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When the japanese attacked pearl harbour and provocked the usa to declare war on them what was the japanese end game?.Did they ever intend to attack and try to occupy the usa or did they just want the islands around the pacific.Surely they must have known that it would have been impossible to occupy the usa.I'm struggling to see how the japanese thought the war would have ended to their advantage and ending in the usa defeated.
When the japanese attacked pearl harbour and provocked the usa to declare war on them what was the japanese end game?.Did they ever intend to attack and try to occupy the usa or did they just want the islands around the pacific.Surely they must have known that it would have been impossible to occupy the usa.I'm struggling to see how the japanese thought the war would have ended to their advantage and ending in the usa defeated.
Why? Other strong countries had already been occupied and we didn't have any "kamikaze" soldiers.
This thread would be better served in the History forum. Some pretty smart historians over there.
I read once that the Japs felt it would demoralize the US fleet and possibly force us into a more defensive posture and away from going on the offensive and thus allowing them to rule the Pacific unimpeded.
The Japanese knew full well that they could never conquer the United States, and they had no intention of even trying. The reason they went to war was to obtain the natural resources (especially oil) in the South Pacific area, especially the Dutch East Indies. But because they assumed that the United States would interfere with any land grab they might attempt, they decided to preemptively remove that threat by knocking out the U.S. Pacific Fleet in one huge blow, right at the outset.
Their hope was that a successful attack against Pearl Harbor would achieve two goals: (1) to destroy the U.S. Pacific Fleet and thus remove it as a threat to their other advances, and (2) to demoralize the American people enough that we would decide the cost of rebuilding our fleet and going against their empire wouldn't be worth it, and come to peace terms that would allow Japan to keep her new possessions.
But the Japanese made two huge blunders, one tactical and the other strategic; and also suffered from a huge stroke of bad luck. The bad luck was that the American aircraft carriers were not present at Pearl Harbor when it was attacked, and thus were immediately available for an American counteroffensive. On a tactical level, they failed to destroy (or even try to destroy) Pearl Harbor's repair facilities and oil tanks; if they had done so, the base would have been out of commission for months, and what was left of the Pacific Fleet would have been forced to retire to the West Coast.
But probably their biggest blunder was the strategic error of woefully underestimating American resolve and fighting spirit. They were under the impression that Americans were weak and soft and would fold when things got rough. But the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor so enraged the American people that they went on to fight with a spirit and toughness that would have made the samurai proud. From the moment that the first bombs fell, America would accept nothing less than unconditional surrender, and would pay any price to achieve that aim.
Their hope was that a successful attack against Pearl Harbor would achieve two goals: (1) to destroy the U.S. Pacific Fleet and thus remove it as a threat to their other advances, and (2) to demoralize the American people enough that we would decide the cost of rebuilding our fleet and going against their empire wouldn't be worth it, and come to peace terms that would allow Japan to keep her new possessions.
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The Japanese understood that the American industry could replace/refit the ships lost at Pearl Harbor. Part of the plan was to give them time to secure a defense perimeter around their new holdings in the Pacific, and then sometime in late 1942 or early 1943, when the Americans were prepared to try and take back what had been lost, the American fleet would be defeated in one gigantic fleet to fleet battle, where it was anticipated that battleships would be the decisive factor.
The Japanese goal was total regional (eastern hemisphere) hegemony, a trend that actually started in the late 19th century but really took off in 1937.
As the other guy pointed out - Pearl Harbor was just one of the tactical keys to the long drawn-out (and failed) strategy. He accurately detailed those specific goals so I can't add anything more. Of course, they did indeed occupy US territory - the Phillipines for one. They also invaded Alaska's Allutian Islands.
There big blunder in Pearl Harbor was not only seriously underestimating US resolve...but also they missed the US carrier fleet.
The Japanese understood that the American industry could replace/refit the ships lost at Pearl Harbor. Part of the plan was to give them time to secure a defense perimeter around their new holdings in the Pacific, and then sometime in late 1942 or early 1943, when the Americans were prepared to try and take back what had been lost, the American fleet would be defeated in one gigantic fleet to fleet battle, where it was anticipated that battleships would be the decisive factor.
It boggles the mind that the Japanese so blatantly failed to learn the lessons that they themselves had taught to the world. Their carrier-based planes creamed the American battle line at Pearl Harbor, which should have been all the proof they needed that the aircraft carrier was ascendant over the battleship. Yet they persisted in thinking that their battleships would be the ultimate weapons of decision. Sure, they all sailed in support of the Midway campaign (the intended "decisive battle"), but in the end, only two of them (Haruna, and to a lesser extent Kirishima) played any part at all in the actual battle.
Even at Guadalcanal, the naval portion of which was for the most part a surface campaign, they used only 4 of their 12 battleships. And even those 4 (the vessels of the Kongo class) didn't always do too well; Hiei was done in by cruisers (and finished off by planes) while Kirishima was taken out by the American battleship Washington. With the notable exception of that one time when Kongo and Haruna shelled Henderson Field, the IJN badly squandered what could have been a great opportunity for them to put their battleships to very effective use.
Only at Leyte Gulf did the Japanese finally commit their full battle line, their 7 remaining battleships. (They also had two more, the Ise and Hyuga, whose aft decks had been "paved over" to make a flight deck; but all this did is render these ships effectively useless as either battleships or aircraft carriers.) But by then it was way too late, and we crushed them. They lost 3 battleships, and a 4th one was sunk on her way home from the battle, with only a jeep carrier and a destroyer or two sunk in return.
By the time the war was over, Japan had lost all but 1 of her battleships (the badly damaged Nagato was the sole survivor) with almost nothing to show for it in the way of combat results.
When the japanese attacked pearl harbour and provocked the usa to declare war on them what was the japanese end game?.Did they ever intend to attack and try to occupy the usa or did they just want the islands around the pacific.Surely they must have known that it would have been impossible to occupy the usa.I'm struggling to see how the japanese thought the war would have ended to their advantage and ending in the usa defeated.
Japan's endgame was really a very shortsighted and erroneous one. They figured their sneak attack would destroy most of our Pacific Fleet and so we wouldn't even be able to wage war, or declare it. That instead, the attack and decimation of our Fleet would force us to cease the Economic Sanctions we had imposed on that country a couple years prior because of Japan's Invasion of China. The Rape of Nanking and all that.
Not all of the Japanese government thought the attack was a good idea. Many of them correctly surmised what would happen: that we would wage war and Win. I think it was one of their Top Admirals--Hirohito? (not sure) who had the famous quote about it being a bad idea "to awaken the sleeping Giant" that was the USA.
We got lucky in that attack--in a way. Much of our Fleet--including vital aircraft carriers were out to sea on Operations when the Attack came on Sunday morning, December 7, 1941. Had they been in port at Pearl, who knows? I believe we still would have waged war anyway. But perhaps not.
And keep in mind we never declared War on Germany. That it was them and Italy who declared War on us two days after Pearl. Another great mistake by Hitler, who made many during WWII.
I think it was one of their Top Admirals--Hirohito? (not sure)
Marshal Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, Harvard alum and former naval attache to Washington. Hirohito was the Emperor of Japan.
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