Title: Did the US provoke Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor? | Learn Liberty
Headings: Did the US provoke Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor?
Did the US provoke Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor?
Why did Japan attack Pearl Harbor?
Were they negotiating in good faith?
Is economic warfare really “war”?
What justifies war?

Content: Japan saw American proposals and actions as an indication that the US planned to intervene militarily in Asia. The US certainly would not sit idly by while Japan entered the East Indies and surroundings in pursuit of oil. On 25 November 1941, then-Secretary of War Henry Stimson wrote in his diary, “ [Roosevelt] brought up the event that we were likely to be attacked [by the Japanese] … the question was how we should maneuver them into the position of firing the first shot without allowing too much danger to ourselves.” On the next day, the US demanded that unusual unconditional withdrawal from China, which only increased the likelihood of Japan refusing to comply. On November 27, Stimson informed US Pacific commanders that “negotiations with Japan appear to be terminated to all practical purposes… Japanese future action unpredictable, but hostile action possible at any moment. If hostilities cannot … be avoided, the United States desires that Japan commit the first overt act.” These circumstances raise questions about what, if anything, qualifies as a legitimate threat that permits a preemptive military response (here, on the part of the Japanese). It seemed clear to both parties that they were hurtling toward war — if they were goading each other into attack, how much difference does it make who fires first? Is economic warfare really “war”? In some ways, there is a clear line between physical and nonphysical attacks.