The Japanese Oil Embargo - History and Ambiguity of Sources

It is always a bit of a thrill to read an article that covers a facet of the 1930s or 1940s which I'm not aware of, which made this Salon article on the 1941 United States oil embargo against Japan fascinating.  To summarize for those unfamiliar with it, in 1941 before the Pearl Harbor attack United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt imposed a freeze on Japanese assets within the United States, which would require permits to be issued prior to any sale of goods taking place to Japan.  As Japan relied heavily upon United States oil exports to meet its fuel needs, particularly for its military, this action represented a significant risk to Japan's ability to continue its on-going war in China at the time.

The ambiguity comes in regarding how the oil embargo was imposed and the role of Dean Acheson, pictured above, in creating that oil embargo.  As Assistant Secretary of State at the time Acheson had an unusual opportunity to shape United States policy, while the President was in Newfoundland having a secret conference with Winston Churchill, British Prime Minister, Acheson had near total authority to decide if any licenses would be issued to Japan to allow the purchase of oil.  He chose to not issue any such licenses, imposing an effective oil embargo on Japan and starting the chain of concerns that led to the Pearl Harbor attack on the United States in December 1941.

The question that needs to be asked though is this - did FDR know that Acheson was going to take this action and allowed it or was he surprised by the action and left it in place to avoid appearing weak?

This is not an easy question to answer, several sources claim that Acheson acted on his own and FDR was not involved in the choice, he wanted to avoid war.  However one source I checked claimed that FDR did know and, more critically, a close friend of FDR's was in the State Department and had access to warn FDR if Acheson had been acting without approval.

My research into FDR has shown when it came to foreign policy he seemed to like having a distance between himself and certain actions, but was very willing to engage when needed in quite aggressive action.  The theory that seems most likely to me is FDR was aware of the oil embargo being implemented by this indirect means and supported it, to see what impact it would have on Japan.  If it turned out to be far too dangerous he'd be able to then retract what Acheson did and state Acheson had gone "too far" with his authority.

But we won't ever know - this was one of the items that there simply aren't clean records or sources to document.  Considering this policy can be directly linked to Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor, it has relevance.

Sources:  Salon article on this topic, Wikipedia on Dean Acheson, State Department page on Acheson, Google Books scan of "An Introduction to the Causes of War" by Greg Cashman & Leonard C. Robinson, Google Books scan of "The History of American Foreign Policy from 1895" by Jerald A. Combs

December 7, 1941: Alabamians at Pearl Harbor

U.S.S. Arizona in flames on December 7, 1941
Courtesy of the National Park Service

The speech delivered by President Franklin D. Roosevelt one day after the surprise Japanese attack on the U.S. Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor, Hawai'i, still touches deep into the hearts of Americans:

Yesterday, December 7th, 1941 - a date which will live in infamy - the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan. - Franklin Delano Roosevelt, December 8, 1941.

The total loss of life during the attack was listed as 2,390.  Another ----- men and women were wounded. The majority of these were sailors in the U.S. Navy, most of them dying aboard the U.S.S. Arizona. The casualty list includes 49 civilians killed with another 35 wounded. Included among the dead civilians were children as young as 7 months.

Explosion aboard the U.S.S. Shaw
Photo courtesy of the National Park Service

The servicemen and women and civilians killed came from every state and the then Territory of Hawai'i. Among them were dozens of Alabamians.

I have not been able to find a complete list of all servicemen from Alabama killed at Pearl Harbor, but the following men are known to have died aboard the U.S.S. Arizona.  If you know of others, please let me know and I will add them:

Adams, Robert Franklin

Benson, James Thomas

Bibby, Charles Henry

Bishop, Millard Charles

Black, James Theron

Blankenship, Theron A.

Boyd, Charles Andrew

Broadhead, Johnnie Cecil

Chandler, Donald Ross

Frizzell, Robert Niven

Hindman, Frank Weaver

Holland, Claude Herbert, Jr.

Holmes, Lowell D.

Hughes, Lewis Burton, Jr.

Isom, Luther James

Johnson, Samuel Earle

Jones, Daniel Pugh

Jones, Woodrow Wilson

McCary, William Moore

McGrady, S.W.G.

Morris, Owen Newton

Murdock, Charles Luther

Murdock, Melvin Elijah

Nichols, Alfred Rose

Nichols, Louis Duffie

Peleschak, Michael

Penton, Howard Lee.

Putnam, Avis Boyd

Rogers, Thomas Sprugeon

Shores, Ireland (or Irland?), Jr.

South, Charles Braxton

Wilson, Comer A.

Woolf, Norman Bragg

Others from Alabama known to have been killed in the attack include:

John Arnold Austin of Warrior, who gave his own life aboard U.S.S. Oklahoma to save the lives of 15 of his shipmates. He was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross.

Julius Ellsberry of Birmingham, one of 62 black servicemen who gave their lives at Pearl Harbor. He died aboard the U.S.S. Oklahoma.

If you would like to review the complete casualty lists for Pearl Harbor, the National Park Service maintains an excellent listing at http://www.nps.gov/valr/historyculture/people.htm.

You can learn more about Pearl Harbor, which is now part of the World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument at http://www.nps.gov/valr/index.htm.

An excellent place in Alabama to learn more about World War II is the Battleship U.S.S. Alabama at Mobile Bay. To learn more, please visit: http://www.exploresouthernhistory.com/battleshipalabama.html.

Rise of Imperial Japan: COMICS! Leading to Pearl Harbor

These comic strips summarise the rise of modern Japan after the Meiji Restoration. Events till the Pearl harbor are covered.

PSYCHOLOGY OF JAPANESE MILITARISM

The rise of Japanese militarism in the 1930s was due to many factors. Firstly, the emergence of Shintoism in the late Tokugawa era provided Japanese militarism with the ideological foundation. Japanese people were the offspring of Sun Goddess. Hence they were racially superior to other nations.
Source

PSYCHOLOGY OF JAPANESE MILITARISM

The rise of Japanese militarism in the 1930s was due to many factors. Firstly, the emergence of Shintoism in the late Tokugawa era provided Japanese militarism with the ideological foundation. Japanese people were the offspring of Sun Goddess. Hence they were racially superior to other nations.
Source

COMPETING WITH CHINA IDEOLOGICALLY

The rise of Japanese militarism in the 1930s was due to many factors. Firstly, the emergence of Shintoism in the late Tokugawa era provided Japanese militarism with the ideological foundation. Japanese people were the offspring of Sun Goddess. Hence they were racially superior to other nations. The motives for racial superiority lie with the Japanese belief in the mythological origins of their land and people. In spite of China’s traditional cultural dominance of Asia, Japan has a long and proud tradition of unique cultural achievements in arts, philosophy and religion. However, China’s influence in Asia has historically forced Japan to search for an independent identity and place within that shadow.

Along with Japan’s emergence as the premier power in Asia, there was a corresponding realization that China had all but collapsed politically. Further, events of the recent past seemed to suggest that the West was also beginning to wane. The fragmentation of politics, the destruction of the First World War, the rise of material culture, individualism, and the dehumanizing effects of industrialization, all appeared to herald the eminent collapse of Western culture. More concerning to the Japanese was the consciousness that the corrupting influence of the West was so pervasive and globally penetrating, that a collapse threatened to pull the entire world into the void along with it. In light of this, Japan felt the need as the new, young and vibrant cultural center to extend its influence from being the premier Asian power, to become the premier world power as well. The desire for more global influence did not imply merely a political control of territory, but a power over ideology, ethics, and culture as well.

INHUMAN JAPANESE AT NANKING

In December 1937, the Japanese army swept into the ancient city of Nanking. Within weeks, more than 300,000 Chinese civilians were systematically raped, tortured, and murdered--a death toll exceeding that of the atomic blasts of Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined. Using extensive interviews with survivors and newly discovered documents, Iris Chang has written what will surely be the definitive history of this horrifying episode. The Rape of Nanking tells the story from three perspectives: of the Japanese soldiers who performed it, of the Chinese civilians who endured it, and of a group of Europeans and Americans who refused to abandon the city and were able to create a safety zone that saved almost 300,000 Chinese. Among these was the Nazi John Rabe, an unlikely hero whom Chang calls the "Oskar Schindler of China" and who worked tirelessly to protect the innocent and publicize the horror. More than just narrating the details of an orgy of violence, The Rape of Nanking analyzes the militaristic culture that fostered in the Japanese soldiers a total disregard for human life. Finally, it tells the appalling story: about how the advent of the Cold War led to a concerted effort on the part of the West and even the Chinese to stifle open discussion of this atrocity. Indeed, Chang characterizes this conspiracy of silence, that persists to this day, as "a second rape."

Source

REASONS FOR RISE OF JAPANESE MILITARISM

Japanese militarism and imperialism steadily developed for five principal reasons. Although all five reasons existed from early in the Meiji period to the start of war in China in 1937, the relative importance of these reasons differed depending on the time period. The first two reasons, Japan's desire to be a Western-style imperialist power and Japan's concerns for its security and safety, played important roles in the growth of militarism up to the end of the Russo-Japanese War in 1905. The next two reasons, Japan's belief in its leadership role for Asia and Japan's frequent provocations by Western powers, gave rise to an expansion of militarism and imperialism from 1905 to the 1930s. The final reason, Japan's desire to secure its economic interests, rose in importance as Japan entered the decade of the 1930s.
Source

SHINTOISM AND JAPANESE MILITARISM

Shintoism provided a religious justification for nationalism and support for the militaristic government. Shintoism before the 1930's was primarily a nativistic religion which stressed nature and harmony. But during the 1930's it became a ideological weapon teaching Japanese that they were a superior country that had a right to expand and that its government was divinely lead by a descendant of the sun god.

PEOPLE DISENCHANTED WITH DEMOCRACY

The London Treaty and Japan's rejection by large European powers at the Versailles
conference angered many in the military who felt that Japan was being denied its place at the table with the great powers. This lead to a disenfranchisement with the parliamentary government who the military felt had capitulated to the western powers in treaties and by stopping its colonial expansion during the nineteen twenties.

Japanese militarism occurred not by an organized plan but rather through passive acceptance by the Japanese public. A compliant Japanese public coupled with a independent army were two factors that pushed Japan toward militarism in the 1930's.

Childhood in Kanazawa: an interview with Yasuko Kurachi Dower, born in 1930s Japan

I was born in 1936. I was immediately aware of how rigid school was. It was military, even for first-graders. I remember my first day at school so clearly. All the students had to assemble in the assembly hall. The principal gave a speech about the emperor and the need to support him.

There was a tiny door on the stage, behind the principal. He opened this door of beautiful burnished wood. There was another door behind it. He didn't open that one. Behind that second door was supposed to be the emperor's picture. We never got to see it. It was too holy, too divine, to be looked at.

I got into trouble on that first day in school. We were told to look down the minute the principal touched the first door. We were not to raise our head to look at what was there. But I was too curious. I looked up. The teachers were all standing along the wall and picked out every student who looked up. We had to stand in the back of the assembly hall. Then we had to go on to the stage, say our name, and apologise. I have never forgotten that.

I really hated this military discipline. I could not understand why you couldn't look up. It was an ordinary neighbourhood school, but all the regulations were very strict. I strongly resented these rules.

Source: Guardian

Circumstances favourable to the rise of militarism - by the late 1920s., a number of developments accelerated the rise of militarism in Japan. In the first place, China by 1928 was on the verge of being unified by Chiang Kai-shek. A unified and strong China could threaten Japan’s position in Manchuria where the Kwangtung Army was stationed. Apparently, the Nanking government was trying to bring Manchuria back into China’s control. The Manchurian warlord, Chang Hsueh-liang defied Japan by associating himself with the Nanking government. In the eye of the militarists, Japan had to act fast in order to safeguard her vested interests. Consequently, in September 1931, the Kwangtung Army took independent action and seized control of Manchuria.

Another significant factor was the effects of the Great Depression on Japan’s economy. This world-wide depression led to a collapse of international trade because each country raised protective tariffs to protect her own interests. This development was fatal to Japan’s economy which depended heavily on export trade. Thus, between 1929 and 1931, Japan’s exports dropped 50%, unemployment reached 3 million, and peasants’ real income dropped one-third as a result of falling prices for silk. Then, there was a failure of rice crop in 1932. Such rural distresses intensified the discontents of the army officers, many of whom had connections with the rural population. They blamed the party governments in power and believed that parliamentary policies were ruining Japan. Consequently, there was a popular support for military adventures. Many Japanese believed that overseas expansion was an effective solution to economic problems. In short, the economic crisis made the nation desperate for military expansion. Thus took place the Manchurian Incident in 1931.

Source

RELATED--

• Attack on PEARL HARBOR: COMICS: Part 1
• Attack on Pearl Harbor: COMICS: Part 2
• Attack on Pearl Harbor:IN COMICS! Part 3

Attack on PEARL HARBOR: COMICS: Part 1

I have always felt that learning anything with comics is the best way to do it. The strips only give the essentials and the drawings help us remember them better.

Here is the first part of the comic book on the attack on Pearl Harbor. The comic is an American one, so a certain amount of jingoism is apparent. But it is not too biased. Enjoy this history lesson!











RELATED--

• Rise of Imperial Japan: COMICS! Leading to Pearl H...
• Attack on Pearl Harbor: COMICS: Part 2
• Attack on Pearl Harbor:IN COMICS! Part 3

Attack on Pearl Harbor: COMICS: Part 2

Here is the second part of the comic book on the attack on Pearl Harbor. The comic is an American one, so a certain amount of jingoism is apparent. But it is not too biased. Enjoy this history lesson!










RELATED--

• Rise of Imperial Japan: COMICS! Leading to Pearl H...
• Attack on PEARL HARBOR: COMICS: Part 1
• Attack on Pearl Harbor:IN COMICS! Part 3

Attack on Pearl Harbor:IN COMICS! Part 3

I have always felt that learning anything with comics is the best way to do it. The strips only give the essentials and the drawings help us remember them better.

Here is the third part of the attack on Pearl Harbor.


















RELATED ARTICLES

• Rise of Imperial Japan: COMICS! Leading to Pearl H...
• Attack on PEARL HARBOR: COMICS: Part 1
• Attack on Pearl Harbor: COMICS: Part 2

The attack on PEARL HARBOR, December 7, 1941

A surprise Japanese attack on the U.S. Navy's base at Pearl Harbor and on Oahu in the Hawaiian Islands on December 7, 1941. It destroyed much of the American Pacific Fleet and brought the United States into World War II. The attack followed the decision of the Japanese government that Franklin D. Roosevelt's administration would not abandon China and Southeast Asia to the Japanese military nor continue to supply Tokyo with vital materials. Early Sunday morning, December 7, Japanese aircraft launched an assault that destroyed or disabled nineteen ships and 292 planes. American deaths totaled 2, 335 and 1, 178 were wounded. Ultimately, though the attack was a tactical success, the Japanese failed to destroy American repair yards, fuel reserves, and submarines.

PEARL HARBOR: BEST VIDEO