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Dbq Attack On Pearl Harbor

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It wasn’t a sudden decision of the Japanese army to bomb Pearl Harbor, it was a long series of events which led to Pearl Harbor bombing. In fact, in the years antecedent to 1941 there was a lot of tension between the two countries. There were several events which scattered the attack on Pearl Harbor which was then used by the American government as an alibi to declare war to Japan.
Over the course of the 1930s, Japan's increasingly expansionist policies brought it into renewed conflict with its neighbors, Russia and China (1). On January 15, 1936, Japan withdrew from the Second London Naval Disarmament Conference because the United States and Great Britain refused to grant the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) parity with their navies.
Secondly, Japan was taking advantage of the turmoil in Europe for its own agenda of furthering its empire in the Pacific. President Roosevelt strongly condemned the Japanese assault on China and ended a long-standing commercial treaty with Japan. Japan continued their drive and seized the capital of Vietnam, a French colony. When Japan still disregarded Roosevelt’s stern warnings, all Japanese assets in the U.S were frozen and a complete trade embargo was established. This …show more content…

American Intelligence broke Japanese codes but misunderstood the intent of the Japanese messages. Decoded messages made it clear that an attack would come in a matter of days after November 29, but the place of attack was not clear. Most officials were convinced Japan would move against British or Dutch possessions to the south. American Intelligence noted a fleet of Japanese ships sailing in the general direction of Hawaii but was more concerned with a large Japanese convoy moving toward the China Sea. Partly because of the vast distance between Hawaii and Japan, few officials believed an attack was possible on American territory.

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