Japan abused China because the Japanese government believed that the only way to solve its economic and demographic problem was by expanding into their neighbour’s territory and take over its import market (Source F). The officials from America responded to this havoc with a battery of economic sanctions and trade embargoes that meant Japan had to rein in its expansionism but these sanctions did not weaken the Japanese but made them more determined to stand their ground. The Japanese had negotiations with the Americans that they would not fight but the Japanese changed their minds. The Japanese started the war because they were stopped by the Americans from taking land from the Chinese but the Americans stopped their trading systems so they could only eat or produce what they have in their land so the Japanese felt offended. These two countries have been edging towards war for decades and the other turning point was when the Japanese …show more content…
The Japanese were also furious as the Americans gave them a battery of economic sanctions and trade embargoes which meant that the Japanese had no access to money, goods and essential supplies like oil, which also meant that Japan had to rein in its expansionism (source F).The Japanese planned this attack because of the most critical result of the embargo was the loss of oil as the Japanese navy would be dry-docked within a year and its factories would shut down in about 18 months ( Source C) so this also meant that the industry level became low due to the embargo and the Japanese air force was still tied down fighting in China.
The Japanese were planning to remove America from the Pacific equation for long enough to allow it to secure the resources it needed so desperately and planned to crush American morale sufficiently to prompt Roosevelt to sue for peace (Source B). The Japanese wanted to cripple the Pacific Fleet and give them the space to invade South-east Asia. The Japanese military leaders saw it as their only hope capturing Malaya and other countries they termed “Southern Resource