'Economic considerations were the primary driver for the outbreak of war in Asia-Pacific.' How far do you agree with this statement? Explain your answer.
Agree. Economic considerations were central to Japan's expansion and the eventual outbreak of war in the Asia-Pacific. The Great Depression in 1929 hit Japan hard, reducing demand for its silk exports and creating domestic hardship. For example, Japan's exports, especially silk, dropped sharply, causing the economy to shrink by 20% between 1929 and 1931. Farmers were also hit hard, with their incomes falling by 43% during the same period. To solve these problems, Japan sought territorial expansion as a way to secure markets, resources, and land. Concerned with Japanese moves, from 1938 onwards the U.S. began to adopt a series of restrictive trade restrictions with Japan. In 1939, the US terminated its commercial treaty with Japan and in 1941, imposed an economic embargo on oil. Crucially, Japan's decision to attack Pearl Harbour was driven by these escalating tensions and in particular the US oil embargo as 80% of its oil was imported from the United States. Japan faced economic strangulation if it could not secure new supplies in Southeast Asia. This pushed Japan into what it believed was a necessary pre-emptive strike to remove the US as a threat to Japanese interests, showing that economic considerations were indeed a primary driver of war.
Disagree. Japan's expansionist ambitions and pursuit of empire were a major driver of war in the Asia-Pacific region. Led by a militarist government, Japan's ambitions could be seen as early as the staged Mukden incident which led to the invasion of Manchuria. Japan wanted Manchuria for its resources and land to address its overpopulation and lack of resources back home. At the same time, Japan also wanted to rival the Western powers and become the dominant power in East Asia. In July 1937, Japan staged the Marco Polo Bridge Incident which led to a full-scale invasion of China, showing that Japan's aims had moved beyond limited gains in Manchuria to setting its sights on China. These moves were part of a wider vision to create an "East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere" in which Japan wanted to build an empire with it at the helm. In 1940, Japan had stationed itself in French Indochina and by July 1941, Japan had extended its control across southern Indochina. This prompted the United States to freeze Japanese assets and impose a full oil embargo, escalating US-Japan tensions. Japan's territorial ambitions and increasingly aggressive actions suggested that empire lay at the heart of Japan's drive to war.
While economic considerations such as the problems from the Great Depression, the need for raw materials and US sanctions and oil embargo provided the impetus for Japan's expansion, Japan's political and territorial ambitions was the more compelling factor that drove the road to war. Since the early 1930s, Japan had pursued regional dominance with incremental aggression in China and Indochina, fuelled by deep ideological belief in Japanese supremacy and desire to rival the West.
Economic reasons especially US sanctions and embargoes did provide the circumstances that pushed Japan into striking Pearl harbour but it was Japan's single-minded pursuit of empire that compelled it, leading it to believe that it had to attack the US in order to remove threats to its vision of empire.