What started the war in the Pacific?

Answer 1

The cause of the Japanese starting the war in the pacific has many causes. Firstly, Japan was an aristocrat country, meaning that they were ruled by emperors and all of those people, rich people. Japan also wanted to have a very big and strong empire like Germany, not like it but you get what I mean. So when the government was overthrown by these noblemen and women, the government was replaced by a dictator. The problem was that the person that they replaced the government with was a general from the Japanese Army. So having a general as a dictator, the whole country just had to follow the rules. Also this general was a very close friend of the emperor.

The United States saw that the Chinese empire needed their help so, they cut out the supply of iron and oil to the Japanese. 80% of Japan's supplies came from the USA. So when the iron and oil to kill more Chinese were taken off their hands, the Japanese were furious.

Then the famous bombing of the Pearl Harbor comes here. The Japanese decided to attack the USA. On December 7, 1941 the horror of the bombing started. This got the USA involved in the Pacific War.

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The cause goes much deeper than that. After the United States forced trade with Japan during the imperial era, Japan realized that in order to survive they must modernize themselves. Like the European powers, they realized they didn't have the necessary resources to establish a powerful presence so they invaded resource-rich Manchuria.

Long story short, the US didn't like that and cut off all trade, including the much needed oil, with Japan. Thus Japan attacked the US fleet in Pearl Harbor to give them at least 6 months to invade south to capture much needed resources and then fortify their possessions for the counterattack Also, when the great depression happened, Japan had very little resources. Its main export was silk, which were for the rich. When the Depression happen, the silk demand almost dropped to zero. Therefore, they have no choice but to invade China to gain more resources. They soon diverted from the main objective and became greedy.

Answer 2

Japan entered WWII in order to gain control over East Asia and the Pacific. Before WWII, in the 30's, Japan had already invaded China in order to regain control of China. Japan was afraid of the United States' growing power in the region. In my opinion Japan realized that a war with the Untied States was their only hope for total control of East Asia.

Japan entered WWII after they saw what Germany was doing. Japan also believed they would be able to conquer and do what Germany was doing to the European countries. Japan also wanted a kingdom.

The military began to influence national policy in Japan during the 1930s. Not only did military leaders begin to hold political office, but they began to have a profound influence on the Emperor of Japan. The Japanese began a policy of expansion in Asia. They wanted to take over areas that would provide needed raw materials for the economy of Japan. The United States was concerned with Japanese expansion in the Pacific. It threatened the security of the United States. Japan saw the outbreak of war as an opportunity to continue their expansion and eventually control all of eastern Asia. Only the United States was in a position to prevent the expansion of Japan into East and Southeast Asia. The decision to attack Pearl Harbor was risky. But the Japanese military convinced the Emperor that the Japanese forces could control the Pacific before the US could recover from the attack at Pearl Harbor.

Japan did not exactly start World War 2. If the question is why did Japan attack the US and Great Britain, that is fairly easy. Relations between the US and Japan had been strained for several years as a result of Japan's war of expansion in China. As a result of the breakdown in negotiations between the two countries, the US declared an embargo on exports to Japan including vital raw materials such as metals and oil. Japan had less than a six month supply of fuel oil left and saw the embargo as a direct threat to her economy, the war effort and her survival as a nation, which, in fact it was. Japan realized her only hope was to seize the oil fields to the south. Japan knew this meant war with Britain and the US. The Japanese Navy felt the only hope of success in such a war was to deliver a knockout blow to the US Navy. Japan launched the attack on Pearl Harbor to destroy the US fleet, particularly the US Carriers to allow her time to advance in the South Pacific and protect her source of raw materials.

Answer 3

There are several thoughts concerning Japan's motives for joining WWII. The most accepted seems to be related to Japan's efforts to take over many of the islands in NW Pacific. Japan was in a mode of "Empire Building" when they attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Japanese leadership at the time seemed to believe that control over the Hawaiian islands was their right and that the additional base of operations in the Mid Pacific would give them power to control all traffic in the Pacific. One Japanese leader was heard to even say that the American people would not be able to endure a war such as the one that the Japanese would send to us and cited as proof the fact that we were not genetically pure enough to be able to endure hardships. Japanese leadership truly believed that with America fighting Germany and the Axis powers in Europe, that we would be far too busy to deal with a war in the Pacific. Japan was aligned with the Axis powers only in their mutual efforts to weaken our resolve and deplete our resources.

Answer 4

The great arc of Asia from China to Malasia to India was very rich in minerals, timber and oil. Various nations had fought to control the area for centuries.

By 1939 the area was split between three groups. First were the old colonial empires of Britain (India, Hong Kong, Malasia, Singapore), France (Vietnam, Laos), and the Netherlands (Java, Borneo, Sumatra). Second was the relative newcomer, USA (Philipines and various Pacific islands). Third was the other newcomer to empire building - Japan (Korea, parts of China, some Pacific islands).

The old line colonial empires had their hands full dealing with Germany in Europe and were unable to defend their possessions. As such these were easily grabbed by the Japanese in 1940, 1941 and 1942.

The USA had been expanding its influence in Asia for decades. The USA had annexed Hawaii around 1890. Quickly following this the USA picked a war with the weak, nearly defenseless Spanish empire and thus gained colonies in Guam, Wake and the Philippines. These colonies were used to expand American influence in China. However, Japan considered China within its sphere of influence and sought to limit American involvement.

Ultimately this (the conflict of American and Japanese interests in China) led to war. Strictly speaking the USA got together with Britain and the Netherland to freeze Japanese financial assets so that Japan would not be able to buy petroleum. The Japanese were thus forced to choose war or surrender. They chose to attack and thus the shooting war began December 1941.

The reason I give this extensive background is to show that the roots of the war ran deep. The Japanese attack on the USA should not have been considered a surprise. Likewise the Japanese should have realized that the various western nations were not going to give us their commercial interests and colonies in the area without a major fight. The Japanese were hopelessly outclassed in men, money, and machines by the combined forces arranged against them and as such, lost the war.

Following the war the western nations tried to put things back the way they were before the war......with no success whatsoever.

France suffered a horrific military disaster in Vietnam and had to abandon that colony. The British withdrew under pressure from Malasia, Burma and India within a couple of years - although they retained Hong Kong for another 50 years. The Dutch never had any hope of keeping populous Java and withdrew quickly leaving a political mess behind them. The USA gave nominal independence to the Philippines (retaining huge military bases) but then botched the Chinese situation for which they had gone to war in the first place. China, instead of becoming a USA ally, turned communist and became a partner with the Soviets and enemy of America. The USA had to fight two bloody wars (Korea and Vietnam) to stabilize the situation over the next thirty years. Japan, while the economy eventually recovered, was stripped of 100% of its colonies and none have been recovered to date.

Answer 5

Japan initiated an alliance with Germany against Russia, in 1935. Italy initiated an alliance with Japan in 1936, which was at first declined. But in 1937, the League of Nations condemned Japan for it's aggressive actions in China, and the eventual result was that the Tripartite Pact (between Germany, Japan , and Italy) was signed on September 27, 1940. The Axis Powers were born. Before November was out, Hungary, Romania, and Slovakia had signed on. Bulgaria joined in March of 1941.

World War 2 (the Deuce) in Europe had actually begun on September 1, 1939, with the invasion of Poland by German forces, and backed up by Russia's forces on September 17, 1939.

The answer to the "Why" part of the question is mainly due to Japan's interest in becoming independent of Western influences, commonly referred to as Imperialism. The US provided for 80% of Japan's oil, and frowned on their military campaign against China by imposing a full embargo on all trade with Japan. In order to deny US involvement (i.e; naval protection), Pearl Harbor was attacked.

Answer 6

Japan planned to take over South Eat Asia for its resources and hold it until a peace was negotiated. This involved neutralising US naval power, which began with the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Answer 7

Japan, they bomed Pearl Harbor first

Answer 8

The Japanese invasion of Manchuria.