Answer:
America and Japan were not at war with each other
Explanation:
The attack on Pearl Harbor considered a surprise because United States and Japan were not at war with each other. U.S was a neutral country at the time and an attack on Pearl Harbor was ruled out because it was believed the Japanese lacked the capacity to mount such an operation; United States at that time was likewise hoping to avoid being pulled into World War II at any cost. The attack was carried out because of the transfered of US Pacific Fleet from California to Pearl Harbor in 1939 which was considered a threat because of the Japanese interest in the resources of Southeast Asia.
Answer:
America and Japan were not at war with each other
Explanation:
The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor came as a surprise because America was expecting an attack from Japan but not on Pearl Harbor since America had put an embargo on supplies on oil, steel and scrap iron. As a result of the embargo, Japan became desperate and moved into territories occupied or controlled by America and Western powers such as the Indochina, India, Singapore, The Dutch East Indies and the American controlled Philippines. This was a risky move made by Japan but they had to take a chance due to the embargo America put on them.
America was into negotiations with Japan to end Japanese expansion, however the negotiations were not yielding positive results as expected by America so the negotiations were suspended and America suspected an eminent from Japan but did not expect it to be on Pearl Harbor.
