Pearl Harbor
In the United States a huge disaster occurred. It happened on 7 December 1941.
Japan did a surprise attack on America. They bombed Pearl Harbor in Oahu at Hawaii.
It was launched on the morning on Sunday the 7th of December, 1941 (Hawaii time) by the Empire of Japan's Carrier Striking Task Force against the U.S. Pacific Fleet and other US armed forces stationed at the harbor and also on the other side of Oahu.
A lot of America’s soldiers were dead or wounded (about 2000 in total) and 188 aircrafts were destroyed.
At Japans side there were only 64 dead people, and 29 aircrafts demolished. So there has been a lot of difference in the losses
President Franklin Roosevelt called December the 7th: “A date which will live in infamy†and declared war on Japan. Like Hitler blamed the German Jews for the failure in WW II, America blamed Japanese Americans for the loss.
But why did the Japanese attack this fleet? Why did they attack that certain Island and not any others?
I will discuss a few possibilities that I read and considered.
One year before the attacks on October 1940, Arthur H. McCollum made an eight-step memo. In this memo were eight steps where you could do eight different steps and he predicted that it would lead to an attack. Then finally Pearl Harbor was bombed, all eight steps were taken.
There were also attacks on a small Island not far from Hawaii. These bombing started at the 7th of December at noon and stopped at 23rd of December. The Americans were finally forced to surrender. After these attacks Japan finally took the Island. Japan had control of the Island although they incurred heavy losses. Three cruisers and one transport sustained heavy damage, two destroyers and one patrol boat were sunk, while 820 Japanese soldiers were killed, with another 333 wounded. In contrast, American military casualties included 120 killed, 49 wounded, with two missing in action.
The Japanese thought that the Americans would overwhelm the Island and just a matter of hours, but they were wrong. They stayed there for sixteen days and bravely fought against the attacks on them from the Americans who were trying to get the Island back.
The Japanese attack The U.S. because the U.S. blocked the trade between the resources from Japan and other countries. So the Japanese suffered from a huge economically problem. 90 % of the resources were cut off. They wanted the U.S. to stop them and bombed them and then they could negotiate about this problem.
Another problem was that the Japanese thought that America was going to bomb them first.
I am not sure if this is the case but if it has been it was a smart move from Japan because the Japanese attacked the main fleet of the Americans. So if they bombed this they would think that they wouldn’t fight back.
But Japan didn’t understand the American way of thinking. This way of thinking was: "You bomb us, you declare war, and we pulverize you."
They made the wrong decision and the U.S. declared war on them.
An other reason was that the American Navy was on Hawaii and Japan did not want the U.S. to join the war, because they had the biggest navy of that time. So they bombed it and hoped they did not join. But instead the declared war so things went wrong.
The ironic thing about this war is that Japan first wanted to make peace all over the world.
But, for Japan to be able to do this, they needed to be free, and they weren’t. They were still ‘attached’ to the western world, and their main problem was America.
America where being more and more pro-Chinese and more anti-Japanese.
The were
This was their other goal for the war. The commander of the Japanese fleet said wisely that it was not in their reach to win a war against America. The Japanese fleet should "fiercely attack and destroy the U.S. main fleet at the outset of the war, so that the morale of the U.S. Navy and her people" would "sink to the extent that it could not be recovered," he reasoned.
That’s where the surprise attack on the U.S. was born. After the bomb attacks on Pearl Harbor the same guy said this: "I fear that we have awakened a sleeping giant and filled him with a terrible resolve". Which is true, because after that the U.S. declared war on them.
At about 1940-1941 the Americans were neutral. They were only a bit scared of the Axis (Japanese, Germans, etc.). The Japanese were the most powerful navy at the time and the only country that was more powerful was America. So if they could beat that country they would be the strongest country in the world. America did not officially joined the war by then so the Japanese thought they could just start a war with America and then win it and be the most powerful navy in the world. Of course this didn’t work out as planned, but it seemed a good idea to me though.
My conclusion is that the Japanese attacked America just to be the most powerful country of the world and have more and fair trades. Because the Americans blocked 90% of their trades with other countries. The Japanese attacked them for a good reason. They just wanted to have more power and being seen on the map again. They also could negotiate about this trade boycott, but I think America wouldn’t stop it.
It was a smart move from Japan to attack Pearl harbor, which is the home station of the American Navy. They thought, if we attack and destroy this they will surrender and we will be the most powerful country in the world. I guess they thought wrong and a war broke out.
To me the Japanese did the right thing, but it turned out to be wrong.
Also the Americans already kind of predicted this would going to happen, so why didn’t they stop them?
Good question for a next essay.
The End.
Sources:
-www.wiki.answers.com
-www.essays.cc
-www.megaessays.com
-www.wowessays.com
-www.wikipedia.org
Thanks guys!
.. Thanks guys!
