March 15, 2013

[2Andrea]

Today, we discussed Pearl Harbor in class, and conspiracies.

Pearl Harbor:

• December 7, 1941
•  July, 1941, Japan invaded French Indochina
  •  In response, the US stops trading with Japan
   Due to embargo, Japan felt it had three options:
• 1.     abandon ambitions in South East Asia
  1. 2.     compromise with the US
  2. 3.     attack Dutch and British possessions in the Pacific and US bases in the Pacific
   Yamamoto felt that if Japan had any chance of winning a war against the US it must destroy the US Pacific fleet in a surprise attack

   A surprise attack would give Japan at least six months to dominate SE Asia unopposed

   Japan thought that the US then would face a long, bloody struggle and would settle for a negotiated peace that would allow Japan to do as it pleased in Asia

   Tojo replaces Konoye as Premier of Japan.  Konoye wanted to negotiate with the US. Tojo didn’t and had a low regard of the US

   Tojo wanted war but Emperor Hirohito wanted on last peace attempt.

  Japan offered this:

  1. Open door policy everywhere and Japan would withdraw from  

   French Indochina

  2. US would stop Lend-Lease Aid to China and start trading with Japan again

  3. Japan would start peace talks with China

   US refused plan on November 29^th

   US took a hard line stance with Japan now because we had deciphered their diplomatic code(Magic) and knew that they had some type of attack plan. 

   Magic Information

            “November 29^th is the deadline”

            “things are automatically going to happen”

   

   Japan felt that the key to success in the Pacific was air and sea power

  -especially launching airplanes from aircraft carriers and submarines attacking enemy ships

   Japan had ten aircraft carriers to our three in the Pacific(based in Pearl Harbor)

• Japanese Pearl Harbor Attack Plan

  1. 1.     destroy three aircraft carriers, eight battleships, seven cruisers and other small ships
  2. 2.     attack Wake Island and Guam
  3. 3.     attack Malay and Hong Kong
  4. 4.     attack Philippines, Dutch East Indies and Burma

   

  Japanese attack force consisted of:

  1. 1.     Six aircraft carriers
  2. 2.     360 airplanes

  -Kate High level bombers

  -dive and torpedo bombers

  -Zero fighters= fight other enemy airplanes and protect the bombers two battleships, three cruisers, eight destroyers

•  Admiral Nagumo commanded the force

• To succeed, Japan had to travel 3,500 miles without being detected.  That meant absolute radio silence and traveling through a vast, lonely expanse of the Pacific Ocean.  This attack had to be a complete surprise.

 “Backdoor to War” Conspiracy

• There was a conspiracy that said that we knew that the attack on Pearl Harbor was going to happen
  
  • FDR was for the was so he just let it happen