Question

With reference to the aggressive foreign policies of Italy and Japan, explain how the following events made war more likely and worldwide in scope :

Attack on Pearl Harbour-motives, events and impact.

Answer 1

Attack on Pearl Harbour-motives, events and impact:

The Japanese government decided to attack Pearl Harbour after the United States cut off US oil exports to Japan in the summer of 1941. Japan relied on the United States for eighty per cent of its oil, and without US oil supplies its navy would be unable to function. While attacking Pearl Harbour the Japanese hoped to cripple or destroy the US Pacific fleet so that the Japanese navy would have free reign in the Pacific and get the oil supply easily.

The United States also had an obvious interest in these natural resources, and in response to the Japanese aggression, the U.S. Congress placed restrictions on doing business with Japan. And, if that weren’t enough, Japanese assets in the United States were frozen.

President Roosevelt moved the US Pacific Fleet from California to Pearl Harbour in 1939. This move was a threat to Japan, who wanted to expand in the Pacific. Military leaders and politicians saw a war between the U.S. and Japan as inevitable, with the solution being to attack first. Japan did just that.

Events and Impacts: The American people were shocked, bewildered, surprised, and angered by the attack. On December 8th, President Roosevelt addressed a joint session of Congress in the Capital. In his address, Roosevelt asked Congress to declare war against Japan. Three days later, Japan’s allies Germany and Italy declared war on the United States, and Congress reciprocated the same day. All previous domestic opposition to US entry into the war ceased. The United States was now immersed in a war that it would conduct simultaneously in Europe and the Pacific.