Question

What were the series of events that led to the attack on Pearl Harbor?

Answer 1

This is what caused the bombination of Pearl Harbour:

Imperial Japan was bent on expansion and we knew it. They needed resources to fuel their war machine and unfortunately the Japanese Islands don't provide enough so the they had to look elsewhere. One of the places they had their eye on was the Philippine Islands which at the time was an American colony.

Japan saw America as their biggest obstacle in their plans to dominate Southeast Asia. When the U.S. Navy transferred the Pacific Fleet from San Diego to Pearl Harbor to better counter the threat of Japanese expansionism the Japanese figured war was was inevitable they devised a quick plan to counter America's threat to their plans.

By destroying the American carrier fleet based at Pearl Harbor they figured they'd have roughly a year before American can rebuild. That would give the Japanese plenty of time to set up a good solid defensive perimeter, hopefully solid enough that we'd try and negotiate a peaceful settlement.

Problem was the American carrier fleet wasn't at Pearl Harbor and less than 6 months later the American carrier fleet decimated the Japanese carrier fleet at Midway Island. Japan won the battle at Pearl Harbor but inevitably lost the war.

Answer 2

These are the events leading to Pearl Harbor: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Events_leading_to_the_attack_on_Pearl_Harbor