Midway, the Battle That Ultimately Doomed Japan in WWII By: John King Could a loss at Midway have cost America the Pacific, and led to WWII ending in a different way? The Battle of Midway is know as the turning point of the war in the Pacific. It turned the tables and put the United States into an offensive position. Midway was one, if not the, most important battle of World War II because of the background,strategies, battle tactics, and most importantly the outcome and effects of this battle. “Yesterday, December 7th, 1941 – a date which will live in infamy – the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.” These words were spoken the day after the bombing of Pearl Harbor by the President of the United States, Franklin D. Roosevelt. The bombing of Pearl Harbor cost more than 2,000 lives and nearly destroyed 20 naval vessels. Eight of these ships happened to be battleships, but luckily no aircraft carriers were in the area. On December 8, the day after Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt gave his address to the nation. He ended this address with, “I ask that the Congress declare that since the unprovoked and dastardly attack by Japan on Sunday, December 7th, 1941, a state of war has existed between the United States and the Japanese empire,” thus beginning the United States role in WWII. Four months and eleven days after Pearl Harbor, the United States attacked the Japanese mainland with long range bombers. This ... ... middle of paper ... ...st would have been devastating to the U.S. Work Cited “1942 Battle of Midway.” Youtube. 4 April 2013. Transcript. 20th Century Battlefields. 5 February 2014. < http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRT4bRmFR40> Trueman, Chris. “Battle of Midway.” “Battle of Midway.” 2014. The History Channel website. Feb 6 2014, 9:34 http://www.history.com/topics/battle-of-midway Eidenmuller, Michael. “ Franklin Delano Roosevelt Pearl Harbor Address to the Nation ”Great Speeches for Better Speaking.” 4 June 2008. American Rhetoric. 6 February 2014 http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/fdrpearlharbor.htm "The Battle of Midway, 1942" 2001. EyeWitness to History. 6 February 2014. < www.eyewitnesstohistory.com>
Wake Forest University, Spring 2002. Web. The Web. The Web. 29 Jan. 2014. Franklin D. Roosevelt's Pearl Harbor Speech.
Rhetorical Analysis of President Roosevelt's Pearl Harbor Speech. The Pearl Harbor address to the nation is probably one of the most famous speeches made throughout history. In this essay, I will evaluate the rhetorical effectiveness of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's famous speech and show that his speech is a successful argument for the United States of America. I will focus on the speaker's credibility, all the different appeals made throughout the speech, as well as the purpose and the audience of the speech.
The Battle of Pearl Harbor was one of the most atrocious events that happened in U.S. history. On December 7, 1941, Japan made a surprise aerial attack on the United States naval base and airfields at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. More than two thousand Americans died and a thousand two hundred were wounded. Eighteen ships were badly damaged, including five battleships. The next day, President Franklin Roosevelt with the support of the Congress, declared war on Japan.
The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor was one of the most atrocious attacks to have ever happened on American soil, starting with disagreement on the Potsdam declaration. Japan’s greed for more land and industrial materials led the Japanese to make a plan to keep the United States out of the war, which consisted the use of kamikaze pilots and bombs to destroy our aircraft carriers and boats in an attempt to control the Pacific. While leaving the drowning, and dead bodies of thousands of American seamen and battleships at the bottom of the sea, seemed to be a good idea to the Japanese; America joined World War II and introduced the first nuclear weapons as reprisal for the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. Had the Japanese agreed to an unconditional surrender and end to militarism during the agreement on the Potsdam declaration, the introduction to nuclear weapons and the death count wouldn’t have been so high and devastating on both the American and Japanese sides.
“Yesterday, December 7, 1941 - a date which will live in infamy . . .” These famous lines were spoken the day after the attack on Pearl Harbor. President Franklin D. Roosevelt gave this speech to the U.S. Congress on December 8, 1941. Many criticized the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, but the decision to attack America was wisely made. The Americans were going to enter the war sooner or later, and on the allies’ side. The attack on Pearl Harbor would hurt the United States’ strongest defense and kill many Americans. This was the first terrorist attack on the United States, by another country, which came as a total shock to many people.
Roosevelt states how the attack “caused severe damage to American naval and military forces.” He continues to state persuasive evidence to declare war on Japan, such as the fact that an hour after the bombing, the Japanese Ambassador and his colleague that was accompanying him, delivered a message that said that it was “useless to continue the existing diplomatic negotiations,” but “contained no threat or hint of war or of armed attack.” He states this to show that the Japanese deceived America, giving them false hope that maybe there would be peace, but in reality they were trying to lower America’s guard down. Roosevelt’s speech was so persuasive that only three days later, after Germany and Italy declared war on America, Congress declared war on Japan, thus ushering in World War
The Significance of The Battle of Midway On June 4th, a legendary battle took place over the Pacific Sea. The battle of Midway was the turning point for America in World War 2. The air attacks on Japan and America would continue for many days. America won the battle and took out half of Japan's carriers. The battle was a great victory for America, considering the fact that Japan had much greater forces.
...whereas the U.S only lost 1, the USS Yorktown which was already heavily damaged from previous conflicts in the Coral Sea. Had the U.S lost at Midway, the Japanese would have achieved their goal, and finished what Pearl Harbor started by permanently crippling the U.S Navy. In a Preface from an excerpt by Japanese Airman Fushida Mituso (Who famously Shouted “Tora, tora, tora”) the Japanese loss at Midway did the exact opposite of crippling the Navy. “During the Next two years while Japan’s Shipyards Splashed out six new heavy carriers, America’s turned out 17” (Mituso).
It’s a beautiful sunny morning, on a tropical island that everyone would love to take a vacation at. It’s approximately 6:00 am, December 7, 1941, when a first group of 181 kamikaze planes attacked; targeting key naval bases stationed at Hawaii; a sustained crippling of U.S. naval forces for about 6 months. The death toll was 2,500. Out of the 9 battleships, 8 were heavily damaged by the assault on Pearl Harbor and out of the 8, three were unrepairable, USS Arizona, USS Oklahoma, and the USS Utah. 160 aircrafts were put out of commission, and nearly 130 were heavily damaged. This was the first incident in which there was an act of war, committed on U.S. soil, outside of the American Revolution and the Civil War. The world was at war, and the U.S. remained neutral until now. Before the attack, the U.S. was in great debate whether to enter the war or to stay out of it. The act of war forced the U.S. into the War and triggered a controversial debate in whether to retaliate against Japan with the use of nuclear arms.
“ Yesterday, December 7,1941- a date which will live in infamy- the United States was suddenly and deliberately attacked by Naval and Air Forces of the Empire of Japan.” - President Franklin D. Roosevelt. On December 7, 1941 Pearl Harbor got attacked, why did they get attacked, who led the attacks, and how did the United States respond. Japan made a bad decision attacking the U.S. because the united States is going to come back and hurt them worse then they hurt us.
That he was wanting to attack Japan, but he did not have a good reason to attack. It has been said that this attack had been brewing for years, according to Bruce Robinson writer of BBC.co.uk. The Japanese grew stronger while the United States faced the Great Depression. Some say that the attack on Pearl Harbor was operated by a group of “crypto-communist” or a group of people who favor or support communism (bbc.co.uk). Roosevelt wanted Japan to be seen as the provoker of the war (bbc.co.uk). The day after the attack, Congress approved Roosevelt’s declaration of war (bbc.co.uk).
December 7, 1941 was a date that lived in infamy; it was a date that 2,400 Americans lost their lives needlessly. Several military ships were destroyed and millions of dollars in military equipment was lost. It was a date that this great nation still to this date has not forgotten. No one could have imagined something so horrific happening on American soil that day. The United States of America at that time was a neutral party in the war at that time. This attack caused a turning tide in the war. President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s decisions that day could be said to be one of the most critical moments in presidential history. The first 24 hours from the attack that day were crucial and President Roosevelt responded with calm, deliberate, and decisive decisions that day. The United States declared war on the Empire of Japan and joined the fight in Europe against Nazi Germany and the Axis Alliance. The America people rallied with a vengeance and united to defend its self.
On December 7, 1941, in an unexpected and sudden move, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, drawing the United States into the world war that the US had insofar remained neutral. On December 8, just hours after the attack, the United States of America declared war on the Empire of Japan.
In May of 1942, Japanese Admiral Isorosku Yamamoto devised a plan to draw the US Pacific fleet into battle where he could completely destroy it. To accomplish this master plan of his, he sought out the invasion of Midway Island which would provide a base for the Japan troops to attack Hawaii. Unfortunately for Yamamoto, America decrypted Japanese radio transmissions and Admiral Chester Nimitz was able to establish a counter attack against this offensive. Nimitz sent three aircraft carriers, The USS Enterprise, The USS Hornet and The USS Yorktown to destroy the Japanese. This is just a short overview of The Battle of Midway, or as commonly referred to as, the battle that changed the war. People argue that it had no affect on the war, but those critics couldn’t be farther from the truth. The Battle of Midway was the turning point of the war because it fully enters America into the war, it kicked off the Pacific Campaign, and it had Japan on the defensive, thus preventing them from helping The Axis Forces.
Nearly everyone has heard the words, “Yesterday, December 7th, 1941—a date which will live in infamy—the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked.” These words, delivered by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, are but a small piece of an elaborate example of a well-executed rhetorical speech. He used rhetorical devices and strategies such as anaphora, repetition, and amplification, in order to achieve his purpose of informing the people of the United States of the attack on Pearl Harbor the day before, to persuade the people to support the war effort, and to remember those innocent lives lost.