Helloo,
We've been given a research task on conflict in the pacific and are required to answer this essay question:
To what extent did Japanese foreign policy during 1937-41 make war in the Pacific inevitable?
I don't really have a clear idea of what I should be talking about in the essay but I have made a few points which I think are relevant:
Hey! Full disclosure - I didn't study Conflict in the Pacific. However, looking at your structure it appears a bit... unbalanced? Like your first paragraph looks huge (which is a good thing as it is focusing on the stem), but after that your paragraphs are getting smaller and smaller, I mean do you think you'll be able to write a full, detailed paragraph on just the British closing and reopening the Burma road (maybe you can, but from an outsiders perspective, my gut instinct is that would be a challenge)?
I'm having a look at the syllabus, and it appears that Japanese foreign policy falls within the first section:
1 Growth of Pacific tensions– economic and political issues in the Pacific by 1937
– Japanese foreign policy 1937–1941
– US and British policies in the Pacific 1937–1941
– strategic and political reasons for bombing Pearl Harbour
With that in mind, my gut instinct tells me that your structure should look something like this (with Japanese Foreign Policy still your first paragraph). So you say something like "Japanese foreign policy was highly critical to the development of conflict in the pacific, however other factors must also be considered when assessing wars inevitability", then have a paragraph on foreign policy, paragraph on economic and political issues, paragraph on US/British policies, and strategic and political reasons for bombing Pearl Harbour. You could also have a judgement like this if it is applicable, which is even better: "Japanese foreign policy was highly critical to the development of conflict in the pacific, as it was an underlying factor with made war inevitable." With this judgement you'd follow the same structure, but assert foreign policies underlying influence over the other factors throughout!
As I said earlier, I didn't study this unit, so in the end it is up to you to make the decision that you think is best for you - here are just some of my thoughts!
Hope this helps,
Susie