The Attack on Pearl Harbor

A Day That Will Live in Infamy: The Attack on Pearl Harbor
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt famously called the attack on Pearl Harbor a day that would live in infamy. The Japanese bombing of the American naval base of Pearl Harbor was the event that ultimately precipitated US entry into World War II. Of course, for many years, the US had shown sympathy to the Allied powers. But the bombing of Pearl Harbor ultimately drove America to choose sides and formally end its neutrality. Supporting the Allied powers was not as popular a stance as might have been believed with hindsight, and isolationist sentiment was still a factor Roosevelt had to overcome.
The Where of Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise attack, and an attack on a nation which was still officially neutral despite growing Japanese resentment of perceived and real American bias against the Axis powers. The attack on December, 7, 1941 killed over 2,400 Americans and resulted in significant damage to the American Naval fleet (Robinson, 2011). The US declared war upon Japan shortly thereafter. As promised, Britain declared war on Japan, commensurate with its promise that it would make such a declaration if the US entered the war on its side (“What was the Significance of Pearl Harbor,” 2019). The US had already been aiding the British with supplies, and the British were desperate for American aid. Soon after, Germany and Italy declared war on the US, as it was now at war with their ally Japan (“What was the Significance of Pearl Harbor,” 2019).
The Why of Pearl Harbor
The question arises as to why Japan was so willing to attack the United States in the first place, given US military power and strength. Japan, in contrast to Germany, had fought on the side of the United States during World War I. What transpired to cause a fissure between the US and its former ally? But the failure of Japan’s economy had given rise to militarism in the wake of the worldwide Great Depression. Just as Germany, Italy, and even the US saw a rise of radical political ideologies due to economic frustrations, so did Japan. According to Robinson (2011): “Hit hard by the Great Depression of the early 1930s, however, Japanese disillusion with party government grew and moderates gave way to militants” who promised a return to Japanese Imperial glory (par. 2). Japan was a small, resource-poor nation with a growing population. This drove its thirst for empire. Until Pearl Harbor, Japan had largely confined its attacks to its neighbors, including China and the infamous Chinese invasion of the Chinese capital later called the Rape of Nanking (Chang, 2012).
Japanese actions during this period are often paralleled with German expansionist aims and ideology. Like many nationalist groups, including the Nazis, there was a strong element of racial superiority to Japan’s militarism and nationalism, and as Japan was a very small island, this created a sense of urgency about supporting what it hoped would be its expanding population, thanks to the plans to incentivize population growth on the part of the militarist government (Robinson, 2011). This was one of the fuels of the particular timing of the Pearl Harbor attack, as Japan felt it simply could not wait for the growing standoff of tensions to play out between itself and the Allies.
The When of Pearl Harbor
As the negative publicity about Japan’s militarism mounted, particularly in regards to its actions against China, the US took a more aggressive stance in sanctioning Japan. It began to pass trade embargos on aircrafts, oil, metal, and other vital supplies (Pruitt, 2018). Again, although such actions would have been regarded as threatening to Japan’s survival in any context, Japan’s dependence on outside sources of support, particularly for oil, meant that such embargos had a very immediate and negative impact upon its civilian population and its war effort. The Japanese government was worried about how this would affect its war effort and hold on power. The US had also begun to send aid to China, which Japan viewed as an act of aggression (Pruitt, 2018). This was one of its justifications in attacking Pearl Harbor.
Japan had been formally allied with Germany and Italy in the Tripartite Pact since 1940. Although the US and Japan were in negotiations to resume trade, “sanctions and other penalties actually convinced Japan to stand its ground, and stirred up the anger of its people against continued Western interference in Asian affairs” (Pruitt, 2018, par.8). After the attacks, Japan was roundly criticized in the American press for its alleged duplicity in carrying on the negotiations, which were ostensibly to lessen hostilities, further fueling racial stereotypes in the United States of Japan as well as turning the tide of American public opinion solidly in favor of the war (“The Significance of Pearl Harbor,” 2009).
Japan’s decision was a pragmatic one. Japan knew that the US was likely to enter into the war at some point, and wished to attack the US before the US had built up substantial forces that could defeat a Japanese attack. Japan was also concerned about maintaining enough fuel for its war effort, and worried that if negotiations dragged on, it would enter war with the US severely depleted. Its only weapon was the element of surprise, which it used to great effect at Pearl Harbor. It also hoped to score a public relations coup in demonstrating the supposed weakness of the US relative to the strength of Japanese forces. Of course, the attack ultimately had the opposite effect, and rallied the American public behind the war effort.
Finally, Japan, increasingly beleaguered in China, was planning to expand its regional war into Southeast Asia, a region known for being rich in oil. A full-scale invasion, Japan knew, would prompt immediate war with America, and Japan hoped to stretch its current resources to occupy the Philippines, Burma and Malaya before the US was sufficiently mobilized for war (Robinson, 2011).
The How of Pearl Harbor
The lack of US mobilization for war and Japan’s capitalization upon the element of surprise was one of the reasons the attack was so deadly. There is a reason that one of the most notable books on the subject is entitled At Dawn We Slept (Prange, 1991). The United States was, quite literally sleeping in regards to the threat that Japan posed to its interests. Although some conspiracy theorists have suggested the Roosevelt deliberately permitted the US to be attacked to precipitate a quick entrance into the war, the evidence is that the US was in fact quite ill-prepared for any war at the time, and Roosevelt himself was attempting to buy time by extending the period of ostensible American neutrality. Furthermore, the US viewed Nazi Germany as America’s main foe, not Japan, and most of the emerging American military operations were focused upon preparing for a war in Europe, not on the Pacific front (Robinson, 2011).
Even when Japanese aircraft were detected by American radar on the day of the attack, the American military failed to act. There was also a great deal of miscommunication between America’s chief military operatives that Japan was able to capitalize upon, ensuring that the attack on Pearl Harbor would be successful. “Japanese messages were decoded by the army and navy on alternate days and all too often one service failed to properly communicate their new intelligence to the other” (Robinson, 2011, par.13).
Conclusion
The attacks on Pearl Harbor revealed crucial American military and intelligence weaknesses. But ultimately Japan was hurt more than helped by these precipitating attacks. Now the brunt of American public opinion was in favor of the war, and Japan remained as resource-poor as ever in the fight against the Allies.



References
Chang, I. (2012). The rape of Nanking. New York, NY: Basic Books.
Prange, G. (1982). At dawn we slept: The untold story of Pearl Harbor. New York, NY:
Penguin.
“President Roosevelt’s ‘Day of Infamy’ speech.” (1941). US Capital. Retrieved from: https://www.visitthecapitol.gov/exhibitions/artifact/president-roosevelts-day-infamy- speech-december-8-1941
Pruitt, P. (2018). Why did Japan attack Pearl Harbor? History.com. Retrieved from:
https://www.history.com/news/why-did-japan-attack-pearl-harbor
Robinson, B. (2011). Pearl Harbor: A rude awakening. BBC. Retrieved from:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwtwo/pearl_harbour_01.shtml
The significance of Pearl Harbour to America and the Second World War. (2009).
The Guardian. Retrieved from: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/sep/07/pearl- harbour-america-at-war
What was the significance of Pearl Harbor? (2019). Churchill for Schools. Retrieved from:
http://www.churchillarchiveforschools.com/themes/the-themes/key-events-and- developments-in-world-history/what-was-the-significance-of-pearl-harbor/background- information