Essay Sample on Pearl Harbor Bombing

Introduction

The United States' Pearl Harbor was, and still is, a vital naval base located in Hawaii's Honolulu. The Harbor was a scene of the devastating attack on December 1941 by the Japanese forces. The incident occurred on Sunday, before 8 a.m., when Japanese fighter planes descended on the base managing to destroy dozens of US naval vessels include over 310 aeroplanes and eight battleships. The number of casualties is approximated at over 2,400 people including civilians and close to 1000 injuries reported. The United States' Military was not prepared for such an attack when the Japanese forces stormed the Harbor. Before the actual date of bombing of the Harbor, tension had been developing between these two countries for over ten years. Observers say that the Japanese forces bombing of Pearl Harbor was inevitable because of three main reasons discussed herein.

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According to research finding by Twomey (2017), the main motive why Japan bombed US' Pearl Harbor was that the country viewed America as an impediment towards its global dominance and expansion. The years preceding 1941 was marked with several economic sanctions meted on Japan due to its global imperial activities. The United States approved sanctions on Japan such as trade embargos on exportation of oil, metal, and aircraft. Besides, the country supported Guomindang forces to fight Japan. Following the move by the United States, Japan signed an agreement known as Tripartite Pact with Italy and Germany. The US' policymakers were convinced that the economic embargoes would limit the Japanese expansionism ideology. This was, however, not the case as Japan was confident of expanding its global influence. Japanese policymakers and army generals knew that to defend the nation's status as a global power, they had to go to war with the United States. The nation, therefore, used an element of surprise attack on December 1941 because odds were against its expansion.

Japan's primary intention for bombing Pearl Harbor was to solely control the Pacific. A year before the Pearl Harbor bombing, Edwards (2015) posits, the United States made the Harbor its main base for fleets in Pacific. Based in Hawaii, almost 4000 miles from Japanese mainland, the US did not expect that Japan would attack Pearl Harbor. The base was undefended due to proximity with Japan making it an easy target. Japanese Admiral Isoroku planned the attack for months since he thought that this would destroy the US' Pacific Fleet and lower morale of the nation's army. At first, the Japanese Army thought they finally controlled Pacific by sinking and damaging US battleships and aircraft. Japan, still pursuing its expansion ideology, went on to take over Colonies of US, Britain and Netherlands in the Pacific. The nation, in the process, was in control of Pacific trade which was its original intention. Few months after the attack, Japan was in control of Burma, Malaysia and Indonesia, countries originally under control of the West. Japan wanted to control trade on the numerous natural resources these nations possessed such as rubber and oil.

Closely related to the above reason is an observation made by White (2016), who says that Japan attacked the United States' Pearl Harbor because of the growing need for natural resources. The author says that for the country to sustain the global expansionism ideology it had to meet its demand for natural resources. Japan required natural resources such as oil and steel, to remain a superpower in Asia. Some of the colonies with these resources were in control of the Allied forces headed by the United States. The only option, the author concludes, was to attack Pearl Harbor for obvious reasons such as access to control of Pacific islands and to warn the US against supporting Chinese authority. The Japanese Admiral believed that if the attack becomes a success then the US will accept defeat and hand them control over Pacific Rim. The destruction of Pearl Harbor would distract the US military and policymakers' attention as Japan expands to control Asia and the nations in Pacific region.

Conclusion

In sum, Japanese quest for expansion to other territories was the leading cause of the bombing as evident in the above discussion. Japan had embarked on expansionism ideology to control some states in Asia and also to emerge as a global player in power relations. Over several years, they planned the attack on the US because Japan viewed the country as the main impediment to its expansion. Even though Japan applied the tactic of surprise element to attack the US, Japan had been planning for it for several years. The original intention was to distract US and in the process take control of major trade routes and nations in the Pacific Rim, but this was not the case since it did not destroy some battleships as was the original plan. As a regional power, Japan needed new territories to expand its market, but the US and Allied forces were a threat to the country's quest.

References

Edwards, S. B. (2015). Bombing of Pearl Harbor. Minneapolis, MN ABDO Publishing. eBook: Document: English.

Twomey, S. (2017). Countdown to Pearl Harbor: The twelve days to the attack. New York: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks. Print Book

White, G. M. (2016). Memorializing Pearl Harbor: Unfinished Histories and the Work of Remembrance. Duke University Press.