Japan, being an island nation, had very few natural resources. Instead of trying to trade with other countries, they wanted to conquer Asia. Beginning in 1941, Japan started to invade and get the resources that they desperately needed. The country of Japan believed that to take command of Asia, they had to destroy each and every one of the American Powers in the Pacific. Some of the places they needed to conquer included Pearl Harbor, bases in the Philippines, and Luzon. Pearl Harbor had a Navy that was capable of hurting the Navy of Japan. The bases in the Philippines could disrupt communication, and Luzon could disrupt oil trade with Japan. However, the most famous thing that the Japanese did in World War II was to attack Pearl Harbor.
The day before the attack, FDR tried to make contact with Japan’s emperor, however he never replied. He probably didn’t reply because he knew about the surprise attack that was going to happen. A Japanese message had been located and intercepted. The message talked about the attack, but the U.S. government did not have time to alert the people at Pearl Harbor. During the early morning hours on the 7th of December in 1941, the Japanese had arrived. At 6 o’clock a group of 183 planes headed for Pearl Harbor. The officials were alerted of planes in the area, but they only thought they were American planes that were scheduled to come to the base.
At 7:53 the Japanese started the attack. The men that were based at Pearl Harbor had no idea that this was going to happen. The first group of planes bombed battleships and airfields, however the next group went after shipyard facilities and other ships docked at the base. 2,335 men serving in the Navy were killed along with 68 people that lived around the base. Another 1,178 people were hurt. The attack sunk several battleships and planes. The following day, Great Britain and the U.S. declared war on Japan. FDR said that the bombing of Pearl Harbor, “will live in infamy.”
After doing this blog I learned a lot. I did not know that the United States had a note that said that the Japanese were planning an attack. I wonder what would have happened if we had enough time to alert the people at Pearl Harbor. I think that Japan should have just tried to gain allies to get the resources they needed, instead of just invading countries. I didn’t know that only one day after the attack that we declared war on Japan and subsequently the rest of the Axis Powers.
Sources_
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attack_on_Pearl_Harbor
http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/timeline/pearl.htm
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