World War II Chapter 11 Part 1

A. September 1931, Japanese soldiers seized Manchuria.  The Japanese claimed that the Chinese had attacked them.  In fact the Japanese had staged the attack themselves disguised as Chinese soldiers.

B. When the League of Nations investigated and condemned the attack, Japan withdrew from the league.  For several years, Japan strengthened its hold on Manchuria, which it renamed Manchukuo.

C. By the mid-1930s, militants had gained control of Japanese politics.  The United States opposed the Japanese takeover of Manchuria, but did nothing to stop it.

D. Chiang Kai-shek tried to avoid a war with Japan.  More concerned with the threat from the Chinese Communists.  Tried to appease Japan by allowing them to occupy parts of northern China.  Japan moved steadily southward.

 December 1936, Chiang formed a united front against the Japanese.  July 1937, the Chinese and Japanese clashed south of Beijing.  The Japanese seized the capital of Nanjing.  Chiang Kai-shek refused to surrender and moved the capital.

E. Japanese military leaders wanted to establish a New Order in East Asia.  The order would include Japan, Manchuria, and China.  They thought that, as the only modernized country, they could guide the other East Asian nations to prosperity. ( Imperialism )

F. The Japanese planned to seize Soviet Siberia.  During the 1930s, Japan began to cooperate with Nazi Germany.  The Japanese thought that they and Germany could defeat the Soviet Union and divide its resources. G. The Nazi-Soviet Nonaggression Pact forced the Japanese to rethink their goals.  The Japanese needed natural resources.  They looked to expand into Southeast Asia for sources.  They risked strong response from European colonial powers and the United States.  They decided to take the risk.

H. 1940, the Japanese demanded the right to exploit economic resources in French Indochina.  The U.S. responded by imposing economic sanctions, or restrictions on trade that are intended to enforce international law, unless Japan withdrew to its borders of I. The Japanese badly needed oil and scrap iron from the United States.  The economic sanctions were a very real threat.  Japan decided to launch a surprise attack on U.S. and European colonies in Southeast Asia.

 What conflict led Japan to attack U.S. and European colonies in Southeast Asia?  The U.S. threatened economic sanctions if Japan did not go back to its borders as of  The sanctions meant that the U.S. would no longer supply Japan with scrap iron and oil, which the Japanese badly needed.  To withdraw, however, meant that the Japanese would lose access to raw materials in Southeast Asia, which they also needed.  Unable to resolve the dilemma, the Japanese attacked.

A. December 7, 1941, the Japanese attacked the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii.  They also attacked the Philippines and the British colony of Malaya.  Soon after, they invaded the Dutch East Indies, the Philippines and other islands in the Pacific Ocean.  Spring 1942, the Japanese controlled almost all of Southeast Asia and much of the western Pacific.

Yesterday, December 7th a date which will live in infamy - the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan. With confidence in our armed forces - with the unbounding determination of our people - we will gain the inevitable triumph - so help us God. The United States was at peace with that nation and, at the solicitation of Japan, was still in conversation with its government and its emperor looking toward the maintenance of peace in the Pacific. Indeed, one hour after Japanese air squadrons had commenced bombing in the American island of Oahu, the Japanese ambassador to the United States and his colleague delivered to our Secretary of State a formal reply to a recent American message. Japan has, therefore, undertaken a surprise offensive extending throughout the Pacific area. The facts of yesterday and today speak for themselves. No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory. President Roosevelt addresses Congress and the American people, Dec. 8, 1941

B. The Japanese created the Greater East-Asia Coprosperity Sphere, which included the entire region under Japanese control.  Japan announced its intention to liberate colonial nations in Southeast Asia, but first needed their natural resources.  They treated the occupied countries as conquered lands.

C. The Japanese thought that their attacks on the U.S. fleet would destroy the U.S. Navy and lead the Americans to accept Japanese domination in the Pacific.  The attack on Pearl Harbor had the opposite effect.  It united the American people and convinced the nation that it should enter the war against Japan.

 How did the Japanese miscalculate the response of the United States to the bombing of Pearl Harbor?  The Japanese assumed that with the U.S. fleet severely damaged, the United States would accept Japanese domination in the Pacific.  The attack convinced Americans to fight back when before many people had wanted to stay out of the war.

D. Hitler thought that the Americans would be too involved in the Pacific to fight in Europe.  Four days after Pearl Harbor, he declared war on the U.S.  World War II had become a global war.