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Leading up to the Attack
Historical, Political, Social, and Economic
The attack was NOT a miscalculation, it had been planned. It demonstrated an unprovoked shift into a harmful trend by the Japanese military that had been developing over a complex range of historical, political, and economic factors. Such factors emerged a few years from the beginning of the 20th century.
The conflict can be traced back to the late 19th century, when Japan began its impressive journey of rapid industrialization and militarization, dreaming of a powerful global empire.
Japan’s aspirations to expand clashed with the interests of the Western nations, especially the United States, which was in the economic and strategic competition in the Pacific region. There were more tensions in the early 1930s since Japan adopted a hostile state policy while invading Manchuria in 1931, and later parts of China.
Along with the expansion of Japan's imperial purposes, it became necessary for the empire to possess supplies in the oil fields to power its military. Therefore, the disagreement created a conflict with the United States because the nation had forcibly undertaken economic sanctions in an effort to limit the aggression of Tokyo.
The realization of running out of oil flows only in two years. The Japanese military leaders then saw the pre-emptive strike against the United States as a desperate step to seize the natural resources in the South-east Asia region.
Japanese Announcement of the Attack
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