Essay Sample on Japan and the Pacific War

Introduction

Contrary to the information in the public domain that makes Japan a key contributor in the Pacific war, historical analysis shows that Japan was not entirely responsible for the war. Talks about the Pacific battles directly reflect back to the Second World War, which covered vast areas of East Asia, Pacific Ocean and Southeast Asia with more effects in Northern Australia and the Aleutian Islands (Takashi). The Pacific war began on December 8, 1941, with the attack on the northeast coast of British Malaya by Japanese Army troops and despite great losses in transport by British within the area; they still managed to cover a large area from Japanese invasion (Record 5). The most extensive attack was aimed at the Pearl Harbor and is believed to be the beginning of Second World War as it spread wars that had started back in 1931. Due to the aggression, Japan was blamed by the League of Nations on the same thereby forcing them to withdraw from the league in 1933 (Thornton 52). In 1937 Japan, Italy, and Germany joined forces to form the Axis Powers. The battle between the Japanese and Chinese army led to undeclared war on China by the new allies who attacked Nanking and Shanghai cities leading to the loss of thousands of lives. After occupying several areas of China, Japan turned to other parts of the Pacific with the aim of creating space to its booming population within scarce environments (Smethurst 9).

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According to Takashi, Japan being a small populous country was in need of more space to gather for the needs of its population and their entry into the war was not intentional but rather to survive within a competitive environment. Due to the arising necessity for expansion, Japan waged war on its neighbors in 1931 to expand its territories to create space for its dense population (Gibney and Cary 14). Due to nonresistance policy by the Chinese forces, they never fought the Japanese hence giving them room to occupy more space in the province. However, Chinese 's inability to battle the Japanese made their leader Chiang Kai-shek to seek help from League of Nations and the international community (Thornton 70). There was a rejection of the withdrawal of the Japanese troops from the League of Nations, and they continued securing more areas in Manchuria. Japanese formed a puppet state Manchukuo headed by Puyi which was not recognized by the League of Nations and the United States forcing the pullback by Japan from the organization in 1933as stated by The National WWII Museum. In 1936, there was the signing of Anti-Comintern pact prohibiting global communism between Germany, Italy, and Japan.

In 1937 to 1945, Japanese and China had a military battle, which began with the incident of Marco Polo Bridge as highlighted by Takashi. During the event, the Japanese troops were searching for their soldier who was missing and had to request permission from the Chinese to enter the city to look for the soldier, the Chinese refused, and this resulted in a dispute between each other (Thornton 57). The Japanese tried at night to enter the city of Wanping but the Chinese still hesitated, and thus Japan fought with China unintentionally, the United States and the Soviet Union assisted Chinese. Japan is not to blame for entering into war with China as they persistently tried peaceful negations on how to get their soldier, but the Chinese refused to leave them with no other choice but to fight (Record 9).

Japan was in great need of raw materials for the Chinese to furnish and market to sell their goods. Japan wanted to be a monopolist in the Pacific trade hence the will to go to war to gain more space for military and economic exploitation and acquire new markets (The National WWII Museum). Japan's economy was profoundly affected by lack of raw materials hence forced to import them to allow sustainability of its industries. Japanese, therefore, had to go to war by force to acquire the necessary resources (Smethurst 6). The Japanese were interested in petroleum-rich Dutch East Indies, Tin mines, and the rubber plantation of British Malaya. Japan had to destroy Burma Road, the ports, and airstrips thus surprising the air forces of the allies. It would allow Japanese acquire the resources and protect home boundaries before the partners got a chance to recover their raw materials (Record 8). Japanese forces succeeded in defeating British, Dutch, American troops. Japan going into the war was not its intention but had to do so for the economic betterment of its nation.

The United States oil embargo led to the emergence of war with Japan. Japan relied on 80% of the US oil hence forced to recede from China or to start a war to acquire the resources from other suppliers (Record 15). The US president, Roosevelt demanded Japan to leave China in exchange for trade, but the Japanese were against the terms thus waging war against the US Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor, a war that began in November 1941 when diplomatic efforts failed. The war resulted in 2368 dead, 1174 wounded Americans, and 64 dead Japanese, the war strengthened military control in Japan (Takashi). Although Japan had proved to be a lethal military power the use of Atomic bombs in 1945 in Hiroshima and Nagasaki were unnecessary and a war crime considering that there were other options like conventional bombing and the naval blockade (Gibney and Cary 22). Initially, Japan had shown the interest in surrendering after the Soviet Union invaded Manchuria and other regions held by Japan. The nuclear attack vindicates Japan of the blame considering being a country that put first diplomacy (Thornton 61).

Conclusion

In conclusion, Japan as a nation is not to blame for the Pacific war. Japanese wanted to expand his territories, acquire raw materials to strengthen the economic growth and development in the country and gain military control. Countries like US and China wished for war since they were not able to negotiate and come up with peaceful agreements with the Japanese hence forcing them to go to war. The US discriminated Japanese forces, and the battle showed how the US just wanted to show its might as far as war power is concerned. The atomic bombing of Japanese harbors also shows how other countries like the US used the opportunity at hand to display its military might instead of managing war by conventional means.

Works Cited

Gibney, Frank and Beth Cary. The Japanese Remember the Pacific War. NewYork: Routledge, 2015.

Record, Jeffrey. Japan's Decision for War in 1941: Some enduring lessons. 1 February 2009. <http://ssi.armywarcollege.edu/pdffiles/PUB905.pdf>.

Smethurst, Richard J. "Japan, the United States, and the Road to World War II in the Pacific." The Asia-Pacific Journal Vol. 10, Iss. 37 (2012): 1-11.

Takashi, Yoshida. Historiography of the Asia-Pacific War in Japan. 3 June 2008. <http://www.sciencespo.fr/mass-violence-war-massacre-resistance/en/document/historiography-asia-pacific-war-japan>.

The National WWII Museum. The Pacific Strategy, 1941-1944. 17 July 2017. <https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/pacific-strategy-1941-1944>.

Thornton, Richard C. "Truman and the Pacific War End Game." Journal of Strategy and Politics (2014): 46-73.