December 7, 1941, “a day which will live in infamy.” The attack on Pearl Harbor. On December 7, 1941, Japanese attacking airplanes came in two waves. The first hit at 7:53 A.M. The second hit at 8:55 A.M. An hour later, at 9:55 A.M., it all was over, Pearl Harbor was destroyed beyond recognition. The Japanese fleet left behind 2,403 dead, 188 destroyed planes, and 8 damaged destroyers. The question is, why would Japan want to attack Pearl Harbor. Why Pearl Harbor, why the U.S.?

During the war in Europe, the U.S. was doing everything they could to stay out of the war. Japan however, was giving the U.S. no choice but to step in. In 1931, Japan invaded Manchuria in China, and as a result of Japan trying to expand in the Pacific, the U.S. cut off a little bit of trade relations with Japan until they stopped expanding their empire. There was and embargo put on scrap iron and aviation fuel to Japan, which the Japanese relied on greatly. The U.S. was a major trade partner with Japan before the war, but as Japanese aggression grew, relations with the U.S. weakened. To make things worse, in September 1940, Japan signed the Tripartite Pact with Germany and Italy. Japan had now become an Axis power. This Pact was going to cause problems for the U.S. Although the U.S. was officially neutral, the lend-lease program with Britain showed how neutral the U.S. really was. The Tripartite Pact meant that supplies to Japan would be indirectly helping Germany and Italy, something the U.S. could not have. Further embargoes followed the Tripartite Pact. Japan, now fully cut off from U.S. trade, was desperate for natural resources. Japan expanded to South-east Asia, which was rich in minerals and oil. While occupying French Indochina in July 1941, Japan knew that fully invading South-east Asia would prompt a war with the United States. They needed something that would buy themselves enough time and space to conquer important targets in Asia. The attack on Pearl Harbor was that something. By removing the fleet at Pearl Harbor, Japan expected to remove the U.S. from the war in the Pacific long enough for them to gather their resources and hoped to destroy American morale and spirits at the same time.

The U.S. responded immediately. War was declared on Japan shortly after the attack. The U.S. was awakened at last. The American people took out their anger and sorrow for their losses in helping out for the war. There would be posters everywhere telling the American people to pitch in old goods at a recycle depot and their goods would go to building ships, ammunition, planes, and other war-related items. Japan had never thought of what attacking Pearl Harbor would do to the U.S. Of course they knew attacking Pearl Harbor would cripple the U.S., in spirits and military, but they never expected the U.S. to react the way they did. Many American people before the attack on Pearl Harbor were against war and wanted to stay isolated. They had the “it’s not our problem” perspective. The attack changed all those feelings. After the attack, many of the isolationists that wanted to stay out of war, changed their minds and said that the U.S. should enter the war. Militarization began immediately after the attack also. Men volunteered for the military, women took over their jobs at home, and many of the industries were used for war-production materials. Japan was not ready for what was to come.

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