Pearl Harbor - World War II - HISTORY.com Google Pearl Harbor and the Road to War The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise, but Japan and the United States had been edging toward war for decades. The United States was particularly unhappy with Japan’s increasingly belligerent attitude toward China. The Japanese government believed that the only way to solve its economic and demographic problems was to expand into its neighbor’s territory and take over its import market; to this end, Japan had declared war on China in 1937. American officials responded to this aggression with a battery of economic sanctions and trade embargoes. They reasoned that without access to money and goods, and especially essential supplies like oil, Japan would have to rein in its expansionism. Instead, the sanctions made the Japanese more determined to stand their ground. During months of negotiations between Tokyo and Washington , D.C., neither side would budge. It seemed that war was inevitable. Did You Know? The single vote against Congress's declaration of war against Japan came from Representative Jeannette Rankin of Montana. Rankin was a pacifist who had also voted against the American entrance into World War I.

"As a woman," she said, "I can’t go to war, and I refuse to send anyone else." But no one believed that the Japanese would start that war with an attack on American territory. For one thing, it would be terribly inconvenient: Hawaii and Japan were about 4,000 miles apart. For another, American intelligence officials were confident that any Japanese attack would take place in one of the (relatively) nearby European colonies in the South Pacific: the Dutch East Indies, for instance, or Singapore or Indochina. Because American military leaders were not expecting an attack so close to home, the naval facilities at Pearl Harbor were relatively undefended. Almost the entire Pacific Fleet was moored around Ford Island in the harbor, and hundreds of airplanes were squeezed onto adjacent airfields. To the Japanese, Pearl Harbor was an irresistible target. “A Date Which Will Live in Infamy” The Japanese plan was simple: Destroy the Pacific Fleet. That way, the Americans would not be able to fight back as Japan’s armed forces spread across the South Pacific. On December 7, after months of planning and practice, the Japanese launched their attack. At about 8 a.m., Japanese planes filled the sky over Pearl Harbor.

Bombs and bullets rained onto the vessels moored below. At 8:10, a 1,800-pound bomb smashed through the deck of the battleship USS Arizona and landed in her forward ammunition magazine. The ship exploded and sank with more than 1,000 men trapped inside. Next, torpedoes pierced the shell of the battleship USS Oklahoma . With 400 sailors aboard, the Oklahoma lost her balance, rolled onto her side and slipped underwater. By the time the attack was over, every battleship in Pearl Harbor–USS Arizona, USS Oklahoma, USS California , USS West Virginia , USS Utah , USS Maryland , USS Pennsylvania , USS Tennessee and USS Nevada–had sustained significant damage. (All but USS Arizona and USS Utah were eventually salvaged and repaired.) In all, the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor crippled or destroyed nearly 20 American ships and more than 300 airplanes. Dry docks and airfields were likewise destroyed. Most important, almost 2,500 men were killed and another 1,000 were wounded. But the Japanese had failed to cripple the Pacific Fleet.

By the 1940s, battleships were no longer the most important naval vessel: Aircraft carriers were, and as it happened, all of the Pacific Fleet’s carriers were away from the base on December 7. (Some had returned to the mainland and others were delivering planes to troops on Midway and Wake Islands.) Moreover, the Pearl Harbor assault had left the base’s most vital onshore facilities–oil storage depots, repair shops, shipyards and submarine docks–intact. As a result, the U.S. Navy was able to rebound relatively quickly from the attack. Pearl Harbor Awakens the “Sleeping Giant” “Yesterday,” President Roosevelt said on December 8, “the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked.” He went on to say, “No matter now long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory.

I believe I interpret the will of the Congress and of the people when I assert that we will not only defend ourselves to the uttermost, but will make very certain that this form of treachery shall never endanger us again.” After the Pearl Harbor attack, and for the first time after years of discussion and debate, the American people were united in their determination to go to war. The Japanese had wanted to goad the United States into an agreement to lift the economic sanctions against them; instead, they had pushed their adversary into a global conflict that ultimately resulted in Japan’s first occupation by a foreign power. On December 8, Congress approved Roosevelt’s declaration of war. Three days later, Japanese allies Germany and Italy declared war against the United States. For the second time, Congress reciprocated. More than two years after the start of the conflict, the United States had entered World War II . Tags The Japanese Attacked Pearl Harbor Depression & WWII (1929-1945) The U.S. Navy took this photo of the U.S.S.

Arizona on fire, following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 The Japanese Attacked Pearl Harbor December 7, 1941 President Franklin Roosevelt called December 7, 1941, "a date which will live in infamy." On that day, Japanese planes attacked the United States Naval Base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii Territory. The bombing killed more than 2,300 Americans. It completely destroyed the American battleship U.S.S. Arizona and capsized the U.S.S. Oklahoma. The attack sank or beached a total of twelve ships and damaged nine others. 160 aircraft were destroyed and 150 others damaged. The attack took the country by surprise, especially the ill-prepared Pearl Harbor base. page 1 of 3 The History Place - World War II in Europe Timeline: December 7, 1941 - Japanese Bomb Pearl Harbor < Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, Sunday, December 7, 1941 Aboard a Japanese carrier before the attack on Pearl Harbor, crew members cheer departing pilots.

Below: A photo taken from a Japanese plane during the attack shows vulnerable American battleships, and in the distance, smoke rising from Hickam Airfield where 35 men having breakfast in the mess hall were killed after a direct bomb hit. ________________________________________________________ Above: The USS Shaw explodes during the Japanese air raid. Below Left: The battleship USS Arizona after a bomb penetrated into the forward magazine causing massive explosions and killing 1,104 men. Below Right: Dousing the flames on the battleship USS West Virginia, which survived and was rebuilt. Sequence of Events Saturday, December 6 - Washington D.C. - U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt makes a final appeal to the Emperor of Japan for peace. There is no reply. Late this same day, the U.S. code-breaking service begins intercepting a 14-part Japanese message and deciphers the first 13 parts, passing them on to the President and Secretary of State. The Americans believe a Japanese attack is imminent, most likely somewhere in Southeast Asia. Sunday, December 7 - Washington D.C. - The last part of the Japanese message, stating that diplomatic relations with the U.S.

are to be broken off, reaches Washington in the morning and is decoded at approximately 9 a.m. About an hour later, another Japanese message is intercepted. It instructs the Japanese embassy to deliver the main message to the Americans at 1 p.m. The Americans realize this time corresponds with early morning time in Pearl Harbor, which is several hours behind. The U.S. War Department then sends out an alert but uses a commercial telegraph because radio contact with Hawaii is temporarily broken. Delays prevent the alert from arriving at headquarters in Oahu until noontime (Hawaii time) four hours after the attack has already begun. Sunday, December 7 - Islands of Hawaii, near Oahu - The Japanese attack force under the command of Admiral Nagumo, consisting of six carriers with 423 planes, is about to attack. At 6 a.m., the first attack wave of 183 Japanese planes takes off from the carriers located 230 miles north of Oahu and heads for the U.S. Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor.

Pearl Harbor - At 7:02 a.m., two Army operators at Oahu's northern shore radar station detect the Japanese air attack approaching and contact a junior officer who disregards their reports, thinking they are American B-17 planes which are expected in from the U.S. west coast. Near Oahu - At 7:15 a.m., a second attack wave of 167 planes takes off from the Japanese carriers and heads for Pearl Harbor. Pearl Harbor is not on a state on high alert. Senior commanders have concluded, based on available intelligence, there is no reason to believe an attack is imminent. Aircraft are therefore left parked wingtip to wingtip on airfields, anti-aircraft guns are unmanned with many ammunition boxes kept locked in accordance with peacetime regulations. There are also no torpedo nets protecting the fleet anchorage. And since it is Sunday morning, many officers and crewmen are leisurely ashore.

At 7:53 a.m., the first Japanese assault wave, with 51 'Val' dive bombers, 40 'Kate' torpedo bombers, 50 high level bombers and 43 'Zero' fighters, commences the attack with flight commander, Mitsuo Fuchida, sounding the battle cry: "Tora! Tora! Tora!" (Tiger! Tiger! Tiger!). The Americans are taken completely by surprise. The first attack wave targets airfields and battleships. The second wave targets other ships and shipyard facilities. The air raid lasts until 9:45 a.m. Eight battleships are damaged, with five sunk. Three light cruisers, three destroyers and three smaller vessels are lost along with 188 aircraft. The Japanese lose 27 planes and five midget submarines which attempted to penetrate the inner harbor and launch torpedoes. Escaping damage from the attack are the prime targets, the three U.S. Pacific Fleet aircraft carriers, Lexington, Enterprise and Saratoga, which were not in the port. Also escaping damage are the base fuel tanks.

The casualty list includes 2,335 servicemen and 68 civilians killed, with 1,178 wounded. Included are 1,104 men aboard the Battleship USS Arizona killed after a 1,760-pound air bomb penetrated into the forward magazine causing catastrophic explosions. In Washington, various delays prevent the Japanese diplomats from presenting their war message to Secretary of State, Cordell Hull, until 2:30 p.m. (Washington time) just as the first reports of the air raid at Pearl Harbor are being read by Hull. News of the "sneak attack" is broadcast to the American public via radio bulletins, with many popular Sunday afternoon entertainment programs being interrupted. The news sends a shockwave across the nation and results in a tremendous influx of young volunteers into the U.S. armed forces. The attack also unites the nation behind the President and effectively ends isolationist sentiment in the country. Monday, December 8 - The United States and Britain declare war on Japan with President Roosevelt calling December 7, "a date which will live in infamy..." Thursday, December 11 - Germany and Italy declare war on the United States.

The European and Southeast Asian wars have now become a global conflict with the Axis powers; Japan, Germany and Italy, united against America, Britain, France, and their Allies. Wednesday, December 17 - Admiral Chester W. Nimitz becomes the new commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet. Both senior commanders at Pearl Harbor; Navy Admiral Husband E. Kimmel, and Army Lt. General Walter C. Short, were relieved of their duties following the attack. Subsequent investigations will fault the men for failing to adopt adequate defense measures. Copyright © 1997 The History Place™ All Rights Reserved (Photo credits: U.S. National Archives) Pearl Harbor History: See How a 1941 News Story Was Written What the People Said About Pearl Harbor TIME From the Dec. 15, 1941, issue of TIME It was Sunday midday, clear and sunny. Many a citizen was idly listening to the radio when the flash came that the Japanese had attacked Hawaii. In Topeka they were listening to The Spirit of ’41 and napping on their sofas after dinner. In San Francisco, where it was not quite noon, they were listening to the news, Philharmonic and Strings in Swingtime.

In Portland, Maine, where it was cold but still sunny, they were lining up for the movies. For the first time in its history, the U.S. at war was attacked first. Out on the Pacific and in the islands the great drama of U.S. history was coming to a climax. Over the U.S. and its history there was a great unanswered question: What would the people, the 132,000,000, say in the face of the mightiest event of their time? Replay Report on Pearl Harbor From Topeka, Kans. Time Inc. archives “War came to Topeka at 1:30 PM on a quiet, warm, 56 degrees, sunshiny Sunday. Most Topekans had finished big Sunday dinners and were napping on their sofas. First flash over Columbia’s WIBW came at the end of the Spirit of ’41 program. I got it over NBC Blue network while listening to the Great Plays series. I was in the bath tub. The second bulletin in re the attack on Manila made me sick. My parents, brother and sister are in Manila.

My wife turned pale and said, ‘There it is.’ My telephone rang a few seconds later. I was called to help issue an extra and write “‘What it’s like over there’ story. Daily Capital switchboards were jammed immediately. One man, with distinct rural midwestern accent, asked: ‘What the Hell’s going on out there? Has Uncle Sam declared war yet? Why in Hell hasn’t he? How old do you have to be to get in the Army and Navy?’ Others wanted to know if it were true.” Replay Report on Pearl Harbor From San Francisco Time Inc. archives “How news came to San Francisco: The radio was the first to announce with KSFO (Columbia) and FKRC (Mutual) coming on about the same time with a first one-line flash that Honolulu and Manila were being bombed, Manila bombing unconfirmed. KSFO was tuned into CBS coast-to-coast hook-up on ‘The World Today,’ roundup of world’s capitals. New York interrupted ‘shortly after’ program began at 11:30 A.M.

KFRC got a phone flash from the local AP at 11:32, read the same one-line flash over the air at 11:44, interrupting ‘Strings in Swingtime’..sustaining musical program from Hollywood.” Replay Report on Pearl Harbor From Portland, Me. Time Inc. archives “Portland, Me., a big new naval base for the Atlantic fleet, is just recovering from the shock of the Reuben James sinking after that ship left here for Iceland, received news of the Japanese bombings with more excitement than is common to the Yankee temperament. The news first came by radio (Columbia chain). The newspaper office was bombarded with telephone calls asking ‘Is it true?’ ‘Does Associated Press confirm it?’ A cold but sunny afternoon here with little going on in a city still somewhat under the influence of the old blue laws except for theatres open. Most excited were about a thousand sailors of shore leave from boats just back from convoy duty. Many expressed real concern over the report that the U.S. Oklahoma had been hit. Several in the newspaper office commented that they had mates on the Oklahoma.” Replay ‘Emotions behind the grim, determined faces’ TIME From the Dec.

15, 1941, issue of TIME What they said—tens of thousands of them—was: “Why, the yellow bastards!” Hundreds of thousands of others said the same thing in different ways, with varying degrees of expression. In Norfolk, Va., the first man at the recruiting station said, “I want to beat them Japs with my own bare hands.” At the docks in San Diego, as the afternoon wore on, a crowd slowly grew. There were a few people, then more, then a throng, looking intently west across the harbor, beyond Point Loma, out to the Pacific where the enemy was. There was no visible excitement, no hysteria, and no release in words for the emotions behind the grim, determined faces. In Dallas, 2,500 people sat in the Majestic Theater at 1:57 when Sergeant York ended and the news of the Japanese declaration of war was announced. There was a pause, a pinpoint of silence, a prolonged sigh, then thundering applause. A steelworker said: “We’ll stamp their front teeth in.” Replay Report on Pearl Harbor From Norfolk, Va. Time Inc.

archives “Today Army and Navy recruiting offices here were swamped with applicants, more than 60 men applying in Army and nearly 100 applying in Navy during morning. Feeling at fever pitch among civilians, but the Navy is cagey because it is shocked by the easy with which Japan invaded our strongholds. Remarks such as, ‘I want to beat the yellow Japs with my own bare hands’ heard everywhere. All the people are united in the hope that the Japs will be wiped from the map.” Replay Report on Pearl Harbor From San Diego, Calif. Time Inc. archives “Some reacted in forced humorous manner. ‘Wanna buy a house cheap?’ asked residents near the waterfront, where San Diego’s defense industries and navy and military bases are located, and where bombings, if any are likely to occur. Slowly mounting anger was more typical, however. It wasn’t manifested in any violent outbursts, but was best exhibited by the scene at the San Diego waterfront during the entire afternoon. As Navy men rushed back to shore stations and ships, civilians sped to the waterfront to watch the activities.

A transport was loading up at a dock; sailors were boarding shoreboats; a great throng was stranding silently, glumly, without a smile, observing. That crowd, looking west across San Diego harbor, and out beyond Point Loma to the Pacific where her enemy was raining destruction and taking lives, possibly of their own sons and brothers, was the most grim, silent crowd I’ve ever seen. From it rose an atmosphere of determination and unity.” Replay Report on Pearl Harbor From Dallas Time Inc. archives “Twenty-five hundred people sat in the Majestic Theatre at 1:57 Sunday afternoon. They had just watched the finish of probably one of the most dramatic war pictures of the year — Seargeant York. On the film flashed the title. Then there was a break in the sound and over the speakers came to announcement that Japan had attacked Pearl Harbor, Manila, Japan had declared a state of war with the United States. There was a pause, a pin-point silence, a prolonged ‘Awwwww’ and then thunderous applause.” Replay ‘Sometimes they had nothing at all to say’ TIME From the Dec. 15, 1941, issue of TIME In every part of the U.S.

the terse, inadequate words gave outward and visible signs of the unfinished emotions within. Sometimes they just said, “Well, it’s here.” Sometimes they had nothing at all to say: Louisiana State University students massed, marched to the President, who came out in his dressing gown with no message except “study hard.” Sometimes they laughed at something someone else had said, like the remark of the Chinese Vice Consul of New Orleans, who announced: “As far as Japan is concerned, their goose is overheated.” Replay Report on Pearl Harbor From New Orleans Time Inc. archives “…He added jubilantly: ‘As far as Japan is concerned, their goose is overheated.’ He called from bath tub to the telephone after an attache had told a reporter: ‘He’s busy in the bath tub. What’s the trouble?’ From British Consul-General John David Rodgers: ‘It’s been a terrible day, hasn’t it?’ … Louisiana State University students massed in Baton Rouge, marched to see President Major General Campbell B. Hodges, who came out in lounging robe and told them it was their duty to study hard. He envisioned a long war and said students would probably get their chance.” Time Inc. archives SHARE ‘Thus the U.S.

met the first days of war’ The statesmen, the spokesmen, the politicians, the leaders, could speak for unity. They did so. Herbert Hoover: “American soil has been treacherously attacked by Japan. We must fight with everything we have.” Alfred Landon (to President Roosevelt): “Please command me in any way I can be of service.” John Lewis: “When the nation is attacked every American must rally to its support. . . . All other considerations become insignificant.” Charles Lindbergh: “We have been stepping closer to war for many months. Now it has come and we must meet it as united Americans regardless of our attitude in the past toward the policy our Government has followed. Whether or not that policy has been wise, our country has been attacked by force of arms, and by force of arms we must retaliate. Our own defenses and our own military position have already been neglected too long. We must now turn every effort to building the greatest and most efficient Army, Navy and air force in the world. When American soldiers go to war, it must be with the best equipment that modern skill can design and that modern industry can build.” It was evening. Over the U.S.

the soldiers and sailors on leave assembled at the stations. There would be a few men with their wives or their girls standing a little apart. Sometimes there would be a good-natured drunk trying to sing. The women would cry or, more often, walk away stiffly and silently. Slowly, the enormity of what had happened ended the first, quick, cocksure response. Next morning recruiting stations, open now 24 hours a day, seven days a week, were jammed too. New York had twice as many naval volunteers as its 1917 record. Thus the U.S. met the first days of war. It met them with incredulity and outrage, with a quick, harsh, nationwide outburst that swelled like the catalogue of some profane Whitman. It met them with a deepening sense of gravity and a slow, mounting anger. But there were still no words to express emotions pent up in silent people listening to radios, reading papers, taking trains. But the U.S. knew that its first words were not enough.

Read the full issue from December 1941, here in the TIME Vault Sign up for Today in History - December 7 | Library of Congress Library of Congress Today in History - December 7 December 7 Listen to this page Air Raid On Pearl Harbor On December 7, 1941, Japanese planes attacked the United States Naval Base at Pearl Harbor External , Hawaii Territory, killing more than 2,300 Americans. The U.S.S. Arizona was completely destroyed and the U.S.S. Oklahoma capsized. A total of twelve ships sank or were beached in the attack and nine additional vessels were damaged. More than 160 aircraft were destroyed and more than 150 others damaged. A hurried dispatch from the ranking United States naval officer in Pearl Harbor, Admiral Husband Edward Kimmel, Commander in Chief of the United States Pacific Fleet, to all major navy commands and fleet units provided the first official word of the attack at the ill-prepared Pearl Harbor base. It said simply: AIR RAID ON PEARL HARBOR X THIS IS NOT DRILL.

Naval Dispatch from the Commander in Chief Pacific (CINCPAC) announcing the Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941 . (John J. Ballentine Papers). Words and Deeds in American History: Selected Documents Celebrating the Manuscript Division’s First 100 Years . Manuscript Division The following day, in an address to a joint session of Congress, President Franklin Roosevelt called December 7, 1941 “a date which will live in infamy.” Congress then declared War on Japan, abandoning the nation’s isolationism policy and ushering the United States into World War II. Within days, Japan’s allies, Germany and Italy, declared war on the United States, and the country began a rapid transition to a wartime economy by building up armaments in support of military campaigns in the Pacific, North Africa, and Europe. Also on the day following Pearl Harbor, Alan Lomax , head of the Library of Congress Archive of American Folk Song, sent a telegram to colleagues around the U.S. asking them to collect people’s immediate reactions to the bombing.

Over the next few days prominent folklorists such as John Lomax , John Henry Faulk, Charles Todd , Robert Sonkin , and Lewis Jones responded by recording “man on the street” interviews in New York, North Carolina, Texas, Washington, D.C., and elsewhere. They interviewed salesmen, electricians, janitors, oilmen, cabdrivers, housewives, students, soldiers, physicians, and others regarding the events of December 7. Among the interviewees was a California woman then visiting her family in Dallas, Texas. “My first thought was what a great pity that… another nation should be added to those aggressors who strove to limit our freedom. I find myself at the age of eighty, an old woman, hanging on to the tail of the world, trying to keep up. I do not want the driver’s seat. But the eternal verities–there are certain things that I wish to express: one thing that I am very sure of is that hatred is death, but love is light.

I want to contribute to the civilization of the world but…when I look at the holocaust that is going on in the world today, I’m almost ready to let go…” Pearl Harbor Widows have Gone into War Work… Howard R. Hollem, photographer, August 1942. Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information Color Photographs . Prints & Photographs Division The Office of War Information (OWI) capitalized on the fear and outrage associated with the bombings to encourage support of war mobilization. Created In June 1942, some six months after the air raid on Pearl Harbor, the OWI served as a U.S. government propaganda agency generating pictures and copy such as the above photograph of Pearl Harbor widows. Concentrating on subjects like aircraft factories , training for war , women in the workforce , and the armed forces , the OWI documented and celebrated American patriotism in the military and on the home front.

Excerpt - Japan's Decision for War in 1941: Some Enduring Lessons Japan's Decision for War in 1941: Some Enduring Lessons (Caveat: The below excerpts from the study do not contain endnotes found in the full study) Summary The Japanese decision to initiate war against the United States in 1941 continues to perplex. Did the Japanese recognize the odds against them? How did they expect to defeat the United States? The presumption of irrationality is natural, given Japan's acute imperial overstretch in 1941 and America's overwhelming industrial might and latent military power. The Japanese decision for war, however, must be seen in the light of the available alternatives in the fall of 1941, which were either national economic suffocation or surrender of Tokyo's empire on the Asian mainland. Though Japanese aggression in East Asia was the root cause of the Pacific War, the road to Pearl Harbor was built on American as well as Japanese miscalculations, most of them mired in mutual cultural ignorance and racial arrogance.

Japan's aggression in China, military alliance with Hitler, and proclamation of a "Greater East Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere" that included resource-rich Southeast Asia were major milestones along the road to war, but the proximate cause was Japan's occupation of southern French Indochina in July 1941, which placed Japanese forces in a position to grab Malaya, Singapore, and the Dutch East Indies. Japan's threatened conquest of Southeast Asia, which in turn would threaten Great Britain's ability to resist Nazi aggression in Europe, prompted the administration of Franklin D. Roosevelt to sanction Japan by imposing an embargo on U.S. oil exports upon which the Japanese economy was critically dependent. Yet the embargo, far from deterring further Japanese aggression, prompted a Tokyo decision to invade Southeast Asia. By mid-1941 Japanese leaders believed that war with the United States was inevitable and that it was imperative to seize the Dutch East Indies, which offered a substitute for dependency on American oil. The attack on Pearl Harbor was essentially a flanking raid in support of the main event, which was the conquest of Malaya, Singapore, the Indies, and the Philippines, Japan's decision for war rested on several assumptions, some realistic, others not.

The first was that time was working against Japan--i.e., the longer they took to initiate war with the United States, the dimmer its prospects for success. The Japanese also assumed they had little chance of winning a protracted war with the United States but hoped they could force the Americans into a murderous, island-by-island slog across the Central and Southwestern Pacific that would eventually exhaust American will to fight on to total victory. The Japanese believed they were racially and spiritually superior to the Americans, whom they regarded as an effete, creature-comforted people divided by political factionalism and racial and class strife. U.S. attempts to deter Japanese expansion into the Southwestern Pacific via the imposition of harsh economic sanctions, redeployment of the U.S. Fleet from southern California to Pearl Harbor, and the dispatch of B-17 long-range bombers to the Philippines all failed because the United States insisted that Japan evacuate both Indochina and China as the price for a restoration of U.S. trade. The United States demanded, in effect, that Japan abandon its empire, and by extension its aspiration to become a great power, and submit to the economic dominion of the United States--something no self-respecting Japanese leader could accept.

The Japanese-American road to the Pacific War in 1941 yields several enduring lessons of particular relevance for today's national security decisionmakers: 1. Fear and honor, "rational" or not, can motivate as much as interest. 2. There is no substitute for knowledge of a potential adversary's history and culture. 3. Deterrence lies in the mind of the deterree, not the deterrer. 4. Strategy must always inform and guide operations. 5. Economic sanctioning can be tantamount to an act of war. 6. The presumption of moral or spiritual superiority can fatally discount the consequences of an enemy's material superiority. 7. "Inevitable" war easily becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy. Introduction: A "Strategic Imbecility"? The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, continues to perplex. American naval historian Samuel Eliot Morison called Tokyo's decision for war against the United States "a strategic imbecility." How, in mid-1941, could Japan, militarily mired in China and seriously considering an opportunity for war with the Soviet Union, even think about yet another war, this one against a distant country with a 10-fold industrial superiority?

The United States was not only stronger; it lay beyond Japan's military reach. The United States could out-produce Japan in every category of armaments as well as build weapons, such as long-range bombers, that Japan could not; and though Japan could fight a war in East Asia and the Western Pacific, it could not threaten the American homeland. In attacking Pearl Harbor, Japan elected to fight a geographically limited war against an enemy capable of waging a total war against the Japanese home islands themselves. Did the Japanese recognize the odds against them? What could possibly prompt such a reckless course of action as the attack on Pearl Harbor? Fatalism? Delusional reasoning? Madness? Was there no acceptable alternative to war with the United States in 1941? And if not, how did Tokyo expect to compel the United States to accept Japanese hegemony in East Asia? Did the Japanese have a concept of victory, or at least of avoiding defeat? Or were they simply, as New York congressman Hamilton Fish declared the day after Pearl Harbor, a "stark, raving mad" people who, by attacking the United States, had "committed military, naval, and national suicide"?

What lessons can be drawn from the Japanese decision for war in 1941? From U.S.-Japanese policy interaction during the months leading to Pearl Harbor? Are there lessons of value to today's national security decisionmakers? Conclusions Japan's imperial ambitions in East Asia inexorably collided with Western interests in the region, and Japan's alliance with Nazi Germany, though of little operational significance, further alienated the Western powers. The Pacific War arose out of Japan's aggression in Southeast Asia, which was presaged by its occupation of southern Indochina in July 1941. Had Tokyo confined its aggression to Northeast Asia, it almost certainly could have avoided war with Britain and the United States, neither of which was prepared to go to war over China. The U.S. insistence, after Japanese forces moved into southern Indochina, that Japan evacuate China as well as Indochina, as a condition for the restoration of trade relations, thus made no sense as a means of dissuading the Japanese from moving south. On the contrary, the demand that Japan quit China killed any prospect of a negotiated alternative to Japan's conquest of Southeast Asia (e.g., restored trade in exchange for Japan's withdrawal from Indochina).

In effect, the United States went to war over China rather than Southeast Asia -- a volte-face of enormous strategic consequence since it propelled the United States into a war with Japan over a remote country for which the United States had never been prepared to fight. The fate of China, even of Southeast Asia, did not engage core U.S. security interests, especially at a time when Europe's fate hung in the balance. A war with Japan was, of course, a war the United States was always going to win, but Japan was not the enemy the Roosevelt administration wanted to fight. The United States could have settled its accounts with Japan after Hitler's defeat had been assured. Was denying Japan an expanded empire in Southeast Asia more important, in 1941, than defeating Hitler? The roots of Japan's decision for war with the United States were economic and reputational. The termination of U.S. trade with Japan that followed Roosevelt's freezing of Japanese assets in July 1941 threatened to destroy Japan economically and militarily. A small, resource-poor, and overpopulated island state, Japan in the 1930s sought economic self-sufficiency and great power status via the acquisition of empire--just as Great Britain had done.

(The United States could preach about the evils of imperialism and "spheres of influence" because, as a huge, resource-rich, continental state, it had no need for an overseas colonial empire; nor was its hegemony in the Western Hemisphere effectively challenged by other great powers. Indeed, the Japanese viewed the Monroe Doctrine as justification for their imperial ambitions.) Kenneth Pyle, in his masterful assessment of modern Japan's behavior in the evolving international system, identifies "a persistent obsession with status and prestige--or, to put it in terms Japanese would more readily recognize, rank and honor." From the time of the Meiji Restoration in 1868, "Japan strove and struggled for status as a great power. Other countries in Asia were aware of their backwardness, but nowhere else was this awareness so intense and so paramount that it drove a people with such single-minded determination. It became a national obsession to be the equal of the world's great powers." A fusion of state-centered honor and popular nationalism occurred in Japan that prompted "an instinctive need for recognition of its status in the hierarchy of nations, and the values of hierarchy provided a behavioral norm that focused and intensified the realist drive for national power.

Establishment of Japan's honor, of its reputation for power in relation to other nations, became a goal sanctioned by inherited values and norms." Yet the end result of this drive for power, honor, and reputation was Japan's complete destruction and subsequent occupation by the United States. There can be no justification for a foreign policy that consciously propels a state into a war against an inherently undefeatable enemy. By the late 1930s, a fatal abyss had opened between Japan's imperial ambitions and its material capacity to fulfill them. Japan simply did not have the resources to police Korea and Manchuria, conquer China, invade Southeast Asia, and defeat the United States in the Pacific. Japan lacked the necessary industrial strength, and what modest manufacturing base it did possess critically depended on imported oil and other commodities from the United States. Indeed, Japan's expanding war on the Asian mainland made it more dependent on imported U.S. commodities and finished goods. Japanese leaders refused to recognize the limits of Japan's power, despite the warnings of Nomohan and a continuing war in China they could never bring to a satisfactory conclusion.

The very fact that Japanese leaders would consider sequential wars with the United States and the Soviet Union at a time when Japan was already militarily overstretched in China testifies to a fatal blindness to the strategic necessity of maintaining some reasonable harmony between political ambitions and military capacity. Like the Germans in both world wars, the Japanese seemed to believe that superior prowess at the operational level of war could and would--somehow--redeem reckless strategic decisions. And again like the Germans, the Japanese, in the celebration of their own nationalism, were utterly insensitive to the nationalism of others. Honor may have dictated the Japanese decision for war in 1941, but "suicide before dishonor" was a policy choice the Japanese might have avoided had Tokyo been willing and able to temper its imperial ambitions and accept some measure of economic dependence on the United States. For Japan, the prosperous and relatively democratic 1920s and the postwar decades as an economic powerhouse and ally of the United States demonstrate 20th-century possibilities other than the path of autarky through aggression.

The 1930s and 1940s were a tragic and--for Japan's victims--murderous detour from what might have been--and later was. For Japan in the 20th century, good relations with the United States were always a prerequisite for a secure Japan, whereas war with the United States was always going to be a disaster. Still, it cannot be denied that, in threatening Japan's economic destruction (and consequent military impoverishment), the United States placed the Japanese in a position in which the only choices open to them were war or subservience. "Never inflict upon another major military power a policy which would cause you yourself to go to war unless you are fully prepared to engage that power militarily," cautions Roland Worth, Jr., in his No Choice But War: The United States Embargo against Japan and the Eruption of War in the Pacific. "And don't be surprised that if they do decide to retaliate, that they seek out a time and a place that inflicts maximum harm and humiliation upon your cause." Roosevelt called the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor "unprovoked." Was it?

Pearl Harbor bombed - Dec 07, 1941 - HISTORY.com Pearl Harbor bombed Publisher A+E Networks At 7:55 a.m. Hawaii time, a Japanese dive bomber bearing the red symbol of the Rising Sun of Japan on its wings appears out of the clouds above the island of Oahu. A swarm of 360 Japanese warplanes followed, descending on the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor in a ferocious assault. The surprise attack struck a critical blow against the U.S. Pacific fleet and drew the United States irrevocably into World War II . With diplomatic negotiations with Japan breaking down, President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his advisers knew that an imminent Japanese attack was probable, but nothing had been done to increase security at the important naval base at Pearl Harbor. It was Sunday morning, and many military personnel had been given passes to attend religious services off base. At 7:02 a.m., two radar operators spotted large groups of aircraft in flight toward the island from the north, but, with a flight of B-17s expected from the United States at the time, they were told to sound no alarm.

Thus, the Japanese air assault came as a devastating surprise to the naval base. Much of the Pacific fleet was rendered useless: Five of eight battleships, three destroyers, and seven other ships were sunk or severely damaged, and more than 200 aircraft were destroyed. A total of 2,400 Americans were killed and 1,200 were wounded, many while valiantly attempting to repulse the attack. Japan’s losses were some 30 planes, five midget submarines, and fewer than 100 men. Fortunately for the United States, all three Pacific fleet carriers were out at sea on training maneuvers. These giant aircraft carriers would have their revenge against Japan six months later at the Battle of Midway , reversing the tide against the previously invincible Japanese navy in a spectacular victory.

The day after Pearl Harbor was bombed, President Roosevelt appeared before a joint session of Congress and declared, “Yesterday, December 7, 1941–a date which will live in infamy–the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.” After a brief and forceful speech, he asked Congress to approve a resolution recognizing the state of war between the United States and Japan. The Senate voted for war against Japan by 82 to 0, and the House of Representatives approved the resolution by a vote of 388 to 1. The sole dissenter was Representative Jeannette Rankin of Montana , a devout pacifist who had also cast a dissenting vote against the U.S. entrance into World War I . Three days later, Germany and Italy declared war against the United States, and the U.S. government responded in kind. The American contribution to the successful Allied war effort spanned four long years and cost more than 400,000 American lives.

Related Videos Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor December 7, 1941 - A Date That Will Live in Infamy The USS Arizona (BB-39) burning after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. (December 7, 1941). (Picture courtesy of the National Archives and Records Administration) Share By Jennifer Rosenberg On the morning of December 7, 1941, the Japanese launched a surprise air attack on the U.S. Naval Base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. After just two hours of bombing, more than 2,400 Americans were dead, 21 ships* had either been sunk or damaged, and more than 188 U.S. aircraft destroyed. The attack at Pearl Harbor so outraged Americans that the U.S. abandoned its policy of isolationism and declared war on Japan the following day -- officially bringing the United States into World War II . Why Attack? The Japanese were tired of negotiations with the United States. They wanted to continue their expansion within Asia but the United States had placed an extremely restrictive embargo on Japan in the hopes of curbing Japan's aggression. Negotiations to solve their differences had not been going well. Rather than giving in to U.S.

demands, the Japanese decided to launch a surprise attack against the United States in an attempt to destroy the United States' naval power even before an official announcement of war was given. continue reading below our video 10 Facts About the Titanic That You Don't Know The Japanese Prepare for Attack The Japanese practiced and prepared carefully for their attack on Pearl Harbor. They knew their plan was extremely risky. The probability of success depended heavily on complete surprise. On November 26, 1941, the Japanese attack force, led by Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo , left Etorofu Island in the Kurils (located northeast of Japan) and began its 3,000-mile journey across the Pacific Ocean. Sneaking six aircraft carriers, nine destroyers, two battleships, two heavy cruisers, one light cruiser, and three submarines across the Pacific Ocean was not an easy task. Worried that they might be spotted by another ship, the Japanese attack force continually zig-zagged and avoided major shipping lines. After a week and a half at sea, the attack force made it safely to its destination, about 230 miles north of the Hawaiian island of Oahu .

The Attack On the morning of December 7, 1941, the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor began. At 6:00 a.m., the Japanese aircraft carriers began launching their planes amid rough sea. In total, 183 Japanese aircraft took to the air as part of the first wave of the attack on Pearl Harbor. At 7:15 a.m., the Japanese aircraft carriers, plagued by even rougher seas, launched 167 additional planes to participate in the second wave of the attack on Pearl Harbor. The first wave of Japanese planes reached the U.S. Naval Station at Pearl Harbor (located on the south side of the Hawaiian island of Oahu) at 7:55 a.m. on December 7, 1941. Just before the first bombs dropped on Pearl Harbor, Commander Mitsuo Fuchida , leader of the air attack, called out, "Tora! Tora! Tora!" ("Tiger! Tiger! Tiger!"), a coded message which told the entire Japanese navy that they had caught the Americans totally by surprise. Surprised at Pearl Harbor Sunday mornings were a time of leisure for many U.S. military personnel at Pearl Harbor.

Many were either still asleep, in mess halls eating breakfast, or getting ready for church on the morning of December 7, 1941. They were completely unaware that an attack was imminent. Then the explosions started. The loud booms, pillars of smoke, and low-flying enemy aircraft shocked many into the realization that this was not a training exercise; Pearl Harbor was really under attack. Despite the surprise, many acted quickly. Within five minutes of the beginning of the attack, several gunners had reached their anti-aircraft guns and were trying to shoot down the Japanese planes. At 8:00 a.m., Admiral Husband Kimmel, in charge of Pearl Harbor, sent out a hurried dispatch to all in the U.S. naval fleet, "AIR RAID ON PEARL HARBOR X THIS IS NOT DRILL." The Attack on Battleship Row The Japanese had been hoping to catch U.S. aircraft carriers at Pearl Harbor, but the aircraft carriers were out to sea that day. The next major important naval target was the battleships. On the morning of December 7, 1941, there were eight U.S.

battleships at Pearl Harbor, seven of which were lined up at what was called Battleship Row, and one (the Pennsylvania) was in dry dock for repairs. (The Colorado, the only other battleship of the U.S.'s Pacific fleet, was not at Pearl Harbor that day.) Since the Japanese attack was a total surprise, many of the first torpedoes and bombs dropped on the unsuspecting ships hit their targets. The damage done was severe. Although the crews on board each battleship worked feverishly to keep their ship afloat, some were destined to sink. The Seven U.S. battleships on Battleship Row: Nevada - Just over a half hour after the Nevada was hit by one torpedo, the Nevada got underway and left its berth in Battleship Row to head toward the harbor entrance. The moving ship made an attractive target to the Japanese bombers, who caused enough damage to the Nevada that it was forced to beach itself. Arizona - The Arizona was struck a number of times by bombs. One of these bombs, thought to have hit the forward magazine, caused a massive explosion, which quickly sank the ship. Approximately 1,100 of her crew were killed. A memorial has since been placed over the Arizona's wreckage.

Tennessee - The Tennessee was hit by two bombs and was damaged by oil fires after the nearby Arizona exploded. However, it stayed afloat. West Virginia - The West Virginia was hit by up to nine torpedoes and quickly sank. Maryland - The Maryland was hit by two bombs but was not heavily damaged. Oklahoma - The Oklahoma was hit by up to nine torpedoes and then listed so severely that she turned nearly upside down. A large number of her crew remained trapped on board; rescue efforts were only able to save 32 of her crew. California - The California was struck by two torpedoes and hit by a bomb. The flooding grew out of control and the California sank three days later. Midget Subs In addition to the air assault on Battleship Row, the Japanese had launched five midget submarines. These midget subs, which were approximately 78 1/2 feet long and 6 feet wide and held only a two-man crew, were to sneak into Pearl Harbor and aid in the attack against the battleships. However, all five of these midget subs were sunk during the attack on Pearl Harbor. The Attack on the Airfields Attacking the U.S.

aircraft on Oahu was an essential component of the Japanese attack plan. If the Japanese were successful in destroying a large portion of the U.S. airplanes, then they could proceed unhindered in the skies above Pearl Harbor. Plus, a counter-attack against the Japanese attack force would be much more unlikely. Thus, a portion of the first wave of Japanese planes were ordered to target the airfields that surrounded Pearl Harbor. As the Japanese planes reached the airfields, they found many of the American fighter planes lined up along the airstrips, wingtip to wingtip, making easy targets. The Japanese strafed and bombed the planes, hangers, and other buildings located near the airfields, including dormitories and mess halls. By the time the U.S. military personnel at the airfields realized what was happening, there was little they could do. The Japanese were extremely successful at destroying most of the U.S. aircraft. A few individuals picked up guns and shot at the invading planes. A handful of U.S. fighter pilots were able to get their planes off the ground, only to find themselves vastly outnumbered in the air. Still, they were able to shoot down a few Japanese planes.

The Attack on Pearl Harbor Is Over By 9:45 a.m., just under two hours after the attack had begun, the Japanese planes left Pearl Harbor and headed back to their aircraft carriers. The attack on Pearl Harbor was over. All Japanese planes had returned to their aircraft carriers by 12:14 p.m. and just an hour later, the Japanese attack force began their long journey homeward. The Damage Done In just under two hours, the Japanese had sunk four U.S. battleships (Arizona, California, Oklahoma, and West Virginia). The Nevada was beached and the other three battleships at Pearl Harbor received considerable damage. Also damaged were three light cruisers, four destroyers, one minelayer, one target ship, and four auxiliaries. Of the U.S. aircraft, the Japanese managed to destroy 188 and damage an additional 159. The death toll among Americans was quite high. A total of 2,335 servicemen were killed and 1,143 were wounded. Sixty-eight civilians were also killed and 35 were wounded. Nearly half of the servicemen that were killed were on board the Arizona when it exploded.

All this damage was done by the Japanese, who suffered very few losses themselves -- just 29 aircraft and five midget subs. The United States Enters World War II The news of the attack on Pearl Harbor quickly spread throughout the United States. The public was shocked and outraged. They wanted to strike back. It was time to join World War II. At 12:30 p.m. on the day following the attack on Pearl Harbor, President Franklin D. Roosevelt gave an address to Congress in which he declared that December 7, 1941 was "a date that will live in infamy." At the end of the speech, Roosevelt asked Congress to declare war on Japan. With only one dissenting vote (by Representative Jeannette Rankin from Montana), Congress declared war, officially bringing the United States into World War II.

* The 21 ships that were either sunk or damaged include: all eight battleships (Arizona, California, Nevada, Oklahoma, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Tennessee), three light cruisers (Helena, Honolulu, and Raleigh), three destroyers (Cassin, Downes, and Shaw), one target ship (Utah), and four auxiliaries (Curtiss, Sotoyoma, Vestal, and Floating Drydock Number 2). The destroyer Helm, which was damaged but remained operational, is also included in this count. The Road to Pearl Harbor: The United States and East Asia, 1915–1941 | EDSITEment The Road to Pearl Harbor: The United States and East Asia, 1915–1941 (4 Lessons) Tools The Unit Overview Although most Americans were shocked by the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the outbreak of war between the two countries came as no surprise to most observers of international affairs.

Indeed, the war could be seen as the culmination of tensions between the two countries that can be traced back to 1915, when Japan issued its so-called "Twenty-One Demands" on China. These demands, presented as an ultimatum to the Chinese government, would have amounted to giving Japan a privileged status in certain parts of the country. This was in direct conflict with the stated policy of the United States toward China—the famous "Open Door," in which all countries were to respect Chinese sovereignty and enjoy equal access to Chinese trade. Exacerbating the situation were the economic problems of Japan in the late 1920s, made worse by the Great Depression which swept the industrialized world in the early 1930s. As an island country with few natural resources, Japan was dependent on international trade, which was disrupted by the economic crisis. Moreover, Japan was overpopulated, but other countries—most importantly the United States—closed the door to Japanese emigrants. Increasingly Japan's military leaders became convinced that only through domination of China could they solve their country's problems.

Japan's excess population could be settled in the largely undeveloped Chinese province of Manchuria, while Japanese industry could be revitalized through control of China's import market. Therefore the 1930s saw a steadily increasing campaign of Japanese aggression in China, beginning with the invasion of Manchuria in 1931 and culminating in the outbreak of full-scale war between the two powers in 1937. Each instance of aggression resulted in denunciations from the United States, but the administrations of the time—that of Herbert Hoover until 1933, and of Franklin D. Roosevelt thereafter-understood that there was no will on the part of the American public to fight a war in East Asia. Therefore U.S. policy by the late 1930s consisted of nothing more than a refusal to recognize Japanese conquests, limited economic sanctions against Japan, and equally limited military and economic assistance for China. Nevertheless, the Japanese bitterly resented even these halfway measures, and when their war against China bogged down in 1939 they blamed outside interference for the stubborn refusal of the Chinese to submit to their terms.

They sought a way to prevent foreign aid from reaching China, and to replace the foreign resources that they could no longer acquire due to American economic sanctions. In Germany's lightning victories of April–June 1940 Tokyo believed it had found the answer to both problems. In Southeast Asia and the South Pacific lay a number of territories controlled by France, the Netherlands, and Great Britain, which none of those countries appeared capable of defending. If they were to fall into Japanese hands Tokyo's strategic dilemma, it seemed, could be solved. After concluding an alliance with Germany in July 1940, Japan pressured the French government into allowing Japanese troops to occupy the northern part of French Indochina. In the following year Japanese forces occupied the entire country. The U.S. government met this latest series of aggressive moves with a steadily escalating campaign of economic sanctions, so that by late summer of 1941 Japan was no longer able to purchase any materials from the United States. This was a tremendous blow for many reasons, but particularly because Japan was almost completely dependent upon U.S. imports for its supply of oil. Without oil, of course, Tokyo would have to abandon its war against China—a humiliation that no Japanese leader would accept.

The result was a frenzy of diplomatic maneuvering between Japan and the United States throughout the second half of 1941. However, Tokyo knew that time was running out; if the United States failed to drop its trade sanctions Japan would run out of oil within months. Therefore Japan's leaders made a fateful decision-if no settlement could be reached with Washington by the end of November there would be war. Moreover, the Japanese naval command concluded that this war must begin with the most devastating attack possible against the United States—an air strike, using carrier-based planes, against the U.S. Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor. The result, of course, would be a four-year conflict that, in the end, would prove disastrous for Japan. In this four-lesson curriculum unit, students begin by exploring through contemporary documents the rise of animosity between the United States and Japan beginning in World War I and continuing over the next two decades . They consider next through primary source documents and an interactive timeline the overall principles which underlay both Japanese and American foreign policy in the mid- to late-1930. Students turn then to examine through primary documents and maps why Japan embarked on its policy of aggression against China, also considering the U.S.

response to this new policy, and how it contributed to war between the United States and Japan. Finally they are asked to put themselves in the shoes of U.S. and Japanese diplomats in the final months of 1941, desperately trying to reach a settlement that will avoid war. Through the use of primary documents and an interactive map and timeline, they will consider whether there was any reasonable chance of preventing the outbreak of World War II in the Pacific. Guiding Questions What accounts for the growing hostility that had developed between the United States and Japan by the early 1930s? In its approach to the Sino-Japanese conflict of the 1930s, did the United States place itself on a path to war? Was the "southern advance" a reasonable attempt to address to Japan's international dilemma, or was it a reckless step toward war? Was war between the United States and Japan inevitable after September 1941? Learning Objectives Explain how Japan's ambitions in China conflicted with the American concept of the "Open Door." Discuss the means by which the United States and Japan sought peaceful means of resolving their differences. Articulate why U.S. trade and immigration policies angered the Japanese.

Explain the importance of the Manchurian Incident of 1931, and the American response to it, for the deterioration in U.S.-Japanese relations. Explain why Japan went to war against China during the 1930s. Articulate the reasons why the United States believed that its interests were at stake in East Asia. Discuss how the United States responded to developments in the Sino-Japanese War. Assess the effectiveness of U.S. foreign policy in East Asia in the 1930s. Define what Japanese leaders meant by the "southern advance," and explain why they opted to pursue it. Articulate the U.S. response to the "southern advance," and assess whether it was a reasonable one. Explain why Tokyo decided in September 1941 to prepare for war against the United States. List and explain the issues that divided the United States and Japan in the fall of 1941. Articulate the reasons why Japan chose to go to war against the United States. Assess the overall effectiveness of U.S. foreign policy during this period. Preparation Instructions Review the lesson plans in the unit.

Locate and bookmark suggested materials and links from EDSITEment-reviewed websites used in this lesson. Download and print out selected documents and duplicate copies as necessary for student viewing. Alternatively, excerpted versions of these documents are available as part of the downloadable PDFs. Download the Text Documents for the lessons, available as PDFs. They are listed under "Resources" on the tab bar of each unit lesson plan. These files contain excerpted versions of the documents used in each lesson, as well as questions for students to answer. Print out and make an appropriate number of copies of the handouts you plan to use in class. Finally, familiarize yourself with the interactive timeline " America on the Sidelines: The United States and World Affairs, 1931–1941 " that accompanies this lesson. This timeline will, through text and maps, guide students through the major events in Asia in late 1941, and will ask students for each event to identify (choosing from among a menu of options) how the United States responded to it. The Lessons

Question: What country attacked Pearl Harbor in 1941?
Answer: Japan