In 1941, it seemed to many in Japan that war against the United States was inevitable.
Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, commander-in-chief of the Combined Fleet, had opposed Japan’s alliance with Germany and Italy and its invasion of China.
He had also traveled and studied throughout the United States, and understood that Japan’s island empire could not hope to defeat the Americans' vast resources and industrial capacity in a prolonged war.
Despite his reservations, the pro-war political climate ultimately forced Yamamoto to devise a plan to strike the United States.
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