Why They Attacked. (342 hits)
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Submitted by <copeland.michael.at.sbcglobal.net> (View user info) at 2004-03-06 23:34:42 EST
This post isn't for the really smart or really well informed. It's for the people who, like me, had to suffer through a public school education, and suspect they may have been a bit cheated. More specifically, this post is to clear up some common misconceptions of the history of the U.S. in WWII.
If your high school was like mine, you were taught that WWII began when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. Only later were you surprised to discover that indeed the war started much earlier then that. However, a question that was rarely ever asked, let alone answered was, "Just why the hell did the Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor?" What was there motive? What did they hope to gain". I had grown up just assuming they attacked us for no good reason, or perhaps to take over the U.S. I'm not sure I ever really thought about "why" they did it, I just took it for granted that there attack was an unreasonable act of naked aggression.
So, for my friends who don't know the "why" of the attack, let me briefly explain. But first, let me ruin the surprise ending by confirming that Japan did not want to take over the U.S., or even Hawaii. Indeed they had no ability to project their power that distance. Instead it went something like this:
In 1931 Japan began its' war against China by conquering Manchuria. In 1937 they invaded and tried to take over the rest of China. The U.S. had important interest in that region, so in response we stationed a few squadrons of fighter planes there to engage the Japanese bombers. Besides this active combat against the Japanese, we also increased our military and economic aid to China in a way not unlike the Lend-lease act aided the Allies in Europe.
The final straw was when we put an embargo on the oil and raw material going to Japan, which was particularly serious since they were a resource pore nation. In order for Japan to get the resources it needed to for its war in China, they decided they would have to take over the resource rich countries of Southeast Asia. The only thing that could stop them would be the U.S. fleet in Pearl Harbor, which we clearly told them we would deploy if they attacked our SE Asian allies. So they attacked us first, hoping to immobilize our fleet long enough to allow them time to get a foothold in SE Asia before we responded.
So there you go. The Japanese attacked us because we were actively aiding China during their conflict there, and we put an oil embargo on them. Don't get me wrong, they were guilty of some horrible atrocities in Indochina at that time, and by 1940 they were part of the Axis forces. We were right to stand against them. However, the attack on Pearl Harbor was a response to our aggression against the Japanese, not an act of naked aggression by the Japanese. We punched first.
Thank you, that is all.
User Reviews
Submitted by Random Joe at 2004-03-07 00:37:24 EST (#)
Ranking: -2
Thanks for the history lesson, asshat.
Submitted by Beer_bong (user info) at 2004-03-06 23:47:15 EST (#)
Ranking: 1
Up until the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, the war had been contained to Europe. Once Asia and the U.S. got involved, it was actually a world war.