DQ Flashcards
1.)
Japan was not the first country to try and dominate other countries in Asia, as they thought of themselves as “Asia’s champion”, who wanted to free Asia from the Europeans and Americans who already conquered the countries. Japan was not the first country that tried to control Asia, as they wanted to free the other countries from their control. This allowed them to quietly try and control Asia while pretending to only free them.
2.)
Because they were Asia’s champion in their minds, they wanted Asia to be ruled by Asians. Although the Japanese were initially welcomed in some Asian colonies by the Countries that they freed, the arrogance and racial prejudice displayed by the Japanese military governments in these nations created great resentment. The ‘Champions’ should rule the continent that they freed.
3.)
The higher powers traded and earned money with their colonies, while economically bolstering their lacking colonies. The Japanese, with few natural resources, wanted to copy this pattern. They developed sources of raw materials and heavy industry in the colonies they established in Korea, Taiwan and Manchuria. Japan used high tariffs to limit imports of American and European industrial products.
4.)
Despite being a military superpower, their war with China was using up their resources. During that time, most of their resources especially oil were coming from the US. The US did not approve of Japanese aggression in China and they declared an banned on Japan. This means they would stop supplying Japan with raw materials. The Japanese High Command carefully discussed this and came up with the conclusion that the Dutch East Indies would be the best place to gain resources. But they knew that an attack on the Dutch East Indies would probably bring the US into the war. So they had to find a way to prevent the US from fighting with them until they conquered the Dutch East Indies. That’s when they planned Pearl Harbor. The goal of Pearl Harbor was to disable the American fleet for a few months to give them enough time to conquer the Dutch East Indies and to absorb its resources to finance their war in China and the US once the US’ navy was rebuilt
5.)
The Imperial Japanese Army was on par with most of the world’s armies in 1941, but not the most powerful of them. The Imperial Japanese Navy, on the other hand, was the most powerful navy in 1941; so it is an ironic twist of fate, that the weaker Imperial Army influenced Japan more than their navy did. For the most part, the Imperial Navy KNEW what they were doing, and pretty well KNEW what the outcome would be, the army was more optimistic and overly aggressive, and ultimately won out, on the issue of attacking the US. Once the order had been issued, the navy put to sea and commenced battle. To add further salt to the wound, the Japanese army, who had pushed for war with the US, fought well in the South Pacific, but lost many of their battles. The Japanese navy, on the other hand, who gave arguments against war with the US, produced some spectacular victories, such as the “Battle of the Java Sea”, “Battle of Savo Island”, to name a few. The Japanese intended to cripple the American Navy with the attack on Pearl Harbor. Instead they only destroyed a few warships and brought the U.S. into the battle. Once the Americans joined in the war, the Axis powers quickly began losing.
6.)
They believed that if they attacked the US, we would start shipping weapons to them. But in the end they started a war and the ruler knew they couldn’t defeat us. They started a war they couldn’t fight in
