Attack Pearl Harbor Essay

The Attack on Pearl Harbor was a shocking blow to the United States that forced the U.S. into World War II. The United States goal was to stay isolated from foreign affairs, but Pearl Harbor changed all that, forcing them to get involved in foreign affairs. A young, power hungry United States wanted to control Southeast Asia, angering Japan along the way. The reason the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor was the results of decades of tension starting back in 1899 with arguments over the United States Open Door Policy; both countries desired control over the Pacific and East Asia, which made war unavoidable.

The start of trouble between Japan and the United States was the open door policy. In 1899 the U.S. created the Open Door Policy, which stated that all countries had equal privileges when trading with China. China expressed their displeasure with this policy with the Boxer rebellion, when the boxers of China came together and tried to force foreigners out of China. However, foreign forces overtook them and they were stuck with being open for trade and business. In 1900 Secretary of State John Hay decided to send out a second document, in a response to the Boxer Rebellion, stating that countries should respect China and it integrity, although no replies were requested all of the major powers except Japan agreed to these terms. In 1904-1905 Japan won the Russo-Japanese war; they won because Russia had limited forces available in that area of east Asia, however this battle still proved that Japan could defeat a primary power. In 1910 the power hungry Japan took over Korea by completely annihilating there entire population. During WWI 1914-1918 Japan fought with the great powers against Germany, in the end they received islands near Ch...

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...ike steel, coal, and oil all critical to Japan’s success in expansion. Roosevelt did this in fear of Japan possibly becoming strong enough to challenge America.

Now anger was steaming in Japan and they were devising a plan that would cripple America forcing them to get involved in foreign affairs. Yomamoto the military leader for Japan, devised a plan in 1940 to devastate America by taking out Pearl Harbor. The last straw for Japan was when FDR cut off all supplies to Japan this is when Japan devised their plans to take out the U.S. Navy. In 1939 Roosevelt ended the 1911 commercial treaty. In 1940 he signed the export control act that stopped all goods from going to Japan. In July of 1941 Roosevelt froze all of the assets of Japan in the United States. All of these crucial moves made by the United States should have prepared them to expect an attack by the Japanese.