, so destroying the fleet, would ensure that Japan would have naval suppioriority in the war.

Answer 6

352 planes