Pearl Harbor

Road to War

After the First World War , many countries , including Japan , experienced an economic depression . There was a deep social unrest . Food resources and raw materials became scarce . Tariff barriers for the importation of raw materials and fuel had risen and the entire country of Japan was plunged into a period which the Japanese later call as the dark valley (Zich , 1977

Japan 's need for raw materials was as intense as its need for living space and trade . But Asia 's riches were in the grip of Western Nations

Great Britain controlled the deposits of rubber , tin , tungsten , and bauxite of Burma and Malaya Indochina 's rubber plantations were held by France the East Indies ' vast oil resources were controlled by the Dutch (Zich , 1977

The only obvious alternative was for the Japanese to find more land and expand their territory . This started the era of economic expansion and prosperity . Japan 's Prime Minister Konoe proclaimed this as the New in East Asia ' which is later known as the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere ( HYPERLINK "http /en .wikipedia .org /wiki /Hakko_ichiu http /en .wikipedia .org /wiki /Hakko_ichiu

In 1931 , the Kwantung Army of Japan , which has been guarding Japanese businessmen in the Liaodong Peninsula and the South Manchurian Railway seized control and took over Manchuria , without any s from the Japanese government . The great depression caused the army to devise a plan in which to start the economic expansion . The army regarded Manchuria , which until then had been a part of China , as the area where Japan 's powers should be consolidated ( HYPERLINK "http /www .britannica .com /eb /-325844 /Kwantung-Army http /www .britannica .com /eb /-325844 /Kwantung-Army

The Japanese government , after deliberations , eventually acquiesced to the seizure of Manchuria , renamed the country Manchukuo , and encouraged the people to migrate there . The Japanese then started creeping their way into other neighboring countries conquering Korea , Formosa , and the Ryukyu and the Pescadores Island from China (Zich , 1977

In 1937 , the Japanese marched into the defenseless city of Nanking where 40 ,000 Chinese were slaughtered . This later came to be called as the Rape of Nanking ( HYPERLINK "http /en .wikipedia .org /wiki /Nanking_Massacre http /en .wikipedia .org /wiki /Nanking_Massacre

Japan 's continued expansion to China increased the tension between Japan and the United States , which at the time nurtured a sentimental fondness for China

U .S President Theodore Roosevelt , in his speech , condemned the aggression of Japan however his acts to counter such aggression were limited . The American people were still repulsive to the idea of declaring war against Japan . Even when Japanese planes bombed the American gunboat , the Panay , in the Yangtze River on December 12 , 1937 this incident created minor concerns among the Americans , but it was not enough a motivation for America to rise up against Japan (Zich 1977

Awakening to Danger

In October 1939 , President Roosevelt ed the U .S Pacific Fleet to operate from Pearl Harbor on the Hawaiian island of Oahu , despite the objections...