World War II - Attack on Pearl Harbor - Term Paper Example

Pearl Harbor is a port on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It is the headquarters of US pacific Fleet. The island is in the Pacific Ocean which made it very important for US, as the naval base was located there and all the trading to China and Far East was done through this particular port. During the nineteenth century Pearl Harbor was not used for large ships due to its shallow entrance. It was merely used for hunting whales and trading ships. In 1841, it was advocated that the US intends to establish a naval base in Hawaii. The cause, which the officials described, was the protection of American citizens engaged in whaling and trading industries. After creating Pearl Harbor as the naval base, it was considered as well-built and advanced armed forces base of America. The two parties involved in the Pearl Harbor attack were Japan and the United States (Daws). The US intelligence had some prior knowledge about the attack but proper planning was not done on the defense side to avoid losses. The reason behind Japan’s attack was to force the US to leave the area for Japan so that it can easily continue its expansion in the Far East. The reason behind the United State’s participation in the World War 2 was this particular attack. The attack was not a sudden surprise as both these countries had their own set of advantages which were to be gained out of the war. Japan wanted to expand the invasion, whereas America wanted to step into the war. However, America had to gain certain permission from the Congress, as at that time, the state was following a policy which required it to not participate in the international affairs of other countries. This situation gave Japan and advantage over America which resulted in its attack over the US and it accepted the attack of Japan on its own land. Pearl Harbor attack not only provided America a way in to the World War 2 but also marked US as one of the super powers of the world (Pearl Harbor, 2000). The policy of Japan behind the surprise attack on the Pearl Harbor was to weaken America’s fleet. The surprise attack was intended as an action to keep the US forces from manipulating the war that the empire of Japan was planning in Southeast Asia against the Britain and its partners. Japan’s objective behind the attack was to make things easy for itself in taking control of the Far East and its surrounding area (Goff & Uschan, 2005). Japan wanted to make itself the superpower in the region of Asia and for that matter, the plan of Japan was to take the whole of Asia and its surroundings under its own dominion. It all started in the 1800s when both Japan and United States were rapidly orienting their economics and foreign policies toward the vast expenses of the pacific. Japan at that time was considered as a great Asian power whereas US had recently dedicated itself to westward expansion. In 1847, US offered China for profitable and productive business ties. In mid nineteenth century both Japan and U.S. pursued similar goals at the same time to make China and it’s surrounding their empire. This was the point where the actual contention began. In the race of being the pacific empires, both the countries became mortal enemies (Parillo, 2006). The location of Pearl Harbor has had a great significance. Lying almost equidistant between California and China, the Hawaiian Islands were recognized as decisive for America’s transoceanic future. Hawaiian island were like a gateway to Asia. America certainly appreciated the value of Hawaii as its trade depot. America had an interest in invading China so that it can have access to China’s economic potential and trade and Hawaiian Islands were providing the bridge from where they could easily enter into China (Marshall, 1995). As it inched its way towards China, the US gradually came to see Japan as a serious competitor. Both observed the utilization of China as an economic and geopolitical necessity and they knew that only strong moves to secure a hold on china’s market and resources can provide them the future strength and stability for their own nations (Davenport, 2009). Later America seized Cuba, Guam and Philippines after a month long war and on the other hand, Japan won a major war against Russia in 1905. Japan’s victory over Europe premier empire increased the tension further. At this point, America’s president held peace talks with Japan in order to avoid any such attack on America. Japanese at that time were enjoying the treatment in America that was unlike the Chinese, who were enduring harsh discrimination and hatred. The Japanese objected, when in 1906, the city of San Francisco made a move to bring its Japanese residents down to nowhere. It ordered Japanese children to attend Chinese schools and these Japanese children were no longer allowed to attend schools where white students were served and educated. The Japanese government reacted to this event and demanded to eliminate and cancel these orders against the Japanese. At that juncture, there were rumors about Japan planning on going for a war with America if those orders against the Japanese community in the United States were not rescinded. American Congress took the orders back and Japanese students were permitted to attend the same school they were attending, before the orders were given. Though the orders were taken back and the crisis ended, but the sour taste remained in the mouth of political leaders on both sides of Pacific (Davenport, 2009). The possibility of war at some point in future became so obvious to the American military that it formulated a special plan for dealing with a challenge from Japan. It was presumed that the enmity with Japan would necessarily include an attack on the Pearl Harbor due to its significant location. And true to their presumptions, the Japanese planned to evict Americans from the pacific and the only option they had was to attack their naval base. By no later than 1910, both these contender was anticipating war with one another (Wohlstetter, 1962). Friction between Japan and the United States increased during the 1920s. Each nation sought accommodation from the other and hoped that future conflict could be avoided, but the borders of their vast spheres of influence in the pacific was heading towards a collision point at which only war could settle matters once and for all (Davenport, 2009). Both the nations secretly started preparations for war. Japan military studied the location and war weapons of US and started planning the event while on the other end; Americans began to observe the intentions of Japanese military. This tension suddenly and immensely increased in 1930s, when Japan expanded into the mainland China. Japan wanted to advance itself into the Malaya and the Dutch East Indies (Indonesia), where it can have complete access to the natural resources like oil and rubber (Parillo, 2006). In 1931, the Japanese military took control of the Chinese region of Manchuria and by 1937 they occupied most of the eastern China. This all was because the Japanese leaders wanted to bring all of the Asia under their control. Meanwhile, the US hoped to avoid war. Instead of negotiations with Japan, it sent soldiers to Britain and stopped trade with Japan. In early 1940s, President Roosevelt ordered his nation to halt trading with Japan following its invasion of French Indo-China. The trade particularly included war supplies like steel, airplanes, airplanes gas and machine tools. This was implied as an unfriendly act by the Japanese government as at that time Japanese military required war supplies. Japan was having battles around the world, with many countries like Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaya etc. The US didn’t stop the supply of oil to Japan as it would be considered a bold decision, leading to intense discord. Later in July 1941, US also stopped oil trading to weaken Japanese military and halt its ways of invasion of Asian countries. In July 1941, the intensified relation set the stage for Pearl Harbor attack. To avoid any conflict the negotiations started between both the countries. In reality, however, the attempt was just to show reconciliation to the world. The armies and navies were preparing for the war (Heuer, 1999). At this point U.S. was playing the dual game by preparing for the war on one side and negotiating with Japan to avoid the war on the other side. Despite series of negotiations U.S. distrusted Japanese and considered them as unreliable and treacherous. The policymakers and the administration of U.S. knew that end of negotiations would most likely cause an armed collision with Japan. Furthermore, the US intelligence also got report that Japan was ending negotiations with the US and planning to attack the region. The U.S. administration was also intending to enter the war and this was the right option for them. While on the other hand, US were in the state of isolationism. America itself wanted to enter the war against Japan and Germany. They assumed this to be the right time and turned negotiations to the point where Japan itself would like to end the peace talks. For this purpose the officials demanded Japan to give in all its gains since 1931. This demand not only ended the negotiations but also resulted in Japan’s aggression. The administration planned this whole thing out and it got the accurate and desired results of what they were anticipating (Wohlstetter, 1962). In October 1941, the newly elected prime minister of Japan, Admiral Yomomato, decided to attack the US base and destroy the entire Pacific Fleet so that the Pacific remains open for Japan invasion of Philippines and attack on the British colonies becomes easy for them (Pearl Harbor, 2000). The transfer of the U.S. Pacific fleet from its previous base to new base in Pearl Harbor was seen by the Japanese government as a signal for the preparation of the conflict. Both the nations were trying for some groundwork to start the conflict. Initial scheduling for an attack on Pearl Harbor began in early 1941. Over the next few months Japan started off the preparations which included the training of the pilots and elite force, arrangement and testing of equipments and war weapons, examining the opponents power and intelligence collection. At this moment, the Japanese spies on the Pearl Harbor base played an important role (Wohlstetter, 1962). With their information, it became easier for the Japanese military in knowing the positions of the battleships, formulating their own attacking strategy by keeping in mind the attacking strategy of the US and the way operations were carried out by the U.S. fleet. This assisted them in creating the plot and planning the attack. On the other side, due to the cold war between the two countries since halting of the trade, U.S. officials doubted that Japan can attack U.S. base and that Pearl Harbor might be its first target. Considering this doubt, the pacific base was placed on the alert at many occasions. The battleships were given defensive positions. The attack was planned keeping in view various objectives. Firstly, it was intention of the Japanese military to destroy all the major and significant American fleet units as to prevent the fleets from interfering with Japanese in their conquest against the Southern Resource Areas. Secondly it was hoped by Japan to strengthen its positions and increase its naval strength. Finally it was to give American morale a severe blow and discourage them from interfering in any kind of war (Gordon, Goldstein & Dillon, 1981). Japanese intention was to destroy as many battleships as they can so that America had nothing left with which it can counter attack on them, as at that time, the battleships were the main assets of any country. And all the major battleships of the United States of America were at the Pearl Harbor. In the meanwhile, President Roosevelt shifted most of the war planes and weapons at this base so as to fortify their defense because Pearl Harbor and Hawaiian islands were of great importance to the US military. The attack took place without any formal announcement of war. Strangely, it was not the intention of the Japanese military to attack the United States without any formal announcement. They had planned to commence attack until thirty minutes after the US had been informed. On the morning of 7 December, the Japanese ambassador in Washington was ordered to deliver the notification to the white house and inform them about the attack but the encryption and translation of the notification took time and the ambassador reached the destination late, then as it was intended by the Japanese officials to attack the land after 30 minutes, so they did (Hixson & Walter, 2003). The U.S. officials observed the attack as a surprise attack; without any warnings, but the Japanese officials had sent the 14 page notification in which it was explained that they were ending the peace agreement between the two countries and hence, attacking the land of America. The commander in chief wanted to warn 30 minutes before the first torpedo was fired. Before he could formally declare about the war, the news of attack already reached the white house and the attack was initiated on the other end. This not only stunned the whole world but also brought sympathies for America from all over the world and provided an opening for America to participate in the World War II to support its allies. (Britain, Netherlands etc). Japan decided that the attack should take place in three terms. When the first wave was approaching, the US army radar detected them but it was presumed to be the arrival of bombers that was scheduled. Hence, the major signal was ignored because of intelligence ignorance. The first wave was the major one as it consisted of huge number of airplanes and submarines. It comprised of a bulk amount of weapons to target capital ships, aircrafts, carriers, battleship and cruisers. The first wave was given the responsibility to destroy as many fleets as it was possible. In the meantime, the second wave also arrived to assist the first wave. This fleet included a total of 171 planes and aircrafts. The second and third wave was sent to accomplish the remaining goal i.e. if any fleet survived the attack, it should be destroyed in the second or third wave (Gordon, Goldstein & Dillon, 1981). The bombardment ended after 2 hours but it caused massive destruction. The total causalities and losses that the US faced was huge. Four battleships were destroyed, 188 aircrafts were ruined, 2,402 military men killed and more than 1200 were wounded and around 60 civilians were killed. In contrast to this, the loss confronted by Japanese military was very less (Parillo, 2006). Though the attack inflicted large scale destruction on the US, it didn’t affect Major weapons of war like the one in the basement of the headquarter building, Pearl Harbor fuel storage, weapon maintenance area and submarines. Half of the battleships were damaged but not fully destroyed and proper repairing made them effective again. A major disadvantage of Japanese attack was that they only targeted the fleet. No big damages were done to the submarines and the headquarter building. This was later admitted by the Japanese admiral that they won at Pearl Harbor but lost the war. Their implication strategy was not worthy (Haulfer, 2003). On December 8, President Roosevelt said, in the joint session of Congress and Senate, that “December 7, 1941 will always be an unforgettable date for the people of America and the date will live in infamy”. The president asked the Congress to declare a state of war between the US and Japanese empire. On December 10, Japan also declared war against US and British Empire. Germany and the allies of Japan also declared war against US complaining that Roosevelt deceived Germany. Roosevelt also asked congress to extend the war to the remaining Axis aggressor. In this way, both the Allies and Axis fought with all their powers so as to defeat the opposing group. All this was a part of World War 2 (1939 – 1945). After four long years of war, finally the allies won the war defeating Japan and Germany. After the World War II, United States and Russia were known to be the super power of the World. United States not only gained more power but also held on to its image of the most powerful nation of the world. In the long term, the attack on Pearl Harbor was deliberate and a completely wrong move for Japan. Indeed, Admiral Yamamoto, who envisioned it, foretold even victory here could not win a war with the United States, because American dynamic capacity was very large. It encouraged the United States into a determination, to fight to complete victory. The War resulted in the destruction of the Japanese armed forces, the Occupation of the Home Islands, the Soviet Russian re-annexation of the Kurile Islands and Sakhlain Island’s southern part, China's seizure of Formosa and the loss of Korea and they have not been reversed to this day (LaFeber, 1994). Both the parties didn’t bother to resolve the matter and conflict as both had a long-time hostile attitude towards against each other. Both these countries had tolerated the actions of each other for a very long time and the Japanese found the perfect time for the attack. The intelligence of US had some prior knowledge about the attack but it paid no attention to it, pretending as if the US administration wanted Japan to take this bold step against them. There were numerous battles in World War II. Some lasted only days while others took month or years. Pearl Harbor attack is considered as one of the major battles of World War II. This battle had a history altering outcome. The material and human loss was notable in this attack. It only had a small strategic military effect due to the failure of the Japanese navy to sink US aircraft carrier, but not even the air carrier had been sunk. The low strategic planning didn’t help Japanese in the long term. The attack drew US and its massive industrial and economical market situation into the World War II. US sent immense amount of soldiers and huge amount of weapons and other supplies to help the Allies fight against Germany, Japan and Italy. This contributed to the ultimate defeat of the axis in 1945 (Sehrus, 2006). The allied victory in this war and the emergence of United States as a dominant world power has shaped the international politics ever since. In term of military history, the attack on Pearl Harbor marked the emergence of the aircraft carrier as the center of naval power, replacing the battleship as the keystone of the fleet. This event is also the major reason for the bombing of Nagasaki and Hiroshima in Japan. On August 6, 1945, the United States used a massive atomic weapon against Hiroshima, Japan. This atomic bomb flattened the city, killing tens of thousands of civilians. While Japan was still trying to have a grip on this devastation three days later, US struck again, on Nagasaki. After this, Japan surrendered; no destruction took place later taking US-Japan war to an end. It can be concluded here that the U.S. intelligence totally failed, although, they were having some related information to the attack but they were very much absorbed in their own assumptions. The blame of failure goes to the intelligence and higher officials of the government. If they would have acted rightly and passionately, the causalities and losses would have been less. Although America herself wanted to enter into the war against Germany and Japan, but the path they paved was not the right one. When the World War II began in 1939, Germany was the aggressor. It was later joined in June 1940 by Italy, and Japan in 1941. The war against Japan was fought over two-third of the world’s surface, with America and her allies taking part in vast air, sea and land battles. It turned World War II into global conflict and ended it with the drawing of nuclear era. And there is one conspiracy, that the whole stage was set by Roosevelt and his administration to enter the war. Apart from losses of aircraft and battleships, thousands of military officials and civilians died in the Pearl Harbor attack. But the results that United States anticipated were accurate as it won the war against Japan and long time enemy Germany. Pearl Harbor is still remembered as the worst attack on the soil of the United States of America. World War 2, also known as the Second World War, was a war fought from 1939 to 1945 in Europe. The war in Europe began in earnest on September 1, 1939 with the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany, and concluded on September 2, 1945, with the official surrender of the last Axis nation, Japan. It was the largest armed conflict in history, extending over to the entire world and involving more countries than any other war, as well as introducing powerful new weapons, ending in the first use of nuclear weapons. The war devastated civilians more severely than any previous conflict and served as a backdrop for genocidal killings by Nazi Germany as well as several other mass killing of civilians which, were significant. These included the massacre of millions of Chinese and Korean nationals by Japan, internal mass killings in the Soviet Union, and the bombing of civilian targets in German and Japanese cities by the Allies. In total, World War II produced about 50 million deaths, more than any other war to date (World War 2, 2010). References: Daws, G. “Shoal of Time”: University Of Hawaii Press (pg. 78) Davenport, John. “The Attack on Pearl Harbor – The United States enters World War II”: Infobase Publishing. (2009). Goff, Elizabeth & Uschan, Michael, “The Bombing of Pearl Harbor”: World Almanac Library, (2005). Gordon, Prange, Donald, Goldstein and Katherine Dillon, “At Dawn We Slept”: New York, McGraw-Hill, p.31-35, (1981). Heuer, Richards Jr. “Psychology of Intelligence Analysis”: Washington, D.C., Center for the Study ofIntelligence, (1999). Hixson, Walter. “The American Experience in World War II: The United States and the road to war in Europe”, Taylor & Francis, (2003) Haufler, Herve. “Codebreaker's Victory: How the Allied Cryptographers Won World War II”: New York, quoted p.127, (2003).  LaFeber, Walter. “THE AMERICAN AGE: The United States Foreign Policy at Home and Abroad”, 2nd ed.: New York, W. W. Norton & Company, (1994). Marshall, Jonathan. “To Have and Have Not: Southeast Asian Raw Materials and the Origins of the Pacific War”: Berkeley, University of California Press, (1995). Parillo, Mark.”The United States in Pacific”, The University Press of Kentucky, (2006). Pearl Harbor, http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/pearl_harbour.htm, (2000) Sehrus, Attack on Pearl Harbor, http://www.dark-stories.com/eng/pearl_harbor.htm, (2006). Wohlstetter, Roberta. “Pearl Harbor: Warning and Decision”: California, Stanford University Press, (1962). World War 2, http://www.world-war-2.info, (2010). Read More