As Minister of War, Tojo made it clear that Japan should push south in the Far East and take land owned by European nations. On October 14th, 1941, Tojo was appointed Prime Minister of Japan. By this date, he was convinced that a war with America could not be avoided and he put Japan on a full war alert. He decided that a massive knock-out blow would be sufficient to remove America from the Pacific. As a result, Tojo authorised the attack on Pearl Harbour in December 1941. Ultimately, he pushed Japan into a war they could not win.