During World War II, why did Japan launch a deadly attack on Pearl Harbor in the United States?

The direct cause of Japan's desperate attack on Pearl Harbor was that the Japanese pirates did not know the heights of the world and always felt that with Amaterasu's protection, there was no opponent that Japan could not defeat. But if we look at it from a deeper perspective, the reason why Japan attacked Pearl Harbor was because the war of aggression against China was not going well.

Before Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, its strategy fell into a dead logic because of its war of aggression against China.

When Japan attacked China, it was to grab resources and immigrants. However, after four and a half years of fighting, we were still unable to defeat China, and could only capture half of China. As long as the Nationalist government refused to surrender, the Japanese army would never be able to concentrate on other things (invading the Soviet Union). What was even more troublesome for Japanese high-level officials was that China was in such a backward state that the Japanese army’s expenditure on conquering cities and territories was completely out of proportion to the wealth they plundered through the war.

This is like the current US military fighting the Taliban. A million-dollar missile hit a tent worth only ten dollars. From an economic perspective, it is easy to see who has lost everything.

As for the impact of the war of aggression against China on Japan's economy, I will not go into details here. Let's just talk about a basic situation.

At the end of 1939, in order to recruit people's power and ensure the Japanese military's war expenses in China, the Japanese government issued a "Price, etc. Control Order." As soon as this document came out, even taxis were no longer seen on the streets of the capital Tokyo, because the Japanese government had no extra oil for the people to use. Later, the entire Japan began to implement a mandatory rationing system. For example, daily necessities such as clothes, rice, and charcoal were all rationed by the government. This has led to a rampant black market and a heavier burden on Japanese people.

This situation was simply inexplicable to the Japanese at the time! Before the invasion of China, although the Japanese were not very wealthy, at least they didn't have to worry about food and drink. If they were rich, they could go to a restaurant and have a drink or something. And what about after the invasion of China? The people actually became poorer and poorer with each passing day. What’s the point of fighting this kind of war that costs money? If we continue to play like this for three or four years, will we start to eat dirt?

Attention, this phenomenon was entirely caused by the war of aggression against China. At that time, the United States had not imposed an embargo on Japan. Japan's embarrassing situation has nothing to do with the US embargo.

Faced with this decline (the more it fights, the poorer it becomes), it is an inevitable choice for Japan to withdraw from the Chinese battlefield. But how exactly is Japan going to get out? There were two options at the time:

Option 1: Stop losses in time, just like the United States later decisively withdrew from South Vietnam, abandon all occupied areas within China's customs, and return to the occupation line before the full-scale invasion of China. Slowly regain strength and wait for an opportunity to make a comeback.

Option 2: Continue to expand the war and choose to go to war with the Soviet Union or Britain and the United States. Go directly to seize Southeast Asia controlled by Britain and the United States to alleviate the urgent need.

First of all, this is feasible. But for the vast majority of people, it is unacceptable. After all, the war lasted for four years and it was a heavy loss. Wanting to raise bets to make a comeback is the potential gambler's thought that everyone has in their hearts. Not everyone has the incredible restraint to restrain their desire to raise money to make money.

Secondly, the second one is difficult to choose. Attacking the Soviet Union is in line with Britain and the United States' expectations of Japan, but it is not in Japan's interests (Soviet Siberia is of little value to Japan).

One more thing to say here. Japan dared to invade China because Britain and the United States acquiesced in not taking a stand. If Britain and the United States defended China to the death, Japan would not dare to fully invade China. At that time, the reason why Britain and the United States wanted to sacrifice China and condone Japan's full-scale invasion of China was because they believed that China at that time was too poor and had no value in strategic cooperation. Britain and the United States regarded China as the Poland of Asia and wanted to sacrifice China's interests in exchange for Japan's northward attack on the Soviet Union. This is the same as Britain and France sacrificing the interests of the Czech Republic and Poland in Europe and diverting Germany's troubles eastward to the Soviet Union.

However, things backfired. Japan's invasion of China was mired in quagmire and it was unable to fight against the Soviet Union. This time Japan is embarrassed.

Regarding this embarrassing situation, Kanji Ishihara, who firmly opposed Japan's southern advance, said that he believed that the Soviet Union must be attacked!

Because in fighting the Soviet Union, it is one thing to win without fighting, but as long as we fight, Japan will at least not become enemies with Britain and the United States. Even if the Soviet Union comes to seek revenge later, Britain and the United States will not sit idly by.

But if you rush to attack Britain and the United States, you will definitely die. Because the Soviet Union will not protect Japan. Not only will they not protect, they will definitely look for opportunities to step on Japan's body.

For example, at the end of World War II, the Soviet Union robbed Japan of its four northern islands and has not returned them to this day. Okinawa, which the United States captured with tens of thousands of casualties, has long since been returned to Japan. It is clear at a glance which of the threats posed by these two countries to Japan is more serious.

However, Japanese high-level officials are generally short-sighted and do not understand Ishihara Kanji's idea of ????going north. They prefer to move south, because moving south can quickly occupy resource-rich Southeast Asia. relieve pressure on Japan. For this reason, Japan also designed a specific plan to advance southward.

According to this plan, Japan would first annex the French and Dutch colonies in Southeast Asia (both countries were destroyed by Germany), so as not to irritate Britain and the United States for the time being. But the problem is, Britain and the United States are not fools! When Japan sent troops to occupy French northern Vietnam. Yingmei felt a cold feeling in her lips and teeth, something was not good!

So the United States began to change its attitude, warned Japan, and gradually reduced Japan's imports of goods.

This is better now. In the past, the wars made us poorer and poorer. We had no money to buy imported raw materials, so we had to find ways to make money. Now they won’t sell it! Don’t even sell it if you have money! How to deal with this?

If it were an ordinary country, faced with this situation, it would definitely choose to give in. After all, the United States cannot afford to offend. But the Japanese don’t think that way. During the war against the Qing Dynasty and Tsarist Russia, Japan sought wealth and wealth in exchange for its international status in the twentieth century. Now that the fate of the country has been put on the line again, wealth and wealth are once again on the line. How can the Japanese back down?

Furthermore, Japan at that time was completely a cult country. People supported the government in its aggression because they believed that the government could steal wealth overseas. Now that the wealth has not been grabbed, they still want to stop fighting. How can these people endure it? Doesn't enduring it mean that the sins of the past few years have been in vain? Anyone who dares to stop the war will be a traitor to the country and will be killed by the soldiers and civilians.

As a result, Japan did not follow the American example and could only bite the bullet and decided to make a desperate move to invade Southeast Asia and seize money, food and resources.