Pearl Harbor Dbq Essay

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The Second World War began in 1939 and ended in 1945, Britain and France declared war on Germany on the 3rd of September 1939 two days after Germany had invaded Poland of the 1st of September, the two main fighter groups in World War 2 were the Axis nations consisting of Nazi Germany under the rule of Hitler, Fascist Italy led by Mussolini as well as Imperial Japan with their smaller Allies, the other group was the Allied nations, led by Britain and its Commonwealth nations, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the United States of America as stated in Source D.The United States was not a member of the Allied nations, prior to 1941 the U.S was neutral but the attacks on Pearl Harbour by the Japanese on the 7th of December 1941 forced …show more content…

Source B further states that later that year the U.S embargoed scrap iron and aviation fuel, this led to Japan Signing the Tripartite Pact with Germany and Italy in September making them a member of the Axis alliance.The attacks on Pearl Harbour were used as a way to neutralise the U.S pacific fleet long enough to invade targets such as the Philippines, Burma and Malaya also other countries they had named “the Southern Resource Area” (Source C), this would allow Japan to secure the resources that she desperately needed to prevent factory shut downs and its navy being dry docked (Source C), with this attack Japan hoped to U.S President Roosevelt sue for peace due to low morale, Source C also points out that Japan had hoped to negotiate an armistice in a position of power after capturing the Pacific region even though war had not been declared prior to the attacks.The Japanese had been planning this attack for months, the Japanese fleet had left Japan waters o the 26th of November 1941 taking a less direct and longer way to Pearl Harbour perhaps to avoid getting detected, the final orders were received on the first of December by Fleet Commander, Vice Admiral Nagumo, 6 days later the battle group was in position miles north of Hawaii, by 6 am the first elements of the air attack were ready for what was next (Source L), further proof that the attacks were planned is in Source L as Commander Mitsuo Fuchida says he told the radioman to send the command to attack as he began tapping …show more content…

Not one was to be seen”, Source C sates that they were on assignments at sea one which was to find a Japanese Fleet, which had sailed days later.Pearl Harbour proved a short term success allowing Japan to invade South East Asia without the involvement of America this allowed the Japanese to get the resources they desperately needed so that they could continue fighting the war but although it was good for the short run, it was bad for the long run.The attack on Pearl Harbour meant that the United States could now enter the war in Europe since Germany and Italy, both allies of Japan, had declared war on The United States, this gave the U.S the opportunity to help Britain and France in the European War and as this war and the Pacific war progressed Japan was occupied by a foreign country for the first time

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