Brandishing the Economic Weapon: A Study of United States Economic Warfare against Japan, 1940 - 1941
Abstract
Historians examining United States Far Eastern policy prior to Pearl Harbor have emphasized the nation's devotion to the open door in Asia and resistance to Japanese expansion. They have also stressed American and Japanese political and military decisions leading to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Most scholarly efforts have inadequately explored the Roosevelt administration program of economic warfare against Japan during 1940 and 1941 and how it influenced the direction of American-Japanese relations during those crucial years. What was the Roosevelt administration endeavoring to accomplish when it employed sanctions against Japan? Was it trying to deter Japan from attacking British, Dutch, and American territories? Was it trying to encourage Japanese leaders to negotiate? Was it trying to undermine Japan's military and economy? Or was it seeking to use symbolic gestures to mobilize Americans to support more interventionist foreign policies? The answers to these questions are linked to Roosevelt's styles of leadership and administration, rivalries among his lieutenants, conflicts among government agencies, public opinion, and interplay between diplomatic and military policies. These were the crucial forces influencing the Roosevelt administration's handling of the Japanese threat.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 26, 1985
- Accession Number
- ADA154782
Entities
People
- Randy J. Kolton