Pearl Harbor (The „unexpected” attack)

In my thesis I will examine the chain of events which led to the attack ofPearl Harbor. It was a surprise attack, although it was evident that Japan would take the offensive in the Pacific sooner or later. The differences of opinion began at the beginning of the 20th century but the main problems came to the front when the United States imposed trade sanctions against Japan to stop her military expansion. There were many signs which implied that these sanctions would lead to an attack against the United States. I will demonstrate that the U.S. government took into consideration the possibility of a Japanese offensive, so the attack ofPearl Harbor was not completely unexpected.