More than half a century ago this week, fifty nine years to be exact, without declaring war, the planes of the Imperial Japanese Navy, from the carriers hiding in the foul weather front north of Hawaii, sent the American battleships to the bottom of Pearl Harbor. Total destruction was not achieved. As luck or providence would have it the US aircraft carriers were out in maneuvers so US Asia Pacific Fleet escaped. Throughout the ages, Japanese militarists, who ruled Japan at that time, have been maligned for this treachery, but if one goes through the records, they could hardly be blamed. A prominent historian once wrote; “History is written by the victors.” The vanquished are always depicted as villains. Though most of the analysts wondered what took a three island nation like Japan to attack one of the greatest economies of the world, there are those who know the reason.
Japan's distrust of the white man goes a long way... For ages, the shores of Nippon had been closed to foreigners. In 1853 Admiral Mathew Perry opened the ports of Japan to the world. From then on, within a span of a single generation the empire became a modern nation. Meanwhile European nations established colonies in guise of trading posts in the Far East. The British claimed Borneo, Malaya and Hongkong, Netherlands the Dutch East Indies, France, the French Indo China. When Japan tried to find lebensraum for her millions in the main land this project resulted in the Sino Japanese War. The conflict ended in a treaty, which gave Japan the Liaotung, Formosa and Pescadores the last two now Taiwan. Then Britain, France, Germany and Russia pressed Japan to return the Liaotung to China.
In 1897 Russia obtained the lease of the Liaotung, Germany obtained Kiachow, France the Kwangchowan and the British got Weichowan. Japan offered to recognize the interests of Russia to the Liaotung provided she did the same to Japan in Korea and further all nations be given equal commercial rights .in those areas. Negotiations in bad faith of the Russians started the Russo Japanese war. Japan won but another China Incident renewed the Sino Japanese War. At first, Japan was able to buy oil and scrap iron and steel from the US. However, when Japan was expanding her conquests in China, the US asked Japan to stop and when she did not all Japanese assets in America were frozen. Japan did the same. To fuel her war machine Japan must have the oil, rubber, tin and other materials from the Southeast Asia but they were under the control of the Allies, British, Dutch and French nations. To get them she must have to go to war or face defeat.
According to J. F. C. Fuller a British military historian in his book Decisive Battles of the Western World Book II page 490 third paragraph, - the famous meeting of Churchill and Roosevelt in August 1941 in Placentia Bay, was about the method and timing of the provocation of Japan more than anything else “he (Roosevelt) promised Churchill that the United States: even if not herself attacked, would come into war in the Far East'”. If this would be the case, Secretary of State Cordell Hull and Japanese special envoy Saburu Kuruso trying for a peaceful solution until December 7, 1941 was both negotiating in bad faith. Today the past aims of Japan to create a Greater East Asia Co prosperity Sphere is succeeding... Now the biggest trading partners of Japan are the Southeast Asian nations. Past wounds had healed. If the Japanese businessman had invaded Southeast Asia instead of the Japanese hetai, things might have been vastly different. Who then was the villain in 1941?
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