Reasons for Japanese
to Attack Southeast Asia
Imagine a modern war power without oil, iron, rubber, tin, etc. There would
be no fuel for the war machines, nothing to create war accessories from.
Ambitious countries seeking for dominance would soon have to give up their
power without such necessary resources.
This was exactly what happened to Japan, and caused them to take further
actions towards conquering Southeast Asia. The United States, Great Britain,
and the Netherlands, which had thought they could handicap Japan by placing
a trade embargo on those vital essentials, had actually placed themselves
in check. Cornered, yet still voracious for dominance, Japan had but one
option left. Their last resort, of course, was to focus their force on conquering
Southeast Asia, where those wanted supplies were bountiful. After terrorizing
China and Indo China for nearly a decade, Japan had already been wantonly
using their resources, but yet was still after more.
During this period in time, the European rulers of Southeast Asia were forced
to divert their attentions to their more imminent European affairs. War
had broken out in Europe, complications occurred, causing their affairs
in the old country to become almost dangerous. Naturally, they had to focus
on fixing those complications, rather than the rather stable conditions
of their Southeastern Asian spheres of influence. Thus, the defending forces
of Southeast Asia became very weak and, consequently, offered near null
resistance to Japan's hunger for raw materials.
Only five short years into the 20th century, Japan had already made their
presence known in two major wars: the Sino-Japanese and the Russo-Japanese
War. Its defeat of China and Russia caused a shockwave through the region.
By World War I, Japan had control of the Korea, Taiwan, Manchuria, and southern
Sakhalin; and had an alliance with Great Britain that made it an equal power
of the European nation.
