By the late 1930s, Japan had acquired a significant part of China. The Japanese government considered that the only way to solve the increasing economic and demographic problems was to grow into its neighbor's territory and establish its rule over the import market.

Japan declared war on China in 1937.

Americans were unhappy with japans belligerent attitude towards China.

They responded to this aggression with economic sanctions and trade embargoes. Sanctions made the JapaneseJapanese more determined to stand their ground. After months of negotiations between Tokyo and Washington dc, it became clear that the war was inevitable.

To the Japanese, pearl harbor was an easy target because the American military leaders were not expecting an attack so close to home. Hence the naval facilities at pearl harbor were relatively undefended.

However, the Japanese plan was simple- to destroy the pacific fleet as soon as possible. In that way, the Americans would not be able to fight back since japans armed forces spread across the entire south pacific ocean.

After months of planning and practice, japan launched an attack on pearl harbor on December 7, 1941.

8 am, Sunday, 07.12.1941

hundreds of Japanese military fighter planes descended on the base of pearl harbor. There was a rain of bombs and bullets over the American vessels. They damaged around 20 American naval vessels. This included eight battleships and more than 300 airplanes. over 2400 Americans lost their lives, including civilians, and more than 1000 people were injured.