The bombing of Pearl Harbor did not happen for any reason. There are reasons why the Japanese felt the attack was necessary.
Over a year before the bombing, the U.S. prohibited exports of steel, scrap iron, and aviation fuel to Japan because of Japan’s takeover
of northern French Indochina. In June and July of 1941 when Japan
occupied Southern Indochina, the U.S., Britain, and the Netherlands
froze Japanese assets preventing them from buying oil. This would
eventually cripple its army and make the air force and navy
completely useless. Towards the end of 1941, Japan seized the
opportunity to attempt to take the oil resources of Southeast Asia.
The U.S. wanted to stop Japanese expansion but the American people
were not willing to go to war to stop it. They demanded Japan to
withdraw from China and Indochina. They would have settled for a
token withdraw and with this promised to not take over more
territory.
Japan tried to get the oil embargo lifted on the terms they could still take the territory they want and to prepare for war. November 29 was
the last day Japan would accept a settlement without war. They
expected the U.S. to declare war, but didn’t think they would fight
hard enough to win. The Japanese had huge concern that the U.S.
Pacific Fleet, based in Pearl Harbor could foil their plans and the
Japanese navy planned a surprise air attack.
The day before the attack on Pearl Harbor, FDR tried to contact the Emperor of Japan to make peace, there was no response.
On December 7th, 1941, the first wave of Japanese airplanes left 6 aircraft carriers
and struck Pearl Harbor a few minutes before 8 AM local time. In two
waves of terror lasting two long hours, they killed or wounded over
3,500 Americans. They also sank or badly damaged 18 ships - including
all 8 battleships of the Pacific Fleet - and over 350 destroyed or
damaged aircraft. Over 1,177 lives were lost when the Battleship
U.S.S. Arizona More about the Arizona exploded and subsequently sank.
The Pacific aircraft carriers did not sink and they left most of the
fuel that was needed to win the war in the Pacific. In one stroke,
the Japanese navy accomplished their ultimate defeat and brought the
U.S. to war on December 8, 1941.
The Pearl Harbor attack led to eight investigations between December 22, 1941 and July 15, 1946, to determine the responsibility for the
disaster. On January 24, 1942, a presidential commission headed by
Supreme Court Justice Owen J. Roberts blamed the attack on Admiral
Kimmel and General Short finding them guilty of “dereliction of
duty”. The Roberts Commission concluded there was enough advance
warnings for the local commanders to have been on the alert on the
day of the attack.
source one
source two
Comments