1. WW2 Japan attacks

2. Invasion of the Philippines The Japanese invasion of the Pacific was all a part of a grand plan. The Philippines have been in the hands of the US since the Spanish- American war. The Philippines was the US’s most treasured island. The Japanese was on a deadline.

3. Attack on Malaya Malaya was a British asset of trade and naval supremacy in the Pacific. Malaya was also a Fortress which protected the Dutch assets in the area as well. The Japanese attacked Malaya to put the British out of action and to reach the Dutch East Indies unopposed.

4. Attack on Pearl Harbour Pearl Harbour was the US navy’s main base for its Pacific fleet. It held the Pacific fleet’s Aircraft carriers and Battleships. The Base also had its own oil fields. With the US Pacific fleet out of action the and no carriers the Japanese would be able to claim Australia and attack the west coast of America with ease.

5. The Speed The speed of the attacks were for not just the purpose of surprise but the Japanese were on a deadline. The Japanese was an Empire that ran on oil. With no oil of its own they needed oil and fast that’s why they attacked with such speed because the Japanese were almost out of oil by 1941.

6. The Oil The oil was the main reason for the Japanese attacks across the Pacific. The Japanese used so much oil that they need to start a war before they ran out. The Japanese Navy was large but drank tonnes of oil every week. Louis Morton wrote ‘without oil, Japan's pretensions to empire are just empty shadows’. The alliance with the Nazis did not give oil to Japan.

7. End of 1941 With the oil under its control Japan could wage a war on a large scale but their main oil objective was up in smoke with destruction of the Dutch oil assets in Indonesia. Yamamoto knew to keep the Empire the Oil was to be secured.