One of the reasons Japan striked was due to crippling the United States since they both would have gone to war in the Pacific Ocean. By disabling the Pacific Fleet, they hoped to cripple the United States. This would also lead to United States submitting and a peace treaty which would benefit Japan. Also, since the United States lacked military power, they could have been an easy target. Tojo, who was the general of the Imperial Japan Army stated to the council ‘’a policy of patience and perseverance was tantamount to self-annihilation’’ This lead him and the councils who agreed upon this statement to attack America. They felt that essentially without war, it would be as though they have self destructed. The deadline passed and this is eventually when they attacked whilst knowing that the army …show more content…
The Japanese thought that their idea of surprise attack was too powerful that would destroy the American navy and all its hopes. They considered the war to be inevitable. Japan was a militaristic dictatorship with a massive army, and wanted to try and negotiate a settlement with America. This would keep the gains in China and other regions. The war they had with China weakened them, and so they went from there. They failed to invade the Dutch East Indies because the majority of US Fleet happened