The Outbreak of War in the Pacific

Abstract

The war in China continued to be stalemated for the Japanese Army in 1941, and resources began to decline as American embargoes on scrap metal, aviation engines and other materials began to take effect. In July 1941, Japanese forces moved into southern Indo-China, giving them a jumping-off place for attacking southwards. Roosevelt announced the freezing of Japanese assets in the US, and this quickly became a full-scale embargo (initially on the initiative of lesser officials), including, most significantly, oil. The United States now set out its line unequivocally: nothing less than withdrawal from China would bring an end to the embargo. When Roosevelt and Churchill met in August 1941, they agreed that Germany was a greater menace than Japan, but also that Japan might be deterred by a firm stance — and doing so was a concrete contribution the US could make to British prospects, if it restrained the Japanese from attempting to seize the vital resources of Malaya and the East Indies.