Japan 1941 : Countdown To Infamy

There were numerous strategic and political reasons that lead to the bombing of Pearl Harbour on December 7th, 1941. However nationalism, militarism and imperialistic notions were key influential factors, which together contributed to the almost complete annihilation of the US Pacific fleet. Based on Japan’s nationalistic beliefs of superiority over Asian nations, the surprise attack attempted to fulfill a change in the balance of power within South East Asia and expose the vulnerability of the West.

Infamy: Pearl Harbor and its Aftermath was written by John Toland, an American author and historian. He was a graduate of Williams College in Massachusetts and attended Yale School of Drama, with his primary goal of becoming a playwright. Some of his most famous books were written about the World War II Era. He won a Pulitzer Prize for his book The Rising Sun, focusing on the history of Japan during WWII from the Japanese point of view, rather than the American side. He also wrote Adolph Hitler: A Definitive Biography and Battle: The Story of the Bulge. Many of his books focused on the military, so he was quite qualified to write this book.

An event that shook the nation, will not bring it to its knees. Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, Hawaii and afterward, the U.S. entered the war. What reason did the Japanese have to bomb Pearl Harbor? Japan attacked Pearl Harbor because they saw the U.S. as a threat because they cut off their reasons, threatened them by moving military forces, and they stand in the way of Japan’s new order.

The United States opposed the expansion of Japan in Asia, so they cut off important exports to Japan. On December 7,1941, Japanese Submarines and Carrier based planes, attacked the U.S pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbour. The attack mark the entrance of the United States into the WWII on to Allied side, and Japan in the side of Germany and Italy. The use of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki is justified in that the war would have dragged on longer killing more civilians and military lives, and to showcase the strength of the United States in order to prevent future attacks.

Many blameless people were attacked in Pearl Harbor on 1941. The Japanese sent submarines and planes to attack the United States. This announced the beginning of World World Two. Pearl Harbor was attacked on December 1941 by the Japanese in Hawaii. Pearl Harbor was attacked during the beginning of World War Two. Japan created a conflict with America at Pearl Harbor due to Embargos, Immigration Quota, and the Expansion of American Navy. The evidence proven states the reasons why Japan bombed Pearl Harbor. The three reasons why the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor were for a new plan for a new world order, US oil embargo, and US fleet expansion.

The bombing of Pearl Before was a bombing that the country of Japan had declared on the United States and had planned prior to the event. Japanese had many reasons why they bombed the Naval Base of Pearl Harbor. Pearl Harbor was bombed by Japan following the decision of the Governor of Premier, Hideji Tojo, that the Roosevelt administration would not abandon the regions of South East Asia and China to the Japanese military or continue to supply Tokyo with oil and other valuable resources that they would need in the war. The Emperor of Japan, Emperor Hirohito, wanted to enlarge the territory and power of Japan. Japan wanted the natural resources of oil and aluminum that are found in the Netherlands East Indies, but in order to gain these resources they had to get through the United States first (Quiroz 2). In July of 1939, President Roosevelt decided to end the 1911 Japan Treaty of Commerce and Navigation with the Japanese. In reaction of President Roosevelt doing this the Japanese were getting furious with The United States of

Overall, Japan had many reasons that led to the attack and bombing of Pearl Harbor. Although the attack on Pearl Harbor may have been an overdue response to the decisions made after World War I, Japan also wanted to put their plan into place for a new world order, the United States oil embargo against them caused issues, and the expansion of the American naval fleet frightened them. Japan attacked Pearl Harbor because they wanted to gain power and leadership in the

On December 7, 1941, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. It was indeed a great shock to the United States, many documents show that the bombing on Pearl Harbor was an attempt to stop the United States from entering into World War II. This attack was the turning in point World War II, and United States making the decision to help the Allies. Japan attacked Pearl Harbor because of its narcissistic political mentality and angered by United States placing the embargo act on oil.

About 350 aircrafts came storming over Pearl Harbor dropping hundreds of bombs attempting to sink The United State’s ships. On December 7,1941 Japan made a surprise attack on the U.S. at Pearl Harbor. Nearly 2,400 people were killed during the bombing. The following day The United States declared war on Japan which brought them into World War 2. Japan attacked pearl harbor because they wanted to be imperialistic, they were upset about the embargo and laws placed on them, and Japan was concerned about the size of the United States Navy fleet.

ii. Many west coast civilians saw highly concentrated areas of Japanese Americans as enclaves (“Relocation Camps”).

Why Did Japan Attack Pearl Harbor? The morning of December 7th, 1941 was calm and quiet on the island of Pearl Harbor. A gentle breeze was blowing, and the only thing one could hear was the gentle crashing of ocean waves. The people looking up at the bright blue sky would have no idea that this day would later live in infamy.

Dropping the atomic bomb on the two Japanese cities might seem like it was the wrong thing to do but dropping the bomb is what helped us win the war. How? The dropping of the bomb convinced the Japanese to surrender to us.

December 7, 1941, Japan performed a surprise attack on America at Pearl Harbor. "According to Japanese feudal code of honor, the idea of a surprise is recommended and it raises no moral problems" (Sulzberger 146). During Japan's attack, they broke the seal of trust. "Japan's Ambassador and Diplomatic agent were in Washington pretending to have been seeking a negotiated settlement between the two countries" (Sulzberger 146). America lost over 3,000 service men from this bombing. This type of betrayal could only cause anger and determination to strike back.

Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor might not have happened if a Mongolian Cavalry had never crossed the Manchurian Border in 1939, triggering the little known battles of Khalkhin Gol. These small battles between Japan and the Soviet Union, eventually helped compel Japan to attack Pearl Harbor in December 7, 1941. But this battle is the most forgotten battle I have ever heard about. The Battles of Khalkhin Gol was not even mentioned in the history class when we learned about Pearl Harbor, even though it is related. In this paper, I will cover how the battle began, the reasons why it began, the conflicts and battles fought between Japan and Russia, the differences between Japan’s and Russia’s war tank technology, and how the battle affected the

The event that brought forth the Idea to attack japan and destroy the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was Pearl Harbor. Japan had a history of executing surprise attacks before declaring war; one main example is when japan invaded Port Arthur in the Russo- Japanese war which would prove to be very successful . Many books were written prior to 1941 predicting an invasion of the Hawaiian Islands to gain access to the United States mainland including ‘The conflict of nations’, and ‘The valor of ignorance’ . The United States saw the military base on Hawaii as a point of power in the pacific and a last defense of their home land. Japan saw Hawaii as at point of expansion and an easy way for the United States to launch an attack on them. Attacking Pearl Harbor was not the original plan for japan. Japan wanted to bring the United States to them, but Japanese commander- in –Chief Isoroku Yamomoto pushed for an attack on the United States .pearl harbor was the home to the United States naval fleet and many fuel reserves. One of the main objects of japan was to destroy aircraft carriers and sink battle ships to put the United States fleet out of action and to discourage the people of the United States to not join the World War. The Japanese army spent over a year planning the attack and training pilots. The Japanese even created special torpedoes to operate in pear harbors shallow waters .