Why Did The Us Attack Pearl Harbor Pacific Essay

While all eyes were on Europe and Hitler’s campaign to expanding his Third Reich, Japan was somewhat free to do whatever they pleased. They turned their sights to imperializing into the Pacific and many of the islands and colonies near Japan. Prior to this, Japan had already invaded Manchuria. Their next move was to conquer what was left of the rest of China. Much to their surprise, China put up a pretty strong fight and refused to surrender. Meanwhile, they continued to conquer many small territories and colonies that could not defend themselves against such a strong militarized nation like Japan. However, many of these colonies were owned by the United States including Guam and the Philippines. Because of this, the United States saw imperialism
The attack came on December 7th of 1941. This sparked anger in Americans everywhere. Almost immediately, the United States was officially in the war and no longer neutral. In my opinion, and not just because I am American, I believe it was a horrific decision when Yamamoto planned to bomb Pearl Harbor. First of all, all it did was completely enrage a whole country and ensure that you (Japan) have gained another enemy. Not only that, but Japan gained a strong country as an enemy. Second of all, bombing Pearl Harbor did not solve any of their problems. Their main hope was to regain their access to oil shipments, surprise the US, and be able to continue into the US territories in the Pacific. It did indeed surprise us, but it did nothing else to assist the Japanese in their cause. All it did was give them another enemy to worry about. Lastly, I do not believe it was a wise decision because it practically lost the war for Japan. The entrance of the powerful United States was going to tip the scale and outcome of the war. Overall, Admiral Yamamoto’s decision to bomb Pearl Harbor was not a wise one for three main reasons: it added another enemy, it simply did not help any of their issues, and it tipped the scale of the