Author: Joseph Funkhouser

Interviewer: Ethan Hughart

The War in the Pacific was one of the greatest conflicts in American History. The decade leading up to the attack at Pearl Harbor was one of intense diplomacy between the United States and Japan. The Japanese expanded into other parts of Asia and the Pacific which endangered American business and security interests. In response to this, the Untied States implemented strict sanctions on Japan in order to pressure their economy and ability to keep their military conquests viable. In order to keep their conquests alive, Japan had to expand even more in order to gain the necessary resources required to continue. The United States placed even stricter sanctions on the Japanese which backed the Japanese into a corner. They only had to had two options strike or retreat, and they chose to attack.