The Root Causes of Pearl Harbor Serve as Important Lessons for America Today

The origins of the Pearl Harbor attack can be traced back to 1853 when the United States essentially forced a feudal Japan to open trade via Commodore Matthew Perry’s squadron of armed ships. Japan, at that time was very much like much of Europe was centuries before with warlords using the obsolete sword as the primary weapon of war duking it out among their various tribes with little central control. This forced Japan out of some 250 years of self-imposed isolation from the rest of the world and they opened one port for international trade. Other nations, including Russia soon followed trading with Japan.

Japan’s leadership saw how far they were behind in weaponry and understood they were vulnerable to becoming a dominated colony. Unlike China and the Philippines and even America’s Native Americans they decided it was far better off to unite and be able to defend their homeland rather than be subjugated under another nation’s rule.

Of the seven major powers in World War II, only England was a mature nation with centuries of consistent governance. It took until the middle 1800s for America (1865 and many years after to recover from the Civil War), Japan (1868), and Italy and Germany to become unified nations. The ruling dynasties of Russia and China had collapsed by 1917 and the 1920s, respectively. Japan, once unified, took great pains to ‘catch up’ with western technology and essentially armed itself to the teeth to make it very costly for any power to colonize them. That coupled with their islands having virtually no exploitable resources ensured their independence on the world stage.

Throughout this period England had the most powerful navy and it only made sense that Japan would emulate it and in fact formed an alliance and a trading partnership with England. Originally warships and other weapons were imported, studied and copied and once their industrial base became developed, they built their own. England and other European Powers were happy to have another customer for its military accoutrements and with the purchaser on the other side of Asia they did not feel threatened. This was also the time when wooden sailing ships were being replaced by steel and coal power and other modern technologies from which Japan benefitted greatly.

Within twenty-seven years Japan embarked on being a colonial power and fought their first war with China where they gained Formosa (Taiwan) at little cost. Ten years later (1904-5), seeing the building of the Russian Trans-Siberian Railroad as a threat, they launched a sneak attack on Russia and opened their second conflict without a formal declaration of war against a neighbor. They were unbelievably successful and defeated what was considered a first-class western power and navy; the world took notice.

Troubles with America began brewing at about this time and would fester for the next four decades until that fateful “Day of Infamy”. The highlights are:

Theodore Roosevelt intervened in the Russo-Japanese War and was and forced the Treaty of Portsmouth on Japan which halted the war, but was seen as another unwelcome intervention. The peace deal greatly benefitted Japan at the time because they were still very weak economically and even winning was bankrupting them. As an ally of England Japan defeated Germany in 1918 and gained many German colonies in the central Pacific at little cost by being on the right side. In 1921-2, the United States forced a naval arms limitation treaty on the Japanese which ultimately saved Japan from going broke and America from embarking on an expensive arms race. Japan and America were the only two countries not severely impacted by World War I and the other naval powers had no ability to engage in such a race. Japan wanted naval parity but was forced to accept second rate naval status; they greatly resented being limited to building 60% of what the United States and Great Brittan could. America, through its diplomacy, forced a fracturing of the Anglo-Japan trade and arms alliance further exacerbating the deteriorating relations. However, England still sent military equipment and a training – most notably in naval aviation – commission to Japan. America’s purpose was to prevent Japan and England ganging up on the US Navy from the Atlantic and Pacific in a continued alliance – we still were not all that friendly with England post World War I. America passed very restrictive immigration laws in the 1920s severely limiting Japanese immigration, and later during the Depression enacted trade tariffs which destroyed Japanese exports to the United States. While Japan was embracing capitalism and modern ways, their centuries old traditions were always in the forefront especially regarding the tradition of the emperor and racial purity. When the worldwide Depression hit, Japan was among the hardest hit. The militant wing of the military gradually took over and much of the nominal civilian control of their government was run by assignation throughout the thirties. The cause of much of this upheaval was the near total autonomy granted to the army and navy and the perceived failing of western capitalism as an economic system. In short, during the 1930s Tokyo could not control the Army and the Army could not control its mid-level officers when they were stationed next to Mongolia, China and the USSR.

These hotheads provoked border clashes with all three nations. In 1930, another naval arms treaty was forced upon Japan which was even more unpopular with its hawks in the navy. In 1931 army officers precipitated the Manchuria ‘incident’. The result was a large territorial gain with some resources but international condemnation. Ultimately this led to Japan walking out on the worthless League of Nations when they were condemned by the body in 1934. At around this time Japan also quit the naval treaty restrictions as of 1936. Japan was rapidly becoming a rogue nation and was seen as a regional bully. With the depression deepening, the hotheads in the military never being sanctioned by their superiors and gaining ever more power, Japan saw its destiny as being the leader of the Orient, they had their own version of lebensraum (living space), which was dubbed “The Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere” with the ultimate goal of driving out the European colonial powers.

In 1937 another boarder ‘incident’ was provoked, this time with China which was embroiled in its own civil war and was always seen as being weak since the collapse of its running dynasty decades earlier. This conflict resulted in an eight-year quagmire with no victory, great losses, and a near premature war with the United States. Only a massive diplomatic apology for sinking a US Navy gunboat, the Panay, averted open conflict.

Soon thereafter, there was another boarder clash – this time with the USSR – and the Japanese Army got its nose bloodied and quickly sued for peace and later signed a long-term non-aggression pact with Stalin. This ‘incident’, as Japan liked to call their undeclared wars was a disaster for her because it forced the permanent deployment of over half its army to defend against a feared USSR attack and paralyzed their military doctrine which effectively reduced their ability to fight America in the Pacific.

Japan soon thereafter allied with Germany and Italy, by formally joining the Axis. Further incursions into China caused the United States to begin trade embargoes on vital resources. When Japan’s Army bullied its way into French Indochina (Vietnam) in July of 1941 to gain a key staging point, Roosevelt got the world to cut off all oil supply to Japan. This was intolerable and Japan was going to have to either accede to America’s demands which included leaving ALL of China in order to get the oil and other resource trade resumed or fight. Even without the embargo Japan was going to default on foreign trade by 1942. The only way to stave off economic disaster was territorial expansion and take the resources it needed to achieve hegemony and self-sufficiency. Being in a similar circumstance as Germany in 1938, they followed Hitler’s route to war and national destruction.

Japan’s initial targets were England’s Malaysia, Singapore and Burma and the Netherlands’ (Dutch) East Indies in order for it to survive as an independent nation and not a colony under the Allies’ thumb. As events transpired, France had fallen which allowed for the bloodless grab of their Indochina colony which gave them a vital operation base for future expansion. The Netherlands likewise fell to Hitler and their oil producing islands were ripe for conquest. England was known to be extremely weak in Asia and was fighting for its very existence, so her prized colonies were also vulnerable. Furthermore, in late 1941 the USSR was on the brink of collapse and not a threat at that time. All these ambitions could have been successfully realized at this time except for one major problem.

That problem was the United States and its Philippine possession which laid astride the main line of advance to the southern resource areas that Japan needed. Earlier in 1941 the US Navy was permanently stationed at Pearl Harbor from the US west coast which represented a major threat that could not be ignored. Japan’s plans of conquest would likely succeed only if America remained neutral. However, since America was already seen for decades as a probable future belligerent, it had to be incorporated into the grand scheme. And finally, one other event occurred which forced the Pearl Harbor attack decision: After the fall of France, America embarked upon a massive naval building program that would be realized in 1943-44.

In 1941 Japan’s Navy was equal to or held numerical superiority over the US Pacific Fleet, however it would be dwarfed by the US Navy in three years AND be out of oil. The window of opportunity and time to strike was at the end of 1941 when American strength and the other allies were at their nadir. The strategic situation was never going to be better and the economic and military dynamic was only going to deteriorate. By mid-1941, Japan had found itself truly between a rock and a hard place, but it was a rock and a hard place largely of its own making.

The three thousand plus mile sneak attack on Pearl Harbor was extremely contrary to Japan’s Naval doctrine which was basically defensive in nature and designed to be fought within a thousand or so miles of their home Islands. The main reason Pearl Harbor was attacked was to disable the US Pacific Fleet (like they did with Russia in 1904) to gain a six month breathing space whereby Japan could conquer the southern islands, get their resources flowing and capture the Philippines without interference form the (on paper) powerful US Pacific Fleet. In that regard she succeeded brilliantly with their tactical raid which should have been strategic attack. In the end it was a strategic blunder because it galvanized a lethargic America like nothing else could have and spelled Japan’s doom.

In closing, America also bears some of the blame in its clumsy handling of Japan in the forty years prior to the Pearl Harbor attack, and because it began rebuilding its military and navy far too late to thwart Japan’s imperialist ambitions. Had the mobilization and new construction begun when Japan quit the limitation treaties, invaded China, attacked the USSR, when Germany attacked Poland, or when Japan joined the Axis, it would most likely have persuaded its leaders that a war with the United States was a no-win proposition under any circumstances. Reagan’s doctrine of “Peace Through Strength” was a true then as it was in the 1980s and is true today. A powerful unassailable United States would probably have kept Japan at bay and it likely would have forced them to play nice on the international stage.

A perceived weak United States always emboldens mischief from nations controlled by tyrants.

"But we had broken their codes enough to know they were going to attack.
IIRC there was an article posted in FR suggesting we had intercepted and deciphered the Japanese message to their embassy of the intent to start the war."

There's a lot of confusion over the question of US code-breaking.
The facts are that the US had indeed long-since broken the Japanese diplomatic codes and knew in advance what Tokyo was telling its diplomatic spies.
But as of December 1941 there was not yet success in breaking their naval codes.

So Washington did expect a Japanese attack somewhere in the Pacific, at some unspecified time.
That's why, weeks before December 7, Washington sent out official "War Warnings" to all Pacific commanders, from the Panama Canal to MacArthur in the Philippines.
The warnings were generalized, said, in effect: be ready for a Japanese attack anywhere, any time.

Sadly, the warnings were ineffective and none of the US Pacific commands were ready (Halsey's Enterprise excepted) when the attacks came.

Karoo: "I have never known why FDR wanted us in a war. Was it to boost the economy?"

eagleone: "I think it was two fold....one was he realized the "New Deal" had failed to end the Depression."

For crying out loud, can we give Marxist economic theory a rest?
I don't care what your professors taught you in school, not everything in life is ruled by dialectical materialism.

In 1940 the US was again doing great economically, without going to war, by supplying the Allies with as much war-material as possible.
FDR did not need for the US to go to war just to achieve full employment.

eagleone: "Second, I think he did recognize Germany was a threat.
Now, the question could be was he influenced by the Communists in his administration to want to attack Germany?"

"Recognize Germany was a threat" is the real heart of it.
A young FDR had been Under-Secretary of the Navy under lunatic President Wilson in the First World War.
Along with several other American leaders (i.e., Gen. Pershing) FDR recognized that Wilson's "peace without victory" policy was pure insanity.
They all knew in 1918 that Germany would be back in twenty years for Round Two.
They understood that Germany needed, needed, needed to be thoroughly, completely & utterly defeated to the point where they'd never, ever raise up their ugly, arrogant & dominating heads again.

Some, like FDR's WWI friend Winston Churchill, warned & warned their own lunatic politicians to beware & be ready, but none of them paid any attention.
Until it was too late.

So why did FDR hate Germans?
Well, for starters, as a boy FDR had travelled & stayed in Germany, he spoke German, and grew to personally dislike German arrogance, belligerence & domineering natures.
Roosevelts were, after all, of Dutch descent and no fans of German imperial ambitions.

As for Stalin's Soviet Union, FDR had no such personal animosity towards Russians and considered them vital allies for victory over Germany.

I’ll throw this in here about now...

https://winstonchurchill.hillsdale.edu/sleep-of-the-saved-and-thankful-2/

“I thought of a remark which Edward Grey had made to me more than thirty years before—that the United States is like ‘a gigantic boiler. Once the fire is lighted under it there is no limit to the power it can generate. Being saturated and satiated with emotion and sensation, I went to bed and slept the sleep of the saved and thankful.”

For crying out loud, can we give Marxist economic theory a rest? I don't care what your professors taught you in school, not everything in life is ruled by dialectical materialism.

The New Deal was failing. That's a fact.

In 1940 the US was again doing great economically, without going to war, by supplying the Allies with as much war-material as possible. FDR did not need for the US to go to war just to achieve full employment.

Well, yes he did.

I binge watched The Great War. Outstanding series. WWI is generally given short shrift in US history classes to WWII. In any event I learned a ton from that very well done series.

A few random impressions.

It seemed that every month hundreds of thousands of lives would be lost in some ghastly battle that achieved nothing. I understand much better why the French and British were so reluctant to go to war with Hitler given their last experience.

Austrian leadership was utterly abysmal. The decision to go to war with Russia over a murder in the Balkans was as stupid as they come. The generals were almost uniformly incompetent. I'm not at all sympathetic to them losing their empire.

The Germans came damn close to winning but couldn't move enough troops West fast enough after the Russian collapse to win on the Western Front before American troops began arriving in strength.

Hiya, Joe. Still fighting the good fight, I see.

I try putting myself in the shoes of the Washington brain trust in late 1941. I would have thought a Japanese attack likely, but against the Philippines, not Pearl. It was the Philippines that lay athwart the routes to the mineral rich areas of SE Asian.

Attacking Pearl was a huge risk, as Yamamoto knew full well. He warned the leadership that to defeat America, the Japanese would have to invade the West Coast and march to and take Washington. He didn't mean they actually could do that - he and his audience knew damn well they couldn't.

But it was their only chance, however slim, to try to win the war. Knock the US out for a while and hope there will be enough time to conquer their empire and secure it before the US could muster its full power. There wasn't.

SuperLuminal: "Just sprinkling a couple of truths throughout a POS propaganda article doesn't change it's purpose..."

So, you confess the last sentences are true?

"Reagan’s doctrine of “Peace Through Strength” was a true then as it was in the 1980s and is true today.
A powerful unassailable United States would probably have kept Japan at bay and it likely would have forced them to play nice on the international stage.
A perceived weak United States always emboldens mischief from nations controlled by tyrants."

So what, exactly do you disagree with about these sentences:

"In closing, America also bears some of the blame in its clumsy handling of Japan in the forty years prior to the Pearl Harbor attack, and because it began rebuilding its military and navy far too late to thwart Japan’s imperialist ambitions.
Had the mobilization and new construction begun when Japan quit the limitation treaties, invaded China, attacked the USSR, when Germany attacked Poland, or when Japan joined the Axis, it would most likely have persuaded its leaders that a war with the United States was a no-win proposition under any circumstances."

Yes, the words "clumsy handling" annoy me too, because I don't believe more adroit "handling" would have made any difference.
I also don't think the US would have gone on a total-war footing absent some major provocation.
And then there's the matter of technology -- a lot of our pre-war equipment proved woefully inadequate when real combat came.

But overall, the article is fine, I'd say.

Why do you disagree?

"I try putting myself in the shoes of the Washington brain trust in late 1941.
I would have thought a Japanese attack likely, but against the Philippines, not Pearl.
It was the Philippines that lay athwart the routes to the mineral rich areas of SE Asian."

Exactly right, and so Washington warned all the Pacific area commanders to be ready for war.
And, except for the US west coast itself, those warnings all proved true -- for the Philippines, Australia, Guam, Wake, & Hawaii.

The problem was that nobody could quite visualize what the Japanese intended, and none were ready for it.

Not for the first or last time, we were caught by surprise.

""Reagan's doctrine of “Peace Through Strength” was a true then as it was in the 1980s and is true today. A powerful unassailable United States would probably have kept Japan at bay and it likely would have forced them to play nice on the international stage."
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Absolutely hogwash... Nothing would have stopped the japs... It was religion-driven conquests, just like the moslem's their history...

""In closing, America also bears some of the blame in its clumsy handling of Japan in the forty years prior to the Pearl Harbor attack, and because it began rebuilding its military and navy far too late to thwart Japan's imperialist ambitions."
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Pure, unadulterated BS... This moron would also claim that the destruction of the towers on 911 was partly the fault of the American people... Using the same revisionist fantasy...

"Had the mobilization and new construction begun when Japan quit the limitation treaties, invaded China, attacked the USSR, when Germany attacked Poland, or when Japan joined the Axis, it would most likely have persuaded its leaders that a war with the United States was a no-win proposition under any circumstances.""
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Here he goes again... Smoke-a-toke thinking...
Typical communist revisionist fantasizing to enhance a article written purely for its divide-the-Nation propaganda strategy...
The same fellow travelers wrote much the same kind of crap after WWII when we dropped the bombs to end the war...

FDR wanted that attack to happen so badly, he could taste it. My grandfather, a reporter at the time for the New York Journal, said he saw FDR stand up from his wheelchair and do a bit of a jig when news reached him. Of course he knew it was coming and he was willing to sacrifice American lives to let it happen.

The US had broken the Japanese code. We knew they were coming. FDR WANTED war, so he could come to the aid of his buddy Stalin.

The Jap attack on Pearl Harbor destroyed/damaged some obsolete battleships. Our carriers were safe, out at sea. The Japs destroyed a bunch of obsolete planes on the ground, while not killing the pilots, who soon got better planes.

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