The United States hopes to contain Japan by blocking energy supply.
As an important strategic material, oil has an indissoluble bond with war. As an island country, Japan is short of resources and energy, which makes it a fatal weakness to dominate the world. In the late 1930s, 90% of Japan's domestic oil demand came from imports, of which 85% came from the United States, the most important oil exporter at that time.
Before the attack on Pearl Harbor, Japan had waged a four-year war on the Asian continent in order to plunder the rich natural resources there.
Japan's aggression against Asian countries obviously poses a threat to the interests of the United States in the Far East. However, isolationism in the United States also put the Roosevelt administration in a dilemma. Isolationists believe that on the one hand, it cannot provide military assistance to countries threatened by war in the world, and on the other hand, it cannot impose economic sanctions on invading countries. Moreover, under the pressure of the British government and the US Congress, it is suggested that President Roosevelt should not have a military conflict with Japan in the Pacific Ocean, so as not to be able to provide assistance to his allies in the future, which will also lead to the public's attention shifting from Hitler's aggression plan.
1940 in July, the United States passed the export control bill, which just gave President Roosevelt an excuse to retaliate against Japan's wanton expansion in Asia. When the Japanese army invaded northern Zhili in September 1940, President Roosevelt issued a ban on Japan's export of scrap steel with the help of this bill. Soon, he imposed an embargo on aviation fuel and lubricants, claiming that these materials could only be exported to Britain and other countries in the western hemisphere.
At the same time, the Japanese are also thinking and re-evaluating their foreign policy. Since the Puppet Manchukuo was established in the northeast of China, the Japanese military, especially the senior military officials, has had many adverse effects on foreign policy. At the same time, military leaders are also the main force supporting the alliance with Germany and Italy. They advocated prolonging the war in China and marching further into South Asia, thus realizing their imperial dream of energy self-sufficiency. /kloc-in the summer of 0/940, Duke Wei became the Prime Minister of Japan. On the one hand, the Guards Cabinet acquiesced in the further expansion of the army in Asia, on the other hand, it was committed to reaching a settlement with the United States. However, the Guards Cabinet authorized the military to occupy the Zina base in French India and signed a three-nation covenant with Germany and Italy, which made it impossible for President Roosevelt and Secretary of State Hull to make any concessions in the negotiations.
1in the winter of 940, the transatlantic energy supply line of Britain was destroyed by German submarines, so the United States paid more and more attention to the development of the situation. 1941April, Germany captured Yugoslavia and Greece, and severely damaged the British troops stationed in Crete and North Africa. President Roosevelt had to order the expansion of the neutral zone of the United States in the Atlantic Ocean and further extend the cruise line eastward to prevent Hitler's attack. In May, President Roosevelt announced that he would further strengthen submarine tracking and escort in the region and deploy the Pacific Fleet to reinforce the Atlantic Fleet. As a result, the United States declared a state of emergency, and Washington therefore placed its support for Britain in an indisputable and important position.
Tokyo's policy has also begun to swing from side to side. The Security Cabinet appointed Yoshizaburo Nomura, a pro-American ambassador to the United States, and put forward some new negotiation points to Washington. Secretary of State Hal agreed to explore these plans, but after 50 secret meetings, no agreement was reached. The United States refused to discuss the details further. They suggested that the negotiations could only continue if Japan agreed to the "Four Principles". Japan, on the other hand, believes that these four principles are undoubtedly obstacles set by the United States in the negotiations, and the negotiations are therefore deadlocked.
The decline in oil reserves forced the Japanese government to make the final decision to go to war with the United States.
1941April, Japan and the Soviet Union signed the Treaty of Neutrality between Japan and the Soviet Union, which shocked the world. In June, Germany began to attack the Soviet Union. These developments finally convinced Japanese military leaders that they would not have a direct conflict with the Soviet Union in the border areas of Manchukuo. The United States began to stop exporting oil to Japan from the east coast and some other ports. The Japanese government began secret negotiations. At a headquarters meeting, Japanese military leaders and Prime Minister Jin Wei proposed to the Japanese emperor to continue to expand into South Asia because they had no choice. The emperor also agreed, so the plan to invade Malaysia, the Philippines, the Dutch East India and Hong Kong began to be implemented, and Japan began to prepare for war with the United States, Britain and the Netherlands. However, the specific deadline has not been fixed and negotiations with the United States are still going on.
On July 24th, with the reluctant consent of Vichy government in France, the Japanese army occupied the key fortress in Zina, French India. On 26th, President Roosevelt ordered the freezing of all Japanese assets in the United States, and at the same time, oil exports to Japan could only be traded through licenses. The British and Dutch governments immediately followed the example of the American government. Historical documents do not explain the intrinsic significance of President Roosevelt's decision. Judging from the memorandum of President Roosevelt's aides, the president just tried to use the oil license transaction as a diplomatic means to win more bargaining chips. However, freezing Japanese assets in the United States prevented Japan from paying petrodollars as before. In short, this is undoubtedly the victory of the hardliners in the US government, who have always believed that only in this way can Japan be forced to make concessions.
In such a political environment, Japan can only use its own oil reserves. Historian Herbert Faith once wrote: "Japan has no way to obtain or control oil supplies. The decline in oil reserves is prompting the Japanese government to make the final decision to go to war with the United States. "
For the US military, the decision made by President Roosevelt at this moment is undoubtedly a failure. The us navy has been emphasizing the disadvantages of the us military in the Pacific. Compared with the Japanese navy with 10 aircraft carriers, there are only three aircraft carriers in the United States. Moreover, the US Navy has been urging the United States to delay the war with Japan, because the air and ground forces at the Philippine military base have not been strengthened. Joseph Gru, the American ambassador to Japan, has also been warning Washington that if Japan is cornered, the Japanese army will violently fight back without warning, because this is the national characteristic of the Japanese. However, President Roosevelt still insists that although there are some risks, it will not bring serious consequences to the United States. The seemingly unanimous view of his aides further encouraged the president to believe that war is still far away. Even if Japan attacks Malaysia and Dutch East India, it will not affect the security of the United States at all.
The United States imposed a property freeze and an oil embargo on Japan, which shocked Japan. Some historical records released after the war show that Japan has fallen into despair. By August of 194 1, Japan's oil reserves can only last for 12 months and 18 months. The headquarters meeting held in advance in September put the war on the agenda. 10 June, the Guards Cabinet collapsed, and tojo hideki, Minister of the Army, became the Prime Minister of the Cabinet. 165438+1the last command meeting held on October 5 prompted the hesitant Japanese emperor to declare war on the United States unless a diplomatic solution was reached at the last minute of the negotiations.
The United States cut off Japan's energy supply line and let Japanese fascist dogs jump over the wall and put all their eggs in one basket.
During the negotiations, Japan pretended to make concessions and agreed to withdraw its troops from Indian zhina immediately. However, Japan has never given up its strategy of further expansion in Asia, so the US-Japan negotiations are difficult. The constantly postponed negotiations with the United States have just helped the deployment of Japanese troops. 1October 26th, 165438+ The Japanese captured some places in zhina. Secretary of State Hull was very angry about this and demanded that the Japanese army completely withdraw from China during the negotiations.
President Roosevelt and his assistants have been keeping an eye on the Japanese army's every move by intercepting its radio signals. But they don't know when and where the Japanese will take any action. To make matters worse, the United States has never been able to decipher the passwords of the Japanese army and navy.
19411On February 7, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, which became the most painful war disaster in American history and interpreted a human tragedy. Fortunately for the United States, the aircraft carrier of the Pacific Fleet just left Hong Kong on the day of the Japanese attack. However, for Japan, the attack on Pearl Harbor proved to be a greater failure, which just gave President Roosevelt, the main battle, the best excuse to declare war on Japan. He no longer had to persuade Congress to declare war on Japan in the name of protecting the British and Dutch colonies, and the American people who hesitated to participate in the war immediately joined the anti-Japanese ranks. ? Excerpted from the 6th World Expo in 2005.