Sunday 19 September 2010

The following were equally important reasons why the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in December 1941:

Worsening US-Japan relations
Desire to control Southeast Asia
Destruction of the US Pacific fleet

Do you agree with this statement? [13]


Worsening relations between Japan and the US was certainly one reason for Japan to attack Pearl Harbor. Ever since Japan started to expand into China, the US habecome more wary of Japan's ambitions. As Japan imported most of its raw materials from the US, the US began to place embargoes on Japan to check its aggression. This did not affect Japan's war efforts greatly as critical resources such as oil continued to be sold to Japan. It was only when Japan took over French Indo-China in 1940 that the US placed an embargo on the sale of oil to Japan. This brought US-Japan relations to a new low. Negotiations were conducted to resolve the situation but they were unsuccessful. As a result, Japan was prepared for war against the US.

The desire to control Southeast Asia was linked to the need to acquire oil. With the supply from the US cut off, Japan needed to take over Indonesia, which was rich in oil, in order to continue the war efforts. To do so would require Japan to take over the whole of Southeast Asia, including the Philippines, which the Americans had colonised. An attack on the Philippines would lead to the Americans seeking reinforcements from their base at Pearl Harbor. The arrival of these reinforcements would effectively prevent Japan from controlling Southeast Asia quickly. Therefore, it was necessary for the Japanese to attack Pearl Harbor at the same time as they were attacking Southeast Asia.

The destruction of the US Pacific Fleet was seen as a critical step to ensure Japan's dominance of the Pacific region. If the Pacific Fleet was destroyed, the Japanese believed that US confidence would be severely affected. At the same time, the US would need a long time to rebuild their strength before they would confront the Japanese. By then, Japan would have secured the areas it needed. The successful destruction of the US Pacific Fleet would also demonstrate Japan's rise as a world power and not to be underestimated by the West.

Was the desire to abolish the Treaty of Versailles the main reason for Hitler to pursue an aggressive foreign policy? Explain your answer. [12]

The abolition of the Treaty of Versailles was certainly one of the reasons for Hitler to adopt an aggressive foreign policy. Firstly, the military restrictions were unacceptable to Hitler. With no offensive weapons, Germany was militarily weak. Without military might, Hitler realised that the other aims of the his foreign policy could not be achieved. Secondly, the treaty caused Germany to lose a lot of territories in Europe, especially to Poland and Czechoslovakia. Thus, Hitler wanted to regain these territories. Finally, Hitler wanted to restore German pride, which had been destroyed with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles. All these made Hitler determined to free Germany from the terms of the treaty through an aggressive foreign policy, such as the remilitarisation of Rhineland and the takeover of Austria, both of which were forbidden under the Treaty of Versailles.

Another reason had to do with Hitler's desire to achieve a Greater Germany. Hitler hoped to unite all German-speaking people under the rule of Germany and maintained the purity of the Aryan race. As such, he needed to take over those lands with substantial German-speaking populations, especially those areas given to Poland and Czechoslovakia by the Treaty of Versailles. This explained his takeover of Austria and his willingness to fight over Czechoslovakia and Poland.

The third reason was the desire for living space. This had to do with Hitler's theory on races. Believing that the Aryans belonged to a superior race, he reasoned that they deserved more land than other races, such as the Slavs in Eastern Europe and Russia. Therefore, he wanted Germany to take over the lands in Eastern Europe and Russia. In addition, attacking Russia would also serve to wipe out communism, which Hitler strongly detested. All these naturally would lead Germany to become more aggressive in its foreign policy, especially towards countries in the east.

The following were three reasons why the British practised the appeasement policy in the 1930s:

Horrors of the First World War
Communism as a greater threat
British domestic problems
Which was the most dominant reason? Explain your answer. [13]


One of the reasons for the British to adopt the appeasement policy was due to the fear of war. The First World War had a major impact on the British, who had suffered a great loss of lives and resources as a result of the war. Many British would not want another war to break out that would lead to more losses. Therefore, they were willing to give in to Hitler in order to avert another war. Furthermore, the areas that Hitler was claiming had no British stake in them and thus, fighting with the Germans over these territories would not make sense to them.

Another reason for adopting the appeasement policy was due to the threat posed by Communism. In the 1930s, Nazism and Fascism were not the greatest threat to peace. The Communists, with their declared intention of world revolution, appeared to be disrupting peace in many parts of Europe. Therefore, Communist Russia was seen as a bigger threat than Nazi Germany. In fact, Nazi Germany was staunchly anti-communist and was seen by the British as a reliable ally in stopping the spread of Communism. If the appeasement policy could strengthen Germany to resist the spread of Communism, many British felt that it was alright to appease Germany.

Finally, the British were experiencing a number of domestic problems. Economically, the British was still recovering from the effects of the Great Depression and thus, could not afford to be involved in any costly wars. Militarily, the British were hardly ready, since the weak economy had resulted in his defence expenditure being cut. The British also experienced problems in maintaining their empire, as they needed to utilise resources to deal with the independence movements in colonies like India and the Middle East. With all these problems, the British saw appeasement as the best solution, since it would not require Britain to lose anything and yet, war could be avoided.