At 6:45 a.m. on Sunday, December 7, 1941, an American destroyer Ward, in the U.S. Naval base at Pearl Harbor, opened fire to a small Japanese submarine that secretly passed Pearl Harbor's antisubmarine gate, which was opened for the minesweeper Crossbill to enter the base. (Wels 111) This was the first shot of the Pearl Harbor attack. The attack was an unexpected attack from Japan to the United States, which caused a heavy loss. About twenty-one vessels damaged, 323 planes shattered, and more than three thousand Americans wounded or dead. (Wels 133-135) The disastrous attack was a response from Japan to some U.S. policies. During World War II, Japan's endless expansion forced the U.S. government to make policies, which were the support to the Allies and Chinese government, and the suppression of Japan's access to resources. Those policies influenced Japan to attack Pearl Harbor. Before the Pearl Harbor attack and the join of the United States, the countries that were participating in the World War II were mostly divided into two groups. One was the Axis, which was led by the Nazis, and was constituted by Germany, Italy, Japan and other Nazis countries. The main goal of the Axis was to expand. The other group was the Allies, which was constituted by countries that were opposite to the Axis, and was led by countries such as Britain, the Soviets, and the Free French, which was the opposing-Nazi French government led by General de Gaulle after the Nazis conquered Paris and the original French government fell. (The History Channel website) During 1935 and 1939, the United States Congress passed the Neutrality Act, including an arm embargo, to declare that they would not involve in foreign conflict. (Miller Center) However, as a nat... ... middle of paper ... ...., n.d. Web. 16 Feb. 2014. “Britain recognizes General Charles de Gaulle as the leader of the Free French.” 2014. The History Channel website. Feb 16 2014, 12:32 "Miller Center." American President: Franklin Delano Roosevelt: Foreign Affairs. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Feb. 2014. Pitt, Barrie, ed. "Pearl Harbor Was It Really a Surprise? 30 Years Later — a New View." History of the Second World War 27 Sept. 1973: 673-700. Print. "The Decline in US-Japanese Relations | Arsenals Of Democracy." Arsenals Of Democracy. N.p., 11 Feb. 2012. Web. 16 Feb. 2014 "United States Passes Export Control Act." History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 13 Feb. 2014. Waller, George M. Pearl Harbor: Roosevelt and the Coming of the War. 3rd ed. Lexington, Massachusetts: D.C. Heath and, 1976. Print. Wels, Susan. Pearl Harbor: America's Darkest Day. Hong Kong: Tehabi, 2000. Print.
To begin, the attack on Pearl Harbour was devastating to U.S. naval capabilities in the Pacific at the onset of their entry into the war. Japanese officials had grown tired of the U.S. oil embargo, which was meant to limit their territorial expansion and aggression in South-East Asia as well as China, and as negotiations weren’t reaching any conclusions they decided that the only course of action was a first strike on the aircraft carriers at Pearl Harbour to cripple U.S. naval capability in the Pacific (Rosenberg 1). The attack, which lasted about two hours, had resulted in the sinking of four battleships, among ...
Previous to the surprise Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour on December 7th 1941, tensions had been forming between the USA and Japan in the pacific. The US had cut of most supplies to Japan with the fear of Japanese expansion. The conflict that had been escalating between Japan and China since 1937 had the US treating Japan with great cautiousness. They had been monitoring Japanese Americans in anticipation of a surprise attack. However the attack on Pearl Harbour still shocked and outraged the American nation and affected the American psyche. After being assured that “a Japanese attack on Hawaii is regarded as the most unlikely thing in the world”(1), the sudden mass destruction of the U.S Navy’s Pacific fleet and deaths of roughly 2400 U.S soldiers and civilians as a result of such an attack undoubtedly lead to confusion and racial hatred amongst many US citizens. The assumption on the War Department’s behalf that Japan’s Navy were incapable of launching a full scale assault on the US Navy’s chief Pacific base was more than inaccurate. As a result, the US Naval base was unprepared and was quickly taken out. A hidden bias would soon become evident in both average civilians and higher positioned government officials. This bias against Japan aided in the formation of the Executive Order 9066, signed by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) on February 19th 1942.
This paper will compare Gordon W. Prange's book "At Dawn We Slept - The Untold Story of Pearl Harbor" with the film "Tora! Tora! Tora!" directed by Richard Fleischer, Kinji Fukasaku, and Toshio Masuda. While the film provides little background to the attack, its focal point is on the Pearl Harbor assault and the inquiry of why it was not prevented, or at least foreseen in adequate time to decrease damage. Prange's book examines the assault on Pearl Harbor from both the Japanese and American viewpoints to gain a global view of the situation and the vast provision undertaken by Japanese intelligence. The film and book present the Japanese side, the American side, the events that lead up to the attack, and the aftermath.
“Now It’s the Japanese Who Will ‘Remember Pearl Harbor’.” Daily Boston Globe 7 June 1942: D1 ProQuest. Web. 13 March 2014.
General Hideki Tojo was the Premiere of Japan. He and other Japanese leaders did not like the fact that Americans were sending war supplies to China and other countries in Asia. A surprise attack was ordered by Japan on December 7, 1941. The target was the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. 360 planes bombed the naval base killing about 3,000 people and destroying many warships, aircraft carriers, and submarines. This was a catalyst that brought the United States into World War II.
Prange, Gordon W., Donald M. Goldstein, and Katherine V. Dillon. At Dawn We Slept: The Untold Story of Pearl Harbor. New York: Penguin Books, 1981. Print.
Zimm, Alan D. Attack on Pearl Harbor: Strategy, Combat, Myths, Deceptions / Alan D. Zimm ; Graphics by Matt Baughman. Philadelphia, [Pa.: Casemate, 2011. Print.
25.Griffin, David Ray The New Pearl Harbor Revisited: 9/11, the Cover-Up, and the Exposé 2008, Olive Branch Press
David Reynolds has written and enlightening book named “From Munich to Pearl Harbor” discussing three main objectives dealing with World War II. The first of the three objectives is to provide a detailed and clear narrative story from the years between Munich to Pearl Harbor. The second of the three purposes or objectives of the book is to analyze and show how President Franklin Delano Roosevelt led the American people into a new perspective on international relations that were different from anything Americans had known. The last of the three objectives of the book is to show the developments between the years of 1938 through 1941. Many of these developments were very important later for the foreign policy of the United States not only during the Second World War but also during the Cold War complications with Russia and today with President Bush’s war on terror currently taking place in Iraq.
Another surprise Attack on Pearl Harbor by Roger Parkinson. Roger Parkinson graduated in war studies and later obtained his masters degree in Strategic Studies at King’s College, London. After a period of newspaper reporting he became Defense Correspondent of “The Scotsman” in 1964. He wrote books on war such as “the Origin of World War I. The Origins of World War II. Clausewitz and Peace in Our Time.(dust jacket) he was educated and that influenced his perspective on Pearl Har...
Marston, Daniel. The Pacific War Companion From Pearl Harbor to Hiroshima. Oxford: Osprey, 2007. .
In this document text the author informs the reader on the devastating bombing attack that happened on the U.S. naval base of Hawaii, 1941. During this time, it was the pearl harbor attack when the Japanese stuck over and bombed the American warships at Pearl Harbor December 7, 1941. This is when the United States enter war between the American and Japan which lead to a controversy between the two nations that lasted for a decade. The author message was to inform the reader on this confrontation led to war between the two nations allowing us to see and read written letters from a few wounded soldiers of the bombing attack that had occurred in Hawaii leaving some soldiers afraid and in shock of the horrific devastation. The message shows details
The attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 had many events leading up to this event. The Japanese believed that they were being pushed into a corner economically by the U.S and President Roosevelt. The U.S. placed an embargo on Japan prohibiting exports of steel, scrap iron, and aviation fuel to Japan, due to Japan's takeover of northern French Indochina. Japan thus saw the U.S as a threat to their conquest of the Pacific and Yamamoto began to communicate with other Japanese officers about a possible attack on Pearl Harbor. Between January and March 1940 Yamamoto devised his plan to destroy the U.S. Navy in Hawaii and the American people.
The decision that should Japan have had attacked Pearl Harbour has divided many historians and it is still debated today. Pearl Harbour was a strategic point, located on the Hawaiian island of Oahu. Its strategic point would have indefinitely helped the Empire of Japan in succeeding world domination. As well as this Pearl harbour was a suitable location for an offence, to seize the US from interfering with Japans expanding Empire. The attack was also a ‘revenge tactic’ to stop the US from growing, and becoming a more feared nation. Despite these arguments, Pearl harbour was a difficult and daring location for an offensive, and therefore it was not a reasonable decision
The author of this essay is Franklin Delano Roosevelt. He was the president of the United States at the time of the Pearl Harbor attack. The purpose of this speech was to inform the entire United States about what had happened the day before at Pearl Harbor. The nation was to be warned that the United States was going to declare war against Japan. The intended audience is everyone in the United States. President Roosevelt ef...