Causes
There have been many speculations and reasons that World War II took a hold in the Pacific realm. According to www.germanyinworldwar2.com these are just a few causes that led up to and fed the fighting in the Pacific Ocean:
· With the mood of expansion very prominent in the 30's, Japan began a campaign to expand itself. This was also drivin by Japan's need to supply its population with adequet resources that would better the nation's developement. This array of natural resources included iron ore, oil, tungsten, and other materials that would feed Japan's industrial drive.
· Britain was occupied fighting Germany in Europe, France had been defeated and occupied by Germany so it fell to the U.S. to attempt to contain Japan.
· Japan first attacked Northern China and occupied Manchuria. In Manchuria, the Japanese clashed with Russia in a mini-war over staple food, specifically oats.
· Japan then moved against the mainland of China and won victory after victory but could not totally defeat the Chinese.
· The U.S. protested all the Japanese military moves, to no avail, and eventually they froze Japanese assets and cut off trade with Japan. Japan had depended heavily on industrial imports from the U.S.
· Japan began planning for a war with the U.S. Admiral Yamamoto was the key Japanese military person in the planning. Yamamoto had spent years in the U.S. and had no illusions about defeating the U.S. However, he reasoned that a surprise attack on the U.S. Pacific fleet would buy about 6 months of time for the Japanese to expand their resource base and establish a ring defense around Japanese territory that the U.S. could not break through. In the early part of the century, Japan had been very successful with surprise attacks on Russia and China and so, a decision was made to attack the U.S. fleet at Pearl Harbor.
· The attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 was a success for the Japanese but the U.S. carriers of the Pacific fleet were at sea and escaped the attack. They would prove to be the decisive weapon later in the Pacific war.
