Q&A · 1:03:00-1:03:09

Did American prejudice help cause the Pacific War?

The road to the Pacific War was a long development and cannot be attributed to one prejudiced negotiating attitude or treaty decision.

Interwar Navy Naval Diplomacy Pacific War Strategic Culture US-Japan Relations

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Question

Did American xenophobia and its treatment of Japan pull the trigger on the Pacific War?

Short answer

The conflict was a long time coming; prejudice may belong to the context, but the answer does not reduce the war to that single cause.

Notes

The audience proposes American xenophobia as a direct trigger for the way Japan was treated. The response is brief but cautions against a single-cause explanation: the rupture accumulated over a much longer period.