Pearl Harbor

Attack on Peral Harbor

As Hitler continued to conquer Europe, with Paris falling in June 1940, the United States struggled to maintain polite relations with Japan. Japanese forces remained in China and were poised to take French Indochina, which prompted Franklin Delano Roosevelt to cut Japan from U.S. raw materials. As an island nation with few natural resources, the Japanese relied heavily on imports of American oil. Hoping to secure the removal of Japanese troops from China and Indochina in return for lifting the embargo, FDR sent Secretary of State Cordell Hull to negotiate with the Japanese government. Among the negotiations, the new Japanese leader General Hideki Tojo Changed course unexpectedly and backed out. Little did Hull know that the general was planning a secret attack on the Pacific fleet that he hoped would cripple the United States.



On December 7, 1941 the entire U.S. Pacific fleet was attacked at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, in the early morning hours. The surprise attack killed 2,400 American sailors and wounded 1,200. Eight battleships were either sunk or severely damaged, including the USS Arizona, which lost 1,100 sailors. Ten other ships were severely damaged and almost 200 planes destroyed in the attack. Immediately, FDR asked Congress to declare war on Japan, and it responded with but one dissenting vote. Three days later, Germany and Italy responded by declaring war on the United States.

The attack on Pearl Harbor set off an intense rampage within the United States. Japanese people were now the subject of extreme persecution. Japanese were constantly made fun of, bullied, and even violated through physical violence. Actions even went as far as gathering up all of the Japanese and putting them into internment camps. Personally, I think that this is similar to the concentration camps that the United States were trying to get rid of in Germany. Way to go America.

The attack was very controversial at the time. As you can imagine, people were on both sides of this highly debated topic. In the end, Japan and America set aside their differences when dealing with an even more bitter topic. Communism. Today, signs of Japanese friendship can be seen at the nations Capitol where Hanami trees were planted (See blog on Flower Viewing). Today, the USS Arizona Memorial can be visited by boat on the island. In the United States, a holiday known as Pearl Harbor Day is now celebrated and remembered on December 7th.